Gottfried Dulias

[Thijs Lepstra]

Hello all,

As I posted in a previous post here I have been researching Gottfried Dulias' claims which he makes in his book "Another bowl of Kapusta".
I have taken a number of points from his book in the chapter where he describes his flying career in World War II. I verified most of his claims regarding his flying in a number of books, I also sent some letters to people and organisations.
Although I can’t give specific details yet I must say that I have to concluded that I don’t think he was a pilot in the Luftwaffe.

As soon as I finished my thesis on Mr. Dulias I will post some of my findings here.

Kind regards,

Thijs Lepstra

[Kurt Braatz]

Mr. Dulias claims he had breakfast with Guenther Rall in Washington a couple of years ago. Hm. Recently, Rall showed me kind of a home-made magazine he had just been sent accidently showing 82 year old Dulias in uniform and full medals on the front cover. His comment: "Look at that guy - completely nuts, isn't he?"...

[WEISNER]

I have a copy of that photo, SAD, SAD, SAD it is, Actually comical to see.
Kevin

[Kurt Braatz]

Among those who know, people like him are called "schräge Fürsten" (queer Dukes). There are quite a few of them around - enough to fill a squadron. Sometimes I think somebody should write the War Diary of that outfit. Extremely entertaining stuff.

[WEISNER]

Perhaps His book should have been named "Another bowel of dreams"? or then again.."A bowel full of Lies"....
Kev

[Rob Romero]

I do personally know that Dulias -as he claims- had breakfast with Rall (275) the morning after a symposium at the Air & Space Smithsonian in early 02 -I was there with a fourth gentleman.

Rob Romero

[VtwinVince]

Hey, at least von Werra could claim to have been a genuine Jagdflieger, and he did score a "home run".

[DrZink]

Originally Posted by Rob Romero

I do personally know that Dulias -as he claims- had breakfast with Rall (275) the morning after a symposium at the Air & Space Smithsonian in early 02 -I was there with a fourth gentleman.

Rob Romero

What did they talk about?

DrZ

[David Ransome]

Hi,

"Let's pretend that this sausage is my 109 and that fried egg is a Lavochkin.......'

On a more serious note, eBay item 270183865714 seems to show that Herr Dulias did attend that meeting in the summer 2007, and now he is being classed as an 'aviation legend', along with 15 others who are undoubtedly genuine (I am led to believe).

Is anyone able to nail this one once and for all? It does matter if this gentleman is telling porkies because if lies are accepted they become truths very quickly, and then recorded historical fact becomes distorted - diminishing the achievements of the genuine and throwing up another barrier to meaningful research in any interest area. How long has it taken, or is taking, to make people realise that not everything that was written in the years immediately after WWII actually had much bearing in fact, for example.

I don't intend making further comment on the Dulias issue, I just hope that someone can give us a clear answer as to whether he was what he claimed to be or not. My own view on the basis of everything that I have read is that he wasn't, but again I can't claim to have seen all the evidence.

Regards,

David

[Rob Romero]

It's been more than five years (wow time flies), so I don't remember most of the details -though as you might expect, the focus was on Rall. I know that both men felt and expressed sadness at the loss of their wives. I remember asking Rall silly questions like verifying whether his aircraft was No. 13 (This breakfast probably marks the begining of my real obsession with Luftwaffe Experten -I'd ask better questions now), and what pilots he was especially impressed with (he diplomatically responded that there were so many with JG52, that he couldn't single any out). I was impressed by how both men could eat such cholesterol rich food and still exhibit such vigor and mental acuity at their advanced ages (IIRC Rall was then 84 and could pass for a Corporate Chief Executive Officer) -must reflect good genes. It was all over in about 45 minutes and we went our seperate ways.

Rob Romero