A Man and a Plane: An Alternate Germany Read online

  A Man and a Plane

  Joseph T Major

  The Richthofen Family Heritage

  Recht auch der Stammbaum nicht ins graue Altertum,

  Ist's dennoch ein gar altes, wackeres Geschlecht;

  Christallhell, ungetrübt blieb seines Namens Ruhm,

  Hoch hielt es stets die Wahrheit, Ehre, und das Recht.

  Treu seiner Väter Brauch, fromm, tapfer, brav, und schlicht.

  Hat Göttes gnäd'ge Huld vor Schaden es bewahrt.

  O wank auch fürder nicht vom Pfad der Christenpflicht,

  Führ deinen Namen stolz nach echter Ritterart!

  Es blühe mächtig dies Geschlecht, der Ehre Bild,

  Nie fall' ein Schatten auf sein Wappenschild!

  -- Emil Freiherr von Richthofen

  Reaching back not into grey antiquity, the family tree

  Is nevertheless of an indeed old and worthy lineage;

  Crystal-clear, unclouded remains the glory of its name,

  Held high for all time in truth, honour, and justice.

  True to ancestral ways, devout, brave, honest, and modest,

  Has by God's gracious favour been protected from harm.

  Oh, waver not from the path of Christian duty,

  Further your name proudly in the manner of true knights!

  Even as the lineage flowers heartily, the very picture of honour,

  Never shall a shadow fall upon this noble escutcheon!

  -- Translation by Peter Kilduff

  SOURCES

  On Richthofen:

  von Richthofen, Manfred, The Red Air Fighter [Der rote Kampfflieger] (1917)

  His wartime memoirs; the phenomenon of the "instant book" is hardly new. I am using a Greenhill Press reprint of a 1918 translation published in Britain. I doubt that Rittmeister von Tr-- of the Ulanenregiment "Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland (westpreussiches)" Nr. 1 would have paid 175 pounds for a horse [Page 43].

  Burrows, William E., Richthofen: A True History of the Red Baron (1969)

  A biography.

  Fisher, Suzanne Hayes, Mother of Eagles: War Diary of Baroness von Richthofen (2001)

  Translation with notes and commentary of Kunigunde Freifrau von Richthofen's Mein Kriegstagebuch (1937)

  Franks, Norman, Hal Giblin, and Nigel McCrery, Under the Guns of the Red Baron: The Complete Record of von Richthofen's Victories and Victims Fully Illustrated (1995)

  Manfred's score, with pictures and notes.

  Kilduff, Peter, The Illustrated Red Baron: The Life and Times of Manfred von Richthofen (1999)

  This has many interesting pictures including that of "Schwester Manfreda" [Page 91], and an introduction by Manfred von Richthofen. His nephew, Bolko's son, that is.

  ------ , The Red Baron: Beyond the Legend (1994)

  A biography.

  ------ , The Red Baron Combat Wing: Jagdgeschwader Richthofen in Battle (1994)

  A unit history.

  ------ , Talking with the Red Baron: 'Interviews' with Manfred von Richthofen (2003)

  Kilduff recreates the man's life in a set of fictionalized interviews.

  On Amelia Earhart:

  Goldstein, Donald M and Katherine V. Dillon, Amelia: A Life of the Aviation Legend (1997)

  Good brief life and debunking of conspiracy theories about Earhart.

  On Heinz Guderian:

  Guderian, Heinz, Achtung-Panzer! (1937, 1992)

  Somewhat more reliable than his Erinnerungen eines Soldaten (1951) [in English translation Panzer Leader (1952)] due to not having been edited to gain favor.

  On His Serene Highness Franz-Josef Prinz von Hohenzollern-Emden:

  von Hohenzollern(-Emden), Franz Josef, Prinz, Emden: My Experiences in S.M.S. Emden (1928)

  Hoyt, Edwin P., The Last Cruise of the Emden (1967)

  van der Vat, Dan, Gentlemen of War: The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden (1983, 1984)

  On Charles Lindbergh:

  Berg, A. Scott, Lindbergh (1998)

  The "full-access biography".

