The pilot-ace Ernst Udet: biography

It was officially announced that Ernst Udet had crashed when testing an airplane. The Nazis buried him with honors. However, few people know that the pilot-ace shot himself a bullet in the forehead. Who brought the best Luftwaffe pilot to suicide?

Childhood and adolescence of the future ace

Ernst Udet, whose birth date was April 26, 1896, was born in Frankfurt am Main, in the largest industrial center of the land of Hesse in Germany. In 1890, the family moved to Munich, where Ernst's father founded a factory for the manufacture of sanitary equipment. Since childhood, Ernst Udet was a cheerful and cheerful boy, whom the rich father did not deny in anything. The planes hit his imagination as he glanced over the fence at Gustav Otto's aircraft factory. Ernst Udet saw how people from canvas and wood created man-made birds. He dreamed of flying, of the freedom that they gave. This dream in the future will be his tragedy.

The dream of military service

In August 1914 the war began with enthusiasm. Every German wanted to go into the army, including eighteen-year-old Ernst Udet who decided to enroll as a volunteer. However, the medical commission did not support the young man's voluntary zeal. He was healthy, but with an increase of 160 cm for the front was not good.

However, Ernst Udet did not despair, he had a special ticket to the front - a motorcycle, a gift from a rich father. German volunteer club was looking for motorcyclists to contact the army. Ernst Udet (photo above) persistently continued to strive to be on the front line in the trenches. The realities of the war were cruel and bloody, but in the first year it was still seen in a patriotic light. The war was an adventure for guys who dream of becoming heroes. The letters that E.Udet sent to his parents were full of boastful phrases, which was very characteristic for that time. Rather, it was the bravado of a schoolboy trying to forget about fear.

However, he had the opportunity to "fly away" from this.

Dream come true

Knowledge of the aircraft engines helped E. Udet realize his old dream and become a fighter pilot. At that time, air pilots were a new object of worship - the knights of the sky. They flew on fragile structures of canvas and plywood. In the air everything was like a game, but it was a deadly battle.

German military pilot Udet Ernst wrote: "You can not think that every pilot shot down by you has a mother who will mourn him." He always closed his eyes to this, being a member of the famous squadron of Baron Manfred von Richthofen. The red baron - this nickname the best ace of the First World War received after repainted the fuselage of his aircraft in a bright red color. He was a model for imitation of young pilots. However, changed the life of Ernst Udet another pilot - Hermann Goering. Cold-blooded, ambitious and power-hungry man. Later, he will lead the Luftwaffe. Very different was the young Ernst Udet, the life of the pilot was full of enthusiasm and love adventures, he was a daredevil who was loved by women.

At the end of the war, there was a coup in Germany, as a result of which the Weimar Republic was formed . Allies confiscated everything that could fly. For a while, dreams of aviation had to be postponed.

Ernst Udet is comfortably located in Munich. In the neighborhood of his spacious apartment lived another soldier, the former junior corporal Adolf Hitler. He has just become the leader of a small party. While these two did not meet.

Own aircraft production

E. Udet had only one passion - flights. With the money of a wealthy American, the pilot-ace Udet Ernst founded a small airline and since then began to call himself a manufacturer. The first prototypes of aircraft were secretly created at the poultry farm, since the Versailles Peace Treaty prohibited the production of aircraft. Later, most of the money began to come from the army, which began rearming during an alarming lull. Udet began to fly again.

Ernst Udet: the life of the pilot in the movie

He risked his life in front of huge audiences, both in Germany and in America, doing dangerous stunts in the air. Battle reversals became circus tricks. In the sky, he was a genius, a pilot and an artist. Thanks to this, Ernst was invited to the cinema. With mad courage, the pilot Ernst Udet flew under the bridges of the Isar River in Munich. He played in the movies of the pilot, who was shot down over the savannah in African Swaziland. Another time, he flew between the walls of the Greenland Glacier for one film, in which his friend Leni Riefenstahl also starred. In 1933, Ernst Udet played himself in the film "SOS! Iceberg!"

Joining the Nazis

Everyone who knew the German pilot, said that it was a cheerful and friendly person, the soul of the company. It seemed that he was out of politics. However, this was not the case. Ernst Uudet, whose biography - the subject of our article, according to the archives of the federal bureau in Berlin, joined the National Socialist Party on May 1, 1933, as soon as it came to power. What caused the indifferent to the politics of a pilot and a playboy to join the Nazis? It was a temptation, against which he could not resist.

The soul of the devil

When Adolf Hitler paved his way to power, E. Udet went to America, where he made a deal with the devil, although he had not yet guessed.

The American newspapers wrote that Adolf Hitler made a great impression on E. Udet, the German ace, Ernst got involved in politics because of "Withers", an airplane with a powerful engine that was able to perform the most daring tricks. G. Goering agreed to buy two such fighters for E. Udet from the Americans, if he joins the party. Ernst Udet was happy as a child, who was given a new toy. The plane of American aircraft builders was the embodiment of his dream. Vertical takeoff, vertical descent ... He called it a flying motor. An aluminum miracle in 700 horsepower, because of which Ernst Udet sold his soul ... Bold ups and downs have prompted the German pilot more and more ideas for deadly stunts.

