THE FLYING SCHOOLBOYS AND THE WILD SOW - RUSHES [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: THE FLYING SCHOOLBOYS AND THE WILD SOW - RUSHES [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: TV 40X
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: Interviews with former RAF Bomber Command personnel and their German opponents, recorded for a television programme examining the morality and effectiveness of the British bombing of German cities (including Lübeck, Pforzheim, Dresden) during the Second World War.
  • Description: ANALYSIS Interviewee biographies. This is a partial list, scanned and condensed from an accompanying document. Note that some of those named below do not feature on the basic tape contents list. HAJO HERRMAN. Joined the Luftwaffe in 1935, bombed for the Fascists in Spain, and became a friend of Hermann Goering. Before he invented Wild Sow, he flew on 350 bombing missions. After the war, he spent 10 years in Soviet prison camps. He came back to West Germany in 1955, completely unrepentant about the part he had played in the war, only to find that he and his generation had been disowned as a result of what he calls “American re-education". He argues that the war was forced on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles; he also argues that the Luftwaffe only bombed indiscriminately in retaliation for the RAF's bombing o£ German towns and cities after Churchill came to power on 10 May 1940. PETER HINCHLIFFE. Flew 33 missions in a Halifax and was shot down on his 15th - 5 out of his crew of 7 were killed. His attitude changed after his shooting down: he had been full of the excitement of "wizard prangs" before, but afterwards he was afraid on every mission (although he flew 3 more missions than he had to, out of loyalty to his second crew). Peter became a schoolteacher, then, bored with teaching, joined the RAF again at the time of the Berlin airlift. ERICH JUNG. Fighter pilot. Flew Ju 88, 1944-45.Shot own 8 bombers on the night Wurzburg was destroyed - but the bombers probably belonged to a force that was bombing Nuremburg. After the war, Erich spent 5 years in Soviet prison camps, became a schoolteacher, and was then, at the time of German re-armament, asked to join the new Luftwaffe. He refused. He is teetotal and a fitness fanatic. PETER OBERHEIT. Fighter pilot. Both he and Erich Jung were in action the night Peter Hinchliffe was shot down, but neither of them shot him. Oberheit, who also flew in the twin-engined Ju 88, says you had to be Wild Sow to attack a four-engined bomber in a single-seater ME 109 (one of the fighters Hajo Herrmann flew). Both Jung and Oberheit take the line that the bombing of German cities was only to be expected: after all, the Germans had started it, and what about Coventry. Oberheit describes seeing the 'bomber stream--lit up by flares at night,, "like flies against a ceiling". (cf. Chaloner: flying to Berlin he felt as if' he was flying up a well-lit boulevard). After the war he drew a line under that part of his life for many years. HANS WERNER FLESCH. Flakhelfer in Düsseldorf. A writer, he was brought up in anti-Nazi Catholic Workers' movement. Had faked Hitler Youth papers. As a schoolboy flakhelfer he helped shoot at the RAF bombers over Düsseldorf. Had an argument with his best schoolfriend, who deliberately gave the wrong configurations for the flak, and who said that to shoot at the bombers was to help Hitler - Flesch said he was defending the civilian population. Conscripted towards the end of the war, captured by Americans, released November 1945. CANON K. Turned a bunker into a church: using an instrument of war for peace. Pre-war anti-Nazi. Describes how Sir Thomas More helped him to get permission to build church [sic]. Stories of sculpture and stained glass windows. FRAU ENGELANDER. A survivor of Düsseldorf. Peter bombed her and now acts as her interpreter. Describes her experiences in bombed Dusseldorf. (Interview shot in bunker.) HOLLSTEIN AND LIERENFELD. Joint