Gerd Kahle Luftwaffe test pilot?

[ksuther]

Hello,
Would anyone know where i could find confirmation that Gerd Kahle was a test pilot/pilot for the Luftwaffe and if so when. I know that he was shot down over the Firth of Forth but don't know when he trained or what division he was in.

I should add that this fellow served as the pilot for a 3-person expedition to the Amazon on behalf of the third Reich and Himmler. He was chosen because of his fighter pilot experience - however I am finding it extremely difficult to find any information about his military experience.
Any information would be helpful.
Thank you.

[Peter Cornwell]

Gerd KAHLE was the pilot of an He111 shot down on 13 January 1940:

1.(F)/122 Heinkel He111H-2. Sortied on weather flight and photo-reconnaissance of the Firth of Forth but engaged by Spitfires of Red Section No.602 Squadron (F/L M. Robinson, F/O W.H. Coverley, and F/O C.H. MacLean) and Hurricanes of Red Section No.111 Squadron (F/L R.P.R. Powell, F/O R.G. Dutton, and Sgt H.L. Gunn) and both engines put out of action. Ditched 15 miles north-east of Fife Ness 10.10 a.m. FF Uffz Gerd Kahle captured unhurt, BO Fw Helmut Brauer, BF Uffz Eugen Dietz, and BM Uffz Heinz Lehmann all missing. Aircraft F6+LH 100% write-off.
Kahle and Brauer both vacated the aircraft but were unable to deploy the dinghy and drifted apart. After 3 hours in the water, Kahle was rescued by RAF high-speed launch and landed at Tayport.

Born 11 July 1908 in Fohrde, Westhavelland, he became a celebrated private pilot during the inter-war years and part financier of an air expedition to South America.

His first military flying licence was issued on 9 November 1937 and after initial training he joined the Wettererkundungs Staffel Ob.d.L. at Berlin-Gatow in August 1938. The following December he was serving in the Reserve at the navigation school at Anklam. He also served as pilot of a flying classroom and was based at Travemunde for six months where he completed long distance flights to Hammerfest in north Norway testing Do18 aircraft.

With the outbreak of war looming, he applied for a commission as pilot of a Ju88 or Me110 but, owing to his vast navigation and blind-flying experience, he was considered too valuable for front-line service and was instead offered an immediate commission but in a support role. He refused and joined the regular Luftwaffe as a lowly Flieger being promoted Gefreiter on 1 October and Uffz on 1 November 1939. He transferred to KG40 at Bremen in November 1939 where he was responsible for navigation and blind-flying instruction to pilots of the unit. He may also have been involved in development tests with the Fw200 during this period. On completion of this blind-flying training for KG40, and as the new Condor machines were not yet ready for service, he was seconded to Fernaufklarungsgruppe 122 to undertake some war flights and while doing so experienced his first ever aircraft crash on 3 January 1940:

1.(F)/122 Heinkel He111H-2 (5583). Crashed at Uetersen following engine failure. FF Uffz Gerd Kahle and crew unhurt. Aircraft 80% damaged – write-off.

Ten days later he was shot down and became a British PoW for the duration.

Sources: A.I.1.(k) Report Nos. 2, 3, & 5/1940 in AIR40/2395 at NA(PRO)

[ksuther]

Mr. Cornwell,
I cannot tell you how overwhelmed we are with the quality and wealth of information you've provided us with. It gives us so much more to work with to explore the life of this man. I am not well versed enough in this arena to understand the citation - if could you provide more detail as to where these references came from it would be helpful. We are also wondering where we might find details of his private pilot career. Any thoughts? I am sure as we get a better understanding of the info you've provided we'll have more military type questions - but for now thank you so much for taking the time to answer this post.
Best wishes,
Karyn
ps. Just for information purposes, after he was taken POW in Britain, he was shipped to Canada to serve in a POW camp in BC, where he later returned.

[Peter Cornwell]

Hello Karyn,

The source citation is the document number/series held in the British National Archive (formerly Public Record Office) at Kew in south-west London. You should be able to order copies of the relevant documents on-line. As for his expedition to South America you will find an original copy of the book he published in 1938 with co-author Schulz-Kampfhenkel currently available through lindbergh-aviation.de priced at 25 Euros. Good luck.

[ksuther]

Good to know that citation information, we will follow up with them to order copies. Thank you for the information regarding the book; we have been able to find an original copy and are now waiting for Jens Glusing's 2008 book "Das Guayana Projeckt" containing details about the colonization strategy behind that Amazon Expedition so we can fill in more details.
Thanks again.