Adolf Galland's character story

At an airstrip near his hometown, Adolf Garland began to try to fly with a homemade glider. 1932 On February 27th, on the eve of his 20th birthday, he set a new record for gliding in northwest Germany, staying for 2 hours, 6 minutes and 5 seconds. 1933 champion of German western glider competition. Since then, his future life journey seems destined to be accompanied by flying, but it is by no means smooth.

At that time, the whole world was in the Great Depression, and life was hard. After World War I, Germany not only faced the humiliation of defeat and surrender, but also accepted the harsh compensation for the land ceded by the Treaty of Versailles and various restrictions on military development. After the defeat of Germany, military aviation was strictly prohibited by the allied forces, and even civil aviation was not resumed until after 1922 under many restrictions. The only way for young people who love aviation to realize their dream of flying is to join the glider club.

In fact, civil aviation in Germany was largely controlled by the military at that time. In the mid-1920s, the German aviation industry was revitalized, such as Messerschmitt Company in augsburg, Fokker-Wolff Company in Bremen, Dornier Company in Frederic Port, Henkel Company in Werner-minder and Juncker Company in Dessau, all of which reached a high level. While the victors of World War I were still flying outdated wooden biplanes, German aircraft designers had developed advanced all-metal monoplanes.

In the early 1930s, Germany began to rebuild its small-scale air force in violation of the restrictive clauses of the Treaty of Versailles. Because Ahmad Mi Hill, who was in charge of reconstruction, had previously worked for Lufthansa in the 1920s after the war, he also violated the Treaty of Versailles and trained a group of flight students who were proficient in military aviation skills in Lufthansa's four civil aviation schools, among which Adolf Garland was the best.

1932, Garland graduated from the German Commercial Air Transport School in Brunswick and joined Lufthansa the following year. At this time, as Hitler gradually seized the German regime, the German Aviation Committee under the leadership of Hermann G?ring reorganized the aviation forces, and the pilots were secretly sent to the Soviet Union and Italy for training. Garland temporarily joined Mussolini's Italian Air Force and went to Italy with the cadet team for fighter pilot training.

1February, 934, Garland officially joined the reconstructed German Air Force. 1In April, 935, Garland, a fighter pilot of the 2nd Wing of the German Air Force, the famous "Richthofen" Wing, crashed in a flight, which almost ended his flying career. A few months later, although there were still pieces of glass in his left eye, Garland returned from injury. A medical report says that he is no longer fit to continue flying, but I don't know whether this is due to serious bureaucracy or the secret help of a kind person. This report, which was enough to ruin his flying dream, was magically "lost".

Unfortunately, the next year, he experienced another plane crash. Although it was far less serious than the last accident, a fatal medical report surfaced. The only way to keep Garland from being grounded is that he must pass an eyesight test. Therefore, Garland simply recited the directions of all the letters on the eye chart in order and passed the vision test. 1936 In July, the Spanish civil war broke out and quickly evolved into an international conflict. The Soviet Union supported the government, while Germany and Italy became supporters of Franco's national army. Less than 1 month after the war broke out, an advance team sent by the German Air Force, consisting of 20 Junk Ju 52/3m transport planes, 6 Henkel he 5 1B biplane fighters and 85 crew members, has arrived in Spain. Subsequently, Italian planes, light tanks and infantry, Soviet military advisers, planes, artillery and tanks, as well as volunteers and political and religious forces from various countries followed suit and flooded into Spain.

Volunteers sent by the German Air Force to the Spanish battlefield formed a famous vulture corps, with 40-50 fighters, 40-50 bombers and 100 different types of aircraft, which were used for ground attack, aerial reconnaissance and communication. In order to exercise the team to the greatest extent and improve the actual combat ability, volunteers of the German Air Force took turns to join the "Condor" Corps and went to Spain to fight in turn.

1937, Adolf Garland volunteered to join the vulture corps. He used to be the squadron leader of the 3 rd Squadron of the 88 th Fighter Brigade, nicknamed "Mickey Mouse Squadron", equipped with He 5 1 fighter, mainly responsible for ground attack and providing air support for the troops. The actual combat in Spain has proved that He 5 1 is far from the opponent of the Soviet I- 15 biplane fighter and I- 16 monoplane fighter in air combat, but it is handy in ground attack. Garland quickly rose to fame in the Spanish battlefield, especially in asturias, teruel and Braud. By the middle of 1938, when Werner Maudes, another famous ace pilot in the history of the German Air Force, took over as the third squadron leader, Garland had completed 280 combat flights, and he and Maudes later became close friends.

