Presentation Date: October 28, 1999
Eberhard Woerz
Me-109, Luftwaffe Tactical Reconnaissance Pilot. A tactical reconnaissance pilot for the Luftwaffe, Woerz also served as a communications officer with Enigma machines. He spoke mostly about the Eastern Front and surviving Soviet advances. Me-109, Luftwaffe Tactical Reconnaissance Pilot. A tactical reconnaissance pilot for the Luftwaffe, Woerz also served as a communications officer with Enigma machines. He spoke mostly about the Eastern Front and surviving Soviet advances.
"Eyes for the Wehrmacht"
A rare look into Germany's World War Two intelligence/reconnaissance was afforded wing members and guests at our October meeting. That perspective came through the thrilling experiences of Eberhard Woerz, one of our new wing members, who flew tactical recon flights for the Wehrmacht in World War Two.
Just before the war started in September, 1939, Eberhard was living in Ulm, attending school. Born in 1922 Eberhard had grown up in Africa. His father, an entrepreneur, and his mother were living in Africa when war was declared - - in that instance separating the family.
"Since no more support money was coming, I thought the best thing to do was volunteer. Besides that I always had some interest in flying." Still only 16 years old, Eberhard was sent home on his first visit to the recruiting office. But he was back a week later when he turned 17. Eberhard assured his grandmother that, in his parents' absence, they would have wanted her to sign for his military eligibility.
Told he'd hear from the recruiters...Eberhard had to wait until January of 1940 before getting orders to report for training. As part of the preliminaries, a Colonel sat at a table opposite Eberhard and asked him questions. "As things progressed, Eberhard relates," he asked me if I'd ever seen tigers in Africa. I responded, 'Sir, there are no tigers in Africa. They are Asian animals."
The officer stated again there were tigers in Africa, to which Eberhard again replied there weren't. This continued until the officer was screaming 'there are tigers in Africa,' with Woerz screaming there weren't. Finally the officer said, "I personally visited tigers in the zoo in Tangiers."
Eberhard says, "And can you imagine how all the air went out of my tires." The episode ended with the officer telling the young recruit "you will become a pilot."
While waiting for the Luftwaffe's next step, Eberhard drove a three-wheeled truck, driving parts between manufacturers. When that call came, disappointment. The Luftwaffe wanted Eberhard in communications instead of in the flying service. He was taught Morse code and the workings of the top secret Enigma machine, which coded messages for transmission to and from military units. Woerz described how the multi-rotored device routed electrical signals to disguise information.
By that time, the France had surrendered, and Eberhard thought the war would end before getting his chance to fly. Woerz was stationed to a weather-reporting unit at an airbase near Brest, on the English Channel. The Enigma code was of particular importance to the German navy, charged with responsibility for sending its U-boats to Iceland to report on weather, forecasting for Germany and Europe. Woerz says he was among a number of military men who suspected the British had cracked the Enigma code. Germany's Admiral Doenitz thought so, and ordered the makers of Enigma add a fourth rotor to make the coding scheme more complex.
Meanwhile, Eberhard finally discovered that his commanding officer had been canceling his requests to be transferred to the flying service. Fortunately, a visiting Major noticed the discrepancy and saw to it the transfer took place. Woerz was to become a tactical recon pilot.
Flying training was long, extensive, and given the war conditions of 1943, surprisingly involved many hours of glider time. Photo recon had become particularly important on the Eastern Front. Providing the basis for maps of the vast Russian terrain, photo missions required a discipline of flying exacting routes at specific altitudes. And, photos often were critical to convince field commanders whose patrols had not accurately assessed enemy positions or strength.
Woerz says by 1944 many Luftwaffe fighter pilots got only 12 hours training before they were sent on missions against Allied bombers
One full month's training was devoted to to the skills of infantry battalion commanders, to allow a recon pilot to understand how the infantry operates. There was also training to learn the operations of armor and artillery, since his flights would involve meeting their intelligence needs.
"I remember at the end, when things were collapsing rapidly, there was one division trying to hold out against the Russian onslaught," remembers Woerz. He flew a low-level mission to find a forward sighting post for Russian artillery, zeroed in and systematically destroying any moving German vehicle. Flying at treetop level across the German forest, he spotted a rock tower, a "ranger station" just peeking out over the trees. Telling the German artillery commander that had to be the spotting post, Eberhard heard each field piece had seven rounds, and could ill afford to waste them. Woerz told of nearby ammo dumps, but the commander admitted he had only horse-drawn carts to send. So Woerz commanded a convoy of five Luftwaffe trucks to obtain ammo. He says the guard at the dump was adamant he couldn't hand over shells without a proper requisition order...until Woerz showed him a pass from Luftwaffe chief Goering requesting Woerz be given utmost assistance, if needed. The ammo was loaded, delivered, and with Eberhard spotting for the gun crews, the tower sighted in and destroyed.
During Eberhard's recon career, he met many of Germany's top officers - - Adolph Galland, Kesselring, and Guderian.
Woerz' final recon mission was to confirm both the advanced lines of the Allies in the Hartz Mountains in the west, and the Soviets in the east. For this important "double duty", he and his wingman were promised a 30-fighter escort. On the morning of the flight - - the fighter base was under attack and there was no escort, and when the Bf 109 engine of Woerz' wingman overheated, Woerz flew alone.
Woerz flight profile - - on the deck until the need to pop up high for the camera run. "And then the sky was full of planes. there were, all over, dots. And I put the nose down and tried to get home." Eberhard flew under high tension wires and around power poles, and escaped a flight of P-47s. When he delivered the pictures to the general staff, a Luftwaffe general came in. He told Woerz he'd been watching the radar screen, and seen a blip identified as Woerz's plane, along with another 332 blips which were enemy aircraft.
The final days of the war held the greatest meaning for Eberhard. He says there was a belief among the Germans he fought with that the democracies would want to "clean-up" the dictatorships of the world, and that they might enlist the aid of Germany's military to attack the Soviets. To that end, soldiers were ordered to preserve their equipment for a last fight against Stalin's armies. Luftwaffe crews were ordered to fly to Denmark to save their planes. The speed of Soviet armor prevented that from happening, and Woerz and his crew destroyed half their remaining aircraft. He led his group West, trying to avoid Soviets and surrender to either Americans or British. They encountered 42 women in the Luftwaffe communications service, armed with automatic weapons. Fearing they'd be unable to properly use the weapons and would only succeed in getting themselves killed, Woerz disarmed the group. Then, hearing the war had ended, and that Doenitz had been named head of the German state, Eberhard offered for those who wanted, to leave for home. Woerz then led a group, now swollen to 293, west into a valley. Shortly thereafter, Soviet armor streamed down either flank, surrounding the group. Woerz successfully led his comrades back east, around the soviet pincer, then to American line. When he discovered his captors had no food, forded a river under a bridge to a British-held sector, where they finally had safety and nourishment.
Eberhard Woerz holds great pride in the fact that,"All 293 who stayed with me came home."