GERMAN WOMEN PILO

!History /WINTER:

*ÍUÍ

AT WAR, 1939

(Overieaf) A group offemale gliding instructorsin uniforms of the NSFiying Corps, April 1945, atSchäferstuhi, Germany.(tiiarga Hempet photo.)

HANNAREITSCHWAS NOTTHE ONLYGERMANWOMANPILOT FLYINGBETWEEN1939 AND1945

T oday it is almost unknown that women pilotsactively contributed to Gennany's war effortduring World War II, other than perhaps

Hanna Reitsch (1912-1979). the exceptional testpilot of the 1930s and 1940s. But she was not theonly German woman pilot flying between 1939 and1945. At the onset of the war, women pilots hadtrained alongside men to become ferry pilots for theparamilitary NS Flying Corps iNationalsozialisti-sclies Fliegerkorps, NSFK). The Flying Corps alsoemployed women pilots as managers of its aircraftrepair yards, and in other auxiliary functions.Towards the end of the war, at least five womenworked as ferry pilots within the Luftwaffe, holdinga captain's rank and wearing uniforms. Women alsoworked as company test pilots, mid two of themwere experimental test pilots, receiving theirassignments fi-om the Luftwaffe. They performedstunning flights to test novel dive brakes, cut thecables of barrage balloons, test pilot visibility, andimprove bombing accuracy. In 1944, after theLuftwaffe had lost the air superiority contest, atleast sixty women were i-ecruited by the NS FlyingCorps and were employed as glider instmctors toadvance training for Luftwaffe recniíts. By war'send, in May 1945, many more women were still ininstructor training, waiting for their chance not onlyto be employed, but also to regain access to flying —a privilege they had been denied since the war hadstarted in September 1939.

Tlie number of Grerman women involved in aer-ial warfare seem meager when compai-ed to theirAmerican counterparts. But in the context of theNational Socialist state which had long tried tocement traditional gender role assignments, and torelegate women strictly to the fiinctions of wivesand mothers, these numbers are significant. ' Thestory of the German women's readiness, theiremployment and motivation sheds an interestinglight not only on the military history of World WarII, but also on the working of gender issues, in NaziGermany as well as in traditionally "male" fields oftechnology, aviation, and the military.

Reconstructing the history of German womenpilots in World War II presents some difficulties.The most significant one, of course, is the dearth ofsources. German women sport pilots had mademany headlines in the years around 1930. But bythe mid-1930s, most of them faded out of publicawareness and sank into obscurity, as a direct resultof gender role pressure by the Nazi regime. Also,

they were replaced in media headlines by the newlyfounded Luftwaffe, which better representedCîermany's eager militaristic agenda than did smil-ing women pilots.^ For war purposes, the potentialof female pilots was mostly ignored; no serious efforlwas made to utilize it until very late in tlie war. Fewrecords regarding concepts and practices of thedeployment of women pilots suivived. Most of theserecords were lost due to Allied bombing and theirdestruction by Luftwaffe at the end of the war. TlieDeutsclie Dienststelle/Wehrmachtsausktmftsstellein Berlin, in charge of maintaining the documents ofall former members of the German Anned Forcesuntil 1945, and the German Federal MilitaryArcliive {BtmdesarcIüv-MilitärotThiu) in Freiburg,contain almost no information on women's activitieswith or for the Luftwaffe. Also lost is all documen-tation of the NS Flying Corps in the framework ofwhidi women had worked as ferry pilots and gliderinstructors. After the war, the exceptional position ofwartime women pilots, so contrary to their tradi-tional gender stereotypes, was quickly forgotten:The professional claims and accomplishments ofwomen pilots were outdated in an era that was ded-icated to the restoration of traditional gender roles.But while women pilots were afraid to be stigma-tized as "Nazi aviatrixes," male pilots found newemployment in the re-founded Luftwaffe of 1957.where their talents were needed to restoreGermany's military power within the framework ofthe Western alliance: the "Cold War" was on the rise.Like their countei-parts in the U.S., Great Britain,and the USSR. German women pilots fell victim toa "cultural amnesia" that quickly obscured theirinvolvement in the air war during World War II.While the women remained behind in the age ofpropeller planes, men took off into the jet era.

This is a first attempt to tell the story ol'German women pilots during World War II, basedmostly upon interviews with the few survivingwomen pilots, as well as upon rediscovered andimpublished diaries, notebooks, and the only fivestill extant flight logs of women pilots.

Preparation for War

By 1935, the Reich Labor Service LawiReich.sarbeitsdi.enst-Gestz) had prepared the volun-tary mobilization of Gennan women in case of war,assigiiing them to inferior, ci\ñlian administrativetasks that did not require any special knowledge or

An hÍHtorían and Journalist, Dr. Evelyti Zegenhagen ¿s curretitly the Verville Fellow at the National Airand Space Muf;eum, Smithaonian Institution, in Washington. D.C, wlwre slie i.s- working on a scholarlybiograpliy ofHanua Reitsch. Dr. Zegenhagen graduated summa cum laude in 2006, from the Uniuersityoftlie German Armed Forces in Munich, Germany. In 2008, she received the Hugo-Junkers Award of theGerman Aviation Press for her dissertation on German, women sport pilots from 1918 to 1945. Her pub-lications include: "Schneidige Deutsche Mädel:" Fliegerinnen zwischen 1918 und 1945 ["DashingGerman Girlsf Women Pilots between 1918 and 1945|, (Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag, 2007): DeutscheLuftahitpioniere 1900 bis 1950 lOerman Aviation Pioneers 1900 to 19501, coauthored with Jiirg-M.Hormann, (Bielefeld: Delius-Klasing-Verlag, 2008); and "The Holy Desire to Serve the Poor andTortitrt-dFatherland: Gennan Women Motor Pilots of the Inter-War Years and Their Political Mission." GermanStudies Review; October 2007.

12 AIR I-OWER íHistOnf / WTNTER 2(KHI

Woman pitot Vsra vonBissing (right) as head ofthe repair yard/ferrying siteof ttie NS Fiying Corps inEsctiwege, Germany, dur-ing World War li. I'Kar/Koessler photo.}

abilities.'' In 1936, with a foreword by GeneraloberstWerner von Blomberg, Reich war minister andCommander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, MarieElisabeth Lüders (1878-1966) published her studyDas unbekannte Heer [The Secret Army), an analy-sis of women's war service based on experienceswith the employment of women in World War L"*

Lüders, who was very active in the German "bour-geois women's movement" and a popular author,concluded that as modern wars became increasinglymore technological, the inclusion of women into thewai' eíFort was unavoidable. To organize and trainwomen in peacetime would be tlie most efficientway to use them during the war - as "comrades"beside the men, but still in specifically assigned"female" fields of employment. Accordingly, thesecret "Guidelines for the Employment of Women inWar," developed in fall 1938, by the Reich EconomicMinistiy, stated that in wartime women should notbe employed in areas that required technical imder-standing.^ Instead, they shoiild be employed inareas deemed appropriate to their "femalevirtues"— welfare, nursing, civil air defense, unde-manding administrative tasks, and the armamentindustry.

Throughout the 1930s young German womenhad heen prepared for their forthcoming roles ashousewives and motbei"s, which ultimately meanttheir exclusion from the battlefield. Yet at the sametime, within tlie framework of the Bund DeutsdierMädel (League of German Girls, BDMl. they under-went a rigid paramilitary training that oftenincluded training with hand weapons. Similarambivalence applied in the case of women pilots.The NS Flying Corps, founded in 1937, did notaccept women as full members. Even when theywere actively flying, they were only allowed to be"supporting members" {fördernde Mitglieder), inaccordance with the roles ascribed to them—to sup-port their flying husbands and sons. Yet, the Leagueof German Girls planned to have 500 female BDM-leaders trained in gliding. This would have createdthe cornerstone of a female glider movement, whiehwas to bring the physical and emotional virtues ofgliding to an even larger number than the thou-sands wlio were already active in gliding clubs allover Germany. It would also have formed a distinc-tive, National Socialist branch of the German

A group of femaie giidinginstructors in uniforms ofthe NS Fiying Corps, dur-ing training wilh a Zöglingglider at the Wasserkuppeinfaltof1944.Hempel photo.)

AIR POWER tHiStOrij / WINTER 2009 13

Woman gliding instructorat the Wssserkuppe, fall1944. (t^arga Hempelphoto.}

"THERE ARENO FEMALEWAR PILOTSIN GERMANY,...THIS... ISINCOMPATI-BLE WITHTHE ETHOSOF THE NEWGERMAN."

women's gliding movement. Due to the war, how-ever, these plans were not realized and the contra-dictions continued. While women were seriously dis-couraged from taking up flying careers, and directedtowards only menial positions in aviation, theLußwaffe utilized the talents of two of them, HannaReitsch and Melitta Schiller-von Stauffenberg(1903-1945), for highly specific research tasks, andthe Nazi state made Reitsch a poster child of its pro-paganda efforts.

