Major Heinz "Pritzl" Bär - What happened exactly?

[RolandF]

With all respect - I am sure the archives are containing only the "official" aspect of any action of these times.
Regarding the timeframe Bär seems to me a very welcomed scapegoat for Göring concerning the menacing defeat in Tunisia.

Regards

Roland

[Larry deZeng]

Not necessarily, RolandF, especially not if you view his personnel records as a portal for continuing research. Once I had the copies, I would look at his 1942-45 performance evaluation reports for evidence of what happened. I would then look for any reference to a medical or psychological evaluation and, if there, try and obtain copies of his medical and related records from the Krankenbuchlager in Berlin. This can be done if one is tireless, persistent, has the time and is willing and able to spend a few Euros along the way.

But the one thing I would not rely on is the second-, third- and fourth-person "opinion" that fills the published literature as some here have suggested. We have already seen several versions of what happened just in this thread here. So if he relies on the several published accounts, he'll never get to the bottom of it. This is assuming that the "paper" he speaks of is a graduate-level paper and not a 10-page high school theme paper. If it's a 10-pager, then lots of luck.

L.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

But the one thing I would not rely on is the second-, third- and fourth-person "opinion"
L.

No that I could locate it right now (house in confusion due to work on heating system) but I have seen a PoW report that Bär got busted down to Staffelkapitän because he'd struck a fellow airman. Seems like everyone had a theory ...

[Larry deZeng]

Right Nick, that's about four now. Stories get around pretty fast and get embellished along the way, I guess. That's human nature.

L.

[Broncazonk]

There is the story that (at some point in time) when Bar was a Gruppe commander, two SS Gestapo agents arrived at his airfield intending to arrest one of his pilots. The pilot (an ace with approximately 20 kills, no less) was to be arrested based solely on his ancestry. Bar is said to have -- e-x-p-l-o-d-e-d -- in anger--was in the process of drawing his sidearm--when other Luftwaffe officers hustled the SS men back into their car with a warning never to return.

Wow-o-wow...would I like to see this story confirmed.

Bronc

[Ruy Horta]

Prien et al in JG 77 (t.3) goes into some detail on the subject.

Nothing too far out of the ordinary.

[krichter33]

I don't own Prien's JG 77. What does he say about the incident?

[Jan Bobek]

Originally Posted by Broncazonk

2) From Wikipedia: Heinrich Bär - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Over North Africa and the Mediterranean theatre, Bär had increased his tally to 179, but, fighting a losing battle against ever-increasing Allied air superiority, Bär lost his fighting spirit, and suffered severe mental and physical exhaustion. After several arguments with JG 77's new Commander Colonel Johannes Steinhoff and Hermann Göring, in the summer of 1943 Bär was transferred to France "for cowardice before the enemy" and demoted to Squadron Leader. He took over command of an operational training unit, Jagdgruppe Süd.[26][27]"

This section of Wikipedia is simplified (naturally) but correct.
Overyone can have low points and high points of career. We are not robots.
Let me add that Steinhoff as new Kommodore tried to support Bär when he was "down". But you can´t do it with a subordinated Gruppenkommandeur for ever.

[Juha]

Hello Jan
thanks for the clarification

Juha

[krichter33]

Thanks Jan.