Personal Life of Walter Oesau & Other Questions

[VtwinVince]

I tend to side with Horst on this one, unless you are dealing with members of Oesau's family, or other first-person references, it will only be conjecture. There is no doubt that Oesau was one of the Luftwaffe's great "Vorbilds" and "Draufgaengers", and it should be left at that.

[Red Baroness]

So how do you expect anyone to write biographies on people? Magic book-writing fairies?

Believe me, once I can get more information from the family, I won't be asking so many questions on here - the problem is that a vast majority of the family does not want to talk about their esteemed relative, and that makes it even harder.

I'm not whining here, I'm simply stating a fact. If one wants to write a book about someone, one should use all the resources that one has - including forums, libraries, etc.

I mean the late Oberst Oesau no disrespect at ALL, quite the contrary. I think it is time that a biography be written on him, and come Hell or high water, I'm going to do it.

My husband wants me to concentrate on the living Luftwaffe, and I can see his point - it is important to preserve history, and getting it live is the best - but if the person you want to write on is deceased, then you do what you need to do. I want to preserve and honor his memory and the history. Not to disgrace or disrespect in the least bit!

I have collaborated on Napoleonic history before; I understand what research and all that wonderfully fun (this is not sarcasm. I LOVE studying) digging, searching and finding can entail, and I am willing to do it. I'm even re-learning a foreign language so I can do so.

Now how does it look to new forum members, who come in looking for information, when der Alte treat them in such a manner? Perseus - and I - were looking for information, nothing more. Again, this is NOT meant as disrespect for the memory of the man, but a thirst for knowledge, and the full disclosure. If I was dead, and perhaps as famous, I would want the same treatment - full disclosure. And I would make sure that my family would know that.

It is mentioned elsewhere that Oberst Oesau wrote an autobiography - I am also trying to get information on that, so that perhaps it might be translated in the future.

It is extremely important that history is preserved, and that the true story is told so that we may know, in time, the truth, and be better informed of what is truth and what is conjecture.

[VtwinVince]

With all due respect, Wikipedia isn't what I would call a good resource for biographical material, except in the most superficial sense.

[Perseus71]

Hi All,

First off apologies for that BIG Whoopsi. Of course I have nor ever had any other intentions than pure knowledge. Me and couple of others are trying our best to write a series of articles on a bygone era. People like Heinz Bar, Erich Hartmann, Hans Joachim Marselle to name a few along side Walter Oesau. We are also attempting to write about the Luftwaffe wings from the period that carried their names.

Wikipedia is not THE best source for information. Yet many people do visit it every day to look up information. All I am trying to offer is complete and accurate information on these fighting men that deserve that the users be aware of the honarable life they led. While doing so, you at the least need to mention the fact that they also had a personal side. For ex. Oesau also had a carefree personality apart from being an expert marksman. Now wouldn't a novice person looking up Oesau's name want to know these things ?

Sure you could write a biography detailing their military career. But don't you think that will be kind of incomplete without such information ? conjecture or not, I am hoping the knowledgeable members of this forum could at least point in right direction. At this point in time, I have pretty much exhausted EVERY SINGLE link I could find in the 10 pages google has returned. That's how the Wikipedia article has come to where it is now. Even if a soource can be considered conjecture, I still can mention it if it has half credible information.

I could easily stop reserching on Oesau and move on. Like Flitzer mentioned, there are quiet a few people on whom biographies can be written. (In fact I already started on Heinz Knoke.)

But do we want a complete picture or half finished painting ?

Perseus

[David Ransome]

Hi,

Personally, I am in support of your research efforts especially as they appear quite genuine. Wikipedia can be very useful, and I've certainly found occasions when it has come in useful as a trigger to further research - sometimes leading to updates on Wikipedia!

As for personal lives of 'aces' etc. again I find this of interest. So often it is the case that private lives and attitudes are interwoven with military lives and experiences and knowledge of these can help us to understand actions and consequences in both areas.

Regards,

David

[Ruy Horta]

Originally Posted by Perseus71

1. He's said to have liked to ride Bikes with no Helmets.
2. His personal life. Especially reagarding his marriage.
3. According to this link, there is a Quote from Major Hartmann Grasser

,

"At that time, the intellectual capacity and physical state of Oesau often exhausted by the missions of interception. Sure, its forces were already at the end. Several pilots and they were German leaders, like him, forced to fight without rest and I think this was one of the great mistakes of our leadership. "

As we are at it, I'll throw in a couple of cents as well.

Let me start with a basic fact: I can give the OP none of the answers.

Unless there some sexual innuendo involved with the first question, I don't think anyone could be offended by its inclusion in a short biography. Riding a bike (as in motorcycle) without a helmet gives us a certain "romantic" image of him as a biker that we can transpose to him as a soldier, fighter pilot and fighter leader. It establishes a character that we all recognise, even today.

The second question. There are so many ways to tackle this. Most biographies and autobiographies start with an introduction from early youth, sometimes parents and even grandparents get similar attention, school, military training, flight school and indeed a little romance etc. Lets be clear, in an autobiography it is what the writer wants to share with us, so we have little to argue here. If not written by a ghostwriter, or at least based on facts, every line gives us an insight into the character, if only by style. That leaves the biography.

Again, if well written and in proportion to the primary subject a personal background helps to establish the character in a way all people can recognise. In the case of biographies this context is (IMHO) made or broken by the style and the extend to which the author draws his subsequent conclusions. Make this part too elaborate and it detracts from the "military" biography.

On the one hand we have examples of character assassination, writing akin to a gossip columns, or simply hiding the fact that the author has too little (military) knowledge.