Therefore, it might also not come as a surprisethat, although German efforts to utilize the femalelabor force for war purposes obviously had beguneai'ly, until the end of the war female employment toa large degree took place Ln an improvised, uncoor-dinated manner far helow the women's actual levelof professional training and capabilities. The mobi-lization of Gennan women for the war remained farbelow its potential, last but not least because AdolfHitler himself refused to order their mobilization.One exception was the Lußwaffe. Even before theoutbreak of World War II, in spring 1939, the ReichAir Ministry began to organize the employment ofwomen in the Lußwaffe's air space surveillance(Lußivaffen- und Flugmeldedienst). Thus, over thecourse of the war, the Lußwaffe became the largestemployer of female auxiliary forces among all threebranches of the militaiy—^about 130,000 womenwere employed in non-flying positions as employees.

workers, and female Lußwaffe assistance special-ists [Lußwaffehelferinnen).^

At the outbreak of the war in September 1939,there were no plans to tap into the considerablepotential of women pilots. At the time, in Germany,about eighty women held sport pilots' (or A2-)licenses and some 1,000 women were glider pilotswith different degrees of skill. The Lußwaffe did notbother to consider this potential, mainly for threereasons. First, at the onset of World War II, theLuftwaffe saw no need to request the serviœs ofwomen. Contrary to the Allies, Germany had a largenumber of young, well trained pilots eager to fight—although the official numbers claimed byGermany in 1938-39 should be read with care.Therefore, the Lußwa/fe's general staff had neverconsidered the actual employment of women pilots,or, as a well-informed German journalist put it inmuch glossier terms in 1940, "There are no femalewar pilots in Germany, and there will never bebecause tliis ,.. is incompatible with the ethos of thenew German."' Later on in the war, when Lußwaffesustained increasing losses, it was too late to i*egis-ter and recioiit women pilots efficiently. Secondly,there were too many rival institutions—Lußwaß'c,NS Flying Corps, Reich Youth Leadership, Leagueof German Girls, to only mention a few—competingfor their share in recruiting additional pilots, andalso blocking each other's efforts. And thirdly, therewas—as compared to tlie U.S,, USSR, and GreatBritain—no women pilots' organization and noprominent aviatrix (such as the Americans JackieCochran or Nancy Harkness Love) who might havebeen instrumental in suggesting and implementingthe employment of female pilots for war-relatedpurposes. None of the available German womenpilots had the professional expertise, the politicalsignificance, and the pei-sonal ambitions necessaryto create an organized employment of Germanwomen pilots during wartime.

German Women Motor Pilots

In early 1940, women sport pilots were ques-tioned for the very first time about their possibleutilization "in ferrying planes fi'om aviation compa-nies to assembly locations near the frontline." ^ Inclose cooperation with the Reich Air Ministry, theNS Flying Corps had sent out a "strictly confiden-tial" circular that inquired about their piloting skillsand "readiness for action." The women were offeredopportunities to ferry planes—provided that theyhad logged at least thirty flight hours as A2- (sport)pilots, "I don't think I need to describe the cheeringwhich began among us demoted women pilots,"Germany's most famous woman sport pilot, EUyBeinhorn (1907-2007), declared, describing tbe feel-ings of her comrades at that time. "Of course, theycouldn't do it without us, we realized with satisfac-tion when we received our draft notices." ^

Since before the war, women pilots had onlybeen allowed to ohtain sports pilots' licenses, andwere only prepared to fly a very limited range of air-craft. Therefore Beinhorn, like a number of other

14 Am POWER 9{t^tOTy / WINTER 2oni)

Female gliding intsructorso( the US Plying Corps, atthe end of the waf.April/May 1945. (MargaHempel photo.)

THEY WEREALLOWED TOFLY ONLYDURING"APPROPRI-ATE"WEATHERCONDITIONSAND ONLYBEFOREDARK

women pilots, voluntarily attended one of the tran-sition training courses that took place at Berlin-Rangsdorf and other airfields all over Germany.Here, women pilots, but also male pilots who hadnot yet been drafted into the Luftwaffe, obtainedB1/B2 licenses which enabled them to fly. respec-tively, one- to four-seater planes of 1,000 to 2,500kilogram weight IBI). or one- to eight-seated air-planes with a weight from 2,500 to 5,000 kilograms(B2).^" Woman pilot Eva-Essa von Dewitz's {1907-1989) flight log sui-vived to document the trainingprogram schedule. The iuture ferry pilots weretrained to ñy smaller planes such as Bücker Bü 131Jungmann, "Heinkel He 72 Kadett, Siebel Si 202Hummel and Focke-Wulf Fw 44.^'

The "Instructions for the Takeover of AircraftOwned by the Reich from Industry for Fenying toLußwaffe Supply Bases by Pilots of the NS FlyingCorps," dated March 29,1940,^^ regulated the orga-nizational linkage as well as the duties and tasks ofthe retrained pilots. The ferry pilots of the FlyingCorps remained civilians flying in a paramilitaryenvironment. They were allowed to fly only during"appropriate" weather conditions and only beforedaj-k—clearly an indication that the Flying Corpsdid not expect too much with regards to the abilitiesof its pilots. Consequently, very quickly disillusion-ment set in among the women who had applied, asElly Beinliom described: "Not much emerged fromthe examination. Some of us were found worthy toferry repaired trainers from the companies to thesupply bases where they were taken over by the

Luftwaffe. . . . But nothing really came out ofthat.Except for a few girls who didn't have anything bet-ter to do, all the others disappeared back into theirprivate lives." ̂ ''

Some of the women who had completed transi-tion classes found positions as company pilotswhere they were hij'ed to replace male pilots. One ofthem was Charlotte Hogeweg (1898-1986) who,from 1940 to early 1942, was employed as a ferrypilot with the Reich Air Ministry's Supply Office{Nachschubamt), probably in a militai-y or quasi-military function.''^ Lisl Schwab (1900-1967)attended a transition class in Rjmgdorf in 1939, andthen worked as a company pilot with the LetovCompany in Olmiitz, Moravia and the Bohemian-Moravian Machine Company in Prague, where shealso ferried planes as large as the Junkers W 34. In1943, she was awarded the War Merit Cross, SecondClass (Kiiegsver-dienstbreuz Zweiter Klasse). Untilsummer 1944, Schwab then worked as chief pilot forthe Leichtbau Inc. in Budweis, mainly test-flyingthe company's Fieseler Fi 156. For the next severalmonths, Schwab served with the ferrying wing atthe Commander's Office at the Berlin-Tempelhof airbase, and from September 1944 to May 1945, withthe Luftwaffe's Ferrying Wing 1, Group South-East,at air bases in Prag-GbelL Bad Vöslau, Linz-Postlingbei^, Hörsching, and Klagenfurt.'" In May1945, Schwab was arrested by U.S. troops, butescaped from captivity in June.'^

Pilots Beate Uhse (1919-2001) and Thea KnorT(dates unknown) also started out as company test

AIR POWER / WINTER 2009 15

Woman pilot AnnelieseLieben, in 1943, head ofaircraft maintenance alLuftdienstkommando 1/6 atUijnster-Lodderntielde,was a weil-known aerobat-ics pilot in the mid-1930s.(Helga Adam photo.)

and ferry pilots. Both women ferried various typesof light airplanes, mainly Klermn and Bücker air-craft and the Fieseier Storch, from production sitesand repair yards io and from airbases near the frontline. As the surviving night logs of Uhse and Knorrprove, the employment of women pilots was irregu-lar and inefficient. Both women worked only a fewdays per month, completing test flights that lastedbetween five and less than twenty minutes.Sometimes both women, at least according to theirrecords, did not fly for months. Knorr's flight log(whose entries are most likely incomplete) shows214 flights between June 11, 1940 and October 8.1944, including test flights as well as ferry flights.Obviously, female pilots were not needed to a degreethat would have required their daily services.Persistent rumors that large aviation companiessuch as Junkers and Messerschmitt employeddozens of female company and ferry pilots, seemrather unlikely in light of these research results.

Women pilots who had been retrained to flyB1/B2 planes also found other niches open to them,mainly within the NS Flying Corps. In most cases,they worked at or headed repair yards that pro-vided aircraft supply for the Luftwaffe. In all ofthese positions, they replaced male pilots who hadbeen drafted. In 1939 renowned aerobatic pilot Veravon Bissing ( 1906-2002 ), employed by the NS FlyingCorps since 1937, became the head of a regionalrepair yard of the NSFK Group 6, Eschwege, withapproximately 100 planes. After the war, shedescribed her job as follows: "I test-flew all planeswhich were due for repair or overhaul, was incharge of arranging the materiel supply for theyard, of keeping the records of aircraft cabins andengines, of distributing and checking parachutes,and headed a so-called ferrying center the task ofwhich was to ferry smaller air craft (A2 and Blplanes) from the production sites to the Luftwaffesupply parks. Mainly, we ferried Kl 32, He 72, Fw52, and Fieseier Storch." '̂ Von Bissing fulfilled herjob eagerly and dutifully, commanding about 100male ferry pilots.'^ For ferrying 1,000 planes with-out a single accident, von Bissing was decorated in1944 with the War Merit Cross. Like Schwab, shewas arrested in 1945 by Allied troops, but releasedwithin a few days.

