Osterkamp, Theodor

     
Příjmení:
Surname:
Osterkamp Osterkamp
Jméno:
Given Name:
Theodor Theodor
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Original Name:
Theodor Osterkamp
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Rank:
generálporučík Lieutenant General
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Datum, místo narození:
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15.04.1892 Düren-Rölsdorf /
15.04.1892 Düren-Rölsdorf /
Datum, místo úmrtí:
Date and Place of Decease:
02.01.1975 Baden-Baden /
02.01.1975 Baden-Baden /
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https://www.geocities.com/~orion47/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Osterkamp
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Příjmení:
Surname:
Osterkamp Osterkamp
Jméno:
Given Name:
Theodor Theodor
Jméno v originále:
Original Name:
Theodor Osterkamp
Všeobecné vzdělání:
General Education:
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Důstojnické hodnosti:
Officer Ranks:
13.07.1916 námořní poručík
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01.08.1933 kapitán
01.04.1934 major
01.04.1937 podplukovník
01.10.1939 plukovník
19.07.1940 generálmajor
01.08.1942 generálporučík
13.07.1916 Leutnant zur See
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01.08.1933 Hauptmann
01.04.1934 Major
01.04.1937 Oberstleutnant
01.10.1939 Oberst
19.07.1940 Generalmajor
01.08.1942 Generalleutnant
Průběh vojenské služby:
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Note:
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Zdroje:
Sources:
https://www.geocities.com/~orion47/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Osterkamp
uk.wikipedia.org
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Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Theodor Osterkamp, the most successful German naval fighter of World War I, one of the highest ranking Luftwaffe officers during World War II.


(1892-1975)



Chapter I. From chicken to hawk...


He was born on April 12, 1892 in Aschersleben, Saxony. After completing his primary education, he graduated from the Gymnasium in Dessau, which his future friend and commander Gotthard Sachsenberg had just attended the year before. When the war broke out, Osterkamp was 22 years old and was studying at the forestry school.


He immediately volunteered to join the army, but the army rejected him because of his generally weak physical constitution. Osterkamp did not give up, however, and found out that he could volunteer for the naval air force. This he did, and in August 1914 he joined the Freiwilliges Marine Flieger Corps. From March to June 1915 he served at the naval air base in Wilhelmshaven. Later during the summer he was assigned with the rank of Vizeflugmeister (corresponding approximately to the rank of ensign, a rank belonging to officers-in-waiting) to Marine Feldflieger Abteilung 2, i.e. the 2nd Marine Field Aviation Detachment.


At that time, the Marine Flieger Corps was divided into units armed with seaplanes (Seeflieger Abteilung) and units operating from land bases with conventional Army air armament (Marine LandfliegerAbteilung). Osterkamp's MFFA 2 also fell into the latter category, hence the "field" in the unit's name. Theo flew there as an observer on reconnaissance biplanes Albatros.


The unit operated from Mariakerke airfield (about 2 km southwest of Oostende) mainly over the Belgian coast, as the primary task of the naval air force was to protect its own naval bases at Oostende and Zeebrugge and to operate in turn against the nearby Allied bases at Dunkirk or on the English coast. Osterkamp became the first MFFA 2 pilot to take pictures of English ports. He was awarded the Iron Cross II. Klasse(Eiserne Kreuz II. Klasse) in September 1915 for his work as an observer with MFFA 2.


The work of naval air observers was tedious and monotonous. Although their duty was not exciting on the surface, in reality the crews of the observation aircraft spent long hours in tedious observation, exposed to possible attack by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft gun fire. Even in these difficult conditions, Osterkamp's number of successful combat flights grew, and along with his successes came awards.


It was also at this time that Osterkamp became friends with his former classmate Gotthard Sachsenberg, who was then serving with MFFA 2 as a Fokkerpilot (a pilot assigned to fly the single-seat Fokker E assigned to the unit. His primary task was to escort colleagues flying the squad's observation aircraft and protect them from enemy fighters).


It was also perhaps Sachsenberg's example that later led Osterkamp to fighters. For the time being, however, he continued to fly as an observer on reconnaissance Albatrosech C.I. In the cockpit of an observation machine, Osterkamp also experienced his first aerial combat on 6 September 1916. Together with his pilot, Lieutenant Mattheus, they shot down a French Farman. However, due to the absence of witnesses, their victory was not acknowledged. This event had an unexpected twist, however, as in January 1917 Osterkamp was additionally witnessed to victory by Lieutenant Helmut Schmidt Koppen from another unit.


