Crying Over Spilt Milch

[nuuumannn]

So, I'm interested in your thoughts on Erhard Milch. This is the period we are obviously interested in, from wikipedia:

"Following the suicide of Generaloberst Ernst Udet in November 1941, Milch succeeded him as Generalluftzeugmeister, in charge of all Luftwaffe aircraft production, armament and supply. In addition, in April 1942 he was named to the Central Planning Board along with Albert Speer, Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production, and Paul Körner, State Secretary of the Four Year Plan, in an effort to coordinate control over all industrial war production."

There is a belief that he was responsible for ruining the career of the Ju 288; that I think this is an oversimplification of the situation made without context is beside the point, but clearly his impact polarised opinions, so what are your thoughts on his approach and influence? Was he good or bad for the Luftwaffe?

 

[WARSPITER]

Probably

 

[SaparotRob]

While I have little knowledge of the topic, the thread title is great!

 

[ARTESH]

IMO, like majority of similar cases, ruin a military personnel to gain favour of a politician! Because of many benefits they (politicians) provide ... And yes, this is more than a simple oversimplication of the situation.

 

[WARSPITER]

The reason I wrote probably was because of the polarising of views. He concentrated on production of known models and I think from memory cancelled
the production of the ME 210 among others as it simply wasn't good enough. This may have lead designers / manufacturers to put the blame on him for
the slow introduction of newer aircraft even though many were not ready for production.

There is also the backfire theory which says the concentration of production and the simplifying of some manufacturing meant that models of aircraft fell
behind in quality and performance - particularly in the last year and a half of the war.

Milch among others was responsible for these choices - rationalisation and increased output versus pure technical advancement - always a problem. The
entire Reich air industry was on a hiding to nothing after 1941 as there was no chance to keep up logistically.

Changes in engines which were not ready for use is only one of many problems which caused huge delays in prototypes and this problem among others
would still have reared it's head with or without Milch.

PS - interesting that Milch started out as an artillery officer and ended up in Luftwaffe circles as did Kesselring.

 

[GrauGeist]

Milch did not play well with others, however.
In particular, Willy Messerschmitt and Hugo Junkers. The friction between he and Messerschmitt came to a head when Milch banned Messerschmitt from submitting an entry in the fighter competition, but Willy used cintacts higher up to get the Bf109 entered.

There was also considerable friction between he and Udet. So much so, that one begins to wonder if Udet actually committed suicide. It's also interesting to note that two of Udet's backers, who were most likely to assume Udet's position happened to die enroute to Udet's funeral: Mölders and Wilberg.

I also find it interesting that Wever died in an "accident" and Jeschonnek committed suicide, too...

 

[WARSPITER]

True - there was a lot of backstabbing going on in the Luftwaffe even to the point where Milch and Goebbels tried to have Goering removed.
Milch was also responsible for some heavy handed activities involving the workforce - shootings and the like.

Milch's comments about workers and concentration camp inmates after his capture ended up with him getting a fractured skull when his own
Marshalls baton was broken over his head. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at Nuremberg as a result of his activities.

Deaths among the 'higher ups' is a common thing when there is a single leader playing everyone off against each other to ensure their own
position. Some may have been at the direct orders of Hitler for whatever reason - who knows. It's a lot like Bonapartes Marshalls and Admirals.
One 'fell' out of a window and another managed to commit suicide by stabbing himself in the heart - several times.

 

[Dimlee]

I liked this old book:

THE RISE & FALL OF THE LUFTWAFFE | Irving Books

David Irving's much-sought biography of Erhard Milch, Hermann Göring's deputy, the field marshal who founded Lufthansa and then created the Luftwaffe. Reprinted in 2018.

irvingbooks.com

Based on first-hand materials and interviews with Milch himself.

 

[Just Schmidt]

I have not made a special study of Milch, but am under the impression that he was both very efficient and very ruthless. Possibly vengeful, and his relationship to Messerschmitt was very likely coloured by Milch's experiences when he was managing director of Deutsche Luft Hansa pre-war. Also, pre-war, he had a significant role in RLM. In my opinion it is difficult to judge his contribution to Luftwaffe if one entirely ignore this period.

Administratively he was an asset, even if personal animosities likely clouded his judgement and he, as everybody, certainly made mistakes. He was possible too focused on the quantitative aspect of things, but that is not a very rare thing for bureaucrats. In reality he was probably one of the most able/competent administators Germany could hope for to rise to the top in the context of the nazi state. This is not meant as praise.

One example (from memory) demonstrating his ruthless dedication was when he was asked what to do if French workers made trouble after an allied invasion. His solution was to shoot half, and if that didn't help, shoot the other half.

 

[nuuumannn]

Thank you all for your input, gentlemen. I appreciate the considerations. My interest in Milch's role is more in what he introduced in his capacity as chief of Luftwaffe production, from what I have read he streamlined processes and attempted to weed out what was unnecessary, which hints at why he made some of the decisions he did, but as with these things, he was not acting alone and there was cause for the decisions he made.

As for his duplicitous behaviour and currying favour, a problem endemic within the Nazi hierarchy that Hitler favoured and encouraged...