Usage of Pervitin

[Jens]

Thanks guys.

These are good hints!

[Kurt Braatz]

Pervitin was frequently issued by staff medics to aircrew who had to fly long range or both day and night missions. Transportgruppe 30, who flew supplies to the navy cauldrons of La Rochelle, St. Nazaire etc. in 1944/45, used it excessively. See my book "Schafsweide", ISBN 3-9807935-0-8 for detailed info.

[Jens]

Also very interesting.

I have found, Priller was against the usage of Pervitin.

Seems to me, that mostly units with long-range-actions (Transport, Bomber) or great stress ((Night)Fighter, late-war, RLV) used it.

[Broncazonk]

"By 1940, Pervitin was widely distributed among pilots in the Luftwaffe to prime them for the rigors of long missions, or to ward off sleeplessness and hunger if their planes were shot down, Holland told Live Science

That was the year of the Blitz — the Nazis' relentless and devastating bombing attack against Britain — an initiative fueled by massive quantities of speed, Holland said.

Records from the British War Office estimated that over the three months of the Blitz — from April to June 1940 — about 35 million Pervitin tablets were sent to 3 million German soldiers, seamen and pilots, Nicolas Rasmussen, a professor in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales in Australia, reported in 2011 in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History."

https://www.livescience.com/65788-wo...gn=20190625-ls

Bronc

[Carsten Petersen]

I have spoken to night fighter crews about Pervitin. They spoke quite freely about it. Some used it in small amounts and others did not like it because they could not sleep afterwards. One night fighter ace ate it like candy and made him very aggressive.

[Theo Boiten]

One quote from a Nachtjagd pilot that I've included in a January 1944 narrative in the NCA series (full story will be published in the 1st vol for 1944): In order to stay awake, I ate some Scho-Ka-Kola before we took off. A kind of chocolate containing the chemical Pervitin as a ‘waker-upper.’ The stuff works great, but afterwards, you’re exhausted and you also get bad headaches.

Cheers, Theo

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Theo Boiten

… I ate some Scho-Ka-Kola before we took off. A kind of chocolate containing the chemical Pervitin as a ‘waker-upper.’ The stuff works great, but afterwards, you’re exhausted and you also get bad headaches.[/i]

Cheers, Theo

And should you fancy buying some after that glowing review: https://www.scho-ka-kola.de/homepage-english.html

(Only caffeine in it these days, though!)

[GrafWolf]

Hello gentlemen!

Not a document, but a little nice story!
Parts of TGr. 30 were stationed at airfield Reichenbach from 24.March 45 to
22.April 45. By night they flew to supply the channel islands and the
"Atlantikfestungen". The crews got Pervitin to stay awake. This Pervitin
were little white pills, which looked like Saccharin. On 23.April 45 airfield Reichenbach was abandoned. The barracks were plundered by some people
from the "Torfwerksiedlung". They found a lot of these little white pills and
put them into their coffee and tea. The doctor from Schussenried got a lot
of work that time because of circulatory trouble and sleeplessness.

Hope you`ll enjoy it!
My source: Flugplatz Reichenbach 1938-1945, Walter Hermanutz

Herzliche Grüsse aus Oberschwaben,

Wolfgang

[Nick Beale]

TGr. 30 also flew supplies of an energy supplement, Dextro-Energen, to the "Atlantic Fortresses".(You can still get it, renamed as Dextro-Energy).

[Gerhard]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

TGr. 30 also flew supplies of an energy supplement, Dextro-Energen, to the "Atlantic Fortresses".(You can still get it, renamed as Dextro-Energy).

That's simply Dextrose (89%) resp. sugar (82%).

Gerhard