On 18 April 1917, Osterkamp was therefore additionally awarded the Ehrenbecher (Glory Cup - a silver cup awarded for the first air victory), but this kill was not counted in his total number of victories. He would thus have to wait until the end of April 1917 for his first official aerial victory, but that is still music of the future. In the meantime, Osterkamp was awarded the Iron Cross First Class(Eiserne kreuz I. Klasse) on 24 September 1916.


In the autumn of 1916 his former classmate Lt. z. S. Gotthard Sachsenberg began to form the first naval pure fighter unit at MFFA 2. This so impressed Osterkamp that he decided to take pilot training so he could fly fighters. In February 1917, the unit, named Marine Feldflieger Jasta I, was finally recognized as combat capable. In April, its commander, Lt. Sachsenberg, Theodor Osterkamp also reported with his newly "dried" pilot's diploma.


However, if he was looking forward to a fighter Albatros D.III, he was bitterly disappointed. Lt. Sachsenberg put him in an old Albatross C.I and ordered Osterkamp to show him his piloting skills. Perhaps nervousness then caused Osterkamp to crash on landing. Sachsenberg, although his friend, showed fierce professionalism - ordering Osterkamp to return to the pilot school and repeat the training.


This did not happen again. On the last day of April, Sachsenberg led his unit into battle and Osterkamp was left alone at the airfield after their departure. He didn't hesitate, hurriedly climbed into the cockpit of the Albatross and took off on his own. Over Oostkerke (near Diksmuide) he hit a British Sopwith and shot it down. Not only was this his first kill, but he also opened the score for MFJ I, which had not yet achieved any success. Under these circumstances, Sachseneberg was forced to admit that further follow-on training would be a waste of time at Osterkamp.


Hand in hand with the victories, of course, went the failures. Osterkamp narrowly escaped with his life several times during the war. "I also once had the honour of being shot down by the famous Englishman Albert Ball."


Albert Ball was killed on May 7, 1917, just seven days after Osterkamp began flying operationally. Virtually all of his victories Ball at that time were achieved in the Arras-Cambrai-Lille triangle, which is almost 100 km as the crow flies from the area where Osterkamp flew. In other words, the operational areas of MFJ I and Ball's 56th Squadron were somewhat out of each other's hands. It is also a question as to what made Osterkamp conclude that his opponent was Ball. The aircraft Albert Ball was flying at the time (and indeed had never flown before) bore no personal markings by which he could be identified in the air.


Moreover, all of the kills claimed by Ball between 30 April and 7 May were classified as "destroyed" or were aircraft that crashed to the ground and were observed to be destroyed in the crash. However, given that Osterkamp apparently survived this adventure, it would be more likely that the victories would have been classified as "forced to land", i.e. aircraft forced to land, or "out of control", representing aircraft in an uncontrolled crash. In both of these cases, Osterkamp could have saved himself by making an emergency landing. However, Ball claimed such a victory only on 1 May near Cambrai (well away from the coast where Osterkamp was flying), and it was a two-seater.


So whether or not Osterkamp was shot down by Ball, it certainly didn't stop him from continuing the fight. He added a second victory in mid-May, another in early June, and on 11 July he shot down Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter and the following day he destroyed SE 5, making him one of the air force's aces.



However, he himself is shot down on 27 July. He was then attacked by a lone French Spad with the inscription "Vieux Charles" on its side. Osterkamp immediately recognises the enemy by the markings on his aircraft, it is Georges Guynemer, at the time the most successful French fighter with 47 kills!


"The battle began at approximately 5,800 meters and stretched to an altitude of only 50 meters above the ground," tells of this fight Osterkamp, From the beginning, the fight is fought in a rapid descent: "For the next few moments we circled around each other trying to get into a good attack position, my yellow-and-black Albatros, although it had the advantage in agility and two machine guns, was nevertheless hit by missiles that struck the wing and the reinforcing wires cracked (a known weakness of Albatros fighters) and the machine became difficult to steer. My Albatros wobbled and went down."


