Ernst Udet

Ernst Udet (* April 26th 1898 with Francfort-sur-le-Main, Germany; † November 17th 1941 with Berlin, Germany) was a Fighter pilot and a German general .

First World War

Ernst Udet was illustrated during the First World War by gaining 62 victories. It obtained its first victory the March 18th 1916. After its third air victory the December 24th 1916, it receives the Croix of iron of 1st class and in 1917 one entrusted to him the command of the Jasta 37 qu ' it had under its orders until March 1918. Famous the Manfred von Richthofen gives then him the command of the Jasta 11, celebrates it flotilla of the aces. It receives in April of the same year the highest German distinction: the cross '' For the Merit ''. After death with the combat of Manfred von Richthofen, Udet takes the command of the Jasta 4. Hermann Göring which it will find later will be the last one ordering of the squadron of hunting of Richthofen. In August it succeeds in cutting down 20 enemy apparatuses. It finishes the war as a second German pilot taking into consideration prize list, with a total of 62 approved victories .

Interval wars

Between the two world wars, Udet has only one desire: revoler. In 1921 it assembles a company of manufacture of planes of sport which will become Bayerische Flugzeugbauwerke (whose Willy Messerschmitt will be the chief technical officer in 1927). Impassioned flight, it is the high-speed motorboat of air spectacles and makes some films on aviation with the famous director Leni Riefenstahl (S.O.S Iceberg). By testing Curtiss Hawk in the USA in 1931, he discovers the possibilities of the flight in piqué. In 1933, pushed by Göring become Minister for the Air, Udet adheres to the party Nazi. In 1935 he became colonel (Oberst) then Inspecteur of Hunting in the Luftwaffe lately created. February 1st 1939 it is named Generalluftzeugmeister . It takes part in the rebuilding of the Luftwaffe, selects the Me 109 like hunter, supports the development and the startup of the bomber in piqué Junkers Ju 87 Stuka and of the twin-engine Ju 88.

Second world war

It directed during little time the Reichsluftfahrtministerium under the orders of Göring. But the Bataille of England is a strategic and technical failure for the German air forces, in particular because of twin-engines too much lower than the English hunters and the absence of heavy bombers.

End

Udet is an impassioned of aviation, pilot individualist except par, but not a man of files nor of policy. Deeply depressed by the course of the events, Udet commits suicide, on November 17th, 1941. Hitler organized state funeral in its honor and its suicide was held secret. It was buried with the cemetery of the Invalids of Berlin. Another ace of Luftwaffe, Werner Mölders, died in an air crash which brought back it face of the east in order to attend its burial.

Quotation:

" It is impossible to live when one cannot look at oneself any more honestly in a miroir". Ernst Udet

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