Интервью пилота, данное Колину Хитону. World War II: Tell us about your early life. Herrmann: I was born in Kiel in 1913, where my father was an engineer and later served in the kaiser's navy during the Great War. I went through the classical education program and in 1933 joined the army as an officer candidate, assigned to the infantry in Brandenburg. We were quartered at Potsdam-Eiche, which is where I first met Hermann Goring. WWII: What happened at that first encounter? Herrmann: We were doing maneuvers, and our major was displeased with me, as I was branded a troublemaker, a know-it-all. This fat man in a general's uniform sitting on a horse called to me. "If this sort of thing does not suit you, you can come over to me," he said, pointing at the sky. I answered, "Jawohl, Herr General," and told him that I had my glider certificate and had flown for 31.5 seconds [30 seconds were required for the certificate]. Well, Goring spoke to my commander, and after final examinations and the ceremony where we received our swords and epaulettes, I was informed that I would be transferred. Those who had passed the flight tests were going over to the Luftwaffe. Now we had to buy new uniforms. WWII: What was flight training like? Herrmann: It began on August 3, 1935, in the old Heinkel He-72 Kadett, a small biplane and good to learn on. I quickly learned control, sideslipping, stalls and landing. It became natural. Sometimes we students would perform mock dogfights, which were not only dangerous but illegal. Some of the aircraft had altitude recorders, and when you came down they would betray us because we had ascended to operational ceilings. WWII: Why did you choose bombers instead of fighters? Herrmann: Well, it was like this: I was chosen for fighters until our instructor, Johann Putz, who had flown in the Great War with General Ritter Robert von Greim, spoke to us. Putz convinced us that flying bombers was better, since we would not be affected by weather like fighters. We could fly on instruments and always make it back in time to meet with our girlfriends. I was sold and went to a Junkers Ju-52/3m squadron. WWII: Weren't Ju-52s transport planes modified to serve as bombers? Herrmann: Yes, that is right. WWII: How did you get transferred to Spain during the civil war as an original member of the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion? Herrmann: I was caught doing silly things on approach to an airfield, breaking the rule against buzzing the tower, which the air traffic controller reported. My commander was furious, and I was expecting to be court-martialed or grounded. The commander made me read and sign a paper, which stated that a certain Francisco Franco wanted Reich assistance in Spain. I had never heard of Franco and figured that if they wanted me to go, it must be my punishment. I was to be discharged from the Luftwaffe and was told that it was a secret operation. Not even my family could know about it. Those of us who went wore black civilian suits and carried suitcases, traveling as "tourists" from Hamburg to Spain by ship. We stayed at the Hotel Christina in Seville as members of the Reisegesellschaft Union [union tour group] and began receiving our regular pay plus 800 marks per month extra. Pilots received more later. WWII: What was it like flying in Spain? Herrmann: Well, I did not start flying in Spain right away. I was assigned to the training field at Doberitz, Germany. WWII: Why were you given this assignment? Herrmann: Believe it or not, because I spoke French. However, I soon began ferrying troops in a Ju-52. WWII: What was your first combat experience like? Herrmann: It was October 1936 during anti-shipping operations. I flew a Ju-52 carrying six 250-kilogram bombs. Two of our bomber pilots, Oberleutnant [1st Lt.] Rudolf Freiherr von Moreau and Max Graf Hoyos, had managed to cripple the battle cruiser Jaime I with a single bomb apiece. We did not attack the enemy ships at low altitude and at right angles, called the Verfahren Steckrube [turnip method], but on my first mission I was at 1,500 meters altitude chasing these ships. I lost sight of them as I flew over, but the observer was giving me corrections on steering. We dropped three bombs, which were near misses. Flak from the ships was bursting all around us, and we dropped the last three, which also missed. We returned to base with a piece of flak sticking out of the front engine. WWII: Not all of your battles were in the air, were they? Herrmann: That is true. I was annoyed that the Spanish were unreliable about keeping appointments and being on time, and I commented about it. A plainclothes Spanish agent