The smiling young man with the black mustache and cigar as his trademark, became the youngest general – to be precise, a wing commander – of the German Armed Forces, since at just 30 years old he was the natural leader of the Luftwaffe with technical subordination only to Jehonek and administratively to Göring.
At the same time, he was the first general and only the second German to be awarded the “Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds” for his exceptional performance as a pilot.
In 425 sorties, he achieved 103 downings, with an average of 1 success per 4.12 sorties, and all on the Western Front against his American and English counterparts, who were considered clearly superior to the Soviets.
Adolf Galland was born in Westerholt on 19 March 1912 into an old Huguenot family with no military tradition.
He was the second of four boys, the eldest of whom became a lawyer and the other three excellent pilots.
His younger brother, Paul, was killed when he was shot down in 1942 after shooting down 21 enemy aircraft.
His other brother, Wilhelm, was killed in 1943 after having shot down 54 aircraft and been awarded the Knight’s Cross.
Adolf Galland had wanted to become a pilot since he was a child, and at the age of 20, despite his family’s financial problems, he took the exams and succeeded in being admitted – one of 18 successful candidates out of a total of 4,000 candidates – to the Braunschweig civil aviation school, where he was trained by the hero pilot of World War I and later Luftwaffe wing commander, Alfred Keller.
In 1933 he went to Grottaglie in southern Italy, where he was trained in fighter aircraft in complete secrecy. Returning from Italy, he stayed for a short time in the civil aviation, to join the ranks of the 10th Infantry Regiment of Dresden on 15 February 1934 in the ranks of the officer candidates.
After eight months, on 1 October 1934, he was named lieutenant colonel. On 12 March 1935, he was transferred to the 2nd Squadron “Richthofen” in Demberg where he first saw the Henschel He-51 fighter jets.
In October 1935, after an accident during a training flight, he fell into a coma that lasted 3 days, his vision in his left eye decreased and his nose was badly broken, as a result of which the unit doctor considered him unfit for flying.
Fortunately for the Germans, after pressure from the commander, the doctor changed his mind and Galland continued flying.
A year later he had another accident, when he crashed the Arando Ar-68 he was flying, but his will pushed him to continue. For the first time, the young pilot showed his worth during the Spanish Civil War, where he volunteered with the German “Condor” Legion under Lieutenant General Speerle, who offered invaluable assistance to Franco against his democratic opponents.
He arrived in El Ferrol on May 8, 1937, and until he was replaced by the famous Werner Melders, he had remained in Spain for 15 months as a lieutenant colonel, commander of the “Mickey Mouse” squadron.
He flew more than 300 missions, with a Mickey Mouse emblem on his aircraft, photographed with a turban in his hand and a cigar.
Due to the high temperature, he often flew wearing only a… swimsuit.
For his great success in military operations, he was decorated by Franco with the “Campaign Medal” and in the presence of Göring on June 6, 1939 with the “Golden Spanish Cross with Diamonds”, a distinction that has only been given 12 times in the history of Spain!
In the midst of World War II
With the beginning of World War II, Galland carried out 50 missions against ground targets with a Henschel He-123 bomber over Poland without any significant reaction from the weak Polish Air Force.
Experienced and twice successful in bombers, Galland always wanted to become a fighter pilot, to do dogfights.
Thus, after the operation against Poland, he was forced to be admitted to a hospital, pretending to suffer from rheumatism. With the help of a doctor friend, he obtained the valuable certificate that “it is forbidden to fly in aircraft with open cockpits”!
This was the reason why he was transferred to modern fighter aircraft, where he was trained by his later rival but friend, the also legendary Melders.
On October 1, 1939, he was promoted to squadron leader.
In the attack against France, he achieved his first three kills on May 12, 1940, over Liège. He quickly reached 7 kills and was awarded the “Iron Cross”.
But the real challenge for Galland was facing the RAF – especially during the “Battle of Britain” – since he faced equal opponents and aircraft – and his behavior when shooting down a Spitfire over Dunkirk on May 29 is characteristic.
His opponent had put him at a disadvantage and he mobilized all his skill to avoid him. When he finally shot down his English opponent, he anxiously awaited the latter’s parachute abandonment, hoping that he would be saved.
When he saw that the plane had crashed and his unfortunate opponent had died, he made an aerobatic dive over the crash site, bidding farewell to a brave opponent.
On 14 June, Galland took command of the 3rd Squadron of the 26th Wing, which from then until the end of the war was considered an elite air unit, accompanying his new duties with 2 kills.