Woman pilot and flight meclianic AnnelieseLielren-Höppner ( 1910-1989) held a similai* positionas a civilian employee at the Luftwaffe's air serviceunit (Luftdienstkomniando) 1/6 at Munster-Loddemheide, where starting in 1943 she workedas a pilot and head of aircraft maintenance. Herfield of activity consisted of the "execution of techni-cal matters affairs, concerning aircraft mainte-nance, test flights and anti-aircraft target shootingpractice," and her superior stated, "Reich Employee[Reichsaiigestellte) Höppner has many years ofexperience in flying and can put all her experiencesto use as the head of maintenance iWartungslei-tung)P^^ The fleet of Lieben s Luftdienstkommandoconsisted of at least thirty-five planes: four HeinkelHe 111, one Junkers Ju 86, twelve Domier Do 17,one Focke-Wulf Fw 58, one Focke-Wulf Fw 190, oneMesserschmitt Bf 108, eleven Klemm Kl 35, oneJunkers W 34 and three Avia B 71.^" As the head ofmaintenance flight mechanic Lieben was in chargeof maintaining that complex stock of airplane types.However, Lieben's case proves that there was noimperative need for female services even in the mid-dle of the wai-. In August 1943, the Luftwaffereduced Lieben's working hours to six five-hourdays per week; and shortly thereafter accepted herrequest to quit her job because she was getting mar-ried.

In winter 1943, German losses mounted, espe-cially after the battle of Stalingrad, and led to theproclamation of "total warfare," which among otherthings resulted in a compulsory registration ofwomen between the ages of 17 and 45 (later 50) forlabor. (The measure was restricted to registrationand was never flilly put into practice.) In the contextof this measure, for the first time the potential ofwomen motor and glider pilots was seriously con-

16 AIR POWER 'History / WINTER 2009

German soaring championand experimental test pilotHanna Reitsch in 1938,after winning the Remanout-and-about soaringcompetition in gliding. Nextto her (in white coverall) isfamous glider pilot OttoBräutigam. On the veryright is one of her mentors.GenerallufízeugmeistaErnst Udet. (Photo fromDeutsche Luftwacht -Luftwelt, vol. 5. no. 6. June1938. p. 190.)

FERRYINGFLIGHTS TOAREAS OUT-SIDE THE1939 BOR-DERS OF THEREICH WEREEXTREMELYRARE

sidered. The women were asked whether they werequaliöed and interested in serving as auxiliarypilots.'^' But, as a result of different entities andagencies competing for the employment of womenpilots, no clear plan existed, suggesting whether touse the women in a civilian or military capacity, orwhat kinds of tasks they would have to perform.Most likely, women were planned to be utilized asferry pilots, and as pilots of cargo gliders that deliv-ered supplies, but also troops to the frontlines. Inspring and summer of 1944, those women who hadtaken the initiative to apply, were "drafted" andenlisted as members of the fenying units of theLuftwaffe. The names of eight women ferry pilotsare confirmed by records. Five of them - Liesel Bach(1905-1992), Lieselotte Georgi (1920-1982), TheaKnorr, Lisl Schwab and Beate Uhse - served amongthe forty pilots of the Ferrying Wing 1 of CentralFerrying Group (Überftihrungsgruppe Mííte) whichwas stationed in Berlin-Tempelhof'. ^̂ Wearing uni-forms and holding the rank of captain, they workedunder the same conditions as male Luftwaffe

As Uhse describes in her memoirs, the womenwere originally assigned to the third squadron ofthe ferrying wing which ferried trainers, hut—liketheir American counterparts, the WASPs—quicklymoved to more challenging tasks. Within fivemonths, Uhse svritched to the second squadron

which ferried fighter planes. However, Beate Uhse'sand Thea Knorr's flight logs—the only survivinglogs of women ferry pilots in the Luftwaffe—showthat the overwhelming majority of their ferry flightswere short-distance, with daily night times of only afew hours. Ferrying flights to areas outside the 1939borders of the Reich were extremely rare. Uhse fer-ried ahout sixteen different types of planes, includ-ing the Klemm Kl 31, Kl 32, Kl 35 and Kl 36, BückerBü 131, Bü 133, Bü 180 and Bü 181, Siehel Si 104and Si 202, Heinkel He 72, Focke-Wulf Fw 44 andFw 190, Messerschmitt Me /Bf 108 and 109 as wellas Junkers Ju 87. She had at last one training les-son on the new fighter jet Me 262—on April 30,1945, one week hefore the end of the war. Knorr fer-ried Kl 25. Kl 35 und Bü 181. In all, she flew signif-icantly fewer missions than Uhse.

Although the women were only supposed toferry planes, and were not trained for combat, oftentheir flights were performed undei- wartime condi-tions, in the midst of enemy air supremacy. LieselBach recollects: "Our flights towards the end of thewar, mainly in western Grermany, were almostalways suicide missions. I... I It is true that my planewas armed for cases of emergency. But it wasn't ourtask to shoot and to get into air battles. We had todeliver the airplanes safe and sound and to avoidany contact with the enemy. Most of the time, Iaccomplished this by flying my plane at low altitude

AIR POWER 'MiStOrij / WINTER 2009 17

Melitta Sciiiüer, "quarter-Jewish" physicist, flightengineer, and test piiot atthe tuflwaffeTest Cenlerin Rechlin and theLuftwaffe's TechnicaiAcademy in BerJin-Gatow,in 1943. (Photo fromDeutsche Luftwacht -Luftweit, vol. 10. no. 6.March 1943, p. 138.)

TOWARDSTHE END OFTHE WAR,SHE WASINSTRUMEN-TAL IN TRY-ING TO FORMA UNIT OFGERMANKAMIKAZEPILOTS

above the trees. And when I saw an enemy plane, Idisappeared in the next tree line." '̂* Beate Uhseadds:

ferrying flights had become dangerous missions. Wewere ehased by enemy fighters. My airplane wasfully armed. But I was well aware that, without anyfighter training, I could only lose in an air hattiewith a 'Spitfire.' Therefore, it was better to disappear.I flew as low as possible, below the tree lines. At thislow altitude it was hard to see me. But one dangerremained: Instead of being shot down, J eould crashinto a hill, a pole, or a building.'^^

Two women had crossed deeper into male terri-tory: Hanna Reitsch and Melitta Schiller-vonStauffenberg became experimental test pilots. '^^While they remained civilians, their work was per-formed in close cooperation with the Luftwaffe.Despite their marked personal differences, Reitschand Schiller shared some similarities: Both womenmoved seamlessly from civilian to military research,both were awarded high military decorations, andboth were honored with the prestigious title "FlightCaptain."

Although Hanna Reitsch did not possess therequisite professional qualification—an engineeringdegree or training in aeronautics—as did most ofher male colleagues, she became a military experi-mental test pilot in 1937, when she was sent to theLuftwaffe's Flight Test Center in Rechlin. Here shetested a variety of aircraft. Among her tasks weretest flights in the cargo glider DSF 230. fieitsch notonly proved the full potential of this plane, but also

became instrumental in developing guidelines forthe training of cargo glider pilots—an achievementwhich significantly contributed to the battlefieldsuccess of this plane, especially during the battle forthe Belgian fortress Eben Emael in 1940, where thecargo gliders and their pilots succeeded spectacu-larly. Reitsch also peiformed dangerous tests in cut-ting the cables of barrage balloons with toolsattached to the wingtips oí' planes, such as theDomier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111. In 1942, shetest-flew the Messerschmitt Me 163B, a version ofthe world's first rocket-powered interceptor, and oneyear later the other version, the Me 163A. ̂ ' WliileReitsch was not one of the originally designatedexperimental test pilots for the Me 163 [these wereHeini Dittmar (1911-1960) and "Rudy" (also: Rudi)Opitz (born in 1909), she flew the Me 163 at leasteight times during transition training flights andcompany test flights. At least one of these flightswas a powered fiight.^"^ Both Opitz and Dittmar hadsuffered severe injuries flying the Me 163, andReitsch did not fare better: After a severe crash, shespent the next five months in a hospital, and herfuture as a pilot looked grim. Ailer her recovery, in1943, Reitsch successfully tested a manned versionof the V-1 robot bomb (a cruise missile). Reitschreceived prestigious military decorations, amongthem the Iron Cross Second and First Class and theGolden Military Flying Medal with Diamonds in aSpecial Setting. Towards the end of the war, she wasinstrumental in trying to form a unit of GermanKamikaze pilots, a project which was never fullyrealized. In 1945, Reitsch was arrested by U.S.troops and interrogated.^-'

Melitta Schiller's talents as a physicist, flightengineer and pilot, were also put to full use. As apilot at the Rechlin Test Center, and, from 1942 on,at the Luftwaffe's Technical Academy in Bei'lin-Gatow, Schiller's research focused on the continuousimprovement of the efficiency of German bombingmethods. Foi- that purpose, Scliiller perfonned morethan 2,500 dangerous dives, mainly with Junkere Ju87 and Ju 88, sometimes up to fifteen per day, start-ing at about 4,000 meters and diving down to lessthan 1,000. Quite often she was attacked by Alliedplanes entering the air space over Berlin. In 1944,Melitta Schiller became the head oi' the newly-founded Experimental Center for Aircraft SpecialDevices (Versuchsstelle für Flugzeug-Sondergeräte.V) in Berlin-Adlershof Her tasks now included theresearch on automated triggers for dropping bombson tanks, on dive-bombing and level-bombing aim-ing devices, on blind bomb release, night fighter andvisual night landing procedm'es, and on aimingdevices for attacking massive bomber fonnations.For her work, Schiller was awarded the Iron CrossSecond Class and the Military Flying Medal in Goldwith Diamonds and Rubies. She was also recom-mended for the Iron Cross First Class, but was shotdown by Allied planes during a ferrying flight inApril 1945, and died before she was able to receivethis prestigious medal.