  On the Marx Brothers:

  Marx, Harpo, and Rowland Barber, Harpo Speaks! (1961)

  On Willi Münzenberg:

  Koch, Stephen, Double Lives (1994)

  The maneuverings and conspiracies of Münzenberg and friends.

  McMeeken, Sean, The Red Millionaire: A Political Biography of Willi Münzenberg, Moscow's Secret Propaganda Tsar in the West (2004)

  A version downplaying the conspiring.

  On Mussolini:

  Bosworth, R. J. B. Mussolini (2002)

  Ridley, Jasper, Mussolini: A Biography (1997)

  On Eddie Rickenbacker:

  Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon "Eddie", Fighting the Flying Circus (1919)

  Another "instant book" of memoirs.

  ------ , Rickenbacker: An Autobiography (1967)

  Useful, with caution

  Jeffers, H. Paul, Ace of Aces: The Life of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker (2003)

  A briefer work, but with an outside perspective.

  On Claus Philip Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg:

  Kramarz, Joachim, Stauffenberg: the Architect of the Famous July 20th Conspiracy to Assassinate Hitler (1967)

  On Ernst Udet:

  Udet, Ernst, Ace of the Iron Cross (1970)

  Translation by Richard K. Riehm of Udet's Mein Fliegerleben.

  On Alexander Woollcott:

  Teichmann, Howard, Smart Aleck: The Wit, Life, and World of Alexander Woollcott (1976)

  On Germany in general:

  Chang, Iris, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997)

  Rabe und G.m.b.H. in the Chinese capital.

  Craig, Gordon A., The Politics of the Prussian Army 1640-1945 (1955)

  The maneuverings from Fehrbellin to the fall of Berlin. Useful for comments on Noske, Hammerstein-Equord, and so on.

  Elon, Amos, The Pity of It All: A History of Jews in Germany, 1743-1933 (2002)

  The Centralverein and its people (but it doesn't mention Wilhelm Frankl).

  Evans, Richard J. The Coming of the Third Reich (2003)

  The political crisis in Germany up to 1933.

  Eyck, Erich, A History of the Weimar Republic (1963)

  The doomed maneuverings of Monsignor Kaas's cattle-trading "union of political forces" on the road to the Nazi Revolution. The author doesn't trust Papen.

  Hamilton, Richard F., Who Voted for Hitler? (1982)

  Breakdown of the NS vote.

  Hillenbrand, F. K. M., Underground Humor in Nazi Germany 1933-1945 (1995)

  What they said secretly about Hitler and his men; many of Manfred's comments about them are taken from this.

  Jones, Nigel, A Brief History of the Birth of the Nazis (1987, 2004)

  The rise and bloody career of the Freikorps.

  Klingaman, William K., 1919: The Year Our World Began (1987)

  A world-spanning and culture-spanning history of the year that saw the Dictated Treaty, er the Treaty of Versailles, and the formation of the Weimar Republic.

  Metcalfe, Philip, 1933 (1988)

  Recounting of the Republic's dance of death.

  Parssinen, Terry, The Oster Conspiracy of 1938: The Unknown Story of the Military Plot to Kill Hitler and Avert World War II (2003)

  A useful guide to the layout of Berlin in the thirties, physical and political.

  Pritchard, R. John, Reichstag Fire: Ashes of Democracy (1972)

  A brief, copiously illustrated guide to German politics in 1933.

  Tuchman, Barbara W., The Zimmermann Telegram (1958)

  The standard history of that ill-conceived initiative.

  Wheeler-Bennett, J
ohn W., The Nemesis of Power: The German Army in Politics 1918-1945 (1953)

  The wheelings and dealings of Seekt and Beck, Schleicher and Hammerstein, and all the other personalities of the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht.

  Zeman, Zbyněk, Heckling Hitler: Caricatures of the Third Reich (1984, 1987)

  Political satire drawn instead of spoken.