IMHO a biography of a military subject needs to focus on the military career, but that need not be a dogma. To name a recent example, Kurt Braatz has succeeded in painting a very broad picture of Moelders the man, without adhering to any such strict guidelines. On the other side are books that read like mission debriefs, certainly interesting, but those give very little contextual information, just combat.

When in doubt, keep it simple, keep it short, stay with the facts, don't draw any conclusions and move to the military career, the rest is icing.

Finally the Grasser quote, few can argue is unrelated to the primary subject at hand, it is even essential in the context of his death. According to resident member Franek Grabowski it is however not entirely correct, so perhaps he can fill in on this myth.

Note to Franek, I think it would be interesting to see this subject from a different angle, hence my request (nothing more and nothing less).

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by Ruy Horta

Finally the Grasser quote, few can argue is unrelated to the primary subject at hand, it is even essential in the context of his death. According to resident member Franek Grabowski it is however not entirely correct, so perhaps he can fill in on this myth.

Note to Franek, I think it would be interesting to see this subject from a different angle, hence my request (nothing more and nothing less).

Well, I cannot say about this particular case, but indeed the continuous service of Luftwaffe aces is a myth. They had their periods of rest or non-operational service (see eg. Marseille or Graff), their units were rotated between various fronts and home bases, etc. The fact is that the nervous break down may appear instantly, and sometimes with no apparent reason.
Given the situation, ie. tremendous Luftwaffe losses of the time, those including Oeasu's friends, I may not exclude that he suffered some mental problems, but I would not point out lack of rest period as the reason. I would rather suggest the real reason was poor training scheme and inappropriate tactics that cornered the Jagdwaffe.
I suppose that some answers may be in Oeasu's diary, which as far as I know is surviving.
By the way, is it my impression only, that nervous breakdowns happened only on the Western Front?

[Perseus71]

Thanks Ryu and Franek for the information. That's appreciated.

To David's point, that's quiet true, that's exactly why I am trying to provide as complete a picture as possible.

Ryu's point absolutely spot on. I am trying to add some personality to the Leader's career so that it does not become mission diary. Also the way my article stands, it pretty much starts after Oesau joined Army. What or how his life was before that is not known. I'd love to find out but due to my unique circumstances, I can't access any books on the topic.

I do agree that the onset of breakdown can be sudden, may be things were different on western front. Then again here's the thing, according to
Sundin, Claes; Christer Bergström (2002). More Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile. Schiffer Publishing. pp. 56. ISBN 0764315595. P. 56,

Oesau was in bed with Enfluenza and had a high fever. Only due to Goring's snide remarks, he took to air. Could that be possible that the fever hindered his ability to fight ? I am not sure of that remark about the leadership as its unsourced and unreferenced on a spotty website. I was hoping to find out if anyone else here had come across that remark. Supposedly Grasser was on the same mission as Oesau and had seen Oesau being chased by five Aces of USAAF.
So I am wondering about the whole remark.

Thanks for the help.


Perseus

[Doug Stankey]

We avoid the personal stuff and concentrate on finding the essential facts of each fellow’s career. This is less colourful, but we aim for straight historical facts. Here is what we have on Walter.

OESAU, Walter (“Gulle”).
DOB: 28.06.13 in Farnewinkel/Holstein
1933 joined the Heer and served with an Artillerie-Rgt.
1934 promo to Fahnenjunker and undertook flying training at a DVS.
1936 assigned to I./JG 132.
20.04.37 promo to Lt.
04.38 volunteered for the Legion Condor in Spain and flew with 3. J/88 (to c.02.39).
01.03.39 trf to Stab I./JG 131 (later I./JG 2).
15.07.39 Oblt., TDY from JG 2 to I./JG 20 and appt Staka 1./JG 20 (to 04.07.40).
13.06.40 Oblt., Staka 1./JG 20.
04.07.40 appt Staka 7./JG 51 (to 24.08.40).
19.07.40 promo to Hptm.
20.08.40 Hptm., awarded Ritterkreuz, Staka 7./JG 51.
25.08.40 Hptm., appt Kdr. III./JG 51 (to 10.11.40).
11.11.40 Hptm., appt Kdr. III./JG 3 (to 28.07.41).
06.02.41 Hptm., awarded Eichenlaub, Kdr. III./JG 3.
15.07.41 Hptm., awarded Schwerter, Kdr. III./JG 3 and promo to Maj.
01.08.41 Maj., appt Kommodore JG 2 (to 18.06.43).
01.02.43 promo to Obstlt.
22.06.43 Obstlt., appt Jagdfliegerführer 4 (Lfl. 3) (to 01.09.43).
17.10.43 Obstlt., awarded DKG, Jafü 4.
12.11.43 Obstlt., appt Kommodore JG 1 (to 11.05.44 KIA - shot down by P-38 Lightnings over St.-Vith in the Eifel) Bf 109G-6/AS (WNr. 20601, “green 13”) attempted to belly land but cartwheeled fatally. 10.01.44 awarded DKG.
01.05.44 posthumous promo to Oberst.
Credited with 125 (126?) air victories in some 300 combat missions.


We hope that this helps.


LdZ
DGS

[FalkeEins]

..according to Robert Skawran in an issue of Jägerblatt (Nov 1963) Oesau claimed his 127th during this combat...(see also his book 'Ikaros') - that should be easy enough to verify
The likelihood is that he was fatally wounded during the combat, rather than killed in the 'crash-landing'....
(again according to Skawran & repeated in Prien, JG 1&11 Teil2 P926). There is an 'eye-witness' account of the 'crash' in Erik Mombeeck's reprinted JG 1 series..