Women in the Luftwaffe

[Lucien]

Gentlemen,

In August 1944, following the allied landings in the south of France, a German bomber (either Heinkel III or Junkers 88 was shot down by US Navy fighters in the south of Lyon. The 4 or 5 five crew members werre all killed in the crash. When the bodies were recovered by French witnesses, one was found to be a woman named Katrin Pomm of which ID card which was also recovered mentionned her as a pilot !
I though that during WWII, no women were authorised to serve in the Wermarcht, let alone in the Lufwaffe, in the pilot capacity. I know that some German women flew during WWII, but I thought they all had civillian status and they never flew out of Germany, as for instance the famous Hanna Reitsch.

My question is : what a woman could be doing in a military a/c, close to the front line ?

Your opinions will be welcome

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Remember that this bomber was shot down probably while evacuating S France and not during an offensive mission. My guess is that this woman was a feminine auxiliary (secretary, nurse, cook...) of the Luftwaffe in S France and she was flying as a passenger of this bomber towards Germany or at least a base closer to it. Germans always evacuated their feminine auxiliaries first from their French bases, AFAIK.

[hedgehog6]

The Luftwaffe did use women as ferry pilots, to deliver replacement aircraft to operational units. The famous German sex-shop entrepreneur, Beate Uhse, did this during WW2. This woman may have delivered an aircraft and been "dead-heading" back when her ride got caught.

[Graham Boak]

With only 4 or 5 bodies, it was unlikely to have been an evacuation flight, although it can't be ruled out. We probably can rule out a joy ride for the pilot's girlfriend, so hedgehog6's suggestion seems most likely.

[edwest]

Melitta Schiller received the Iron Cross for testing dive bombers.




Ed

[Jon]

This is interesting as both the Luftwaffe and the RAF had women either testing or being used to ferry aircraft. Surely women either RAF or Luftwaffe ran into combat either over occupied Europe or over England ??

Any confirmed details ??