  On the 1936 Olympic Games:

  Constable, George, The XI, XII, & XIII Olympiads: Berlin 1936, St. Moritz 1948 (1996)

  The relevant volume from the Olympic Centennial History, with schedules and pictures.

  Hart-Davis, Duff, Hitler's Games: The 1936 Olympics (1986)

  Which would be different, but not that different, from Richthofen's Games. For example, there would be a different German gold medallist.

  PRELUDE

  Reichspräsidentenpalais, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany, Friday, January 27, 1933

  "In this emergency our nation needs a government that can rule."

  The man saying this was not a shining example of his own proposition. For a while last year, Franz von Papen had been Reichskanzler and had run the government by decree instead of by legislation, as his predecessor Herr Brüning and his successor General von Schleicher had done. Since Müller's government had come apart in 1930 legislation in Germany, and indeed government, had been a joke.

  Papen's immaculate grooming, his flawlessly tailored English-style suits, his distinguished mien, all concealed a talent for the lowest and most devious kind of scheming. During the War he had been too much for even the patient Americans to endure; after the peace he had gone into politics. While the parliamentary system fell apart Papen had profited. He knew intrigue; in these days that was the same as knowing politics.

  But it would have been chaos in the land whether or not Papen, or General von Schleicher, or Herr Brüning, or anyone else was in power. Brown-shirted National Socialist storm troopers clashed with red-kerchiefed Communist partisans in the streets; in the Reichstag the elected representatives of Nazism shrieked imprecations at the elected representatives of Bolshevism, who in turn shrieked back, all as if the events of 1919 and 1923 had never been. Normal politics was on its deathbed, if not in the grave. The combatants would rend each other over the dying body of Germany, while the lawful government would shatter the law, ignoring the elected representatives of the people.

  Even now, outside the Presidential Palace, the brown-shirted storm troopers of the Nazi behemoth were prowling the streets, smelling blood. Their superiors acted as if power were in their hands already. In many of the states that made up Germany they were indeed in power; in others, close to it.

  This did not have to be so. Once again, the nation had turned to its War Leader; the aging wooden titan, Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg, who sat there in the office, or perhaps his massive body occupied the Presidential chair. Yet there was no one else who could be the Reichspräsident in this troubled time, no one else who was not despised greatly by some faction or another. And so, last year he had been put forward for office again, winning by too small a majority over the red and the brown. He had stood firm against the threat of the man he styled "the Bohemian corporal" -- but he was old. His cragged, sagging features were for the moment active, his eyes were lit with the energy of an old man, not veiled with senility. At any moment, though, he might drift off into the days of the War again, or even those before.

  The man they addressed was rather different. His reputation had been made in the War, also. His eyes were keen with an aviator's keenness, indeed his entire body was alert, lean and tense like a good hunting dog's. The fifteen years that had passed since the War had worn on him, but not much; if that fair hair that had once had every maiden in Germany running her fingers through it in dreams had receded somewhat, had become tinged with gray, if the handsome features that had adorned postcards and pictures were a touch softened with age, he was still recognizable, as he had been known to every man and woman in Germany during the War -- their Hero, their Champion, their Love, their Paladin.

  "That would seem to be obvious, Herr von Papen." he said, trying to keep his opinions to himself. "But what does this have to do with me?"

  Papen was pacing back and forth as he spoke, almost exploding with excitement as he said, "The current government cannot function. Indeed, I can confidently predict that it will fall tomorrow. Herr General von Schleicher will ask for the declaration of a national emergency. He won't get it, and he will resign.

  "I have been assembling a government that can rule, a coalition of the traditionalist parties. Earlier this month, Herr Hitler -- now don't get excited, hear me out! -- Herr Hitler himself met with the Herr Reichspräsident and myself, and in that meeting we worked out a formula.

  "The National Socialists will form a government, a coalition with the Nationalist party and other reliable groups. Herr Hitler will of course be Reichskanzler.