Very late in the war, in November 1944 andJanuary 1945, the High Command of the Luftwaffe

18 Am POWER 'History / WINTEK ÜIHIU

LisI Schwab, chief pilot forLeichtbau Inc., Budweis, infront of one of the FieselerFi 156 Storch airplanes shetest-flew for the companyuntil summer 1944. (KarlKaessler photo.)

BY MARCH1945, FIFTYPERCENT OFTHE AIR-PLANEMECHANICSAND THIRTYPERCENT OFTHE AIRENGINEMECHANICSWERE TO BEREPLACEDBY WOMEN

established guidelines for the selection and employ-ment of women as aircraft technical personnel—nodoubt in response to the enormous loss of malepilots and other personnel at that time.^" Again, noplans were made to utilize the potential of femalepilots more efficiently. The guidelines includedamong others the recruitment of fifty women for theChief of Supply (Chef Nachschub), where they prob-ably were to be trained among others as ferry pilots,most likely to follow the footsteps of above-men-tioned Chai'lotte Hogeweg. An even greater numberof women were to be trained as "assistant chemicaltechnicians" {Hilfs-Chemo-Technikerinnen), a termwhich most likely included training as aircraftmechanics as well as aircraft technical and opera-tional personnel. At that stage of the war, theLuftwaffe also made plans to recruit about 150,000suitable women to replace 112,000 of Luftwaffe'sregular enlisted men. By March 1945, fifty pei'centof the airplane mechanics and thirty percent of theair engine mechanics iFlugmotorenschlosser) wereto be replaced by women. This way, younger soldierscould be released for battle. At the same time, sol-diers less fit for war, who had not stood the test as"aircraft technical personnel" were to be replaced bythe women "most suited for this employment...whovoluntarily had decided to do this job," However, theHigh Commands plans stretched much fijrther, aswas announced early in 1945: "For the long term itis planned to train the best of the female employeesas special personnel. For that purpose, specialcourses will be established at tlie technical flightschools {fliegertechnische Schule/i)."-^^ Although thewording of the decree indicates that these plans

might also have regarded the training as ferrypilots, the final collapse of tbe Reich meant thatnone of the ideas were pursued further.

Gennan Women Glider Pilots

Gliding had had a longstanding tradition amongGrennan women, with the first women's glider clubsestablished around 1930, Over time, an extensiveinirastiizcture developed, with women's gliding clubsfounded in many German cities, and probably train-ing thousands of women. After 1933, all support, andall material supply were gradually transferred tomens gliding as it provided future Luftwaffe pilots.Although women such as Hanna Reitsch, LieselZangemeister (died 1935), Inge Wetzel (1912-?) andFeodora "Dolly" Schmidt ( 1914-1997) had establishedEuropean and world records, women's gliding inGermany became enormously restricted, and ceasedto exist with the outbreak of the war in September1939. After that time, the women's clubs werereduced to social functions only.̂ ^

In 1943, women gilder pilots, like women motorpilots were asked about their interest in supportingthe Luftwaffe in an auxiliary function. The women'semployment was intended to help solve theLuftwaffe's recruiting problems, by aiding in theefforts to pre-train new recruits in gliding. This sub-stantially shortened the general training time forpilots, a measure meant to counterweigh the lossesoí Luftwaffe pilots which increased monthly.

The demand to train more pilots was accompa-nied by attempts to increase aircraft production. Inresponse to the emergency created by the Allied

AIR POWER 'MiStOnj / WINTER 2009 19

Luftwaffe íerry pilot LislSchwab Infront of 3Junkers W 34, the largestairplane she was allowedto fly during WoHd War II.(Karl Koessler photo.)

ONLYUNMARRIEDWOMENSHOULD BEASSIGNED TOWAR SER-VICES, ANDMARRIEDWOMENONLY ON AVOLUNTARYBASIS

Combined Bomber Offensive, on March 1,1944, theArmanents and Air Ministries created the FighterStaif iJägerstahl progi^am;'^ which was to producebetween 1,000 and 4,000 fighters per month; inearly 1945 production was to be increased to almost10,000 planes a month. In this context, desperateplans like the "People's Air MUiiia" (Volksstunn derLüfte) were bom. Young male pilots, all of themmembers of the Flying Hitler Youth (Flieger-HJ),were to be pre-trained to fly simple, but often verydifficult to maneuver planes against the enemy.Among these planes were the Me 163 B, the Me 328,the manned version of the Fieseler Fi 103 (VIReichenberg), and the Heinkel He 162 People'sHunter (Volksjäger), a jet plane with a plywoodfuselage. All these planes presented enormous tech-nological and piloting difficulties, such as erraticperformance at takeoffs and landings, extremelyhigh speeds, and difficult maneuverability. Manyutilized enormously volatile fuels, and were tremen-dously hard to fly even for experienced pilots.Experts such as the Chief of Fighter Forces, GeneralAdolf Galiand (1912-1996), and the Chief of BomberForces, General Werner Baumbach (1916-1953),therefore steadfastly protested the idea of trainingmembers of the Flying Hitler Youth as "fighterrecruits for special purposes."^^ However, in thequarrel of competencies among the NSDAP, theReich Youth Leadership, the Fighter Staff, theLuftwaffe, competing ministries, and other institu-tions, the NS Flying Corps saw the pre-training ofLuftwaffe recruits in gliding as an opportunity toprove its raison d'etre, and to gain significancewithin the framework of the German war effort.Therefore, it ruthlessly continued its efforts whichwere halted only by the end of the war.

The Flying Corps' immense demand in flightinstructors was to be met by the inclusion and train-ing of women, mostly women glider pilots, as glidingflight instructors and flight instructor assistants.But, as in the case of the women motor pilots, it tookmore than a year to develop any concrete plans. Insummer 1944, all eligible women who hadexpressed interest were contacted, and in July 1944were "drafted" by the Flying Corps at their own ini-tiative. •''' The training of the first class of womengliding insti-uctors started in August 1944 at thegliding school in Grünau, Silesia. The class con-sisted of fifty German (and formerly Austrian)women glider pilots. Up to the end of the war, moreclasses followed. At least one more unit with 120women is known for fall 1944 in Grünau, "' and aclass with twenty to twenty-five female participantsin the fall at the Wasserkuppe/Rhön. Most likely,additional classes were formed at other locations.Not all participants were experienced glider pilots,although the latter seem to have formed the majoT-ity in the first classes. Other participants weremotor pilots or had been instructors of the NSFlying Corps already before the war, such asElisabeth Hartmann (1897-?), mother of renownedfighter pilot Erich Hartmann (1922-1993).^'Largely following a Reich Air Ministry guidelinestating that only unmarried women should boassigned to war services, and married women onlyon a voluntary basis, and if they had no children,the NS Flying Corps drafted women who wereunmanied, or widowed, and usually childless.''"

The women wore the blue uniform of the NSFlying Corps and were trained for two months inclose cooperation with the Luftwaffe. The trainingwas conducted almost exclusively by men, and

20 Am POWER history / WINTEK

The first page of TtieaKnorr's flight log, showingtest flights at the Klemmfactory in Böblingen inJuly, 1940. (Author's copy.)

