Aircraft Commander

[Jim Oxley]

Reading a really good book titled "Target England" by Edmund Blanford. Deals with the Luftwaffe's raids over England throughout the war. Contains many first hand accounts - all from the German side - often following pilots, gunners, bombardiers etc from recruitment through to loss/capture and or survival at war's end. Mostly told from the crews of bombers angle although there are several fighters (no great aces - refreshing) accounts included as well. Excellent read.

A very peculiar thing I have come across though is the aircraft captain. In British, American and Soviet bombers the pilot is the aircraft commander, regardless of rank. However in the Luftwaffe the 'observer/bombardier' is the aircraft commander, the pilot merely the chauffeur.

I wasn't aware of that.

Am wondering if it's a carry over of the role of pilot and observer in the Luftstreitkräfte in the Great War. Then too the observer was the aircraft commander.

[VtwinVince]

I think you're correct in your assumption that it is a carry-over from the old 'Emil and Franz' relationship from the first war. In Germany the observers tended to be of officer rank, but not always the pilot.

[Tim O.]

I don't think the observer was always the captain of the aircraft, although it seems to have been common early in the war. Due to the attrition of highly trained officers, the rules changed in 1940 to discourage more than one officer in any aircraft. Thereafter far more officer pilots were also captains of the aircraft as well. You are absolutely correct though that the tradition from WW1 of the pilot being a 'taxi' driver lasted much longer in the Luftwaffe than in the RAF or USAAF.