The Bomber Crewman

A Luftwaffe bomber crew comprised around to four or five members, with these men forming a trained and cohesive team around the captain of the aircraft.

When he first embarked on air operations over the British Isles, Robert Götz was just 18 years old. With the lowly rank of Flieger, he served with the Heinkel 111 equipped I./KG55, as an air gunner, flying his first operational sortie on 16 August 1940. He wrote in his diary his impressions of that first sortie, an attack on Heston aerodrome, and of his thoughts as he climbed aboard the bomber for what would be his first time in action:

“It is almost with reverence that I regard the pilot’s seat on which Hauptmann

Rudolf Kiel will soon be sitting. To the right of it are two yellow levers which will unleash the 800hp of each of the engines as he eases the control column back for take-off.

“Close beside it is the observer’s seat, the moveable cover across the bomb sight and, right in front, the machine gun in its glassy dome. Will that really soon be my place, even though I am only 18?

“After an awed look at the instruments, I make my way back into the rear fuselage under the radio operator’s seat so that I can view the area assigned to me for the first time. There are weapons, oxygen, ammunition drums. I imagine myself adjusting the parachute correctly. How would it feel to bale out? For how long will I stay alive? Lord God, let me cross the Channel once or twice, and not come crashing down until then – if that’s how it has to be. Once, at least, I would like to come back and say I was in it too!”

HEAVY FIRING

Once airborne, Götz gazed in amazement at the spectacle of a vast armada of bombers and escorting fighters stretched out behind them. But now, over England, he was about to be introduced to the real war:

“I hear Kiel saying: ‘There they are, then, those little fighters…’ He sounded as if it were all a game. Already there is firing. Heavy firing. Perhaps it is from an attacking English aircraft? Perhaps from Oberleutnant Rybka, the observer?

“There! Now the enemy is darting past with the British roundel almost scraping underneath me. This time, I don’t let it withdraw unscathed. I start to fire. Yes!

I’m firing at the enemy! ‘I’ve got him in my sights!’ I cry. ‘He swerved to the right and went in the clouds.’ The observer cut me short with ‘Don’t yap like that! Keep your mouth shut!’ So, I held my tongue, embarrassed, and didn’t utter another word until we were down.”

On the ground, Oberleutnant Rybka chastised the young air gunner again, telling him to maintain absolute silence when near the target:

“‘Jawohl, Herr Oberleutnant’ I say. I feel ashamed, but Hauptmann Kiel, the Staffelkapitän, who has taken me on this sortie on a trial basis, doesn’t seem to think anything is wrong. I would walk through fire for him.”

Against the odds, Robert Götz survived dozens of sorties over Britain in 1940 and 1941, before going on to serve on the Eastern Front. By some miracle, he survived his experiences there and then in defending Germany during the last days of the war. Promoted and well decorated, Robert Götz had been exceedingly lucky to come through the entire war without so much as a scratch.

For many of his comrades in KG55, sorties to England were a one-way journey which ended in either death or captivity.

Above As the engines of a Heinkel 111 are run up behind them, members of its crew get into their flying overalls at a French airfield during the summer of 1940 prior to another operational sortie over the British Isles.

Wilhelm Letzgus poses confidently after being awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class. On 8 April 1941 he and his crew were shot down over the English Channel and killed. Gunners at their stations on board a Heinkel 111 during a sortie over the British Isles in the summer of 1940.

Above left Above right

Above The Ausweis document, or personal identity card, carried by Robert Gotz during 1940 and 1941.