Ernst Udet

Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was a German pilot during World War I and a Luftwaffe Colonel-General (Generaloberst) during World War II.

Udet joined the Imperial German Air Service in April 1915 at the age of 19, and eventually became a notable flying ace of World War I, scoring 62 confirmed victories. The highest scoring German fighter pilot to survive that war, and the second-highest scoring after Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus, Udet rose to become a squadron commander under Richthofen, and later under Hermann Göring. Udet spent the 1920s and early 1930s as a stunt pilot, international barnstormer, light-aircraft manufacturer, and playboy.

On 1 May 1933 Udet joined the Nazi Party. He became involved in the early development of the Luftwaffe (officially founded on 15 May 1933), where he was appointed director of research and development. Influential in the adoption of dive-bombing techniques as well as of the Stuka dive bomber, by 1939 Udet had risen to the post of Chief of Procurement and Supply for the Luftwaffe. The stress of the position and his distaste for administrative duties led to Udet developing alcoholism.

The launch of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, combined with issues with the Luftwaffe's needs for equipment outstripping Germany's production capacity and increasingly poor relations with the Nazi Party, caused Udet to choose suicide on 17 November 1941 by shooting himself in the head.

Ernst Udet was born on 26 April 1896, in Frankfurt am Main, German Empire. Udet grew up in Munich, and was known from his early childhood for his sunny temperament and fascination with aviation. In his youth he spent considerable time at a nearby airplane factory and an army airship detachment. In 1909, he helped found the Munich Aero-Club. After crashing a glider he and a friend constructed, he finally flew in 1913 with a test pilot in the nearby Otto Works owned by Gustav Otto, which he often visited.

Shortly after the beginning of World War I, Udet attempted to enlist in the Imperial German Army on 2 August 1914, but at only 160 cm (5 ft 3.0 in) tall he did not then qualify for enlistment. Later that month, when the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club appealed for volunteers with motorcycles, Udet applied and was accepted. Udet's father had given him a motorcycle when he had passed his first year examination, and along with four friends, Udet was posted to the 26. Württembergischen Reserve Division as a "messenger rider." After injuring his shoulder when his motorcycle hit a crater from an artillery shell explosion, he was sent to a military hospital, and his motorcycle was sent for repairs. When Udet tried to track down the 26th Division, he was unable to find it and decided to serve in the vehicle depot in Namur. During this time, he met officers from the Chauny flying sector, who advised him to transfer as an aerial observer. Before he received his orders, the army dispensed with the volunteer motorcyclists, and Udet was sent back to the recruiting officials.

Udet tried to return to the fighting, but he was unable to get into either the pilot or aircraft mechanic training the army offered. However, he learned that if he were a trained pilot, he would be immediately accepted into army aviation. Through a family friend, Gustav Otto, owner of the aircraft factory he had hung out around in his youth, Udet received private flight training. This cost him 2,000 Deutsche Marks (about $400 in 1915 U.S. dollars) and new bathroom equipment from his father's firm. Udet received his civilian pilot's license at the end of April 1915 and was immediately accepted by the Imperial German Air Service.

Udet at first flew in Feld Flieger-Abteilung 206 (FFA 206)—an observation unit—as an Unteroffizier (non-commissioned) pilot with observer Leutnant Bruno Justinius. He and his observer won the Iron Cross (2nd class for Udet and 1st class for his lieutenant) for nursing their damaged Aviatik B.I two-seater back to German lines after a shackle on a wing-cable snapped. Justinius had climbed out to hold the wing and balance it, rather than land behind the enemy lines and be captured. After this structural failure, and a similar incident in which Leutnant Winter and Vizefeldwebel Preiss lost their lives, the Aviatik B was retired from active service.^{[citation needed]}