overheard me and reported it. I was sent to see Major Alexander von Scheele, my squadron commanding officer, not long afterward. He informed me that General Alfredo Kindelan y Duany, chief of staff of the Nationalist air force, wanted me out of Spain immediately. My replacement was coming, so as I prepared to leave, Hans Henner Freiherr von Beust, a World War I pilot and former squadron leader, took my case to the staff meeting of the Condor Legion. He spoke to Major "Vati" Balke, Oberstleutnant [Lt. Col.] Wolfram von Richthofen (cousin of the famed Manfred von Richthofen), and even Generalleutnant [Maj. Gen.] Hugo Sperrle, the first commander of the Legion. All of them were acquainted with similar complaints, so they sympathized with me, and I stayed. WWII: Did things get better or worse for you after that? Herrmann: Both, actually. It was reported in Germany that a Leutnant [2nd Lt.] Herrmann had been shot down and captured, but it was not me, just a coincidence. [Oberfeldwebel (Staff Sgt.) Adolf Herrmann, a Ju-52 gunner, was shot down on January 4,1937, near Bilbao by Polikarpov I-15 pilot Felipe del Rio. After killing two of his would-be captors with his service pistol, he was trampled to death by an angry Spanish mob.] The Communists reported it, and my family heard the news. My father went to see Generalleutnant Helmut Wilburg, organizer for the Condor Legion's transport to Spain, who told him nothing. I was instructed to write a letter home, telling them I was fine and enjoying my "vacation." After this I was taken out of combat for a while and sent to the university at Salamanca to study Spanish history, and afterward I gave lectures to my unit. WWII: What about 1937? Herrmann: I was back from the lecture circuit, and it became busy. We flew many bombing missions. Our greatest enemies were the Russian-made Polikarpov I-15 and I-16, which we called Ratas and which shot down an occasional bomber. These fighters were faster and better armed than the Heinkel He-51 biplanes, which were our escorts. Finally our fighter pilots received the Messerschmitt Bf-109B, and then the Ratas were no match for them. Once I was attacked and my hand was hit by shrapnel, sending the throttle back into neutral, but the plane landed safely. I finally went home on leave in April 1937 via Seville and Rome to Berlin, where I had to report to General Ernst Udet. I was ordered to rejoin my old unit at Nordhausen.
WWII: Were you welcomed back and asked about your experience in Spain? Hermann: God forbid! Nobody mentioned the word Spain, and I would have bitten my tongue before doing so! Spain was still top-secret. WWII: Nevertheless, you could demonstrate your experience in the air, right? Herrmann: Not in the least.... I was assigned meaningless tasks. Then a miracle: I was given three weeks off to prepare a brief on my experiences in Spain. After that was done, I transferred to Heinkel He-111 medium bombers. WWII: Describe the changes in Europe that affected you personally. Herrmann: Hitler had performed the Anschluss in Austria. Later, Italy, France, Britain and Germany signed the Munich Pact. In consequence of this, the German population of Bohemia, the Sudetenland, was united with Germany. On September 1, 1939, as you know, Hitler declared war against Poland. My first bombing mission was to Krakow and a railway at Biala. Another mission was bombing the Deblin airfield, which we hit twice. During one of these missions my Heinkel He-111 was attacked head-on by a Polish pilot, and he shot out my port engine, but I made it back safely. I flew a total of 18 missions in Poland against railways, marshaling yards, airfields, convoys and troops. WWII: What was your most vivid memory of Poland? Herrmann: Well, we lost one of our crews over the Kutno pocket, 110 miles from Poznan. Their plane was blown apart by a direct hit. They were flying right next to me. The explosion rocked my He-111 severely. Another plane at Lysa Gorda also took a direct hit, but the pilot, Oberleutnant Hans Hanke, returned to base. I remember another moment, when we were quartered in Breslau. I had just been awarded the Iron Cross Second Class. A woman ran up to me, crying and carrying flowers. She was a German whose husband had been killed in the First World War, and I felt proud then, like we were doing the right thing in uniting all the German peoples. WWII: What was your next campaign? Herrmann: We were flying missions against Scapa Flow, the British fleet anchorage in Scotland, in April 1940. Then our Staffelkapitan, Hauptmann Erich Bloedorn, said that we were going to bomb shipping in Skagerrak. We dropped bombs, but some hit the nearby town despite