Subordinates' opinions of Hans Dortenmann;

[kennethklee]

Originally Posted by NickM

No doubt then, Dortenmann was Eager for combat AND a skilled AND careful pilot...thanks for the Feedback;

nickm

Nick-

I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss Dortenmann and his relationship to his pilots. I do not have Don Caldwell's JG 26 books (Top Guns and War Diary Vol 1 and Vol 2) at hand at the moment, but I also recall that he made a comment about Dortenmann's ambitions for the Knight's Cross. I was thinking about the lack of any such opinion expressed by Axel Urbanke in his Green Hearts book. IIRC, unlike Urbanke, Caldwell did not back up his assertion with any quotes from Dortenmann's former colleagues and subordinates or citations from Dortenmann's diary. (If my recollections are wrong about Caldwell's books, I stand humbly corrected and apologetic.) I also am loathe to believe that the former pilots would comment about Dortenmann's alleged Knight's Cross ambition to Caldwell, but not Urbanke. I would imagine that his pilots would have sensed quickly if Dortenmann put his ambitions above his men. Military literature is replete with commanders who lost the trust and respect of their subordinates for this. Subordinates who dislike their supervisors are usually not reticent about telling people, especially authors or interviewers for other media.

The fact that, in Green Hearts, so many quotes from former pilots regarding Dortenmann are almost uniformly favorable and Dortenmann's own diary entries suggest good relationships with his men, coupled with Caldwell's lack of specific quotes even from pilots labeled as anonymous or from Dortenmann's diary, suggest to me that Dortenmann was "clean" and a skilled and responsible leader, as well as a talented fighter pilot. No disrespect to Caldwell intended--I greatly respect his published work on JG 26--I'm just drawing conclusions based on the evidence. Now, of course, if Urbanke conspired to hide Dortenmann's flaws, all bets are off...but I'll stop there .

Kenneth