Osterkamp felt that the Albatros was dangerously losing stability and maneuverability. Reinforcing wires are snapping, one wing is vibrating, and the aircraft is rapidly losing altitude. "The ground shot turned my plane on its back and I had to go upside down."


Fighter jets with the woman already very low: "My Albatross was on its back and shaking. Just above the ground, I got the machine back under control, whereupon I made an emergency landing in a meadow. I managed to avoid Guynemer's fire and reach the ground safely, but crashed in a desperate attempt to land."


This time, however, Osterkamp owed his survival not to his piloting skill, but to the generosity of his ace:"At that time the war was still being fought in a chivalrous manner, and when Guynemer noticed the predicament I was in, the Frenchman flew up beside me and saluted me!"


Osterkamp later described the duel as a fantastic experience and sang the praises of Guynemer's chivalry: "Would to God we had only such enemies as he was! And would to God that we ourselves were like him, invincible and magnanimous!"


Later, Osterkamp himself would have plenty of opportunity to testify to his chivalry, but this story would not take place until the following year. For now, let's return to Osterkamp's duel with Guynemer.


Unlike the fight with Ball, this clash seems likely. I have to admit that the description of this fight as I gave it in the article on Guynmer is not entirely accurate (I based it on Jules Roy's description, see the list of references used). In the meantime, I found out that Guynemer did not shoot down any Albatros from MFJ I at that time, in fact they were two different duels. On 27 July 1917, Guynemer destroyed a fighter Albatros piloted by Lt. Fritz Vossen (2 kills) from Jasta 33, who was killed. In his report, Guynemer gave the place of his victory as "between Langemark and Roulens", while Osterkamp gave Ieper as the place of the battle. I admit that I could not find "Roulens", but Langemark is barely six kilometres from Ieper. The clash between these rivals could very well have happened then, but unfortunately the information about it is only from Osterkamp's side.
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Chapter II. A sailor grows wings

Theo, however, soon recovered from the unpleasant experience. His award of the Order of the Hohenzollern, which he received on 20 August 1917, certainly helped him to come to more pleasant thoughts. Four days later, almost as if to repay his superiors, Osterkamp shot down a Spad. He thus increased his number of victories to six, but he certainly had no idea that it would be his last for 1917.

In October, Osterkamp and Sachsenberg were sent to their hometown of Dessau, where they participated in testing Hugo Junkers' new prototype aircraft, and both were very impressed with his advanced designs for all-metal monoplanes.

Not much is known about Osterkamp's other activities in the winter of 1917/18. What is certain is that he did not achieve any victories at that time, but this was understandable as ground operations stagnated during the winter and in connection with this air activity declined, but this was also a consequence of the poor winter "no-fly" weather.

On 2 March 1918 he took command of the newly established Marine Feld Jasta II. He then led the new unit to its first victory on the afternoon of 16 March, when he shot down Sopwith Camel north of Pervyse. By 27 April, he had rounded up his victories to 10 and was awarded the Cross of Friedrich-August of Oldenburg (Oldenburg Friedrich August Kreuz) 1st and 2nd class simultaneously (!).

At the turn of June and July 1918 his account already included 16 kills and he was one of the leading naval aviators together with Gotthard Sachsenberg (who had two less kills at that time). Both were therefore temporarily released from frontline deployment and sent to Adlershof to test new types of fighters. Osterkamp also already boasted the rank of naval lieutenant (Oberleutnant zur See) at that time, unfortunately I have not been able to find out on which date he was promoted.

Osterkamp was a very capable pilot and flew a variety of aircraft types. His recollection of the aircraft of the time is interesting in this context:"In the First World War I was in the Navy, but I flew land-based machines. We had Albatros D.III and D.IV (obvious printing error. The Albatros D.IV was built in only three pieces and only one of them apparently flew. It must be the Albatros D.V.), which had a large cockpit. These aircraft were not very manoeuvrable. The drops were faster. Later I flew a Fokker D.VII, and before that a Fokker Dr.I triplane. In 1918 I was called to Dessau to test the new all-metal J 7, the predecessor of the J 9. It was about 30 km/h faster than anything we had so far. It would become our best fighter. Fokker wanted to test them too, and in doing so, they completely destroyed them. Junkers then had no time to build a new machine, so the committee chose the new Fokker model."(1)

I originally assumed that Osterkamp was referring to the June 1918 fighter competition, but it was not held in Dessau, and Junkers presented the J 7 and J 9 prototypes there. The J 7 prototype was the direct predecessor of the J 9, which was later adopted by the German Air Force under the designation Junkers D.I. The J 7 did not actually participate in the first fighter competition in January 1918, which was won by the Fokker prototype V11, later introduced into service as the Fokker D.VII.