IN NOBRANCH OFTHE GERMANARMEDFORCESWEREWOMENABLE TORISE PRO-FESSION-ALLY ASTHEY DIDWITH THELUFTWAFFE

-f

í_

i _

_ _ . - _

• *

tv• V « l -51

included lessons in aviation, aerodynamics, naviga-tion, instruments, reading and handling of instru-ments, meteorology, aif traffic law, splicing, welding,and wood and metal processing. The women alsohad gliding lessons at three different levels: begin-ners, advanced and experts, in one- and two-seated

The graduates were sent to various schools inGermany, to each "teach flying to two or threedozens of 'rascals'," as Margaret Sclimidt (datesunknown), one of the instiiictors, described it.''"None of the women felt as if they were discrimi-nated against by their male superiors, colleagues, orflight students. All insisted that instead they weretreated with respect and appreciation. "We werefully accepted, and nobody tried to stop us in anyway," reports glider pilot Marga H. (horn 1914), whoin 1945 attended one of the last training classes forfemale gliding instructors.'*^ However, at their dutystations, women instructors always had to work inclose cooperation with male instructors, and werenever on their own. Marie-Luise Müller-Maar( 1911-2001), a graduate of the first women's class atWasserkuppe, described her duties at the glidingschool as follows:

there was one principal, one flight instructor, two ofus from the Wasserkuppe group, and furthermoretwo girls in the kitchen and about forty-flue flightstudents hetween the ages of 14 and 47. The boyswere all nice and enthusiastic about ftying. We roseearly, early morning exercise, breakfast, and then upthe hill. The planes were pushed out of the hangarand the starts begafi. Singing, we marched down thehill for lunch, one hour of rest, and then up the hillagain until dinner. Each had a group of about ftfteenboys, and the com?-adeship was excellent. After din-ner, we had an hour of theory, and then there was

some written homework to do, until we went to bedearly ....**̂

Due to the approaching end of the war, thefemale instructor were not employed efficientlyanymore; neither were the overwhelming majorityof their students. Evacuated away from theapproaching enemy and sent from flight school toflight school, the women's final job became releasingthe students and destroying the gliders—but theydid not always follow the latter order. By the end ofApril 1945, the last women instructors were dis-missed, and often arrested hy the Allied troops sincetheir uniforms seemed to indicate an affiliation withthe Luftwaffe. However, members of the NS FlyingCorps—as long as they were not simultaneouslymembers of the Luftwaffe—were legally consideredmembers of a corporation under public law, andthus were non-combatants. Thus, women gHdinginstructors were usually released within days. Theircontributions to the war effort, no doubt, were con-sidered insignificant by the Allies.

Women Pilots* Motivation and Gains

It is obvious that while their number wasinsignificant, the quality of the employment ofGerman women pilots in World War II was sub-stantial. In no branch of the German armed forceswere women able to rise professionally as they didwith the Luftwaffe. They became company andexperimental test pilots, ferry pilots, heads of repairyards or gliding instructt)rs in para-iniUtary ser-vices. As the youngest and most innovative branchof the Armed Forces, the Luftwaffe had experi-mented early on in the war with the employment ofwomen for specific tasks and had gi*aduallyincreased its demands. As more and more malepilots were drafted or were killed, more and more

.\IR POWER íHiStOnf / WINTER 2009 21

Liesel Bach, European aer-obatics champion ot the1930s, and ferry pilot withthe Luftwaft in 1944/45.(Photo trom DeutscheFlug-lliustrierie, nr. 4,January 28, 1938, p. 6.)

FOR MOSTOF THEWOMENPILOTS,PATRIOTISM- O RRATHER,MISGUIDEDNATIONALISM- W A S ANIMPORTANTSOURCE OFMOTIVATION

niches opened up for women. And while the need forinnovative approaches to nil war-created gaps wasthe Luftwaffe's motivation to open up to women,women pilots had their own reasons to involvethemselves. Their reasons were threefold; theopportunities offered to them by an affiliation withthe Luftwaffe's needs, the women's patriotic feel-ings, and their attempt to prove equality withmen—not only in the air, but in society in general. Iwill analyze each in turn.

First, an affiliation with Germanas air warneeds proved ft-iiitful for those women who tookadvantage of it. Flying for the Luftwaffe or the NSFljdng Corps allowed women pilots access to air-craft that otherwise would have been completelyout of reach, and increased their number of nighthours tremendously. Ferry pilot Beate Uhsedeclared after the war; "My sport flying had becomeimpossible due to the wan... Therefore, I gratefullyseized the opportunity offered to me by Luftwaffe, tobe deployed in a ferrying wing. To fly all the aircrafttypes there which one never could have accessedotherwise.... With this vaiiety of experience, and allthese hours logged, I thought back then, one wouldhave great chances in professional and sport avia-tion after the war."""'* Pragmatically, Liesel Bachargued; "The most important thing was that wewere able to fly, and [that] we were allowed to con-tinue flying during the war. As far as flights to thefrontlines were concerned, we were allowed to makeour own decisions. All opportunities were opened upto us." •"*

The gains in flight experience are documentedin the women's flight logs: Before the war, between1937 and 1939, Lisl Schwab had logged in 166 flighthours, including the 1939 transition training inRangsdorf where she—in addition to Klemm lightplanes (Kl 25 and Kl 31} she had flown before—learned to fly the Me/Bf 108. During the war, LislSchwab participated in more than 3,000 missions,flying all kinds of planes from Me/Bf 109 and Fw190 up to transport planes. She not only increasedher number of flight hours enormously, but alsogained considerable experience flying a broad vari-ety of aircraft. Pilot Beate Uhse's flight log shows686 flights during her career as company and testpilot between August 1937, and the outbreak of thewar on September 1, 1939. For the wartime era,until April 30, 1945, the flight log registers 1,072entries, comprising of test flights as a companypilot, transition flights and ferrying flights vHth theLuftwaffe:^^ Uhse flew a wide diversity of aircraft,including the aforementioned training/conversionflight on the Messerschmitt Me 262. The flight logsalso show a wide variety of tasks assigned to thepilot, including ferrying, weather and demandingtest and control flights. Ulise's expectation to gabienomious experience in her wartime employmentwas definitely not disappointed.

Glider pilots were eager to seize the opportu-nity to take up flying again. "When so manyCrerman pilots had died that even the last availablegliding instructor had been drafted," glider pilotMargret Schmidt wrote in her memoirs, "then, sud-denly, the higher-ups remembered us demoted fly-ing girls.... And, unfortunately, they hadn't beenwrong."''^ As instructors, the women gained enor-mous knowledge in the theoretical and practicalaspects of soaring, and had access to manyadvanced gliders which otherwise they would neverhave been able to fly. Furthermore, the women—according to their own statements—had not onlybeen longing to soar, but also cherished the com-pany of theh- old friends and instructors. They hadknown each other from training courses and com-petitions before the war, and had cultivated anintense social life that had stretched far beyondsoaring. By applying for instructor classes andbeing drafted, they saw a chance to renew their per-sonal relationships, to escape from the rather harshwartime reality that kept them in mediocre andboring jobs far away from their interests andfriends.''^ Consequently, women sometimes evensigned up in groups for instructor training.Experiencing once more the long-missed sense ofcommimity that is so common among glider pilots,and engaged in a rigid schedule, most women gliderpilots lived in a world of illusion towards the end ofthe war; They enjoyed flying, the comradeship, andthe sense of being needed even as their world fellinto ruins. True to their patriotic mission, not one ofthem seemed to have questioned their mission.

Secondly, patriotism: For most of the womenpilots, patriotism—or rather, misguided national-ism—was an important source of motivation.Patriotic and nationalistic feelings had been central

22 AIR POWER ¡History / WINTER 200»

THE OVER-WHELMINGMAJORITY OFWOMEN...KEPT SILENTAFTER THEWAR WITHREGARD TOTHEIR CON-TRIBUTIONSAND THEDETAILS OFTHEIREMPLOY-MENT

to German aviation since the end of World War I,when the Treaty of Versailles had placed heavyrestrictions on Germany in general, and on aviationin particular. With the outbreak of World War II,patriotic feelings peaked in many Germans, maleand female. In 1940, woman glider pilot KaiinMannesmann (1908-1942) wrote into her diaiy,unaware that she was referring to a completelyfalse rumor: "It is so very disappointing that I canexperience this time only as a spectator. Today,somebody spoke about a Canadian woman pilotwho was shot down over Berlin and who had lostboth her legs. Allegedly, she asked if she had hit[thel Siemens [factory! because then she could diein peace. What a pity that among us there are noopportunities for such employaient."**^

When offered the chance to show their patrio-tism, women were more than eager to do so. For someof them, their actior^ were just a continuation of pre-war activities that went along with their politicalbeliefs, an outlet for their nationalist and/or NationalSocialist beliefs. Liesel Bach, who had been an ardentfollower of Adolf Hitler since 1932, stated that shewould rather work dangerous missions as a ferrypilot than suffer passively the air raids on Germancities."*^ And pilot Lisl Schwab, who had pursued allher fiying career in close connection with Nazi stateleaders and institutions, and who had ferriedwounded Wehrmacht soldiers from Hungary toGermany towards the end of the war, after the warexpressed great satisfaction about tliis humanitarianmission which she considered a matter-of-courseaction for every true German/'"

But political statements that confirm thewomen pilots' patriotic intentions and efforts arerare. The overwhelming majority of women—gliderand motor pilots alike —kept silent after the warwith regard to their contributions and the details oftheir employment: They were afraid of being stig-matized as "Nazi aviatrixes" and feared to be heldresponsible for their involvement with the regime.Rather, they claimed that their intentions had beencompletely apolitical. The attempt to disconnectone's biography from the political context can alsobe found in the memoii's of ferry pilot Beate Uhse,who wrote, "I let myself be deceived - like millions ofothers, too As a Gierman, one did his duty in thishorrible war. Depending where one had been put, asa mother, a farmer, a soldier, a pilot. That's the wayI thought, like millions of others."''' Vera von Bissingused the same strategy of exculpation when sum-marizing her wartime activities as head of a ferry-ing yard during her denazification trial in 1947:This was, in short, my area of activities, obviouslycompletely focused only on aviation. I have neverbeen politically active.... Except for a few newspa-per articles which I had read about tlie relationshipbetween Adolf Hitler and Leni Riefenstahl, andwhich were not taken seriously, I have never heardanything."^-

This strategy of depoliticizing one's actions wascommon among Germans after World War 11: Inself-explication, one's individual actions became theresult of external influences for which one was not

responsible, and which one could not have changed.Conditions and consequences of one's actions there-fore can be separated from one's responsibility. Suchescape from reality camouflages, diminishes, andblurs the women's role in the wai* effort. But it alsocamouflages, diminishes, and blurs the third factor:the functioning of gender in the role of women pilotiiduiing the war.