Addiction to alcohol

Ernst Udet - a brave pilot with a medal "For Military Merit". In the midst of all the splendor and special attention to his person, he remained a lonely man. Trying not to think about the emerging political issues of his party, he was increasingly looking for an outlet in alcohol. Wine, beer, cognac became daily companions of the German pilot. He ordered a carpenter a portable bar, which he took with him to all flights. The glasses were neatly packed to withstand any trick.

E. Udet always drank during the flight. At that time, drinking alcohol was considered an occupation for real men. It seemed that he drank to tame his fears, because he felt that he was not coping with the duties assigned to him. Since February 10, 1936, on the recommendation of H. Goering, Ernst Udet led the inspection of the Luftwaffe bomber and fighter aviation. Later, on June 9, 1936, E. Udet became the curator of the technical department of the Ministry of Aviation, and soon the inspector-general of the Luftwaffe.

Living icon of the Third Reich

"Young people should not give in to difficulties," G.Gehring thought, and he needed a living symbol of the honor of courage and courage. It was precisely this symbol for the younger generation that E. Udet should become. The weekly videos showed the life of a German pilot who, by his example, should inspire the young people of Nazi Germany to new exploits. Udet did not resist and played this role. However, he was torn by feelings of contradiction.

Ministry as a prison

"In the German forest there was a smell of death," so E. Udet described the situation in the country at the time, leaving a note in his diary. The Reich Ministry of Aviation became a giant bureaucratic apparatus. At that time already had a high title of Ernst Udet - Colonel-General of Aviation, he was also the chief inspector of the Air Force of Germany. These illusory titles flattered, but at the same time required a huge paper work. The Ministry of Aviation becomes his prison. The number of military personnel has grown to 3,000. G. Goering wanted to turn aviation into the main force of the German army. Uhed nostalgic for those times, when he cut the sky in his airplane. He was a dreamer and fled from difficulties. And he constantly dismissed thoughts about pressing bureaucratic problems. However, they tirelessly followed him on their heels.

Preparing for war

At that time E. Udet approved the plan for the rearmament of the country preparing for war. In less than two years, the number of aircraft increased from 4,300 to 24,000 military units, that is, almost 6 times. In Rechlin, a hundred kilometers north of Berlin, these aircraft were first tested. July 3, 1939 with the general inspection of Rehlin sent Adolf Hitler, who wanted to personally see the rearmament of the Air Force of Germany. He longed to see confirmation of his belief that no one and nothing could defeat his aviation, that war could begin. G. Goering and E. Udet - heroes, experienced pilots-fighters of the First World War, - showed respectfully the strength and power of German aviation before the young corporal. Ernst Udet personally showed his skills in the air before A. Hitler. The Fuhrer was impressed, German mastery in the service of his insane desire to unleash a world war inspired.

Ernst Udet: interesting facts from life

There are many confirmations about the high art of flying skill of the German pilot. The Ministry of Aviation of Germany with disapproval belonged to the aerial tricks of the pilot-ace, fearing for his life. However, at their own peril and risk, the German pilot still did them. Yes, he was a master of aerobatics Ernst Udet. Interesting facts on this topic are given below:

• He owns such a figure as a "dive bomber." A roaring aircraft with high accuracy affects ground targets, being as close as possible to the ground.
• No one but him dared to go so skillfully out of the dead loop, being close to the ground.
• Nobody could lift the handkerchief from the ground with the wing of the plane.
• One of the most exciting tricks that no one could repeat: with a muffled engine and a stationary propeller of his aircraft, Udet made another loop, then slowly descended to the landing strip and landed the aircraft on the ground.

Witnesses of these unique tricks said that it was like flying a bird.

Suicide of the best pilot of Nazi Germany

"Perhaps, the Russians will not have to fight. Perhaps, no one will notice that it is necessary to build many aircraft. In the country, there is a catastrophic lack of aluminum for military vehicles, "E. thought at a New Year reception at the Soviet embassy in honor of signing the pact of non-aggression of Germany against the Soviet Union in 1940." However, the leadership of the Third Reich thought differently. After enslaving most of Europe, Hitler dreamed of a lightning attack on the USSR and the rapid seizure of its territories, right up to the Urals. But it will be later, and now the main target is the UK. The Führer ordered to bomb England, since the way across the English Channel was open. The battle for Britain began.

E. Udet knew that the German air force could not win, because the distance between England and Germany was too great. Heavy and slow bombers will be an easy target for the Royal British air defense. Bombs falling on England, only strengthened the desire of the British to resist. As a result, an air blitzkrieg against England failed. G. Goering in all the failures accuses only Ernst Udet.

He is severely restricted in power and is excommunicated from further designing a 4-engine strategic long-range bomber, which was a dream of the pilot-ace. After Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, E.Udet felt his inability to direct the air fleet on two fronts, between the USSR and Great Britain.

November 14, 1941 in his mansion in the suburbs of Berlin, Ernst Udet committed suicide with a pistol shot. They buried a German Luftwaffe pilot at a Berlin cemetery for the military.