Description:

MARTIN HARLINGHAUSEN
(1902 - 1986) Luftwaffe commander during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. T.L.S. 'Harlinghausen' with ink post-script, 7pp. 4to., Gutersloh, Nov. 2, 1971, to Dr. Charles B. Burdick. The letter seeks to refute many of the claims made by Field Marshal ERHARD MILCH in his book 'The Tragedy of the German Air Force', mentioning that it has: '...sparked outrage among the members of the old Air Force'. In part: '...From the plethora of inaccurate depictions in his book, I am addressing only those...related to the operations against Norway and Denmark. 10th Air Corps of Luftwaffe were assigned to Lt. Gen. Geissler, I was his Chief of Staff...Within three weeks, we developed not only operation orders for the Corps we were in charge of but also individual commands for the first day. It was never mentioned that Milch should assume the duty of the Supreme Commander. When he...writes that on April 1st, he had a thorough discussion with Gen. Geissler about his operations-related decisions, it is inaccurate...The enemy landed in the next few days in Andalsnes and in Nasmos in order to put Drontheim under pressure. I received a call from Gen. Jeschonnek on April 15th [and he told me that] FM Goring commanded me to fly to Drontheim right away to fight off the British in Andalsnes and Nasmos...I also had to take care of the creation of an airfield as soon as possible...When Milch states that he commanded me to build this timber-covered runway, it is an outrageous lie...When two of my airplanes broke through ice...I flew to Hamburg...my timber runway was only 300 meters long since I did not have enough workers...Goring took me to discuss the situation with Hitler...Hitler gave me right away the authority of Fliegerfuhrer [provisional commander] and provided me with a bag of about five to six million Norwegian kroner...I flew back to Drontheim and resumed my task...in three days, I had 5,000 workers...in his book, [Milch] writes as if I have never been a Fliegerfuhrer...' He goes on to describe some of his successes and losses as a Fliegerfuhrer. He concludes by stating his wish to discuss the 'altered situation in the USA' with Burdick, and expresses his concern that: '...not only does the USA withdraw from East Asia but also it can less and less fulfill its responsibilities in the rest of the world'. Signed at the conclusion in blue ink. Fine.

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May 29, 2022 8:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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