The influence of the gender aspect on Germanwomen pilots at war cannot be underestimated.German wartime women pilots found themselves atthe heart of areas considered almost or exclusivelymale domains: technology, aviation, and the mili-tary/warfare. Living in a patriarchal dictatorshipthat assigned rather strict gender roles to men andwomen, women pilots' intrusion only became possi-ble due to the demands of war. Yet working side byside with men, they still did not experience genderequality; traditional—and even moi-e so, Nazi - gen-der role assignments remained powerful. This isshown by attempts to regulate ¿lie exclusion—atleast in theory - of women fix)m combat and combat-Uke conditions according to the non-combatant sta-tus the Nazis had reserved for their female auxil-iary forces. In practice, women fei-ry and experi-mental test pilots' worked under combat-like condi-tions, in planes that often were fijUy equipped withweapons and ammimition and fiown in a sky inwhich the enemy held air supremacy. But even thenwomen were strictly forhidden to engage in combat.To kill in combat, remained a strictly male privilege.There is no doubt that the official emphasis on the"non-combatant" deployment of women and theorders not to shoot at the enemy, indeed to avoid anydirect enemy contact, was a farce that revealed theregime's paternalist character: The state proved itsallegedly protective intentions towards women,while at the same time manifesting the exclusivelymale privilege to kill.''"''

German women pilots accepted their exclusionfrom combat, as well as they had always acceptedany condescending attitude of male colleagues. Infact, German women pilots flying before World WarII had acknowledged their inferior status in avia-tion to a much larger degree than their Americanand British countei-parts. Most women pilotsdeclared that issues of the "Fatherland" were moreimportant than attempts to achieve emancipationin the air, especially since emancipation was seen asa very unpatriotic attitude.'"* During the war, thewomen continued and intensified this approach.Thus, all their attempts were dii'ected towardsassimilating into their male mllitai-y environment.They wanted to prove their values as worthy com-rades who could take the male environment, includ-ing the exposure to air battle, 'like a man."

Germany's female experimental test pilots ai-ea case in point for this assimilationist behavior.Hanna Reitsch always presented herself as a com-rade of the fljnng man who was on equal terms withhim. She left no doubt that she was willing to do herduty—like all the (male) soldiers fighting on thefront lines. Whether she was test-flying, visitingtroops at the Eastern Front, or fulfilling propa-

Am POWER {History / WINTER 2OO9 23

Lieselotte Georgi (left),ferry pilot with the¿uftwafife in 1944Í45, dur-ing aerobatics training withher flight instructor, Hans-Jürgen Uhse, in summer1939. {Deutsche Luftwacht• Luftwelt, vol. 6, no. 5. May1939. p. 161.)

HERE, FORTHE FIRSTTIME, I WASGIVEN ATASK WHICHHAD BEENAN EXCLU-SIVELY MALEPRIVILEGE

ganda assignments, Haima Reitsch stressed herequality with men, and her belonging to the chosengi'oup of—male-citizens fighting for the father-land—an aspect which became an important part ofher identity. Referring to her tasks as an experi-mental test pilot, she stated for instance; "These testflights fulfilled me and thrilled me spiritually likealmost no other task before, because 1 knew that Iflew every test for the lives of my comrades who didtheir duty." '̂̂ On another occasion, she said ahouther test-flying assignments; "Here, for the first time,I was given a task which had been an exclusivelymale privilege. Even when this task only temporar-ily had the character of soldiership, it seemed to mea patriotic obligation the weight and responsibilityof which meant more to me than any honor or rankcould have."^^

The effort not to be judged by gender, but bymerit, is even more obvious in the case of Reitsch'scompetitor, Melitta Schiller. Brought up as aProtestant and German nationalist, but considereda "quarter Jew" by the Third Reich's racial stan-dards, Schiller found herself in a precarious posi-tion. The more the persecution of Jews in Grermanyincreased, especially during the war, the riskierSchiller's test flight projects became. Officially, theracial background of Germany's most professional

female experimental test pilot was never discussed,and in 1944 Schiller was rewai'ded her "equaliza-tion with Aryan people", a legal document wiûcb"expunged" her "Jewish" heritage and awarded herthe rights and privileges of "Aryans." Schiller herselfnever mentioned her background, instead focusingon the contributions she made to the Gennan wareffort. In a lecture in 1943, she stated: "1 believe thatI am able to say this in the name of all Germanwomen pilots, that in us the hierarchy of tbe valuesof all womanhood in no way has been altered andthat aviation never [was! a thing of making a sen-sation or even of emancipation: We women pilotsare no suffragettes."^'' And she distanced herselfeven more from her gender by declaring herself tobe a "messenger of my 'people in arms,"' whose workwas only possible because she was willing to give"the final—one might say, soldierly—effort, even if itwere sacrificing my life."'̂ ''̂ Schiller's 1936 marriageinto the Stauffenberg family whose members forcenturies had held high-ranking positions in theGerman military and public service, had served twopurposes; to show her devotion to the Fatherland,and to stabilize her racial status in society. TheStauffenberg family turned out not to be the bestprotection either, when her brother-in-law ClausGraf Schenk von Stauffenberg, organized the 1944

24 Am POWER iHiUory / WINTER 2009

MALEPILOTS, EVENTHOSE WITHA COMPRO-MISING NAZIERA CAREER,WERENEEDED INTHE NEWLYFOUNDEDLUFTWAFFEOF 1956;WOMENWERE NOT

conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler—a plan Melitta inti-mately was involved with. After the assassinationattempt failed, the conspirators were killed, andtheir families arrested. Melitta Schiller wasarrested, too, but six weeks later, with almost all ofher relatives still in prison, she returned to her divebombing job which she continued until her death inApnl 1945.

The attempt of the women to blend into theirmale environment took the edge off their intrusioninto the male sphere. Since the women acted "likemen" (and were expected to act "like men"), theirachievements took on a male connotation. By way ofmeritocracy, the women were integrated into themale world—not as representatives of their gender,but as rare exceptions who willingly subordinatedthemselves into their role as female tokens in amale world. This way, the contribution of women toaviation in general and to military aviation in pai'-ticular, was even more mai-ginalized, and thisseemed to confirm the traditional gender roleascriptions: men fly, women don't; men fight, womendon't. Instead of helping to lifl traditional hierarchi-cal attributions of gender and authority, womenpilots' accomplishments during the war cementedthem even more.

The question of whether the patriotism ofGermany's women pilots served as a camouflage fortlieir attempts to achieve emancipation cannot befully answered yet. However, Germany's womenpilots and their actions cannot be interpreted asemancipated or feminist in the way we understandit today—a conscious decision to acliieve the equal-ity of both genders, for all men and all women. Byintegrating themselves into the male world theysecured exceptional positions for themselves, butsun^endered any progi'ess they—perhaps—mighthave made for their gender.

But there was also a second aspect in thewomen's attempt to act "like men." When HannaReitsch presented herself as a pilot equal to the menfighting on the front, and Melitta Schiller declaredherself to be a "messenger of her 'people in arms",and when women pilots felt proud to have been"drafted," all of them, despite their disregard foremancipation, laid claim to a privilege that womenhad been denied for centuries. For many femalepilots, service to the state was a way to prove theirvalue as citizens in a society that considered themsecond-class citizens. Since the rise of bourgeoissociety, constitutions had partly based men's citi-zenship on the right and duty to serve in the mili-tary. Women had been excluded from this privilegeof citizenship, and had thus been excluded frombeing actively involved in many aspects of theirnation's development and poHtics. For them, ques-tions of gender and nation had become closely inter-twined. Both are artificially constructed in a processof inclusion and exclusion, by the promise of partic-ipation and the tin-eat of omission—all these factorsshaping the existence of the individual. For men,gender identity and national identity had beenintertwined in their identities as citizens, and sol-diers. For women, this connection was not as obvi-

ous. Since they did not have citizenship rights oracquired them only gradually over time, they had toprove their identity as citizens much more thanmen. .li^ain, I would argue, this was more a politicalthan emancipatory approach. Serving their state ata time of need seemed to be an opportune way forwomen pilots to show their loyalty, and to lay claimson being respected as fully responsible citizens whowanted to contribute their share to their nation'sneeds—no matter what their actual gender was.Although tliis motivation has emancipatory under-tones, it has to be seen primarily in the light of thepohtical events that shaped Cîennany during tliefirst half of the twentieth century.