However, it was primarily the intervention of Sachsenberg and Osterkamp that prompted the Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen - Inspectorate of the German Air Force: the office which, during World War I, was responsible for the development of the Fliegertruppen. By the time of the Armistice, less than thirty of these machines had been produced and several were sent to the front in Flanders in early October 1918. However, they are not known to have intervened in the fighting. Nevertheless, Osterkamp was destined to see them again...

For now, however, he returned to MFJ II, which was rearmed during the summer with Fokkers D.VII and later also received Fokkers E.V/D.VIII. Osterkamp rejoined the fight and on 20 July shot down another Camel. He then began to increase his number of victories with iron regularity.
On August 16, 1918, he took part in the most famous air battle of the German naval aviators. On that day, 22 naval Fokker D.VII fighters battled an equally strong formation of British DH.9 from 206 Squadron, accompanied by Camels from the American 17. Aero Squadron. In a fierce aerial battle, the German sailors scored 19 kills with no casualties of their own! Osterkamp himself destroyed one Camel in this fight, bringing his victory count to an even 20.

By the end of August he had then shot down three more opponents, and then on 2 September came the most coveted award - Oblt. Osterkamp was awarded the Pour le Mérite. The award of this order also included a leave of absence, which probably explains why Osterkamp did not achieve another victory until 16 September.

On the other hand, however, he achieved this victory in a very curious way. He attacked two Allied fighters (in his memoirs he claims that they were American Spads, but in fact they were Sopwith Camels probably from 204th or 210th Squadron). He surprised them with a quick run from behind, but before he could open fire, the Allied pilots spotted him. Both initiated a rapid evasive manoeuvre, however, in which they crossed each other's flight path and collided. Osterkamp thus scored his 24th and 25th kills without firing a single round from his machine guns!

Sometime during the summer there was also an incident in which Osterkamp proved his gentlemanly manners. He shot down a fighter piloted by an English pilot named Shaw. He was, of course, brought to the MFJ II airfield at Jabbecke and treated royally in the officers' mess. As is the way amongst aviators, the subject of aircraft and flying came up. Word was given and Osterkamp offered the guest two five-minute comparison flights in Albatross D.V and Fokker D.VII if Shaw would guarantee on his word of honour that he would not fly the machines. The Englishman, of course, accepted the deal and was indeed one of the few Allied airmen to get a taste of the dreaded Fokker in the air, which he later described after landing as "a very nice aircraft".

As the fighting continued, Osterkamp himself also had a hard time. In late September (the event took place on either 28 or 29 September), he was testing the new Fokker D.VIII over the front when he was surprised by three Spads. After a brief chase he was hit hard and eventually had to be rescued by jumping from the out-of-control aircraft on the new Heinecke parachute, which had been introduced into service by the German Air Force shortly before. That same evening, however, he was airborne, shot down a French Bréguet XIV and even destroyed a British tank! By the end of September, his score thus stood at 29 kills.

In October, Osterkamp added three more victories, but the end of the war was already knocking on the door, and so in that "pre-peace" chaos neither the dates of the kills (except apparently the last one on 29 October 1918), nor the places, times or data on the type of enemy machines destroyed were preserved.

At the end of October Osterkamp fell ill with influenza and wandered into an infirmary. From there he was discharged on 9 November, just two days before the Armistice and no longer had the opportunity for aerial combat. His total number of victories stopped at 32, making him the most successful German naval aviator of the war.

Of his 32 kills, a total of 5 have not been accurately identified, and of the remaining 27 victories, 19 were fighter kills. He shot down the most Sopwith Camels, 15 in total, as well as destroying two Spads, one Sopwith Triplane and one SE 5a. This roster speaks fairly well of his pilot qualities. However, even in those eight two-seaters shot down, apart from one Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter, there were no downright easy targets. He destroyed two each of DH.4, DH 9 and Bréguet XIV, plus one Bristol F.2b Fighter.