On 18 July 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and 11 days later, when he shot down the 17th British aircraft, he was awarded the “Knight’s Cross”. Already on his sorties, he was involved in dogfights with enemy formations of 10 and sometimes 20 aircraft and had become known in the ranks of the RAF, who treated him with awe.
Göring decided to promote the young Melders and Galland to lieutenant colonels and very quickly to colonels.
They were the most capable pilots, already famous and the only ones to have been awarded the “Gold Flying Medal with Diamonds” and the “Knight’s Cross”. Galland wanted to remain as a squadron leader, but he took command of the 26th Wing. He continued to fly and on 24 September, after his 40th victory, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the “Knight’s Cross”, the third German in a row to be awarded this distinction.
On May 10, he received the order to stop the Fuhrer’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, who was trying to fly secretly over England, but the order was given to Galland too late and Hess – with the help of luck since he was not shot down by the British – reached Scotland where he parachuted.
On June 21, 1941, Galland shot down two Blenheim bombers in 4 minutes, reaching a total of 70 victories and was awarded the Swords of the “Knight’s Cross”.
On the same day, his plane was shot down for the first time and he himself was miraculously saved, since his parachute, which had been damaged, opened only at the last moment.
Aviator and gentleman
The following incident is characteristic of the character of the “bon-viveur” Adolf Galland, as well as of his views on the conduct of the war.
On April 15, 1941, it was the birthday of Wing Commander Theo Osterkamp, an ace in both world wars, the “best character in the Luftwaffe,” according to Galland, whom the pilots called “uncle.”
Galland was invited to the party organized by Osterkamp’s squadron at Le Touquet. He took off from Brest in his Bf 109 loaded with a basket of lobsters and champagne!
However, on the flight to Le Touquet, he spotted 6 Spitfires over Kent.
He shot down one and continued in pursuit towards Le Touquet. The champagne did not withstand the dogfight, but that evening they celebrated more than “Uncle Theo’s” birthday at the air base.
Galland always considered flying a challenge and shooting down an art. Precisely because he did not wish for the destruction or death of his opponent, he always behaved chivalrously towards his opponents, but rather his fellow pilots.
These are two typical examples of this mentality.
When Göring asked him what he would do if he were ordered to shoot at the enemy pilots who were escaping by parachute, Galland replied: “I would consider it a crime, Field Marshal. I would never carry out such an order, I would not convey it to my subordinates and I would express my opposition by all possible means”!
Göring was satisfied with this answer because he himself had behaved the same way as a pilot during World War I.
When the Germans shot down the British ace, Wing Commander Douglas Bender, who had a particular reputation for his bravery as he flew despite the amputation of his lower limbs and the installation of artificial limbs, Galland brought him in his jeep to his headquarters for tea!
After a friendly discussion between them, Bender asked him as a favor to arrange for his two spare artificial legs to be sent from England, because the others had been damaged during his downing.
Galland forwarded the request to Göring, who accepted it with enthusiasm.
Indeed, the English sent them, taking advantage of the opportunity to bomb the German air base!
Their behavior was not at all befitting a gentleman…
Bender received the second pair of artificial limbs, as well as the first pair that the Germans repaired, and reciprocated the kind gesture when, after some years, he found the captured Galland and gave him a pack of top-quality cigars!
On 22 November 1941, Werner Melders died in a plane crash and Galland succeeded him as Luftwaffe fighter inspector, effectively the leader of fighter aircraft in the tactical air force, with full responsibility for technology, logistics, technical improvement, production, promotions and transfers.
He was promoted to colonel on 4 December, a month after his promotion to lieutenant colonel, on the occasion of his 50th shot down, and continued to fly, albeit more rarely.
On February 28, 1942, after the 94th downing of a British aircraft, he became the second German – and the only survivor – to be awarded the legendary “Knight’s Cross, after Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds”.
His greatest organizational success was the perfect air cover of Operation “Thunderbolt” (Donnerkeil) in which a German armada led by the battleships “Scharnhorst”, “Gneisenau” and “Prinz Eigen” crossed the English Channel from Brest, bound for the Baltic ports.
The undertaking seemed impossible, Admiral Jehonek and the Navy leadership disagreed, but Hitler insisted.
After the impressive presentation of the plan, the Führer asked Galland if he believed in the success of the operation.
The young colonel replied: “Everything depends on how long it will take the British to mobilize the RAF against our ships.
We need absolute surprise and luck on our side. My fighters will give their best.”
