Chapter Two

The Training of the First Military Glider Pilots

In 1936, while watching gliders practice taking off and landing, Adolf Hitler asked Professor Georgii if it would be possible to build a glider to transport troops. At the time Georgii was the head of the German Research Institute for Glider Flight, or Deutschen Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug, (DFS) with offices at Darmstadt, and responsible for the development of gliding in Germany. In turn, Georgii asked Hans Jacobs, (DFS chief engineer), if he could build a glider that would satisfy the Führer’s enquiry. Jacobs remembered years later:

“The request came out of the blue and I was not prepared for it. Until then we had only developed gliders for sporting purposes, therefore it was not easy to come up with an answer. However, it was clear to me that a glider towed up to between 1800 and 2700 metres could be released to fly many kilometres into enemy territory and not be seen even at first light.”

By the beginning of 1937 Jacobs and his co-workers had built a mock-up which in their opinion could carry nine passengers together with their weapons and equipment. Impressed by what they had seen, the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) placed an order for three prototypes to be designated DFS 230.

Convinced that Jacobs’s military model would be a success, the RLM issued orders at the same time for the training of Luftwaffe personnel as glider pilots. On 11 January 1937, Leutnant Kiess and Oberjäger Alois Flucke reported for a three month course in basic glider-flying training. The real purpose was actually to learn how to fly the DFS 230. It was expected of Kiess and Flucke that they would then develop and set up training for military glider pilots at the research institute. As soon as they had done so, they would then lay the foundations for the command structure of a military unit concentrating on the operational uses of DFS 230 gliders. Both men were experienced paratroopers: Kiess had attended the first paratroop training course at Stendal from 4 May until 7 July 1936.

Having noted the skill both had displayed as glider pilots, on 1 April 1937 RLM ordered the formation of a military unit for the training of DFS 230 pilots. It was known as the Lastensegler Versuchskommando (military glider experimental unit), or “Segelfluglehrgangs (L)” (prefix L meant gliding instruction), and was commanded by Kiess, now promoted to Oberleutnant. The initial training was conducted by the DFS itself, and not the Luftwaffe, the overall director being Hermann Zitter.