Dietrich Peltz - the missing (post-war) years

[Simon Trew]

I wonder if anybody can shed any additional light on what Dietrich Peltz, at one time Angriffsfuhrer England, did during the post-war years?

I'm intrigued that this officer doesn't ever appear to have been interrogated or properly interviewed about his wartime experiences. Or maybe he was, and somehow I've just missed it.

Beyond his war service, I know (or at least believe) that he disappeared on or soon after he landed at Prague-Rusin on 5 May 1945, apparently when the area was attacked by renegade Russian troops from Vlassov's forces. But after that, what happened to him?

From April 1946 into early 1947, US, British and French authorities made quite serious attempts to track him down, as had still not been found and was regarded as dangerous" (see various correspondence in UKNA FO 1038/166). Other German officers were interviewed, the Russians (who were at one time believed to have him in their hands) were contacted, and his wife's residence in Munich was monitored. One rumour had it that he was "hiding as a wood-chopper or forester" in Bavaria, but I have no idea if this was true.

Later - but I have no idea how much later - he emerged from hiding and according to various online sources (most obviously the Wikipedia entry) he worked for Krupp in Essen and then (from 1963) with Telefunken, ending his career as director of their factory in Konstanz. He died in August 2001 in Munich.

Richard Muller has kindly told me a little about his two meetings with Peltz, when the latter attended a 1990 symposium about the Battle of Britain at the National Air and Space Museum and a 1992 conference at the US Air Force Staff College. But although Peltz seems to have shed a little light on some matters, they did not - it seems - include his time as Angriffsfuhrer England.

Alfred Price also met Peltz (there is a photograph of the two men together on the inside rear cover of 'Blitz on Britain') and seems to have got a few words out of him - there is a reference to Peltz wanting to attack power stations instead of London and other urban centres on p.160 of 'Blitz on Britain' (though I have found no specific evidence to support this assertion in my research about Steinbock). But there is no evidence in Price's book that Peltz was interviewed at length about anything.

Does anybody know if Price's papers are preserved, and if so, who has them?

Likewise, does anybody know anything more about Peltz's missing post-war years? I get the impression he went into hiding, and by the time he emerged to take up a respectable job in industry, nobody could be bothered to sit down and interrogate (or even interview) him at length. But I could be very wrong, and would be delighted to be told so.

Likewise, I find no trace of a diary or draft memoir by Peltz. But again, am I wrong? Maybe something exists and I just don't know about it.

It has seemed odd to me that such a central figure in the history of Luftwaffe bomber forces has relatively little written about him, and that there is no record that I know of that illustrates a serious attempt to sit him down and quiz him about his experiences. Bits and pieces in records I have seen shed some light on his attitudes and beliefs. But it is all rather thin gruel.

Comments welcome - and I'm happy to send the contents of FO 1038/166 to anybody who wants to see the file. It is short and rather underwhelming, but it does contain a small amount of biographical information about several other Luftwaffe officers, so may be of some use to somebody.

Thanks

Simon

[Chris Goss]

I have all of Price’s German material if you would like to email me. However I believe that His family were not happy about him speaking to historians post war.

[Simon Trew]

Thanks Chris, will do.

What you say about his reticence in talking with historians is entirely consistent with what Richard Muller tells me. I guess Peltz had good reason(s) to avoid talking too much about some aspects of his wartime career. On the basis of admittedly limited evidence, he appears to have been genuinely close to Goering (one of the letters in FO 1038/166 asserts that "for a period of time he lived in Karinhall, G's palatial estate, and was practically considered a member of the family") and I suspect he made as many enemies and friends within the Luftwaffe officer corps, which may have influenced him to seek a quiet life post-war.

Anyway, thanks for the tip.

Simon

[Chris Goss]

He would attend the KG 6 reunions (where I got a signed photo) but even there, he was very remote or vague

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by Simon Trew

I wonder if anybody can shed any additional light on what Dietrich Peltz, at one time Angriffsfuhrer England, did during the post-war years?

I'm intrigued that this officer doesn't ever appear to have been interrogated or properly interviewed about his wartime experiences. Or maybe he was, and somehow I've just missed it.

Beyond his war service, I know (or at least believe) that he disappeared on or soon after he landed at Prague-Rusin on 5 May 1945, apparently when the area was attacked by renegade Russian troops from Vlassov's forces. But after that, what happened to him?

From April 1946 into early 1947, US, British and French authorities made quite serious attempts to track him down, as had still not been found and was regarded as dangerous" (see various correspondence in UKNA FO 1038/166). Other German officers were interviewed, the Russians (who were at one time believed to have him in their hands) were contacted, and his wife's residence in Munich was monitored. One rumour had it that he was "hiding as a wood-chopper or forester" in Bavaria, but I have no idea if this was true.

Later - but I have no idea how much later - he emerged from hiding and according to various online sources (most obviously the Wikipedia entry) he worked for Krupp in Essen and then (from 1963) with Telefunken, ending his career as director of their factory in Konstanz. He died in August 2001 in Munich.

Richard Muller has kindly told me a little about his two meetings with Peltz, when the latter attended a 1990 symposium about the Battle of Britain at the National Air and Space Museum and a 1992 conference at the US Air Force Staff College. But although Peltz seems to have shed a little light on some matters, they did not - it seems - include his time as Angriffsfuhrer England.

