Operation Alsos and American Technological Intelligence During World War II Part 3

Aeronautical Research

It is ironic that airpower played such a large and key role in World War II when one considers how the concept of a national air force was less then 50 years old. Germany jumped to the lead in realizing the importance of an air arm for the military and demonstrated this very clearly in their support of aeronautical research from the moment Hitler took power. It was inevitable then that work done in this field by the Nazis would be of significant interest to the Alsos mission. In its efforts in this field, Alsos searched for, found, interrogated and examined massive amounts of men and material related to aeronautical research. The results of this were of enormous benefit to U.S. scientific research efforts in the same field. By the war’s end U.S. researchers knew exactly what projects and problems the Germans had been working on, what had worked, what had not worked, and most importantly what they had learned.

Germany’s road to usefulness had been a long one indeed. Twenty years earlier on one would have ever expected the dread the Luftwaffe would bring in the early 1940s. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles had left Germany stripped of her air force and had forbidden the construction of another. As humiliating as this was to the nation and its pilots, it was even more devastating for the teams of aeronautical engineers who would be needed if the German military was ever to take to the skies again.

Aeronautical research and development began to develop respect and support as an official institutional science starting at the beginning of the twentieth century. In Germany this corresponded with the creation of three important research organizations:

1. Experimental Model Institute of the Society for the Study of Motor Airships (1907)
2. German Experimental Centre for Aviation (1912)
3. Scientific Society for Aviation (1912)

Interest and more importantly funding for these institutions and the research they represented was favorably endorsed and supported through the end of World War I.

When Germany lost the war and was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles they were forced to surrender all aeronautical material to the Allied governments, and was forbidden to build or import military aircraft of any kind. This proved to be not only highly unpopular but also caused industry to stop supporting research. Science in this field managed to limp along through government support until economic depression in 1928 caused the civil government to cut all funding. When Adolf Hitler took power in 1933 government support and funding suddenly returned; scientists who once could get no support found that no request for funds was too high. Tens of millions of Reichsmarks soon began to flow into research and development for aeronautical programs. By the time war started in 1939, German scientists were on the cutting edge of aeronautical research and unsurprisingly became one of the major targets for Alsos.

The field of aeronautics is one that was far too vast for Alsos to have been able to cover alone. Fortunately there were many other intelligence organizations that were also interested and Alsos was able to share the responsibilities in this. As a result most of the work and research done by the team was in the areas of airplane frames and airplane engines.

Hitler himself defined the importance of technology to National Socialism when he said, “Decisive for the winning of any war remains, however, that one is always in possession of the “technically superior weapons’”. This techno-doctrine became even more important when the war began to go badly for Germany and the only hope of defeating the vastly superior enemy was with a clear and distinct edge over them in weapons. When it came to the field of aeronautics the effects of this doctrine were displayed quite obviously in Germany’s jet aircraft. In the early 30s German aircraft engineers realized they were quickly approaching the absolute limits of speed for propeller-driven craft. The result of this realization was design programs by all the major aircraft engine designers. By 1944 Germany was beginning to deploy the infamous Messerschmitt 262, and plans were begun to equip most of the bomber force with Arado Ar 234s, the first jet bomber. Germany had arrived at this achievement first; and while it was too late to truly benefit from that victory, they maintained this lead in Jet engine and airframe design even into the beginning of the post-war period.

German aircraft designers did not place all their eggs in one basket, however, and work continued on several different projects. One such program was the “People’s Fighter.” In the latter part of the war German engineers worked tirelessly to develop a small, easy-to-pilot, and cheap fighter. The concept was that these small craft would be cheap enough to produce in mass and that adolescent boys could be taught how to fly them. In this way it was surmised that the Luftwaffe would be able to afford to send up large formations against Allied bomber fleets. These projects and others were continued with inadequate material and equipment right up to the end of the war.

From March 1945 on, Operation Alsos found that it was in far more danger of drowning in the overflowing sea of aeronautical research then of running dry. Between March and July, Alsos visited and wrote reports on twenty-two different facilities related to this type of research. Dr. Goudsmit in his report stated that “German aeronautical research was on such a large scale and so extensive that it was impossible to restrict the investigation to a few important targets only.” Alsos was the first to go through the important research facilities at Gottingen, Braunschweig, and Kochel. In addition to this Alsos also bore the responsibility for interrogating important aeronautical research scientists. By September of 1945, just a few months after Germany’s surrender, Alsos had already provided the Allies with a very detailed picture as to what the Germans had been pursuing in aeronautics. Not only did it provide detailed information on specific research related to jet propulsion, wing theory, and weapons; but it also provided information on the entire organization of German Aeronautical research.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics expressed its appreciation for the work Alsos had done when they wrote on June 29, 1945:

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics wishes to express its appreciation for the valuable assistance rendered it by the Scientific Intelligence (Alsos) Mission… It is a pleasure to indicate the benefit that has accrued to this Committee in the prosecution of its research program for the Army and Naval Arms, through participation in the Alsos Mission, and to convey to you the compliments of the Committee on the effective operation of your Mission.

According to the letter Alsos was instrumental in giving the committee a clear understanding on German research, its accomplishments, its equipment, and even its future. On the subject of aeronautics the mission was a stunning success, accomplishing its goals quickly and allowing both researchers and industry in the United States to benefit and learn from the complete experience of their German counterparts.

... to be continued