orders to the contrary. After the houses caught fife, we dropped pamphlets calling for a peaceful surrender. I was not sure that would work, but the town mayor, afraid of further bombings, complied. The next mission was against enemy barracks at Oslo, Norway. My plane was accidentally hit by our heavy cruiser Blucher, which was firing in support of the operation. Returning to Luneberg, we had to work to get the landing gear down but crashed on landing anyway. My plane was a wreck. The rest of our operations were against Stavanger, Andales and Bergen, Norway. My bombing wing, Kampfgeschwader 30 [KG.30], had switched to Junkers Ju-88A-4s at this time. WWII: Which operations followed Norway? Herrmann: The next attacks were at Dunkirk. The British were evacuating, so we were to bomb troops and ships. On May 10, 1940, late at night I saw a freighter leave port headed toward Britain. I dropped my first bomb in a dive, but it fell 10 meters short. My next attack fell 20 meters short. The third bomb hit and caused an explosion. Fire spread, and other ships came to her rescue, but my last bomb sank a smaller ship. I had another mission on May 31, when Hawker Hurricanes were all around me, so I went into a cloud to hide. I dropped down to take a look, and I was hit. The instruments were damaged, wires coming out from the console, but the engines were fine. As I pulled up I was hit again, however, and we lost an engine. Despite the damage, I dived on a ship and dropped my bombs, which fell short. My plane was crippled; Hurricanes were still trying to get us. I crouched down behind my armor plate, thinking that now I was done for. Suddenly, we hit the water. My Feldwebel [sergeant] had released the canopy in time, so we abandoned the bomber and swam to shore where we were met by a German soldier. WWII: The next operations were against Britain itself, correct? Hermann: Yes. We finished operations on the Continent on June 17, 1940. I had flown 90 missions, including 50 missions in Spain. I was then promoted to captain. WWII: What were your targets in England? Herrmann: First the oil refineries at Thames Haven and a nitrogen plant in Billingham. Most of the missions were at night during a full moon. We were ordered to attack ships if we could not find land targets. WWII: What were the most difficult missions against Britain? Herrmann: There were many, but the attack on Newcastle-on-Tyne was my first encounter with all-weather fighters. The British had balloons tied by razor wire [wire with razor edges, rising from the ground to a barrage balloon], and we were busy trying to look out for those. We flew around hoping to confuse them, dropping bombs through the flak. Upon landing, we were told to make our reports, as someone had dropped bombs on civilians. It was labeled a terror raid at Newcastle, but it was an accident. On one operation my bomber hit one of the balloons, and I thought we would have to jump, so we jettisoned the canopy in order to get out. Well, I regained control after doing this, but it was a cold flight back to the base, I can tell you! WWII: What sort of missions followed the Newcastle raids? Herrmann: Aerial mining of ports and channels was my next assignment. Then, in retaliation for the British bombing of Berlin, which had begun at the end of August 1940, we hit the India Docks in the East End of London on the night of September 7-8. By October 18, I had flown 21 of these operations. That was the day I crashed on takeoff when my tire hit shrapnel on the runway. I went into the hospital for a while, since I had broken a lumbar vertebra and another was sprained. I also had a concussion and a lacerated hand. While I was in the hospital, I was awarded my Knights Cross from Goring; it was on my table next to my bed. I was told this by the doctor, as I had completely forgotten about the ceremony at Schipol airfield three days earlier, and I was wondering where the medal came from. I spent three weeks in the hospital. WWII: Where did you go next? Herrmann: My unit flew to Sicily to bomb British shipping on the Gibraltar-North Africa-Malta route in February and March 1941. We had a Kriegsmarine officer, Oberleutnant-zur-See Jan Friedrich, assigned to us as an expert in ship identification. Our first mission was against Malta, where the flak was heavy. Despite opposition from enemy fighters, we were able to destroy eight Vickers Wellington bombers on the ground and damaged the airfield. We lost one plane, and two more were damaged. My next mission was to Tobruk, flying at night with tracer fire coming up at us. Instead of hitting ships, we dropped a few bombs on a vehicle and camel caravan. We landed in Tripoli to refuel before heading back. We also attacked large British ships from time to time, but we lost several crews and planes. That was a short campaign.