Garland's innovation in ground support tactics attracted the attention of senior officials of the German Air Force. He was transferred to the German Aviation Department, responsible for formulating regulations, establishing close air support units, and training pilots in air support subjects. Garland is bent on flying a fighter plane. However, when World War II broke out, the 4th Squadron of the 2nd Teaching Wing of the German Air Force, in which he was the lieutenant squadron leader, was equipped with henschel Hs 123 biplane for ground attack.

1939 In September, the German army invaded Poland, and the prelude of World War II began. Because most of the planes of the Polish Air Force were destroyed on the ground in the first few days of the war, Garland and others had little chance to fight with Polish fighters over Poland, and Poland was mainly used to provide air support for the army. With the attack again and again, Garland's forward base keeps moving forward, and the amazing war rhythm of Blitzkrieg makes him extremely excited. In the Battle of Poland, Garland carried out 50 combat missions in 28 days of fighting and was awarded the Second Order of the Iron Cross.

1 939 65438+1October1,and Garland was promoted to captain. After the Battle of Poland, he moved to Brunswick, Germany to rest and began to practice joint operations with paratroopers to prepare for the next move. In order to be able to fly on a fighter plane, Garland once again "faked" and claimed that he was suffering from rheumatism. After some efforts, due to medical reasons, he finally transferred smoothly from the flight unit responsible for ground support to the 27th fighter wing, and became a fighter pilot of Bf 109.

1940 February 15, Garland came to krefeld, where the 27th United was stationed, and became the adjutant of the United Department. At this time, the battlefield on the western front is in a stalemate, and the two sides are not moving, and there are not many aviation tasks. On May 10, the German army attacked Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to the west, and the situation changed suddenly.

1940 May 12, in the west of Liege, Belgium, Garland shot down two fighters in a battle of eight aircraft formations. In the afternoon, he successfully staged a hat trick and shot down the 1 fighter again. The three fighters he shot down were all RAF "Hurricane" fighters, which he mistakenly thought were shot down by Belgian pilots. 1May 940 19, destroyed two French Potts 63 fighters and became one of the ace pilots.

At the Battle of Dunkirk, Garland officially fought against the Royal Air Force for the first time. 1940 on may 29th, he shot down two Bristol Brenheim light bombers. He also shot down 1 RAF Spitfire fighter for the first time over Dunkirk.

1On June 4th, 940, the Germans captured Dunkirk. At this time, the Netherlands and Belgium have already announced their surrender, and all the British troops have retreated to the British Isles. France is completely in despair. 1On June 6th, 940, Garland was promoted to captain of the 3rd Brigade of the 26th Fighter Wing. On the afternoon of June 1940, he took over as the battalion chief and shot down 1 Brenheim and 1 fairey "fighter" bombers, which became his final victory in the French campaign. Since then, Garland's main combat mission has been shooting at ground targets. 1On June 22nd, 940, France was defeated and surrendered. The total number of shots he shot down was 14. 18 July, Garland was promoted to major. In the British air battle, he led the 3rd Brigade of the 26th United Wing to participate in the war, running through the whole campaign. By the end of September, Garland's total record had reached 42 games, including some famous opponents.

1940 On July 24th, he shot down the Spitfire fighter piloted by Johnny Allen, the ace pilot of the 56th Squadron of the Royal Air Force, in the northern part of Maguite Island, England, and Allen was killed when forced to land. Four days later, Garland scored his 17 near Dover and shot down the Spitfire fighter piloted by Francis Dawson-Paul, the ace pilot seconded by the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Force.

1 In August, Garland won the Knights Cross for shooting down 17 planes. 1On August 5th, 940, he shot down the Spitfire fighter of Aldis, the New Zealand ace pilot of the 54th Squadron of the Royal Air Force, between Dover and Folkstone, forcing him to skydive and escape. 1940 On September 24th, Garland shot down another famous pilot of the Royal Air Force, the hurricane fighter piloted by Harold Bird-Wilson of 17 squadron, and obtained the 40th shooting down record. Bird Wilson was badly burned while parachuting to escape. 1 940165438+1October1,Garland, who shot down 50 planes, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and captain of the 26th fighter wing.