And so it was, and Rear Admiral Killiax’s armada crossed the English Channel almost unmolested on February 12, 1942. In this way, it became the first and only naval force hostile to the English to achieve such a feat since 1690! Along with the collapse of their prestige and morale, the British also lost 60 aircraft in the attempt to block the German operation.
To the rank of general
On November 19, 1942, Adolf Galland was promoted to brigadier general, thus becoming the youngest general in Germany. When the tide of the war began to turn, the Wehrmacht was pressed on the Eastern Front and factories and cities in Germany were being mercilessly bombed, Galland’s fighters were trying to achieve the impossible of covering all fronts with minimal resources.
On August 17, 1943, they shot down 64 bombers over Schweinfurt, and on October 14, a mass flight of 300 German fighters against 226 B-17 bombers resulted in the destruction of 61 and the damage to 140 American aircraft.
Since then, the bomber escorts have been reinforced and the Luftwaffe has never achieved such a large-scale aerial victory. Earlier, on 10 July 1943, Galland personally commanded the fighters that met the landings in Sicily and helped greatly in the evacuation of the island without serious German losses.
Galland had the privilege of flying the prototype Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter, the first jet fighter in history. He described the experience as follows: “It’s like being pushed by an angel.” He told Göring that all fighter units should acquire the new aircraft to get the answer that Hitler insisted on using the aircraft as a light bomber! One of the Germans’ last chances to regain air superiority and perhaps win the war was lost with this tragic mistake.
Galland, of course, disagreed as he usually did with his superiors.
On another occasion when Göring called all the unit commanders together and accused them of failure, cowardice, and even went so far as to accuse them of having received the “Knight’s Cross” by lying, Galland pulled out the famous decoration and threw it on the table in front of the stunned field marshal, who did not respond for a moment.
In January 1945, Lieutenant General Galland was relieved of his duties because he sought and facilitated a meeting of the Luftwaffe squadron commanders with Hitler and Göring, at which the commanders demanded Göring’s resignation.
This meeting was later called the “Fighter Pilots’ Stand” and cost Galland, in addition to his dismissal, “house arrest”, the confiscation of his car and the monitoring of his telephone! Galland, frustrated, was considering suicide…
With the intervention of Speerle, but also of Hitler himself, Göring “calmed down”.
At Galland’s own request, but also on Goering’s orders, the German ace formed and led an experimental jet fighter unit, which achieved exceptional success in the last months of the war.
The unit was made up of the “aces of aces”, since all of them had the “Knight’s Cross” as their minimum distinction. He himself achieved 104 kills (7 with Me-262).
On April 26, 1945, he took part in his last air battle.
There his aircraft was hit and he himself was wounded in the leg.
After his forced landing he handed over command of the unit to Heinz Baer but remained with him.
Before surrendering to the Americans, he ordered the destruction of all Me-262s and commented bitterly: “While during the war I begged for new planes, in the end I had more planes than pilots to fly them”!
It is noteworthy that Galland’s aircraft was the only one in the Luftwaffe that had a lighter and a place to put his cigar!
After the war
After two years of captivity, which began on 14 May 1945, he returned to Kiel, Germany, and after working briefly as a forest ranger, in November 1948 he accepted a request from the Argentine government to help with his experience in air defense and air force training. Due to political changes, he was forced to return to Germany in 1955.
In the meantime, he had helped build the first Argentine fighter type, the Pulki II, which officially appeared on 8 February 1951, and had married Sylvinia Countess Von Donhoff on 12 February 1954.
On 26 April 1955, he flew in an air rally in a Piaggio 149 and won second place. Despite the proposal of the German Army reformer Theodor Blank, Galland was not allowed to take on the role of inspector of the new Luftwaffe.
In fact, the assumption of the duties of the head of the German Air Force by Wing Commander Kamhuber, with whom Galland had the worst relations during the war, made their possible collaboration impossible. However, because he was in demand, he worked as an administrative officer in 4 airlines.
On March 19, 1962, he bought a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft and named it “The Fat One”.
In November 1966, he had a son and in July 1969 a daughter. On February 10, 1984, he married Heidi Horn.
Until his death in February 1996 in Bonn from a heart attack, he was still flying and was a consultant on aviation matters, an honored person and speaker at countless aeronautical gatherings around the world and a member of serious international pilot clubs.
Finally, it is worth emphasizing that Galland’s strategy and tactics were used, and indeed with quite great success, by the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War in 1982.
