Göring was too stubborn and arrogant to admit he was wrong and that he owed Rosenstein an apology. But to save himself an awkward moment, as the incident was discussed by the pilots in private, the Staffelführer made sure he was away from the unit when Rosenstein bade farewell to Jasta 27 in early December.²³

It is noteworthy that Göring considered Rosenstein to have ‘shown signs of some nervous exhaustion’ at a time when it was he who displayed instances of irrational behaviour. A few days later, for example, Göring sought an odd favour from the Kommandeur der Flieger der 4. Armee. While still on leave, he applied for reimbursement of expenses incurred when he had visited Mauterndorf a year earlier. In his 1 January 1918 letter, intended to be approved by Kofl 4 and forwarded to the Inspektion der Fliegertruppen in Berlin, Göring stated:

‘While on my four weeks of convalescent leave in order to regain my health, I travelled to the mountain health resort at Mauterndorf in the Austrian Alps. On the long and cumbersome trip back and forth and while staying there, as well as necessary purchases I needed for [the trip], I had large expenses.

‘I humbly request, therefore, to be granted assistance from the support fund. I possess neither my own fortune nor any allowance; no other funds for this purpose have been claimed.’²⁴

Göring’s request contradicted his report of 1 November 1917 (quoted above), which made no reference to expenses. As he had received other help from his godfather, surely Dr. Hermann Ritter von Epenstein would have provided the funds needed to his favourite godchild. Further, it was an outright lie for Göring to claim he was at a health resort in January 1917 when, in fact, he had lived at no cost in Epenstein’s restored fortress.

As it turned out, the officer in charge of aviation for the 4th Army, Göring’s valued contact Hauptmann Helmuth Wilberg, had begun his own extensive recuperative leave on 3 December. In Wilberg’s absence, his office was administered by Hauptmann Percy Baron von Ascheberg,²⁵ to whom Göring had written the 1 November report about his convalescent leave. The current letter offered an opportunity to catch Göring in a lie, but in view of Ascheberg’s admiration for his brash subordinate – as evidenced by his support for Göring’s earlier nomination for the Pour le Mérite – Ascheberg took no action. There is no record of Göring receiving the requested funding, which suggests the matter may have been quietly dropped.

Aside from routine personnel transfers, Jasta 27 was not mentioned in 4th Army records until 17 January 1918, when it was announced: ‘During Oberleutnant Göring’s leave, Leutnant der Reserve Dilthey is in command of Jasta 27.’²⁶ During most of that month and into February, Göring was at a ski resort and spa at Bayerischzell on the Austrian border, which might explain his need for extra funds. Photographs he took at the time show him on the ski slopes and in the spa. He was joined by his mother and his sisters Olga and Paula, as well as Bruno Loerzer,²⁷ who had gone on leave at the same time as Göring. Loerzer had to break away from the pleasant Alpine vacation when he was among the Jagdstaffel leaders summoned to Berlin²⁸ for an important event beginning on 19 January. He left to attend the aircraft type tests organised by the aircraft test establishment for competitions between fighter aircraft manufacturers for production contracts. Under other circumstances, Göring might have been invited, too, but he was in great need of physical therapy for his rheumatoid arthritis and perhaps some relaxation to ease his emotional state.