Cover photo: Galland, next to his fighter plane with his favorite habits that characterized him: Mickey Mouse painted on the side of his plane and cigars.

Text by Γιάννης Άντερσεν

The photo below shows the Bf 109 fighter plane of German ace pilot Adolf Galland, as Chief Warrant Officer Mayer, head of the wing’s mechanics, performs maintenance. The fighter plane has a distinctive feature on the cockpit’s glass. To the right of the pilot, at the point where his eye is positioned, a telescope protrudes.

The reason for this unique attachment was that the pilot was nearly blind in his left eye and had impaired vision in his right eye after two consecutive accidents with biplanes during acrobatic exercises in 1935. Nevertheless, Galland, with significant support from his flying subordinates, managed to halt the procedures that would have retired him early. Later, when the extent of his injuries was revealed, he faced a court-martial.

During interrogation, he admitted to having glass fragments in one eye but insisted he could still perform his duties. Witnesses in his favor managed to reduce the charges, and he was ordered to undergo medical examinations. At that point, one of his two brothers, who were also pilots (both later served and died under his command), ordered the medical inspector to leave the room where the vision testing chart was located. Thus, Adolf Galland memorized the chart as quickly as possible and fooled the test.

Adolf “Dolfo” Galland, of distant French descent as his surname from the exiled Huguenots of medieval times indicates, was one of the best fighter pilots of the Third Reich. Additionally, he was the youngest officer to reach the highest levels of German command in his time, holding the rank of Lieutenant General when he was appointed Commander of Fighters (General der Jagdflieger) in November 1941.

Initially, he was a bomber pilot with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War until 1938. Upon returning to Germany, he closely followed developments in fighter aircraft, seeking a transfer. However, during the operations in Poland and France, he continued as a bomber pilot until he briefly took a staff position as an advisor. There, he showed great insight and successfully proposed changes to the equipment of fighter and bomber planes, as well as taught tactics for strikes on ground targets. Returning to active duty, he took on missions in twin-engine planes with open cockpits, which was problematic for his vision. He pretended to have rheumatism and convinced others that his medical problems would not persist if he flew planes with closed cockpits. This is how he finally managed to secure a transfer to the fighters.

Most of his 104 credited victories (he claimed a higher number) in aerial combat were achieved in a short period during the invasion of the Low Countries and the Battle of Britain (from May 10, 1940, to November 1941), mainly flying the Bf 109. However, his last victories were in 1945 when Galland was already a Lieutenant General, flying the now-advanced Me 262 jet fighter. By the end of the war, he had fallen out of favor after participating in the so-called Fighter Pilot Revolt in January 1945.

Some Luftwaffe fighter staff officials protested to Marshal Göring over his persistent interventions and the failure of Operation Bodenplatte, which had exhausted the fighter reserves in a desperate attempt to gain temporary air superiority during the Battle of the Bulge, leaving Germany’s air defense exposed. Galland was almost forced into retirement, but after intervention from Hitler himself, he was once again placed in active duty as a wing commander.

After the war, he became an advisor to the Argentine Air Force. He was one of the most famous veteran pilots of the post-war world, maintaining excellent relationships with many of his German, British, and American colleagues. Galland wrote his memoirs («Die Ersten und die Letzten, The First and the Last») and retired from flying planes and aircraft in 1980 at the age of 68. The German ace passed away in 1996.