WWII: Which campaign was next? Herrmann: Greece and the Balkans, which started for me on the night of April 6, 1941. We were to mine the port of Piraeus, dropping mines by parachutes, which I thought was ridiculous, so I had two extra 250-kilogram bombs placed on board. Our secondary targets were shipping in Suda Bay, Crete. WWII: Tell us about your "big bang" at Piraeus. Herrmann: In Sicily we had loaded two mines and two 250 kilo-gram bombs. The bombs were my initiative. At sunset my commander, Arved Kruger, came by and ordered the bombs removed because of their weight and the fact that there was a layer of clouds going up to 5,000 meters over Greece. I hesitated five minutes, then decided not to unload my bombs. Arriving at the Grecian western coast, Heinrich Schmetz could identify the entrance to the narrow channel between the coast of northern Greece and the Peloponessus. The clouds closed progressively, and the half moon scarcely penetrated them. Now it was a matter of exact navigation. There was no glimmer of light, and the strait became narrower, down to three kilometers. Our altitude was 200 to 300 meters, with no trouble from British night fighters. The mountains at both sides were hidden by the clouds. Ahead it was as dark as in a tunnel. To aid the Ju-88s following in single file, Schmetz shot signal flares every 3 to 5 minutes. Our radio operator rejoiced: "I can see the nocturnal torch light procession above the glittering water." We passed Corinth and Salamis on our way to Piraeus, where we dropped our mines in the harbor's small entrance. Searchlights were looking for us, and the harbor was narrow. We flew into the lights and anti-aircraft fire, reduced our speed and dropped our mines. Once we dropped that weight, we could break out at high speed. We were also joined by German planes from Bulgaria. We saw ships anchored in the harbor, and we picked out a large freighter. We released the bombs and pulled hard away. I banked so I could see the hits, and the flash was blinding; so were others from the explosions that followed it. A hot wind gripped the Ju-88, even at almost 1,000 feet. I thought the pressure wave would tear the plane apart. I lost control temporarily but finally brought her around. The tremendous explosion had come from the ammunition ship Clan Fraser. Our raid sank a total of 11 ships and wrecked the entire harbor, as I later learned from seeing a report on the raid by British Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham. WWII: What did you see after the blast? Herrmann: We saw one ship burning and another damaged. Two warehouses were totally destroyed and others nearly so. A train was also burning, and that was all we knew. However, we did not get away unharmed. On the way back, our port engine was hit by flak, and I had to shut it down. We continued on the one engine after feathering the propeller, but we still had more than 500 kilometers to go to return to base. We decided to go to Rhodes, which was closer, but my airspeed kept dropping. I went down to the deck, hoping for denser air, and we jettisoned fuel. I intended to drop 500 liters, but the shut-off valve would not work, so we lost all of the fuel from the fuselage tank behind the cockpit. We talked of flying to neutral Turkey but decided against it and flew on. We threw everything expendable out of the plane. The more weight we lost, the longer we could fly, and the empty plane would float longer should we have to land in the water. In order to trim the aircraft, I had to keep my right leg on full rudder. My engineer, sensing that I might cramp, cleverly tied his belt to the left rudder bar. We still had no radio contact with anyone. The engine quit as we flew through dark clouds, and we made the airfield by gliding in without a drop of fuel to spare. WWII: What were the next missions like? Herrmann: Since Piraeus was knocked out, we could bomb shipping in the channels of the Greek Islands, as they had no port to duck into. I bombed a ship at night and sank it. Two days later we struck again. The next missions were against Maim, bombing the fighter base, and one of our officers remarked that "aircraft carrier Malta" could not be sunk, but that it would have to be boarded. So we bombers were the bait to bring the remaining British fighters up. Fighters from both sides were fighting around us most of the time. We did about 12 similar missions until I was assigned to staff duties. WWII: It must have been disappointing to leave your