Characters of "Eagles" - Unlikely Luftwaffe Eagle

   Continuing my series on the most important characters in "Where Eagles Never Flew," today I introduce the most important of the German characters. One of the unique features of "Where Eagles Never Flew" is that the novel follows the fate not only of an RAF fighter squadron but also a Luftwaffe fighter wing. The three main German characters are members of this fiction JG 23. Today I introduce Leutnant Ernst Geuke

"Bartels was tall, blond, tanned and fit -- a German officer straight out of a UFA-film. He considered Geuke with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. Geuke could hear him thinking, "Have we really sunk so low that we have to take officers like this?'"

  

Ernst doesn't look the part of a fighter pilot, at least not Goebbels idea of one. He isn't blond, or tall, or particularly good looking. In fact, he is what one doctor called "a good feeder" -- meaning that not either the Hitler Youth nor the Luftwaffe was able to make him look sleek. He retains a roundness regardless.

It doesn't help that he also comes from a humble background. His father is a plumber in the provincial town of Cottbus, and he has four siblings. He grew up poor surrounded by similar hard-working people who lost loved one and suffered severe deprivation during the First World War, and then lost all their savings in the inflation of 1923. Embittered by the hardship and the apparent indifference of the government to their plight, they enthusiastically embrace the new movement promising to make Germany great again.

 Ernst is thus a Nazi by default more than anything. With his parents, his teachers, his pastors and his classmates all mesmerized by Hitler and his lies, Ernst goes along congenially. His only real passion is flying, and being far too poor to take private flying lessons, his only change of flying is to be accepted into the Luftwaffe. 

Once in, Ernst works hard not fail and earns not only his wings but a commission as well. He's proud of that, but it doesn't give him the money for tailored uniforms (as the aristocratic officers have) and it doesn't change his provincial accent or make him slimmer either. Ernst is an outsider and acutely aware of it when he first reports for duty at JG 23, stationed at a hastily constructed grass airfield near Cherbourg in Normandy.

Acutely aware of his inexperience and imagining inadequacies, Ernst is self-effacing and anxious to "fit in." When things go wrong, he's quick to blame himself. He's not at all prepared to withstand the charm of Christian Baron von Feldburg, who rapidly takes Ernst under his wing -- as his "wingman." He's even less prepared to deal with his feelings for the pretty but shy Luftwaffehilferin Klaudia von Richthofen.

"This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 

 

 

Also by Helena P. Schrader

Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three heart-wrenching tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

 

The German Resistance to Hitler - An Introduction

 The rise of American fascism and the ongoing, virulent threats to American democracy make a closer look at fascist historical precedents from the last century imperative. Americans must become familiar with the methods used by anti-democratic forces to destroy constitutional government, silence opposition, mislead and terrorize the population. 

We must also remember that once a racist dictatorship has seized control of the apparatus of government, only a full-scale revolution or a military coup can bring it down. For that reason, better understanding of the German opposition to Hitler and especially the attempted military coup against Hitler is vital. These topics are no longer subjects for academic discourse but of acute relevance -- to all of us. 

History does not repeat itself, but historical parallels can inform and assist us in confronting contemporary issues.

 

On 20 July 1944 a bomb exploded at Hitler's daily briefing.  It was the last in a series of assassination attempts against Hitler carried out by a group of military conspirators. Shortly afterwards, using a legitimate military plan codenamed "Valkyrie," senior officers of the German Home Army tried to seize power in an attempt to free Germany from the criminal Nazi regime.

Sadly, like all those before it, the assassination attempt had failed. In consequence, within hours orders were issued from Hitler's headquarters countermanding "Valkyrie."  In some military districts, such as France, the subordinate commanders were anti-Nazi and they followed the "Valkyrie" orders without hesitation.  The local Gestapo and SS were rounded up and detained. In other military districts, the news that Hitler had survived the assassination attempt was sufficient grounds for disregarding "Valkyrie" and following the orders from Hitler's headquarters instead.  Slowly but surely the latter reaction became more common than the former. By the end of the night it was over; the only uprising by Germans against the Nazi regime collapsed.

In the night of July 20, 1944, the first men associated with this German revolt against Hitler's dictatorship were executed without trial.  The first man to fall to the vicious Nazi retribution was the man who had from early 1942 onwards developed and nurtured the coup d'etat plans, Plan "Valkyrie":  General Friedrich Olbricht. Thousands of other conspirators and their sympathizers followed and were liquidated in a bloody retribution.

Who were the men behind the conspiracy?  Was it really just a "tiny clique of criminally stupid officers" as Hitler claimed?  And was Claus Graf Stauffenberg - the only person named by Hitler - really the driving force behind it?

In a series of entries, I will look at the key milestones on the way to July 20, 1944 and introduce some of the important actors and factors in this drama. It is up to the reader to reflect on the extent to which parallels exist today and what lessons we can learn from the German experience. 

The German Resistance to Hitler was the subject of my PhD thesis. At the time I was the first Western academic granted access to some military archives and documents in what was then still "East Germany." In addition, I conducted interviews with over one hundred survivors of Nazi Germany, both supporters and opponents of the regime. The research culminated in a published dissertation and, later, an English-language biography of General Friederich Olbricht based on the dissertation. It also inspired me to write a novel about the German Resistance, which was recently re-released in ebook format under the title: "Traitors for the Sake of Humanity." Find out more and read reviews of "Traitors" at the publisher's website: Cross Seas Press.

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