Garland is regarded by many as the ace commander with unique colors in the German Air Force. He always likes to smoke cigars while flying (he even put an ashtray in the cockpit of the fighter _), treating the increasingly cruel air combat as a medieval knight duel, always daring, habitually offending the chief executive, and even angering the supreme leader of the German Air Force, Marshal Goering!

In the Battle of Britain, the fighter units of the German Air Force failed to protect the bomber units over Britain, which made the Royal Air Force intercept them many times. Goering once publicly criticized them severely. On one occasion, Goering asked his frontline commander if he had any needs. Maudes replied that he hoped to have a Bf 109 fighter with a more powerful engine. Goering nodded and asked Garland, "What about you?" Garland, who always likes to make mistakes, blurted out without thinking: "I want to equip my brigade with fire!" "

Years later, Garland said in his memoirs that he was shocked when he said that. In fact, he still prefers Bf 109, but he is very dissatisfied with the rigid command of the top air force and his ignorance of fighter units. Many tasks are simply impossible to complete. Garland is surprisingly bold and nonsense. Goering stamped his foot and left. 194 1 At the beginning of the year, with the arrival of spring and the improvement of weather conditions, the German Air Force turned to focus more on bombing Britain at night, while the fighter units of the German Air Force still actively seized the air superiority in the southeast of Britain and the English Channel. The Royal Air Force, which gradually recovered from last year's bitter battle, began to turn from defense to attack because the number of large-scale air strikes by the Germans during the day became less and less. At the same time, Hitler took his gun from the British Isles and aimed at the Soviet Union.

1941June 2 1 day, Garland shot down the Spitfire fighter piloted by Brown of 6 16 Squadron in eastern boulogne, which was the 70th fighter he shot down. But in the battle, he was shot down and parachuted by boleslav Drobinski, the Polish ace pilot of the 303rd squadron of the Royal Air Force.

Soon, Garland was awarded the Knight Cross of Double Sword Silver Oak Leaf, becoming the first German to win this honor in World War II. In order to avoid his accident, Hitler and Goering explicitly prohibited him from taking off again to carry out combat missions, but Garland completely ignored the ban and constantly set a new personal record.

On June 22nd, the day after Garland was shot down, 194 1, the Germans launched the "Barbarossa" campaign on various fronts, which hit the Soviet Union. The main force of the German Air Force invested in the eastern front, leaving only two fighter wings to defend the western front. The second fighter wing is responsible for air defense from the south of the Seine River in France to Cherbourg, an important town in northwest France, and the 26th wing of Garland is responsible for defense from the north of the Seine River to the Netherlands. In order to support its new ally, the Soviet Union, Britain kept putting pressure on northern France. During the rest of the year, the Royal Air Force launched a series of offensives, and continued air strikes against the Germans on the western front during the day.

1 941On August 9th, in the air raid launched by the Royal Air Force on the northern French city of Bethune, the 26th Wing claimed to have shot down three Spitfire fighters, of which1was piloted by Douglas Budd, the famous ace commander of the Royal Air Force and the captain of Tamir Wing. Budd is known as an indomitable and invincible tough guy in the Royal Air Force. He crashed in a flight on 193 1 12 and his legs were amputated. He has retired from the air force. After the war broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force again and shot down 23 German planes, ranking fifth in the Royal Air Force's personal record list of World War II. After the car was hit, Bud successfully parachuted and was captured by the Germans. One of his prosthetic legs got stuck in the cockpit and crashed with the fighter plane. Garland is a Budd hero who appreciates each other. After being captured, Bud lived in a hospital in Saint-Omer, France. Garland asked people to contact the Royal Air Force by radio, and proposed that the British army be allowed to send 1 plane to send Bud a new prosthetic leg. The Royal Air Force arrived as scheduled, but in order not to give the Germans an opportunity, the Royal Air Force launched a new bombing operation while the 1 Brenheim bomber dropped new prosthetic limbs.

Before Bud, who regained his prosthetic limb, was about to be transferred from the hospital to the German prison camp, Garland and his pilots invited Bud to the 26th United Base, where he was treated with great enthusiasm and courtesy.