He left an interesting recollection of WWI air combat: "Generally our machines were a bit heavier and that was the reason why the others were able to outmaneuver us so often. (...) In the First World War, the biggest advantage in aerial combat was height. The second most important point was the ability to maneuver. In the First World War, we often fought in prolonged battles. My longest air combat lasted 20-25 minutes - that's long enough. Only third place for a fighter in WWI was the speed of his plane. This point then became somewhat more important in World War II."

Next, Osterkamp described the specifics of aerial combat near naval bases heavily defended by anti-aircraft artillery:"As naval aviators, we had somewhat different tactics than our comrades on the Western Front. We flew somewhat higher due to the relatively accurate fire of the anti-aircraft guns.(...) We normally flew at 6000 - 6500 meters. Richthofen flew with us for a while. I told him that aerial combat at high altitudes was subject to different laws, to put it carefully. At the time his squadron flew with us, he had - if I remember correctly - about 17 losses against four or five successes..."

He also offered his perspective on comparing the pilots of both sides in the context of the constant Allied air offensive: "In World War I, we had older pilots. They had more experience. Part of that may have been related to the fact that we were mostly fighting over our own territory. If one of our pilots was shot down, they usually came back to us...Because we could send these pilots back into combat, they gained more experience. So we didn't need as many youngsters to fill out our ranks. On the other hand, pilots of the Western powers usually ended up in a prisoner of war camp if they were shot down, and thus were lost to the war. This meant a constant flow of new young pilots into enemy squadrons. Therefore, most English and French pilots, at least for most of the war, were younger and more inexperienced. This situation was then reversed in the Second World War. There, the Luftwaffe had to deploy more and more young replacements."
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Chapter III. From war to war

But now it was still a long way from World War II. At the beginning of 1919, Osterkamp signed up to fight communism - he joined the volunteer air unit Fliegerabteilung Ost, which was assembled by his friend and commander Gotthard Sachsenberg. Here again he met so much admired Junkers DI and Cl.I. Throughout 1919, he fought against the Bolsheviks in Lithuania, Estonia and Finland. At the end of the year, the German government withdrew them, which meant the end of flying for Osterkamp and others.

It was a grim prospect, and perhaps one of the reasons, along with the physical and mental strain of previous struggles, why Osterkamp had collapsed and had to be hospitalized. He then tried all the way to return to flying. In the mid-1930s, his name appeared on the start lists of various air races. In 1938 he also published his memoirs of the fighter pilot I. st. wars called [du] "Du oder Ich" (You or me).

When the Luftwaffe was being formed, he applied for reactivation. On November 1, 1937 he was appointed commander of the school of fighter pilots in Werneuchen ( Jagdfliegerschule 1). He served here until August 1939 and was a great example for his students. He was the embodiment of a fighter from the "old school", the generation of worshiped Manfred von Richthofen. He kept reminding him of that with the great performance of the perfect gentleman. He was very demanding of his students professionally, but at the same time he treated them with paternal care, which earned him the nickname "Onkel Theo".
Then the Luftwaffe concluded that he needed his services elsewhere. From September 1, 1939 he became commander of the fighter squadron JG 51 ( Kommodore Jagdgeschwader 51). A month later he was promoted to the rank of colonel (Oberst). Osterkamp was therefore at war again and actively participated in air battles.

When the Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands, Osterkamp reopened his score on May 12, 1940. Over Soesterberg (between Utrecht and Amersfoort) shot down a Dutch two-body Fokker G-1, the most valuable aircraft [ i] Nederlandse Luchtverdeding, heavily armed with a battery of eight machine guns in the bow. Ironically, Osterkamp now flew against aircraft of the same brand, on which he had once won a number of victories.

However, he could not fail to notice that the air battles from the I. st. wars changed: "When I think of how I once returned to base during the previous war with, only´ 68 hits in my cuckoo… A few patches patched with patches and that was all… But today the target is enough and that's it end. One use of cannons and it's after sparrows! ”[/I]

JG 51 then continued the campaign in France and then participated in the Battle of Britain. In July JG 51 remained the only German fighter unit, which pretended to be the Channel over England. Despite his age, Osterkamp showed considerable command and tactical flexibility. Although the main focus of its pilots was escorting bombers, Osterkamp also allowed them free fighter flights ( Frei Jagd), in which they attacked enemy aircraft over Kent and shelled ships off the coast.