Alfred Price also met Peltz (there is a photograph of the two men together on the inside rear cover of 'Blitz on Britain') and seems to have got a few words out of him - there is a reference to Peltz wanting to attack power stations instead of London and other urban centres on p.160 of 'Blitz on Britain' (though I have found no specific evidence to support this assertion in my research about Steinbock). But there is no evidence in Price's book that Peltz was interviewed at length about anything.

Does anybody know if Price's papers are preserved, and if so, who has them?

Likewise, does anybody know anything more about Peltz's missing post-war years? I get the impression he went into hiding, and by the time he emerged to take up a respectable job in industry, nobody could be bothered to sit down and interrogate (or even interview) him at length. But I could be very wrong, and would be delighted to be told so.

Likewise, I find no trace of a diary or draft memoir by Peltz. But again, am I wrong? Maybe something exists and I just don't know about it.

It has seemed odd to me that such a central figure in the history of Luftwaffe bomber forces has relatively little written about him, and that there is no record that I know of that illustrates a serious attempt to sit him down and quiz him about his experiences. Bits and pieces in records I have seen shed some light on his attitudes and beliefs. But it is all rather thin gruel.

Comments welcome - and I'm happy to send the contents of FO 1038/166 to anybody who wants to see the file. It is short and rather underwhelming, but it does contain a small amount of biographical information about several other Luftwaffe officers, so may be of some use to somebody.

Thanks

Simon

I take it he escaped war crimes trials then?

[Simon Trew]

I assume - but do not know for certain - that he wasn't tried for anything. Presumably, when he eventually emerged from wherever it was he spent the immediate post-war years (the Wikipedia entry says 'released from captivity' but I'm not sure he was ever captured by anybody), the West German Police must have taken some interest in him. Maybe there is a file sitting wherever such records are kept? it would be interesting to know - I've never worked in this area, so I'm totally ignorant of the relevant records.

For purposes of clarification, there are a few biographical details (e.g. names of spouse, some dates of specific appointments) for the following officers. But really, it is not very detailed stuff. Sorry.

(Spellings as per the documents in the file)

Alwin Karl Wolfien
Otfried Sehrt
Karl Heinz Schomann
Helmut Mahlke
Richard Leppla
Erhard Krafft von Dellmensingen
Josef Kammhuber
Walter Gottschalk
Ludwig Franzishet
Franz Dyrchs
Otto Eugen von Ballasko

and Peltz himself.

[Simon Trew]

Probably an odd question, and a bit of a long shot, but I'll ask it anyway.

At least one (probably several but I'd have to check my notes) Luftwaffe prisoner mentioned Peltz flying around during Steinbock to visit participating units - and there is well-known photographic evidence of one of his visits.

UKNA HW 13/38 CX/MSS/OPD 1087, 20 February 1944 states that in the raid against London on the night of 18-19 February (the first attack that actually achieved a reasonable concentration on target), a single aircraft from I./KG 60, P1+AB, participated. The same document notes that the same aircraft also participated in a raid a few days earlier.

Was this most likely to be a plane transferred to I./KG 66 (de Zeng Bomber Units Vol.2 p.207 raises this possibility but since the bit of I./KG 66 that the planes went to wasn't involved - I think - this early in Steinbock, I wonder)? Or might it have been Peltz himself? I ask mainly because Peltz commanded the Gruppe in late September 1942 and I wonder if he retained the aircraft as a personal mount when he went off to do other things.

On 18 Feb the plane was identified as working to Beauvais control, which might be relevant evidence.

Probably a silly question, but is there any chance a very senior commander might fly in a raid of this sort? Clearly Peltz was exercised by the inaccuracy of the Steinbock bombing - thus the decision to send reconnaissance Me 410s to take photos. But would his concerns have manifested in a decision to go along to have a look himself? I can imagine it might have happened, but that doesn't really count as evidence.

Thanks,

Simon

[Bombphoon]

'Probably a silly question, but is there any chance a very senior commander might fly in a raid of this sort?'

Simon - surely not? Peltz and the senior Luftwaffe staff must have been aware more than most of the attrition rate/chances of going on a flight and not returning by this point of the war?

[Simon Trew]

Sure - I understand the logic and I can hardly imagine Peltz would have been keen to make the trip. Steinbock losses obviously varied between different operations, but they tended to be at least 5% and sometimes twice that.

Still, Churchill wanted to cross the Channel on D-Day to observe the landings as they happened and sometimes senior officers or politicians do get their way in such things. I'm also struck by parallels in the German ground forces (several examples of senior commanders at the point of contact in May 1940, for example) and Martin Samuels' excellent book on command in the early Blitzkrieg years certainly sheds light on the nuanced but key differences between directive command and directive control within the German forces.

If not Peltz, somebody else? There doesn't seem to be any question that an aircraft from I./KG 60 flew on these missions (P1 is the correct code). It seems to be the only aircraft from this unit that ever did so, and since the unit was long disbanded before Steinbock, that begs the question of why it was still flying with a I./KG 60 code in 1944. Since Peltz commanded the unit for some months in late 1942, I just wondered if he kept the plane for his own use. Monitored conversations between Steinbock prisoners indicate that Peltz flew himself around, rather than relying on somebody else to do so. It just made me wonder.

You're almost certainly right. It was indeed very likely a silly question. Apologies!

[edwest2]

A brief aside. The top German scorer for enemy tank destruction was located after the war by a few researchers. He told them he wished to be left alone and so they did.