Personal Life of Walter Oesau & Other Questions

[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..

[Red Baroness]

Originally Posted by 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..

I tend to agree here. In other research I have come across that there were "fatal hits" into the cockpit area by the attacking forces.

And this is getting INTERESTING, I might add.

[Perseus71]

Hi FalkeEins, Doug,

Thanks for that Summary. Although I was aware of some of the pieces of information, that summary is really helpful. Also I was surprised to learn that there are versions of him surviving that crash. Or for that matter the aircraft cartwheeling. All I knew was that he was trying to belly land when the aircraft received a final burst in cockpit area.

I guess you learn something new everyday! Do we at all know what he used to do before joining Heer ? More importantly why was he called Gulle ? Is that related to the way he piloted his aircraft ?

Thanks once again.

Perseus

[Frank Olynyk]

Are you aware of the wartime biography published in 1944 by Hanns Arens Verlag. It is 48 pages long, soft cover, and was written by Friedrich Griese. Given that it was a wartime publication, I have no idea how accurate it is, and how much of it constitutes propaganda.

Frank.

[lilsis]

Hi,

somthing about Gulle and Ille, 2 boys in a lil small town.

from the book: tell us of early, grandma

Quelle: http://books.google.de/books?id=ZYvP...um=2&ct=result

Page 170/171 ff.


"Sis