An ordinance was issued in July limiting the maximum age of Geschwaderkommodors to 32 years. Perhaps also in connection with this provision, Osterkamp was promoted to the rank of major general on 19 July.Three days later he handed over command JG 51 to Werner Mölders and he was appointed to the position of Jafü 1 ( Jagdfliegerführer), which was a new function established for all Luftflotte. about the officer commanding all fighter units in the air force, in this case Luftflotte 2.

Simultaneously with the promotion, Osterkamp received a much less pleasant thing - an immediate ban on combat flights on the orders of Hitler himself. His score thus stopped at six victories, making him, as incredible as it sounds, one of the few fighter aces of both world wars.

However, little remains to be done about the number of his victories. According to some data, he achieved only two confirmed victories - the already mentioned Fokker G and Spitfiru od 64. squadrony (pilot Sgt. Binham), who shot down Osterkamp over Dover on 13 July.

The remaining four victories from the French campaign remained unconfirmed (but only three are known - May 22 and May 31 Hawker Hurricane a 1. 6. Bristol Blenheim) (2) .

In the list of victories JG 51, however, there is only one victory associated with his name: the Spitfire from 13. 7. On the other hand, it is on the same list until July 22, when Osterkamp stopped flying a good 16 victories for which no winner is known apparently achieved in a group that was awarded to a unit, but not to a specific pilot (it is, of course, a question of whether Osterkamp could participate in these victories). (3)

In the official tables, however, Osterkamp is awarded 6 confirmed victories. Be that as it may, the fact is that at the age of 48, Osterkamp shot down pilots who could have been his sons by age. On August 22, 1940, he was awarded the Knight's Cross[/url]

When he then compared the qualities of [url=/topic/view/1012/Messerschmitt-Bf-109E-3] Bf-109E
and Spitfira, complained that the "mule" was due to the large engine in relation to the rest of the fuselage heavy on the nose and so he had to fly "stretched" ( with a stick pulled): tend to fly with a raised nose. The Spitfire lay more horizontally in the air and could circle with a smaller radius. On the other hand, we had a certain advantage in the dive flight… "

It is a nice example of the "Spitfire complex" that many German pilots suffered from. The Spitfire Mk.I was actually 200 kg heavier than Bf-109E-3 and Messerschmitt was also more agile (at half the load of fuel, speed 420 km/h and altitude of 3000 m had " stodevítka ”turn radius 228 meters, while Spitfire by 40 more). However, the problem was maneuverability - Messerschmitt had a much bigger problem with flying around a tight turn than Spitfire - many German pilots were concerned about the low structural strength of the thin wings of the "stodevítka". The Bf-109 was actually a bit faster in the dive, but not because it was heavier, but thanks to higher acceleration and direct injection into the Daimler-Benz engine. Therefore, unlike the carburetor-equipped Rolls-Royce, the Spitfire "did not click". On the other hand, many German fighters chose the dive flight more slowly than their opponents in the Spifires, again for fear of the fate of Willy Messerschmitt's thin wings.

Osterkamp was undoubtedly an expert in air combat. However, although he was still ready for war on the command or pilot side, it was worse on the emotional side. Uncle Theo was very saddened by the loss of his young students, and he was dejected by the sight of empty chairs in the dining rooms of the flying staff. Moreover, the course of the battle did not give him any hope of improving this situation.

Göring still demanded from fighters tight protection of bombers (to psychologically encourage bomber crews), which deprived them of the benefits of height , surprises and room for maneuver. On the evening of August 29, Osterkamp met with his best subordinates Geschwaderkommodory and friends Werner Mölders and Adolf Galland. He expressed his concerns about the further development of events in front of them.

Osterkamp Göring did not believe his claim about how the RAF grinds from the last. He claimed that the Luftwaffe could no longer afford such large losses of flying personnel and that the battle could no longer be won. Galland and Mölders disagreed, but future developments proved the old man right.

