[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Ed and John,

It just seems to me to be ridiculous to give Georg any credence. Okay, let's take one of Ed's descriptions of what is in Georg's book:

"Then he tells the story of a development of Dr. Mario Zippermayr in which a mixture of pulverized carbon and gases would create a tornado-like effect. Two sketches are shown of a giant bunker called "Salamander Z," possibly to include nuclear isotope generators. And then the reader is shown color paintings of an atomic warhead V-1, an Ar-234-C-5 carrying an Fi-103 D-1 with nerve gas warhead and various V-2 color schemes and types, including one with a nuclear propulsion system. Also shown are V-2 rockets with a missile attached that is very reminiscent of the American "Hound Dog" cruise missile. Models are then shown of various rockets and a ballistic missile launching version of the Type XXI U-boat. One then sees a photo of a V-2 with a corset middle, implying a special purpose."

Here we have reference to a V-1 with an atomic warhead. The closest thing we have for reference is "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", both requiring the lifting power of a B-29. Germany wasn't even that far along by war's end. So, exactly how was a V-1 supposed to lift an atomic warhead at the U.S.'s state-of-the-art, which the Germans hadn't even reached?

Let's say that all this Johannistal super-secrecy bit had even a smidgeon of truth. If the Germans really had tactical nukes, why did they hold back?

Next up is a V-2 with nuclear propulsion. The U.S. was testing nuclear rocket engines in the western U.S. in the 60's, then abandoned the program. Same with the nuclear powered B-36. The nuclear rocket engines were tested on the ground. As I recall, they utilized graphite cores which simply heated hydrogen. Radiation certainly had to be an issue. Another one would have been just what happens if one of these birds fails to launch properly and crashes close to home? We're certainly talking "big", probably way too large to fit at the tail of a V-2. And, we're talking of technology 15-20 years after war's end.

By the way, I come by some of this stuff quite honestly. I've been a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics since the fall of 1957 since Sputnik was launched. Back then, it was the American Rocket Society. I joined while in college, then joined the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. The two societies merged shortly thereafter into what is now the AIAA. After graduating from college, I joined NASA in Cleveland, Ohio, which was then called the Lewis Research Center, now the Glenn Research Center in honor of John Glenn. I was an operations research engineer. My second assignment was to manage the testing at a hydrogen pebble bed heater, basically an induction heated graphite cylinder with graphite balls through which hydrogen passed, exiting through an instrumented, cooled copper exhaust nozzle. This was used for heat transfer studies and was the forerunner of a much larger facility at Lewis's Plumbrook location. The intention was to be able to test the heat transfer in the exhaust nozzle of a nuclear rocket engine without having to worry about radiation issues. I had a real interest in the nuclear rocket engine program and attended AIAA conferences where updates were presented.

But, back to the current discussion:

Maybe the Germans were great doodlers, jotting down whatever hair-brained possibilities they could think up. But, there is a difference between a serious development program like that of the Me 262 and something scribbled in a notebook. To me, giving credence to these scribblings, assuming they aren't fictionalizations of numerous hack writers or Georg's own fertile imagination, is even less of an historical tome than any "what if" book.

As the Me 262 is my subject of prime interest, I've seen the difficulties that had to be overcome to get even this system into production and operation. The most prominent German whizbang of WW II was the V-2, which required an enormous investment and manpower. Technically, it was a major accomplishment. Serious scientists and engineers worked very hard on this program to see it actually deployed in combat, and in fair numbers.

So, when we start bringing in the what-if whizbangs, which may have only been someone's doodlings - and that's actually far more credence than I want to give them, then write a book on them, then try to suggest that these efforts should be taken seriously by today's readers, you'll get the reaction I initially gave. That's not to say I don't have an interest in the advanced developments. Far from it. I have Leslie E. Simon's German Research in World War II, as an example, which seriously discusses some of the technology that was found, with numerous photos. In contrast, you'll find Georg's books full of photos of models, computer graphics, and color profiles, with very few actual photos and drawings of the period.

The impression I get is that Georg tried to take tidbits of this and that, much of dubious authenticity, or simply the imaginings of his mind, then tried to weave whole cloth out of extremely disparate pieces. You can't take "maybe believe A" plus "maybe believe B" etc., and have old Adolf with a fleet of nuclear bomb loaded bombers ready to attack New York. You don't add a bunch of conjectures together to come up with anything concrete.

To give an example, I'm going to quote just a bit from his first book:

"Suicide Bf 109 with 'new types of explosives'

It is not known if tactical atomic bombs were to be used by suicide pilots. Under that scheme, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 single piston-engined fighter, in the spring of 1945, may have been intended to serve as a carrier for miracle weapons.

On 18 March 1945 the commander of a fighter squadron in the Munster area received orders to take over and unload three railroad wagons. They had been sent to him, flew attacks in darkness, or in twilight. There targets had previously been precisely determined, and were at a relatively short distance from the front. The aircraft they flew, at the end of the war, were principally the Fw 190 and Ju 87. In those difficult flights the Ju 87, long since obsolete for daylight attacks, proved to be quite outstanding. On those missions the targets, which had been precisely determined, were marked with flares by other night bomber aircraft. Some of the attacks were guided by radar, i.e. the Egon procedure. So it is possible that some of the Seitenstätten Ju 87s were intended to be used on pathfinder duties, in the planned atomic night attack. Perhaps only a few aircraft from the squadron were actually to drop the bombs. Such an attack may have been previously practised elsewhere.

Unfortunately we have no information as to whether the eight Ju 87s had been converted for their planned special mission, nor whether they were normal production machines of the D-8 type. However, it is probable that the relevant documents and photographs could be found in some Allied archive."

Guys, I just opened the book and grabbed that at random. No references, nothing to identify units or people. Literally nothing that could be verified because the description is completely vague. He starts out suggesting the Bf 109 carry a tactical nuke, then just mentions the Fw 190, then seems to end with the venerable Ju 87 as having the honors. He mentions boxcars, then drops the subject. He drops in official sounding terms like Egon and Seitenstätten, like a name dropper at a party, but they aren't connected to anything. He wanders all over the map and literally says nothing. He conjectures like crazy. He suggests there might be documentation hidden somewhere, but he hasn't got it.

Folks, this isn't history, it is "crap".

Regards,
Richard