[Jochen Prien]

Gentlemen,

the remark in the Lützow notes here in question was only one of a number of similar statements that were aiming at so called " unproductive " fighter pilots in the ranks of the units on home defense; something quite similar had happened before to the fighter pilots serving in the Mediterrannean theatre of war. What it was meant to say is that pilots who in the eyes of the Luftwaffe leaders were not aggressive enough and did not show sufficient courage and fighting spirit when countering the US heavy bombers were to be degraded and sent to the Eastern front as foot soldiers, where they could see further service as canon fodder. The German word "faul" in this sense would not translate as lazy but rather as rotten.

In the summer of 1943 the III. Gruppe of JG 11 had one Staffel - the 7./JG 11 - that had the additional and rather dubious task to evaluate pilots in combat, whose battle spirit had become questionable - if justified or not cannot be judged in retrospect - at their former units; it is not known so far, how long this doubtful honour was bestowed on 7./JG 11, as apparently later in the year the evaluation was transferred to a Sonderstaffel within JG 11, although precious little documentary traces can be found. What can be found in the Lützow notes however is that pilots of said evaluation unit who did not score a claim within three sorties against the US bombers were to be sent to the Eastern front and this definitely not as fighter pilots any more.

This whole thinking is typical for the cynical and inhumane attitude of the higher echelons of the Wehrmacht including the Luftwaffe; what was the ordinary duty for millions of German infantery soldiers - to serve in the hell of the Eastern Front - who had no choice at all, was deemed as an especially terrifying form of punishment for the pilots of the Luftwaffe who had the misfortune to fall in disgrace with their leaders on the accusation of cowardice in the face of the enemy.

I have yet to research the question, if and who suffered this fate in said unit of JG 11; there are however other examples, where pilots, including officers, were sent to field units in the East, so that this was no hollow threat.

Jochen Prien