Anybody got any good links or other stuff on Heydrich's Luftwaffe flying career and crash? Found some stuff but on the whole the available online info seems to be dominated by vagueness, hagiographies, and nazi-fans. Cheers, Adam. Edit: moved to own thread rather than this one.
Adam, Here you go. WW2DB: Reinhard Heydrich Service record of Reinhard Heydrich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hope this is of help. Regards Tom
Rather dimly I hadn't even looked at Wiki Tom (guilty of often skim-reading when I go there), that's the most thorough resume I've yet seen. It's looking like an area he far from excelled in.
Adam, Wiki has its uses but I try not to solely rely on its information. Pity the man did not remain in the Luftwaffe as his days would have been numbered I suspect. Instead he lived to cause untold misery and death to many people. Regards Tom
Amazing to see that he flew in Barbarossa and was shot down as well. I wonder how reliable this info was?
I will add something from Max Williams biography of Heydrich when I get home. He flew in the in the battle of Britain and was shot down in Russia - I have often pondered how his own views on his superiority squared with a Russian shooting him down. The German Army had to mount a rescue operation to bring him back and thereafter ( much to his disappointment) Hitler forbade him from further flying, the head of RSHA being catured by the Russians was not something he wished to ponder. I find Heydrich an interesting individual - he certainly didn't lack courage but his vanity in terms of flying combat missions could have been his downfall. Can you imagine the propaganda images of him had he been shot down and captured over Kent , the headline and photo opportuities would have been endless. To some extent I wonder if he saw it as some sort of game , or if he considered what his death or capture would have meant , he surely must have considered it ? His fighter carried his own emblem on it , not that enemy aircraft would have known it - I wonder how comfortable Luftwaffe pilots / groundcrew felt arpuind him. Wil post up some stuff later this evening.
Isn't he responsible for forging some Russian documents that ultimately led to Stalin believing that officers in his army were plotting against him which resulted in the purges of the 30's?
Thgis is from Volume 2 of Max Williams biography of Heydrich "Enigma", published by Ulric of England. Heydrich had his own rune / coat of arms painted on his ME-109 which he flew in 1940 with Jgd.1. Williamsd states that eh flew recon missions over England / Scotland in a ME110- (? did the 110 have range for Scotland and back ?? from Norway ?) He crashed in Norway and broke an arm Heydrich was awarded a bronze combat bar, he flew against the poles in 39 and the RAF in 1940. He flew in Russia in 1941 and was shot down by AA fire , he spent two days behind Russian lines hiding and made his way back to German lines on foot. ( I had read he was rescued by the German Army ). After he was shot down he was " grounded" and was no longer allowed to fly in combat. The side view of his aircraft shows the SS runes as well as his own rune. He was a reserve major in the Luftwaffe when he was barred from further combat flying. Below the perfectly tailored uniform and flying awards , a rare thing to see on the men he moved amongest - no doubt he impressed , knew it and used it to his advantage. All above from the book mentioned.
Cheers James, I was hoping for some pictures of him in flying gear. You can read any amount on someone and then a footnote suddenly piques the interest for the first time. You're not alone in finding Heydrich 'interesting'. Something of the Nazi 'renaissance man' about him. Undoubtedly evil, & even looks like he was pressed from a machine, but one of the rare glimmers of real intelligence in Adolf's Gang. I always look at pictures of him and think If Hitler'd died at any earlier point then this is the next generation that would have risen to supremacy with ease over the old street-fighters. Likely even worse than Adolf, and a damn sight cleverer.
It's a shame an RAF pilot didn't shoot him down. Lidice would still be standing. Nasty man, got his deserts. Great pix James. And I never knew he flew during the BofB.
I am inclined to agree with you Adam , Himmler owed much to him and he would have advanced further had the anthropoid team not killed him. Intelligent and devoted to the cause he served , callous and cunning in his dealings with his peers and ruthless in dealing with those percieved as enemies. Vain , proud , cultured and a bad loser when it came to sports and work. Mass murder meant little to him when he did not see those he killed as being members of the same species as himself , he saw himself as serving a higher cause and the ends justified the means. Another view of Heydrich the aviator and fighter pilot. The grave he so richly deserved , following the State funeral from the Reichschancellery, the Russians destroyed his grave marker - I wonder if he is "still down there" ? The photos again from Max Williams "Enigma". How would he have made out had he been brought to trial , death sentence would have been deserved , what he carried in his head and what he had knowledge of would have shocked any court.
