chapter 14 Retirement party and trip to Africa

Wünsdorf, October 8, 1935

AH: Gentlemen, I will begin with a sad announcement: Herr Göring will retire immediately for health reasons. He had been a true friend and a fervent fighter for Germany throughout his life, but sadly, his addiction once again overtook him. One more victim of the great war.

In addition to retiring from his multitude of positions, he will also retire with the newly created title of Luftwaffe Oberstkommandeur and ceremonial head of the Luftwaffe, to be his for life. As such, he will be given a property in Freising, near the München airfield, which will henceforth be known as the Herman Göring Luftwaffe base. Furthermore, the next Geschwader fighter trained will be named after him as a cognomen.

Naturally, the Luftwaffe and Lufthansa will provide him with a suitable farewell.

Erhard Milch(EM): We will give him the well-deserved honors as a member of the PLM and as a founding father of the Luftwaffe, mein Fuhrer.

AH: Thank you, now the real reason we are here, our participation in the war in Ethiopia.

Werner von Blomberg (WB): Yes sir, we currently have several assets in the field;

A force of 80 observers dispersed in small groups by the Italian forces;

A strictly non-combat lease by Lufthansa of 48 Ju-52 transport aircraft, to provide logistical support, with attached normal support units of about 250 men in total, all civilians;

312 men from the cadres of Gebirgs Artilerie Regiment 111 & 112 formerly of the Austrian army training the Italians in the use of the old mountain howitzers that we sold them.

AH: Those gunners would participate in combat operations.

WB: Yes, but they are currently on leave and their participation should not have any diplomatic repercussions. At least that's von Neurath's opinion, sir.

AH: Well, should we provide any other material or personal support?

WB: Currently, there are two requests on my desks from the Italians that I am tempted to grant, one, a deployment of 48 HS-123 ground attack aircraft. The Luftwaffe is very excited about this, so I'll hand it over to General Milch.

E.M.: Thank you, sir. It is now obvious that while the Luftwaffe is off to a good start, we are lacking pilots and crew with combat experience. A lack that could be remedied in some way by offering two squadrons of 123, we are sure that the Italians will maintain total air dominance.

Our intelligence informs us that the Ethiopians currently possess 3 Potez 25 type aircraft that can be considered airworthy. Planes so outclassed by the HS-123 and the Italian air force that it's not even funny. Therefore, we can deploy the aircraft with minimal risks to our pilots and aircraft, the only realistic thread would come from the terrain and weather.

Which means we have before us the perfect first deployment for the Luftwaffe, to get a small group of crew who at least heard guns firing in anger. It will also provide us with a much-needed testing ground for our doctrine and operational procedures. As a Luftwaffe commander, I cannot emphasize enough how much this is worth, sir.

WB: As a Reichsminster, I totally agree with Gereneral Milch and....

AH: Please, there is no need to convince me about the value of battle-tested weapons and doctrine. It has my approval, in fact when the new He111 squadron becomes operational next month they will also be deployed to East Africa.

EH: Yes sir, they will make Germany proud.

AH: I have no doubt, but there was a more requested item.

WB: Yes sir, the Italians have requested any additional Maultier conversion kits for their Alfa-Romeo vans that we can provide. The 50 converted AR trucks currently used by the supply guys are a big success, they really love them in the harsh conditions of East Africa. In fact, they have started production of a specially designed version, which will be based on the L3 track system at a rate of approximately 2 per day.

AH: How many and how much?

WB: We currently have 150 sets of Panzer 1 tracked systems in storage and could provide half of them without compromising our own forces. And the Italians have already indicated that they would pay us in full. Funds we could use for new Panzer 3 units, sir.

AH: Very well, without objections on my part, the sale is approved.