group for that assignment. Herrmann: Naturally. In May 1941, I went to the staff of the commanding general in Brussels, Belgium, then to France. I was on duty the night Operation Barbarossa commenced on June 22, and that was how I knew of it. Soon I was appointed commander of my old unit at Nordhausen, where, on September 2, Generaloberst Hugo Sperrle personally handed me my new command. I was promoted over more senior and equally competent officers, most of whom were my friends. During that time the Junkers company gave me a silver model of a Ju-88 in honor of my 200 missions. WWII: When did you return to the front? Herrmann: on Christmas 1941, we had to move to North Cape in Norway. We were to intercept convoys headed for Murmansk and Archangel in Russia. We still had the Royal Air Force to contend with, so I developed a method of getting British fighters off my tail. I would have a roll of toilet paper tossed out, allowing it to unroll. The attacking fighters would not have enough time to recognize this threat as harmless and would pull away. This would sometimes allow the rear gunner the opportunity to get a shot in. Our greatest concern was landing in the water, as the crews from our U-boats were reporting that the water temperature was zero degrees centigrade [32 degrees Fahrenheit], and that aircrews who had managed to get into their dinghies were found dead from exposure within 20 minutes. WWII: Which Arctic mission sticks out the most? Herrmann: The March 9, 1942, mission against the British aircraft carrier Victorious, I would say. We took fire from the ship as well as her fighters. It had a strong escort, with destroyers, cruisers and the like. I then dived into the attack. My plane was hit and one engine was sputtering. I thought that I might lose the plane, and my bombs missed by 10 meters. Well, I soon found out why my engine was running wildly. Enemy fire had severed the throttle cables. I was at full rpm, and I had to climb to reduce power. Back over my home base, I shut off the damaged engine, which was running hot, and landed with the remaining one. Since the convoys were run at two- to three-week intervals, I profited from the interruption to fly to Italy and see Oberst [Colonel] Dieter Pelz [later major general, an innovator in dive-bombing tactics], who was running a school there that I wanted to attend. He was quite famous, and we are still good friends. WWII: What were your next operations? Herrmann: Convoys again. We had a very large one in July 1942, about 40 Liberty ships and other merchantmen, and we hit them for many days without stop. The U-boats picked off the cripples. WWII: There was a situation which caused you some concern during one of these attacks, wasn't there? Herrmann: Yes. One of our pilots attacked a freighter, but the crew abandoned ship before he could drop his bombs. He did so anyway, missing the ship. The crew was beginning to reboard, and he wanted to know if it was practical to strafe the seamen in the water. I called the Kommodore, and he said the decision would have to be made by the Fuhrer. The word came back that they were to be treated as survivors, not soldiers, meaning they could not be attacked. After a few more months of this, I was sent to Berlin. WWII: What was your new assignment? Herrmann: Headquarters staff, to evaluate new weapons, planes and the like. I did this until 1943. It was a headache, as we had to decide where our limited resources should go. Fighters or bombers? It never ended. WWII: When did you first engage in night fighting? Herrmann: April 1943. The British had increased their de Havilland Mosquito flights. I went to Staajen and flew a Focke-Wulf Fw-190. During one of these flights I wanted to catch a Mosquito that I had spotted crossing the Dutch coast. I was flying at 11,000 meters above my own searchlights. I could not convince the local battery commander to stop the flak, so I had to take my chances. I sighted the Mosquito and chased it, but was blinded by the flash of my own guns--I had forgotten to have them loaded with the night tracer ammunition available to the night fighters. The Mosquito pilot knew what was happening, but the flak screen intensified far ahead, blocking his escape. I found him one more time and fired, but missed. Upon landing, a hole from the flak was found behind my seat. Despite the general rejection of my "Wild Boar" technique of using searchlights to guide fighters to their bomber targets, General of Fighters Adolf Galland saw possibilities in it. He gave me pilots and planes for further experiments. After that I went to test-fly the new Heinkel He-219, a twin engine night fighter prototype. That was where I first met night-fighter ace Werner Streib, and he was a very gallant fellow.
