Quote:
Originally Posted by NickM
Interesting; these little factoids were not mentioned in his 'Star of Africa' bio; sure there was the usual commentary from his commanding officers in France who found him 'rather eccentric & lacking in discipline' but I never heard anybody mentioning he might be 'whacked'...got any details/anecdotes to share?
|
It was published in a very ancient article in a long forgotten US magazine of the 70s written by a Canadian who had a French name (can't remember neither his name nor the publication's title).
Marseille did not say he could have been "whacked", rather than the surgeon seemed to wonder whether HJ had crashed on purpose three times at the same place (or nearly so).
This bio was remarkably detailed with many anecdotes, such as when he prevented the intendant at Derna, who had just given his pay, to put the official stamp on the box reserved to decorations. The guy looked at him straight in the eyes and told him:
because you think you will get the Ritterkreuz one day? Marseille would have answered:
Of course, I will! The story goes that the intendant replied:
Tell me your name, young man, so that I can remember it the day it will happen (it happens?).
And many others regarding his relationships with his Staffelkapitän and his Gruppenkommandeur, which were tense on many occasions.
If I can recall the author's name, I'll post it.