He has so far decided firmly to write a detailed report on the course of the battle. He also did so and did not spare in it pessimism about other prospects for the course of the fighting, nor criticism of the address of the High Command and Göring in person.

He criticized in particular the inconceivability of the leadership of the battle, the failure to set the main objectives by Göring, the ever-changing contradictory orders, the erroneous situation estimation and the demoralization of the fighters by frequent threats or accusations of cowardice. Osterkamp subsequently sent this analysis to Field Marshal Milch, Inspector General of the Luftwaffe. The response was swift, and Osterkamp was told that if he presented similar defeatist sentiments once again, he would be brought before a field court for cowardice.

With today's departure, his pessimism may have seemed exaggerated in August 1940, at that time the result of the battle was still on the dragonflies, but further developments really proved Osterkamp unequivocally correct.

In particular, his gloomy predictions about the loss of trained and experienced air crews were confirmed. In order to heal with the loss of thinning air units, it was necessary to shorten flight training in the future, which in turn inevitably led to higher losses in the ranks of these inexperienced pilots. The losses then also increased among the aces, who took care of these insufficiently trained novices and were handcuffed in the air like balls on their legs. The increasing percentage of losses led to a further acceleration of training, and the Luftwaffe thus entered a vicious spiral from which it never emerged and whose beginning can be found just at the time of the Battle of Britain.

So far, however, Osterkamp has really begun to moderate, but he has never really stopped criticizing the Supreme Command. As expected, the Luftwaffe was defeated in the Battle of Britain. Osterkamp remained in office in Jafü until July of the following year. From July 18, 1941, he was appointed Fliegerführer Afrika, the commander in chief of air units operating in the Mediterranean.

He remained in office until March 1942, but it was his last command post. On August 1, 1942, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. Until 1944, he replaced a number of staff positions within the Luftwaffe, mostly related to the training of novices and the administration of reserves. In August 1944, he was definitively placed at his disposal, ie deprived of all functions, and although he remained in active service, he was essentially in the position of an unclassified midfielder. This decision may have been partly related to his deteriorating health.

Lieutenant General Theo Osterkamp thus had the end of World War II. St. of war. After the war he was engaged in trade and even worked with Adolf Galland in Bonn for several years. However, he added that Uncle Theo was too trusting to make a fortune.Fortunately, Osterkamp was able to retire in the 1960s.

At the turn of the sixties and seventies he was still very active. He lived in Baden-Baden at the time with his wife and daughter and was Chancellor of the Order Pour le Mérite. In 1971, as a co-author, he published a critical book on the German conduct of air battles during World War II. St. war called "Tragödie der Luftwaffe?". At that time, the name still had such a sound that he could fly in the BundesLuftwaffe jet fighters at the age of almost 80.
He died in Baden-Baden on January 2, 1975, at the age of blessed 83 years.

Notes: 1) - Sims, E.H .: Duels in the Sky, ed. MUSTANG, s.r.o., Pilsen 1993, ISBN 80-85831-07-4, pp. 65

2) - https://www.luftwaffe.cz/osterkamp.html

3) - https://www.luftwaffe.cz/jg51_victories.html

Sources:

Sims, E.H .: Duels in the Sky, ed. MUSTANG, s.r.o., Pilsen 1993, ISBN 80-85831-07-4

Toliver, R.F .: Constable, TJ., German Fighter Aces, ed. MUSTANG, s.r.o., Pilsen 1996,
ISBN 80-85831-67-8

Roy, Jules: Guynemer: Angel of Death, ed. MUSTANG, s.r.o., Pilsen 1997, ISBN 80-7191-221-2

Deighton, Len: Fighter, published. Práce, s.r.o., Prague 1993, ISBN 80-208-0218-5

Krumbach, J., Vraný J .: Illustrated History of Aviation, Volume One, published by Our army,
Prague 1985, 28-106-85, 05/112


Periodicals: HPM 10/1996

Internet:

https://membres.lycos.fr/asduciel/marine.htm
https://www.ww2.dk/misc/bio.htm#Osterkamp
www.geocities.com
https://www.luftwaffe.cz/osterkamp.html
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl
https://www.luftwaffe.cz/jg51_victories.html
www.theaerodrome.com
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Marineflieger Theo Osterkamp
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