Hanns Scharff - Luftwaffe Interrogator

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Why not? Well, let's suppose for a moment that he was a true hero, a self-sacrificing soldier who would take the opportunity to advance his side's cause as much as he could. If they provided him with a parachute, he at the very least could have bailed out of the plane, getting one more "kill". If they did not, or if he wanted to maximize the damage at the cost of his own life, he could have crashed it into a row of parked planes, an ammo or fuel dump, etc. Think of the heads that would roll if any of this occurred.

I'll keep my general views on the honor of soldiers and the bond among aviators to myself, but I certainly don't think that the German personnel would bet all the lives and materiel that he could have taken out with even an unarmed 190 on them. There had to be more upside to justify that risk, and more/better intel seems the most likely.

August

Well, of course you may be right. Maybe I do underestimate the will of people to destroy the enemy´s machinery of war. Maybe I do overestimate the common aviator´s sense of being members of the same caste. Maybe I should read Scharff´s and Godfrey´s books. That might make me wiser, or at least show some new aspects I am missing.

Michael

[Jack Cook]

Ya'll are killing me with your back and forth shoulda-woulda-coulda. One word....research.
I so happens I knew Ray Toliver and lunched with Ray and Hanns Scharff when I was a teen.
I have a copy of the book signed by both. BTW Ray and Hann were first class people!!
Here are a few facts.
#1 Scharff was a lance Corporal ie a low ranking enlisted and not a pilot.
#2 He was in the unit because of his language skills and personality.
#3 He became an interrogator after a plane crash killed a number of the units interrogators.
#4 He was a very outgoing, kind, respectful, honest and honorable man.
#5 Col Einer Malstrom was allowed to fly a ME-109G with about 15 minutes of fuel onboard.
Col Malstrom also made a couple Storch flights. This occured before Scharff became a full fledged interrogator.
Col Malstrom so impressed the Germans that he was appointed CO of the Stalag Luft I incoming POW compound.
#6 No worthwhile intell was obtained from Malstrom or the other group commanders who were captured inc.
Zemke, Hubbard, Stark, Wilson and Spicer.
#7 Scharff saved the lives of a number of American pilots suspected of straffing civilians.
Two pilots who had straffed civilians were known to them. One of the 355th FG was found dead in his P-51
and the other of the 20th FG was not captured.
#8 No German officer held a gun to Bader's head to keep him was escaping. Col Huth (?) has a wooden leg
and had his hand on something for support while holding his leather gloves. End of story.
Now back to under my rock!

Last edited by Jack Cook on Fri Feb 15, 2013 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[gary1954]

Go Jack... great to see you again

[k5083]

Thanks for popping in Jack!

Your network of vets and their stories is always impressive.

You don't happen to know anybody who saw Spitfires being buried in Burma by any chance?

August

[John Dupre]

I have Scharff's book and well remember the episode of letting an American pilot fly a German fighter though who and what type escape me.

The Douglas Bader episode is not as he related it though. Adolf Galland pointed out in his autobiography that what might appear to be an officer with his hand on a holstered pistol was actually a WW1 veteran amputee pilot resting his hand on his hip while holding a pair of gloves. It was not the only thing Bader got wrong since he clearly claimed that the British developed the finger four formation and the Germans copied it from them! (I admire Douglas Bader very much by the way!)

[k5083]

Well, of course you may be right. Maybe I do underestimate the will of people to destroy the enemy´s machinery of war. Maybe I do overestimate the common aviator´s sense of being members of the same caste. Maybe I should read Scharff´s and Godfrey´s books. That might make me wiser, or at least show some new aspects I am missing.

Michael

Or you could be right and I could be wrong. It's a wonderful relationship that the Germans seem to have had with the Americans and the British. Such a gentlemanly approach to war.

Can you imagine in the Pacific, if the USAAF captured a Japanese pilot, would they invite him to take a spin in a P-38 or P-51 over the field? Heck, maybe some old vet told Jack Cook that it happened, in which case we would have to accept it as Fact; but it seems doubtful to me that it would have occurred. Knowing the culture, and what was at stake for the Japanese, the Americans would be too worried about the kind of scenario I outlined.

Or a German-USSR combination, also hard to imagine. Those countries fought a no-holds-barred war that seems different from the one we fought with the Germans.

Especially big of the Germans, when you think of it. "Yes, this fellow protected the bombers that roasted my sister, fiancee, and mother-in-law in the firestorms of Dresden, but he still deserves a flip in a 109. Care for some beer and sausages afterward?" Really, they were such ripping good sports.

To put it in perspective, fast forward to today. Imagine if we were enduring 10 World Trade Center bombings every day and we captured a terrorist getting ready to fly one of the planes. Would we say, "Well, you've been through pilot training so you're a fellow aviator, and you trained with Al Qaida so you're a fellow soldier. I feel honor and kinship with you. Would you like to take a 787 for a little jaunt around Seattle?"

Different times, I guess.

August

[Mark Allen M]

Nothing like a little propaganda to add to the conversation ... if my two uncles would have survived that bloody war I wonder what they would have to say about German American relations back then. Interesting turn to this thread, wonder how long it will take to take a turn for the worse.

Nice to see J Cook chime in and not just sit back and lurk in the shadows


Look magazine 1943 "if they win" ... by Sephan Dohanos

[Mark Allen M]

I also don't read anywhere where I would have to fly a 109 if captured ...