WWII: What aircraft types were the Luftwaffe using for night fighting up to that time? Herrmann: Mostly the Ju-88, the Messerschmitt Me-110 and the Dornier Do-217, all two- and three-seat airplanes or converted bombers with radarmen who worked with the Himmelbett [heavenly bed] ground control radar system. I flew several aircraft, and in my report I stated that the Mosquito could just as well be attacked by single-seat night fighters. Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch [secretary of state and director of the air ministry] was pleased by this news, but no one else cared. WWII: What were some of the major problems you encountered when forming your Wild Boar unit? Herrmann: First of all, gathering planes and pilots. My real problem, however, was in trying to get the anti-aircraft battery commanders to give me flak-free or at least flak-restricted zones. I finally achieved a 5,500-meter flak height restriction in the Ruhr area. WWII: When was the first official Wild Boar mission flown? Herrmann: The first was on July 3,1943, with 10 pilots near Essen and Duisberg. Night fighters had already attacked, and British bombers were falling. We flew into the area around Cologne, where we had no agreement with the flak commanders concerning flak-free zones. Attacking bombers through our own flak with British gunners shooting at us was quite exciting. WWII: What was the result? Herrmann: Twelve bombers were destroyed over the town that night, and I was ordered to report to Generaloberst Hans Jeschonnek, chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff, with my report. He wanted to form a Geschwader [wing] of single-seat night fighters. I think I said to him that Generalleutnant Galland might have an objection, and I suggested limiting the bomber program to have the resources and pilots not only for the Wild Boar, but for day and night fighters, i.e., for the strengthening of the whole defense. My suggestion was a daring one. In weekly sessions with Milch, I became aware of the output of U.S. bombers and fighters, so I asked Milch and the chief of the General Staff to reduce bomber production by two-thirds in favor of defense. It was a fateful decision to reject my proposal. WWII: Nevertheless, you were made Kommodore on the spot. Herrmann: I was promoted to Kommodore of the new Jagdgeschwader (Fighter Wing) 300 and given authority to create my own command. Galland helped immensely and was the driving force in acquiring fighters. Oberst Eduard Neumann [former Condor Legion fighter pilot and commander of JG.27 in North Africa 1941-43] helped me with aerial gunnery. Goring was becoming interested in what I was doing, and he had Generaloberst Bruno Loerzer [who had flown with Goring in WWI] check on my proposal. Goring, seeing that the plan had been already used successfully, gave his permission to do what was necessary. In essence, I was answerable only to the highest leaders in the Reich. WWII: At what point did you first consider using the Messerschmitt Me-262 as a night fighter? Herrmann: In July 1943, when I first flew it at Lechfeld, I saw in this plane the chance to destroy the enemy on his own airfields and to sweep the enemy fighters from the skies. However, some people, including even the Reichsmarschall and General Galland, had doubts about the jet as a night fighter, with the twin turbo leaving a telltale trail of flame at night. I laughed at those suggestions. No Lockheed P-38 Lightning or North American P-51 Mustang would catch me. The jet did do well in chasing Mosquitoes at night later in the war. WWII: Where did you operate from? Herrmann: The I Gruppe [I/JG.300] had its base at Bonn-Hangelar, II/JG.300 at Rheine [Westphalia] and III/JG.300 at Oldenburg, west of Bremen. From those bases, we could fly in either direction quickly, no matter where the bombers came from, but I wanted more time to train my night pilots. Consequently, when Hamburg was attacked on July 24, 1943, we were not ready. When Goring asked how soon the squadron would be operational, I replied sometime in September, but he said I would have to be ready that night. The radar-controlled night fighters had been unsuccessful, since the British bombers dropped metal strips [chaff] to confuse the radar. I received several calls that night and the next day. Hamburg was badly hit, and we knew there would be another attack soon. WWII: Did the attack come as soon as you expected? Herrmann: Yes, the next night. The British bombers were guided by the fires still burning from the previous night's raid. I sent 25 fighters