  "Not that he will be allowed to run wild. We will surround him with reliable, trustworthy representatives of -- harrumph -- society. Decent, stable men with a stake in an orderly country. Myself as Vizekanzler, Herr von Neurath at the Foreign Office, Herr Gürtner at Justice, and the Nationalist leader, Herr Hugenberg of UFA, in the Economics Ministry. General von Blomberg will be Reichswehr Minister.

  "You too. Indeed, you are the best example of what I mean; reliable, trustworthy, someone to reassure the people. In this national emergency, what better reassurance for the troubled German people than to have their hero, Manfred von Richthofen the Red Battle-Flyer, serving in the government? Minister of Air; we will create a new ministry. Perhaps before long there will be an air arm of the military, again, an air arm for you to command."

  The dark oak walls of the Presidential office absorbed these words. Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron" of the American stories and the English papers, the rote Kampffleiger of German fame, gathered his thoughts and strove to form his reply. He had come a long way since the War, since the silly accident that had almost cut short his career. What had he done to deserve this?

  BOOK ONE

  A PEACE THAT PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING

  CHAPTER 1

  Cappy Airfield, France, Sunday, April 21, 1918

  Afterwards everyone said that there had been enough in the way of omens.

  Yesterday, the Herr Rittmeister had tripped over the stretcher that Leutnant Wenzel had put out to nap on. He had picked himself up, shaken himself and gone off, only to go tip out another poor sleeper.

  Even from the Herr Chef that was too much. Some of the ground crew had decided to get theirs back. Poor Moritz, his faithful Great Dane, was the chosen victim. They caught the crop-eared dog, tied a wheel chock to his tail, and let him go. The poor animal howled as he ran up and down the strip, his heavy burden bouncing behind him, and everyone, even his owner, laughed at the piteous sight. Fortunately he wasn't hurt.

  They needed a let-off. Until yesterday the weather had been bad for a while, but they had been able to go up then The Herr Rittmeister had had a good day; two (count them, two) victories in four minutes! And now he had scored eighty, twice that of Boelcke, more than any British or French pilot.

  If only they weren't so tired. Not just him, though headaches and that wound that wouldn't quite heal were part of it. They were all tired. They were getting ground down as it was. There was a shortage of everything. The men at the front cheered when they saw the red triplane fly overhead, but that was out of frustration at their own pointlessness. "Enjoy the war while you can, the peace will be worse!" they were saying.

  The ground crew decided they needed a bigger and better let-off. Watching Moritz bark and yap had been fun, but another such trick would be boring. However, there was new cannon fodder for the game; a big white beagle, somebody's stray, had been sniffing around the cook tent. Stabsgefreiter Torvalds bagged him and dragged him back to their tent. Their arch-scrounger -- no unit can really function without such a fellow, dirty though he was -- had acquired a flying helmet. It was an Engl
ish flying helmet, but one takes what one can get. There was a shortage of everything. They stuffed the poor animal's head into the item. He certainly looked ready to fight.

  The morning fog was clearing off. The war could not stop for Sunday; there was no Truce of God or Sabbath-law at the front. The Luftstreitkräfte must fly when Englishmen are in the sky. The Rittmeister stood outside the command tent, giving final orders to Leutnant Weiss, the new commander of Jasta 10, a fast-rising pilot. He would command the other of the two flights that would go up that day. It would even be a bit of a family affair, for his cousin Wolfram would fly one of the other planes. Then he turned to walk towards the red Fokker Dr. I. 425/17, with which he'd won yesterday's victories, waiting and ready for him to score more.

  That turn must have been their signal, for they let the dog go. He couldn't see, of course, and ran blindly, barking wildly and stumbling, but always getting up again. Moritz barked back, and his owner made the mistake of looking the wrong way, at his own animal. The other dog was running too fast, too hard, and got in under his feet. He tumbled, took a header, sprawled on the ground. They all laughed to see the absurd sight.

  But this time the Herr Rittmeister didn't get up.

  The previous July, he had been grazed in the head during an aerial combat. The wound would not heal -- there was a shortage of everything, you understand, thanks to the Allied blockade -- and he had a patch of skull exposed. The mud got in there; and the wound became infected.