Unfortunately, the experiment of Germanwomen pilots at war failed to have a lasting influ-ence. With the end of World War II, the women'sefforts and accomplishments were ignored andquickly forgotten when Geimany wanted to do awaywith its Nazi past. In a rather brief and cursoryprocess of denazification, dictated by the needs tointegrate both German states into the fi'ontlines ofthe "Cold War." the political and military past of thewomen pilots was declared insignificant. OnlyHanna Reitsch, who had been especially prominentduring the Hitler era, was singled out as a "Nazicriminal" in the public process of dealing with thepast iVergangenheitsbcwältigung): Biogi-aphical ele-ments, dynamic power structures, the ideologicalmechanisms of manipulation, not to mention thecomplex individual and societal entanglements ofguilt that defined the Nazi regime, were completelyneglected. Tlie other women pilots simply disap-peared into oblivion. The question of whether theywere (co-)perpetratoi-s in the crimes of the ThirdReich, and if so, to what extent, still remains largelyunanswered. Although there is no doubt today thatthe Nazi regime was an ensemble of men andwomen, and a "broad spectrum of multiple amalga-mated activities, which together made the NationalSocialist dictatoi-ship happen,"''" the exemplary roleof women pilots during the Nazi era, and their con-tribution to our understanding of gender roles, isstill completely understudied.

Yet, the fact that women pilots had been able tomaster military aircraft as well as men—that theyhad performed their lnissions under combat-likeconditions—was quickly forgotten because of thegender aspects involved. Tlie threatening knowl-edge that women could master militai*y aircraft andrisk their lives in war and combat as well as menwas not welcome in the late 1940s and 1950s, whenboth German societies retui-ned to more conserva-tive family and gender values. Male pilots, eventhose witli a compromising Nazi era careen wereneeded in the newly founded Luftwaffe of 1956;women were not. And wliile the men took off intothe jet age, society defmed a new "dream job in theair" for young German women—that of a stew-ardess, a "housewife in the air."''"' Only at the end ofthe twentieth century, more than fifty years afterthe end of World War II and the accomplishments oftheir predecessors, two women were accepted intotraining as military pilots with the Luftwaffe. •

AIR POWER 9{iStOiy / WINTER 2009 25

NOTES

1. For a detailed comparison on the development ofwomen's aviation in the U.S., Great Britain and the USSRbetween 1918 and 1945, see the author's "Sc.hne.idigedeutsche Mädel." Fliegerinnen zwisclien 1918 und 1945.Göttingen: Wallstein-Veriag 2007. chapter 2 (in German).2. For more information on the pre-war activities ofGerman women pilots, see author's article " The HolyDesire to Serve the Poor and Tortured Fatherland':German Women Motor Pñots of the Inter-War Era andTheir Political Mission," in: Gennan Studies Review, vol.XXX. no. 3, October 2007. pp. 579-596. For a more detailedstudy covering the years 1918 to 1945, see author's publi-cation ¡footnote 1],3. See here espiecially Jeff M. Tuten, Germany and theWorld Wars, in: Nancy Loring Goldman (ed.), FemaleSoldiers - Combatants or Noncombatants. Historical andContemporary Perspectives, Westport London: GreenwaldPress 1982. pp. 47-60.4. Marie Elisabeth Lüder.s, Das unbekannte HeerFrauen kämpfen fur Deutschland 1914-1918, Berlin: Ver-lag von E.S. Mittler und Sohn 1936. and Marie ElisabethLüdei-s, Volksdienst der Frau, Berlin: Hans-Bott-Verlag1937.5. Runderlaß no. 426/38 ASt, of the Reich EconomicMinistry, Richtlinien für die Beschäftigung von Frauenim Mobfall (Guidelines for the Employment of Women inWar). October 10.1938, in: BA Koblenz. R 13/1/1016. Formore information, see Ursula von Gersdorfl', Frauen imKriegsdienst. 1914 bis 1945. Stuttgart: DeutscheVerlags-Aiistalt 1969, p. 47, and p. 285fr {reprint of thedocument).6. In 1943/44, about 8,000 female communication aidesand about 12,500 female staff assistant specialists(Stabsheißrinnen) served in the Field Army and in theoccupied areas; and in the Navy including the femaleNavy aides {Marinehelferinnen) about 20,000 women. TheLuftwaffe during the war mobilized approximately130,000 women. See Ursula von Gersdorff, Frauen, imKriegsdienst. 1914 his 1945, p. 74 f. In the same soui"ce, seealso the following documents relevant for the employmentof women with the Luftwaffe: "Schreiben desReichsbevollmächtigten fur den totalen Kriegseinsatz.Wehrmachtersatzprogramm und Wehrhilfsdienstgesetz",Oct. 19. 1944, p. 455 ff.; and "Entwurf einer AnordnungHitlers. Einsatz von Luftwaffenheiferinnen (Luftwaffen-helferinnen-Einsatzordnung)," Nov. 1944, p. 460 f.

7. Rolf Italiaander, Drei deutsche Fliegerinnen, Berlin:Gustav-Weise-Verlag 1940, p. 9.8. See letter of Thet) Croneiß, Führer of NS FlyingCorps. Group 13, to woman pilot Lisl Schwab, Feb. 19,1940; copy in author's possession.9. Elly Beinhom, Ich fliege um die Welt, Berlin: Ullstein-Verlag 1952, p. 204.10. A Bl license enabled pilots to fly one- to four-seatedairplanes of 1,000 to 2,500 kilogram weight; B2 licensesallowed access to one- to eight-seated airplanes with aweight range from 2,500 to 5,000 kilogram. A-licensesSport pilots licenses) comprised of Al (one- and two-seatedplanes up to 500 kilogram weight) and A2 (one- to three-seated planes up to 1,000 kilogram weight.11. See night log of Eva-Es.sa von Dewitz, copy inauthor's possession. Von Dewitz's night log confirms 78transition training flights in April and May 1940 on fourdifferent types of aircraft, but does not indicate if vonDewitz finished her training.12. "Merkblatt fíir die Übernahme von reichsei^nenFlugzeugen aus der Industrie zur Überführung inj denNachschubdienststellen der Luftwaff'e durch Flugzeug-führer den NS-Fliegerkorps," copy in author's possession.13. Elly Beinhora, Ich fliege um die Welt, p. 204.

14. Hogeweg's service at the Nachschubami is registeredwith the Deutsche Dienststelle/Wehrmachtsauskunfl-stelle in Berlin which indicates that her work was of mil-itary character. See letter by Deutsche Dienststelle Uiauthor. July 29,2003.15. According to affidavit by Maria Elisabeth [Lisl ISchwab. Oct. 19, 1966, copy in author's possession, con-firmed by various other Schwab documents includingsalary slips and tax documents. For further information,the author thanks Karl Koessler. Cremlingen, andStadtmuseum Ingolstadt.16. Affidavit Lisl Schwab. Oct. 19, 1966.17. Spruchkammerakte Vera von Bissing, HessischesHauptstaatsarchiv, call-no Abt. 529 Eg, Nr. 3159, p, 6(biography).18. For a rare example of the public presentation of afemale pilot's contribution to the war effort, seo the articleabout von Bissing in the Archive of the Deutsche Museumin Munich. Germany, collection Luftfahrt - Persönlich-keiten - Frauen, letter B (no source for article noted in thecollection).19. Lufldienstkommando 1/6, Münster. Major undKommandofiülirer Wenig, Bitte um Höhergruppierung fiirReichsangestelltfVFIugzeugflührerinl Anneliese Höppner,Aug. 3. 1943. Interestingly, no official dœument evernamed Lieben as the bead of maintenance; tlie quotedevaluation by her supervisor is the only proof that she wasnot only one among all flight mechanics, but actually inchaise of all maintenance work.20. Startklarmeldung Luíldienstkommando 1/6 Mün-ster-Loddenheide (undated, probably from 1943i. copy inauthoi''s possession.21. The existence of this questionnaire - and theattempts to employ women pilots, whether in a civilian ormihtary capacity - is confii-med by the statements ofwomen pilots Elly Beinhom. Eva Gustafson-MahlkucbHeise. Marga H., and Rose-Marie S.22. Due to an extremely acaree record situation, thestructure and history of the Ferrying Wing 1 of theFerrying Group Mitte can not be reconstructed. It is notknown when exactly this wing was founded and stationedin Berhn-Tempelhof Neither Bundesarchiv-MilitärarchivFreiburg, record group RL 10, Fliegende Verbände, noí'Gemeinschaft der Jagdflieger, Vereinigung der Fliegerdeutscher Streitkräfte e.V. (according to Colonel [ret.lWilhelm Göbel, consultant on history, tradition and searchservices) have any information on record regardingFerrying Wing 1.