up, and we were not sure if the target would be Hamburg until later. I lost a few planes, and perhaps a full third of the force turned back, as the night was very black and our navigational lights along the ground had not been prepared. The distance covered was very long for single-seat fighters at night. Regardless, we shot down about 20 bombers. Goring summoned me and placed me in command of the XII Jagdkorps, which was then commanded by Generaloberst Josef Kammhuber. I could not believe this, for I was only a major, but Germany was in a precarious situation. After the devastating blow to Hamburg, Albert Speer told the Fuhrer, "Two or three more of this sort of catastrophe, and we will have to cancel everything." So the eyes of the highest of the state, as well as the population, were upon me. With that in mind, I flew to Kammhuber's headquarters at Deelen, Holland, and met with the staff. I was still not clear as to my role in all of this, and it would have been better if the general were relieved of his command before I arrived. Luckily that happened. WWII: You returned to Berlin? Herrmann: Yes, Goring called me back for a heart-to-heart talk, in which he banned me from flying. He was afraid I would be killed. He later tried to do the same with Junkers Ju-87 Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Galland and Erich Hartmann, our top ace with 352 kills. WWII: What were some of the most interesting Wild Boar missions you flew? Herrmann: After my orders not to fly, I flew an Me-109T, which was a naval variant of the E model, with larger wing surfaces and a tail hook, designed to operate from the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. I chased bombers all over Berlin and saw one shot down by a night fighter just above me. I went after another, twisting and turning in the dark sky, which was lit up by searchlights. He finally leveled out and began dropping his bombs, so I closed in on him and fired my cannon. He was hit and fell away but did not bum. He raced down, trying to shake off both me and the searchlights. I saw the rear gunner in the lights behind his four Vickers machine guns, so I again fired into the starboard wing. Then I heard a hammering in my plane. It had been hit, and the engine had seized. I saw the enemy bomber fall, the flames marking a trail in the dark sky. WWII: Then what did you do? Herrmann: I decided to jump. I had smoke coming into the cockpit and no rudder or aileron control, so I took off my oxygen mask, headset and seat belt. I pulled the nose of the fighter up, slipped my feet out of the rudder straps, jettisoned the canopy, and when the plane began to nose forward, I leaped out. I left the fighter at 5,000 meters altitude, and I did not want to come down from that height drifting in a parachute through flak and airplanes. After some experimenting, I extended my arms and legs and arched my back to control my descent. I knew I was close to the ground when I saw the searchlights and felt warm air. I pulled the ripcord, and my head was thrown forward to where my chin touched my chest. As I floated down, I heard the battle raging overhead. I was caught in a searchlight beam, and I knew the flak batteries would follow British airmen down with the lights, so they could be captured upon landing. I saw that my red-and-white flare, which I fired from my Very pistol, was reflecting in water below me. I took off my boots so I could swim when I landed. After a few minutes of swimming, I realized that I was being impeded by the parachute risers, which had become entangled with my Very pistol, which was still attached to my belt. I took my knife and cut everything away so I could move freely. I finally reached the bank. I took off my uniform, coveralls and tunic, and began walking until I found some people. They had seen my signal flare and were looking for me, but instead they found a Sergeant Smith from the bomber I shot down. The next morning, I was ordered to see Goring at Karinhall, about my disobeying Hitler's orders and flying more combat, but nothing came of it.
