Lindbergh.

This is coolbert:

Well, it does seem that Lindbergh was asked to come to Germany on an intelligence mission for the U.S. government from the start.

The military attache of the U.S. in Berlin at the time was an infantryman who had no knowledge of aviation matters. The attache did have an underling, a aviation man, who was called the aviation attache. But this man was not considered to be competent to evaluate the German Luftwaffe and it's development in a proper manner.

It was felt that as the man considered by the public to be the greatest living aviation or the greatest aviator of all time for that matter, Lindbergh would be the proper man to do the job of evaluating the Luftwaffe.

Having had all the arrangements made by the U.S. military attache, Lindbergh was indeed wined and dined in Germany by the highest levels of the German government. Lindbergh was looked upon from the start by the Nazis as being the "perfect" man. Nordic, handsome, accomplished, possessing high intelligence and ability, to the Nazi, Lindbergh was "numero uno" [Most Nazi higher ups were anything but the "ideal man". When they found someone that was, they held such persons in very high esteem].

It seems the results of Lindbergh's evaluation of the Luftwaffe were spotty.

Lindbergh was shown a lot of the German aircraft development and was shown the Luftwaffe as it was at the time. His observations were sought out by the Nazis and appreciated.

[In this regard, it would be realized that Lindbergh was a recognized expert on aviation throughout the world. He DID have a lot of knowledge in the area of how to get the most out of an aircraft. How to set controls to get the maximum performance out of an aircraft was a specialty of Lindbergh's. He was a master in this regard. Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow, did pioneer most of the world air routes in use to this day!! This was done in the thirties with Lindbergh at the controls and his wife as navigator, flying a two seater aircraft of high performance. The flight across the Atlantic was not the only accomplishment of Lindbergh].

Lindbergh did not seem to grasp some basic factors pertinent to the Luftwaffe however.

Factors that while important to the Luftwaffe, seemed to be not of importance to an American. Lindbergh did not seem to realize that the main role of the Luftwaffe as seen by the Nazis themselves was as support for the ground forces. The Luftwaffe was to be a tactical air force supporting a blitzkrieg ground advance. Lindbergh did not see any development in Germany of long-range, heavy bomber aircraft, such as the American B-17. To Lindbergh, this seemed to be a deficiency. But this was from the American standpoint, not from the German.

[All throughout World War Two [WW2], neither the Germans or the Soviets did develop long-range bomber aircraft capable of carrying out a strategic bombing offense of the oppositions homeland. The emphasis of the German and Soviet air forces was on supporting at the tactical level the ground forces].

The entire mission of Lindbergh's to Germany must be categorized therefore as an intelligence mission IN THE OPEN!! I just don't think it was all that fruitful!? This does not mean that Lindbergh's mission demonstrates an affinity for fascism or anything like that. He was invited and asked to give his honest opinion. Perhaps a better understanding of the Luftwaffe was gleaned from Lindbergh's mission, but not excessively so! Again, as for Lindbergh's purported affinity for fascism?

It would seem this mission proves nothing!

coolbert.