23. Based on statements of woman pilot and Luftwaflecaptain Beate Uhse in Mit Lust und Liebe. Mein Leben.FrankfuruTVIain: UlUtein-Verlag 1992, p. 78.24. Liesel Bach, Den alten Göttern zu, Köln: Greven-Verlagl954,p. 18.25. Beate Liise (with Ulrich Pramann), Mit Lust undLiebe, p. 78.26. No substantial academic research has ever been doneon Hanna Reitsch. The most comprehensive sources arestill her memoirs: Fliegen - Mein I^ben (covering the erauntil 1945) and//ö/j.efi und Tiefen. 1945 bis zur Gegenwart(covering the ptíriod after 1945). Both books were pub-lished multiple times by difterent publishei-s after thewar, and are republished In 2009. Schiller's pilotingaccomplishments have been studied, mainly tmder tech-nical and technological aspects, in Gerhard Bracke,Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg Das Leben einer Fliegrin.Höhen und Tiefen eines außergeuiöhnliclien Frauenlehens,Frankfurt/Main - Beriin: Ullstein 1993.27. See Reitsch's memoirs. Fliegen - Mein Leben, p. 272-283. as well as the introduction to her report by WolfgangSpäte, from 1942 head of Test Commimd 16, as such in

26 AIR POWER 'Mistoty / WINTÍÍR 2009

charge of the practical evaluation of the Me 163 intercep-tor [Führer des Erprobungs-Kommandos 16 undTypenheauftragter für die Entwicklung des RaketenjägersMe ifiV], in: Wolfgang Späte (ed.), Testpiloten, Plane^:Aviatic Verlag, 1993, pp. 45 - 47.28. Opitz remembers that Reitsch flew the Me 163B mfour transition training flights in Regensburg (the loca-tion of the Messerschmitt company) in summer 1942. andthe Me 163A four times probably in November/Decemljer1943 in Bad Zwischenahn, the base of Test Command 16;the last flight was a powered flight. (Letter of Mike Opitz,son of Rudy Opitz, to author, January 10, 2009. His recol-lections can also be found in Jeffrey L. Ethell. Komet. TheMesserschmitt 163, New York: Sky Book Pi-ess, 1978.)Hanna Reitsch hersell"claims to have flown both vei-sions"multiple" times, and the Me 163A fiilly fuelled four to fivetimes. (Hanna Reitsch, letter to "Herr Winter", February15,1977. NASM Archive, collection Hanna Reitsch).

29. For a published version of these interrogations seeOffice of the United States Chief of Counsel ibr Prose-cution of Axis Ciiminality, Na^i Conspiracy and Aggi-es-sion, vol. VI, Washington. DC: US. Government PrintingOffice, 1946: Document 3734-PS. October 8, 1945. Sum-mary of interrogation: The Last Days in Hitler's Air RaidShelter, source: Flugkapitaen Hanna Reitsch, pp. 551-569;as well as Robert E. Work. "Hitler's Dilemma: His lastdays in his bunker/' in: Public Opinion Quarterly, Winter1946/47. pp. 565-581.

30. See "Richtlinien des Oberkommandos der Luftwaffe.Auswahl und Verteilung der für den Einsatz alsfliegertechni-sches Personal vorgesehenen Frauen," Nov.1,1944. p. 461 fr. See also attachment "Richtlinien für dieAuswahl und Verteilung der für den fliegertechnischenund Werfleinsatz vorgesehenen Frauen," and "Erlass desOberkommandos der Luftwaffe. Ausbildung von Fi'auenals fliegertechnisches und Funktionspersonal. Erfahr-ungen im Bei'eich des Generals der FUegerausbüdung,"Jan. 9, 1945, all in: Ursula von Gersdorff, Frauen imKriegsdienst, 1914 bis 1945, p. 487 ff.

31. /èii/., p. 488.32. Members of the Berlin women's gliding club reportan interesting story: In Winter 1941/42, due to privatecontacts of one of their members, the women had thechance to join pilots of the Flying Hitler-Youth duringflights in two-seated gliders at the Saarmund trainingcenter near Berlin. These planes were usually restrictedto the training of military pilots. Quickly, the women andthe flight instructor, Mr. Zicke, were denounced: Thewomen were banned from the Saarmund training center,and the flight instructor was told that he would lose hishcense would he ever allow women access to glider planesagain. Based on the recollections of Ruth D. Margot Will,and Charlotte Wittig. For a more detailed version, andphotographs of the event, see author's book "Schneidigedeutsche Mädel"p. 419-421.

33. The Jägerstab was founded on Mai'ch 1, 1944, byagreement between Fieich Armament Ministry and ReichAir Ministry. Its task was the creation of all conditions fora significant increase of the production numbers of tighterplanes. Beside direct interference with production at themanufacturers' sites, this meant among others the con-struction of bombproof underground production andassembly facilities, and the utilization of new labor forces,like tens of thousands of concentration camp inmates.34. Uagdflii'gcr-Nachwuchs für Sonderzwecke), as theunit was called by Fritz Saur, head of "Jägerstab", accord-ing to Georg Coráis, Junge Adler, p. 214.35. The voluntary character of these "drafts" is confirmedin the author's intei-views with women pilots Gerda B. andMai-ga H., and the diary of Marie-Luise Müller-Maar, aswell as in Margret Schmidt. Mädchen am Steuerknüppel,Stuttgart; Kreuz-Verlag 1953, p. 84.36. Margi-et Schmidt, Mädchen am Steuerknüppel, p. 86.37. Erich Hartmann, with 352 aerial kills the most suc-

cessful fighter pilot of World War II, and his brother Alfredhad taken their first lessons in flying (gliding) at a flightschool opened by their mother in 1939 in Weil/Schonhuchin Southern Germany.38. See OKW- {Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, Wehr-macht Supreme Command"! order "Stellung der Frau inder Welinnacht." Sep. 5, 1944, and attachment "DerReichshevollmächtigte für den totalen Kriegseinsatz, DerLeiter des Planungsaasschus,se.s," in: Ursula von Gers-dorff, Frauen im Kriegseinaatz, 1914 bin 1945, p. 441 f.39. Author's interview with Marga H., Jan, 30, 2005.40. Mai^aret Schmidt, Mädchen am- Steuerknüppel, p.85.41. Marga H., "Was hat mich bewogon, fliegen zu ler-nen?" (unpublished), p. 2. See also the recollections ofMargret Schmidt about her time as instructor at the glid-ing school in Rannay near Brüx, in Mädchen amSteuerknüppel, p. 91.42. Marie-Luise Müller-Maar, "Mein Fliegerleben imTelegrammstil" (unpublished», p. 10 í43. Beate Uhse, Mit Lust und Liebe, p. 73.44. Liesel Bach, quoted according to A. Richter,Frauensport in Köln - Sechs Lebensbilder. in Gabi Langen(ed.). Von; Handstand in den Ehestand, Köln: Emons-Verlag 1999, p. 86.45. Copy of Uhse's flight log in possession of the author.46. Mai^^t Schmidt, Mädchen am Steuerknüppel, p. 83 f.47. See for instance author's interview with Marga H. inJanuary 2005: Marga H. had been informed about thechance to attend instructor classes hy one of her formerflight instructors, and attended because she was bored ofher job as a hospital nurse and wanted to fly again. Marie-Luise Müller-Maar attended because she missed flyingand wanted to work closely with her former female glid-ing friends. ( Marie-Luise Müllor-Maar, "Mein Fliegerlebenim Telegrajnmstil," p. 6.t See also Margaret Schmidt,Mädchen am Steuerknüppel, p. 83f

48. Karin Mannesmann, diary (unpublished), entry forNov. 13, 1940.49. Liesel Bach, Den alten Göttern zu, p. 18.50. See Christa Niklas. Thérèse und Lisl Schwab. DieMalerin und die Pilotín," in: Jahrbuch des HistorischenVereins Ingalstadt, vol. 113 (2004), Ingoistadt 2005, pp.289-300, esp. p. 298.51. Beate Uhse (mit Ulrich Pramann), Mit Lust undLiebe, p. 73.52. Spruchkammerakte Vera von Bissing, biography, pp.6r, and 41.53. For a general analysis of the gender factor in WorldWar II, see the study by D'Ann Campbell: "Women inCombat: The World Wai- II Experience in the UnitedStates, Great Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union," in:The Journal of Military History, no. 57 (April 1993), pp.301-323, , which pays special attention to mixed-genderanti aircraft units,54. For more detailed information, see author's article|footnote2|.55. Hanna Reitsch, Fliegen - mein Leben, Frankfurt/Main- Berlin: Ullstein-Buch 1996, p. 263.56. Ibiii. p. 192.57. Quoted afler Gerhard Bracke, Melitta GräfinStauffenberg, p. 40.58. Ibid. p. 150.59. Hein.?ohn, Kirsten, and others (eds.). ZwischenKarrietv und Ve/folgung. Handlungsräume von Frauen imnationalsozialistischen Deutschland. Frankfürt/Main andNew York: Campus-Veriag 1997, p. 11.60. See Elly Beinhorn's book Madien wird Stewardess.Ausbildung und Abenteuer einer FlugbcgleiteHn auf inter-nationalen Luftlinien ¡Madien becomes a stewardess.Training and adventures of a stewardess on internationalßightsj. Berhn: Ullstein AG 1954, and media campmgnsafter the foundation of Germany's Lufthansa airline in1952.

AIR POWER ^History / WINTER 2009 27

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