interview shot in a bar. Lierenfeld sports an RAF handlebar moustache and is a great admirer of Bomber Command. He translates Hollstein in his own brand of English. Hollstein was a pre­war anti-Nazi. Sent to (and describes) "punishment battalion". When in Salonika, he received a telegramme saying his house in Düsseldorf had been destroyed and then a letter from his wife saying his parents had been killed in the bombing. Involved with commemoration of German deserters and newspapers about German deserters. HERR FRANK. Deputy Burgomeister of Pforzheim. Gives a brief history of Pforzheim. Describes baldly how it was destroyed on 23 February 1945 and 17,800 people were killed in 22 minutes. HERR BOLZ. Minister of Finance in Pforzheim. Was 6 years old when the town was destroyed. Remembers not being afraid of reconnaissance planes, being put to bed, then being awakened by his mother. Remembers cellar and escaping through fire by being covered with cloth drenched in cider. Escaped along river bank. Describes extent of damage in Pforzheim. ANGELIKA. Translates their stories. Also describes a hill made out of rubble. JOHN CHALONER. Joined the RAF from Burnley Grammar School: couldn't wait to get away from the place. He had seen his best friend in the uniform of a Flight Sergeant. Was sent to Florida to be trained - joined the Air Force and saw the world. Later became a navigator at the most dangerous period of the war: flew 13 times to Berlin in the winter of 1943-1944, when most flyers were lucky to survive 3 trips. He bombed Dusseldorf 2 November 1943, the night Flesch had his argument about being a flakhelfer. Frau Engelander was in Dusseldofr the same night. GEORGE WYNCH. Pathfinder; claimed to have been the Master Bomber over Dresden. Winner of the DFC. CLEM KODER. Pilot. Flew a Lancaster on 35 missions (he was originally told his legs were too short for him to be a pilot). Took part in the bombing of Pforzheim. BILL WILLIAMS. Navigator. Bombed Dresden and regrets it. Thinks Dresden was the only raid he needed to regret. .Also bombed Pforzheim. DENNIS BOLS. Should have bombed Germany but crashed a Wellington in training. His father was German and he was born in Germany and brought up in Düsseldorf. He was living in England on false naturalisation papers when war broke out, volunteered for RAF to avoid trouble. HARRY SHINKFIELD. Former policeman who was fascinated with the RAF base at Snaith (where Peter and Irene Hinchliffe were located). Later wrote a detailed history of Snaith. Linked with the RAF Museum at Elvington, York, where a Handley Page Halifax was being reconstructed. IRENE HINCHLIFFE. Former WAAF who describes everyday life of the WAAF at RAF Snaith, and about meeting her husband Peter. Saw WAAF in terms of freedom, escaping from a restrictive family. TV 40X/01 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman (Part 1). TV 40X/02 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman (Part 2). TV 40X/03 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman (Part 3). TV 40X/04 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman (Part 4). TV 40X/05 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman (Part 5). TV 40X/06 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman and Peter Hinchliffe (Part 1). TV 40X/07 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman and Peter Hinchliffe (Part 2). TV 40X/08 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman and Peter Hinchliffe (Part 3). TV 40X/09 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman and Peter Hinchliffe (Part 4). TV 40X/10 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman (Part 6 ?). TV 40X/11 (Beta-SP) Interview with Herr Frank. TV 40X/12 (Beta-SP) Interview with Herr Bolz·and Angelica (Part 1). TV 40X/13 (Beta-SP) Interview with Angelica (Part 1). TV 40X/14 (Beta-SP) Interview with Herr Bolz and Angelica (Part 2). TV 40X/15 (Beta-SP) Interview with Angelica (Part 2). TV 40X/16 (Beta-SP) Interview with Erich Jung (Part 1). TV 40X/17 (Beta-SP) Interview with Erich Jung (Part 1). TV 40X/18 (Beta-SP) Interview with Erich Jung (Part 1). TV 40X/19 (Beta-SP) Interview with Frau Englander (Part 1). TV 40X/20 (Beta-SP) Interview with Frau Englander (Part 1). TV 40X/21 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hans Werner Flesch (Part 1). TV 40X/22 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hans Werner Flesch (Part 2). Interview with Vicar (Canon K ?) (Part 1). TV 40X/23 (Beta-SP) Interview with Vicar (Canon K ?) (Part 2). TV 40X/24 (Beta-SP) Interview with Hajo Herrman in Restaurant TV 40X/25 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Oberheid (Part 1). TV 40X/26 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Oberheid (Part 2). TV 40X/27 (Beta-SP) (Views of ?) Düsseldorf. TV 40X/28 (Beta-SP) Joint interview with Herr Holstein and Herr Lerenfelt. TV 40X/29 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Hinchliffe at Conservatory (Part 1). TV 40X/30 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Hinchliffe (Part 2). TV 40X/31 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Hinchliffe and George Wynch (Part 1). TV 40X/32 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Hinchliffe and George Wynch (Part 2). TV 40X/33 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter Hinchliffe and George Wynch (Part 3). Interview with John Chaloner (Part 1). TV 40X/34 (Beta-SP) Interview with John Chaloner (Part 2). TV 40X/35 (Beta-SP) Interview with John Chaloner (Part 3). TV 40X/36 (Beta-SP) RAF Museum, Hendon. TV 40X/37 (Beta-SP) RAF Museum, Hendon: Battle of Britain Hall TV 40X/38 (Beta-SP) Group (at RAF Hendon?). TV 40X/39 (Beta-SP) RAF Museum, Hendon: RAF Dining Hall. TV 40X/40 (Beta-SP) RAF Museum, Hendon: RAF Dining Hall. TV 40X/41 (Beta-SP) RAF Museum, Hendon: around Lancaster bomber. TV 40X/42 (Beta-SP) RAF Museum, Hendon: around Lancaster bomber. TV 40X/43 (Beta-SP) Snaith Airfield. TV 40X/44 (Beta-SP) Snaith Airfield: interview with Harry and Irene Hinchliffe. TV 40X/45 (Beta-SP) Snaith Airfield: interview with Harry, Peter and Irene. TV 40X/46 (Beta-SP) Elvington: Halifax. Interview with Peter. TV 40X/47 (Beta-SP) Interview with Peter in tail of Halifax bomber. Interview with Irene Irene in NAAFI (Part 1). TV 40X/48 (Beta-SP) Interview with Irene in NAAFI (Part 2). TV 40X/49 (Beta-SP) Irene in Teleprinter Room. Harry with Halifax. TV 40X/50 (Beta-SP) Interview with Bill Williams (Part 1). TV 40X/51 (Beta-SP) Interview with Bill Williams (Part 2). TV 40X/52 (Beta-SP) Interview with Bill Williams (Part 3). Log book. Interview with Dennis Bols (Part 1). TV 40X/53 (Beta-SP) Interview with Dennis Bols (Part 2). TV 40X/54 (Beta-SP) Interview with Dennis Bols and Bill Williams. TV 40X/55 (Beta-SP) Interview with Mrs Christora Briggs, wartime German resident. TV 40X/56 (Beta-SP) Interview with Mrs Erika Woollams, in Dresden on March 1945 (Part 1). TV 40X/57 (Beta-SP) Interview with Mrs Erika Woollams (Part 2). Interview with Mrs Schorr (Part 1). TV 40X/58 (Beta-SP) Interview with Mrs Schorr (Part 2).Interview with Dennis (surname not given) (Part 1). TV 40X/59 (Beta-SP) Interview with Dennis (surname not given) (Part 2). (? Not verified) TV 40X/60 (Beta-SP) Interview with Mrs Schorr (Part 2). (? Not verified) TV 40X/61 (Beta-SP) Interview with Adelaide Marlow and Joe Davis (Part 1). TV 40X/62 (Beta-SP) Interview with Adelaide Marlow and Joe Davis (Part 2).
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: TV 40X
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1990
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Channel 4 (Production sponsor) Video Film Production (Friskplan) (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: None Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: Beta-SP Number of items/reels/tapes: 70 Running time: 2100 mins (ca)
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  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    TV 40X

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