Sturmbock / Sturmstaffel 1 - Validity of description.
 

Please comment on this description. Accurate? Hope Erich Brown is around.

Each pilot of Sturmstaffel 1 signed an oath that he would shoot down at least one bomber per mission or as a last resort ram an enemy bomber. Pilots of Sturmstaffel, although not criminal, joined to clear past infraction from their record or to advance more quickly in the LW.

This description makes it sound like a kamakazi unit of the French Foreign Legion.

Sturmstaffel 1
 

Steven:

Your description is partly accurate. The pilots of Sturmstaffel 1 DID NOT sign an oath to bring down at least one bomber per mission, if necessary by ramming, but did swear such an oath.

Pilots were all volunteers. In a brief listing of the initial pilots in Eric Mombeek's Sturmstaffel 1, published by Classic, only one is listed as having an infraction for doing a manuver that damaged an aircraft. Several were experienced pilots and others came from training schools.

I suggest you read this book.

Sturmstaffel
 

..reads something similar to a description in my SAM Sturmgruppen article.." although not a penal unit, some of these pilots were trying to have their records cleared of past infractions.." .. I think that was a line I translated directly from Prien, who has some coverage of the Sturmstaffel in his JG 1 & 11 Teil 2 book..

Barry Smith has the full story on the Sturmstaffel and has a new book due some time on the unit..yes, all pilots were volunteers but a number of them had quite serious infractions to expunge from their records..eg Wolfgang Kosse (ex-JG 26, JG5), who most sources state was demoted to Flieger for making an unauthorised flight...er..thats the sanitised version ..the reality was rather more lurid...!!

Sturmstaffel oath
 

..some evidence that volunteers for the Sturmstaffel actually signed an oath is provided by Wilhelm Moritz on p118 of Prien's IV./JG 3 book...with the SS being incorporated into his Gruppe Moritz had already decided to quietly shelve the commitment to ram and talks of "burning the written declarations. This I did .."

As friend Neil just said there was written evidence of such a form and with Willi Moritz deniying this the Staffelkapitäns of the four staffeln followed suit. Am sure the 1st volume of JG 300 will indicate what just happened within this unit.

Erich

Thanks to all who replied. I appreciate the clarification of the issue.