Gordon Gollob: The Truth?

[Maximowitz]

Gentlemen,

How accurate is this Wikipedia entry on Gordon Gollob? Not a popular man it seems, according to them Steinhoff said:

"Well, I will say this, then I will say nothing else about Gollob. Losses soared under his leadership everywhere he went, much like Göring in the first war. He placed leaders in command of units not because of their competence, but due to their loyalty to the Nazi Party, which were very few in the Jagdwaffe."

So, a fair comment on him or post war "distancing?"

Wikipedia Entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gollob

[VtwinVince]

Gollob had that reputation as a "political" officer, particularly for his role in taking over from Galland as General der Jagdflieger.

[Nick Beale]

Ever get the impression that there's an element of "Galland and his Buddies vs. the Rest" in all this?

[VtwinVince]

I do, Nick, but at the same time I give Galland his due for risking his backside leading JV44 in a lost cause, something Gollob didn't do.

[Ruy Horta]

Lets consider the fact that both Galland and Gollob had by 1945 deserved to sit on their backside by any standard.

Galland was sort of a marked man, leading JV 44 was also a way to get out of potential trouble. Yes it involved combat, no it wasn't entirely without smart reasoning.

In general the Luftwaffe had a strongly developed buddy netwerk, Alte Kameraden system...

Galland belonged to one clique*, Gollob and Peltz to another etc

[HARD_Sarge]

I am not so sure that is the reason behind it, from most of what I have read from Steinhoff, he does not really come across as being a big fan of Galland either, so I do not think his statement was part of a buddy deal idea

[VtwinVince]

Quite right, Ruy. My uncle ran afoul of Moelders whilst commanding Erg. Jagdgruppe 51, and was never promoted beyond Major for the next four years. He certainly did not "play the game" as others did.

[Kurt Braatz]

One possible and sobering truth about JV 44 is, in my opinion, that it soaked up the Luftwaffe's most experienced unit leaders for the joy of serving directly under Gallands command, flying jets and boozing - while Galland's successor stood there empty-handed and 19 year old rookies in the front line units had to die due to inferior leadership til VE day. Gollob put it this way in the 'Jaegerblatt', when Steinhoff published his book on the so-called mutiny of aces in the early 1970s. I am not a fan of Gollob at all, but this perspective made me think.

[mars]

Originally Posted by Kurt Braatz

One possible and sobering truth about JV 44 is, in my opinion, that it soaked up the Luftwaffe's most experienced unit leaders for the joy of serving directly under Gallands command, flying jets and boozing - while Galland's successor stood there empty-handed and 19 year old rookies in the front line units had to die due to inferior leadership til VE day. Gollob put it this way in the 'Jaegerblatt', when Steinhoff published his book on the so-called mutiny of aces in the early 1970s. I am not a fan of Gollob at all, but this perspective made me think.

The problem was there was not many "Luftwaffe's most experienced unit leaders" in JV44, JV44 was buit by Luftwaffe aces who was burned out long time ago, experience pilots recovered from hospital and many rookies

[Franek Grabowski]

I would not call JV44 a retirement or diet unit. The fact is that Galland got a lot of publicity, and worked perfectly in that environment. Nonetheless it was under his command the Jagdwaffe collapsed, and that there are some doubts of his 'anti-nazi' behaviour. There are some doubts about the mutiny, and there is a story of JV44 going under SS command. I would not be surprised if Gollob turns up as a good guy one day.