IRON AIRMEN HOW THE LUFTWAFFE PREPARED FOR THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Ruthlessly demanding recruitment and training forged a formidable Luftwaffe by 1940 – but as combat that year shows, insufficient foresight can humble even the deadliest of foes

- WORDS DR VICTORIA TAYLOR

On behalf of the Luftwaffe, I salute you. The fact that you volunteered does not give you a special status. On the contrary, the war with our enemies requires that we turn you into capable soldiers and pilots in the shortest possible time, in that order. Your training will be hard and therefore not always pleasant. The fact that you want to become officers brings an additional toughness factor to the training. So don't be surprised if we stretch your mutton legs and push you to the limits of human performance. We have the best trainers and flight instructors in the realm here. And remember: if you want to give the orders, you first have to learn to obey yourself.”

Oberst Wolf Freiherr von Biedermann's blisteringly honest springtime address to his new officer candidates at Salzwedel airfield encapsulated what it meant to serve in the Luftwaffe by 1940. According to a 1936 informational guide for prospective Luftwaffe recruits, “the aviator is also supposed to be a soldier first, and the way to this goal is paved by the proven, albeit rough methods of a PrussianGerman soldier's upbringing”. The future Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' pilot Hans Deibl later described this early Luftwaffe training as “pure sadism or at best excessive harshness”. It had been tough enough to even get there in the first place: only five percent of both Luftwaffe officer candidates and non-commissioned officer (NCO) applicants passed the entrance examination that got them through to the interview stage. Yet Deibl could not help but reflect: “I later felt a strange lack of fear during my operations. Today, I believe, it resulted from this instilled harshness in us, especially against ourselves.” This, then, was the unforgiving but effective operational culture that had shaped the Luftwaffe as it headed into the Battle of Britain.