WWII: What happened to JG.300? Herrmann: Major Kurt Kettner then took over my command, and later of course it was commanded by Gunther Rail, although they were no longer performing night missions. Their missions were simply to attack the American bombers as an elite interceptor force. The Wilde Sau was over, and the fight for the jet was just beginning. WWII: The fight for jets between the fighter and bomber commands is legendary. Where did you stand? Herrmann: I will explain from both viewpoints. First of all, Dieter Pelz, Werner Baumbach (general of bombers) and Hitler wanted bombers. Galland, Oberst Gunther Lutzow and others wanted fighters. The jet bombers could evade Allied fighters and destroy the enemy on the ground and in their landing craft with bombs and cannon fire. Jet fighters could out-fly Allied escort fighters, shoot down bombers and regain air superiority if deployed in large enough numbers. I was neutral, as I saw merit in both cases. At this time I was made inspector of night fighters, and in January 1944, I was shot down by a Mosquito and seriously wounded again on my last Wilde Sau mission. WWII: How did the war end for you? Herrmann: I ended the war as a colonel but working for General major Pelz, who was then working on the jet bomber program. Then Goring told me in January 1945 that I was to replace Galland as general of fighters. The fighter pilots' revolt had taken place on January 17, but Oberst Gordon Gollob eventually became general of fighters. Johannes Steinhoff took over command of my old jets for JG.7, and Rail succeeded Walter Dahl in command of JG.300. Galland went on to form his "Squadron of Experts," Jagdverband 44, with the 262 jet. I went to visit Steinhoff in the hospital after his Me-262 crashed on takeoff, and I was very sad to see him there. WWII: Of all the jobs you had, you stated that headquarters staff was more demanding than combat. Why was that? Herrmann: I made observations and gave recommendations, with my greatest concern being to prepare an air defense of Berlin. On August 17, the British bombed the top-secret rocket research base at Peene-munde on the Baltic Sea, with Mosquitoes flying a diversionary mission to Berlin. Twenty bombers were shot down by night fighters, as we now had cooperation with flak units. They would place searchlights in operation so that after we disengaged we could find our way home. At this time, Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, commander of RAF Bomber Command, said that he might lose 500 bombers, but he would win the war. That meant bombing Berlin and other great German cities into extinction. WWII: What was the atmosphere in Berlin like at that time? Herrmann: Well, Hitler was a different man after the unsuccessful bomb plot to assassinate him on July 20, 1944. He was not the best company even in the best of times, let alone after that. I felt like an outsider, as everyone was eyed with suspicion. WWII: How many times did you meet with Hitler during the war? Herrmann: Several times--when I received the oak leaves, and later the swords to my Knights Cross, various meetings, etc. I found him distant and not very friendly all of the time. WWII: How did you become a Soviet prisoner of war? Herrmann: Some of my men were being held by the Russians in Budapest, Hungary, so after telephone negotiations I went to secure their release. It was my responsibility to help them. When I arrived the Russians beat me, handcuffed me and interrogated me. They shaved our heads and stripped us of all our belongings. I was branded a common criminal like the rest of the prisoners and taken to Moscow, then to a prison camp in Siberia. WWII: How long were you a prisoner? Herrmann: I was one of many released after Konrad Adenauer negotiated our return in the winter of 1955, after 10 1/2 years. WWII: Looking back, what do you believe was the greatest factor in Germany's defeat? Herrmann: I feel that we should have settled our differences with the British before even considering invading the Soviet Union. As far as the air war was concerned, Goring should have been removed from any decision-making responsibilities sooner, as neither he nor Hitler had a realistic grasp of the situation. We should have started the jet fighter and bomber program in 1942 and had a long-range bombing plan for striking the Russians in the Urals, where they had transplanted their factories and war-making facilities. Also, all of our medium bombers should have been converted into night fighters once we were on the defensive, but history has a strange way of working things out. I hope there is never again such a conflict, ever.
Die »Wilde Sau« Taktik wurde von Major Hajo Herrmann entwickelt, der im Bild den Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring bei einer Besichtigung begleitet Сопровождает Геринга при посещении последним его Эскадры Вильде Зау
Ханс-Иоахи́м Хе́ррманн (нем. Hans-Joachim Herrmann; 1 августа 1913, Киль, Шлезвиг-Гольштейн — 5 ноября 2010, Дюссельдорф, Северный Рейн-Вестфалия), более известный как Ха́йо Хе́ррманн (нем. Hajo Herrmann) — немецкий пилот бомбардировочных и истребительных частей люфтваффе Второй мировой войны, оберст. Один из самых высокопоставленных и влиятельных офицеров ВВС Третьего Рейха.
