DOC American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe’s Secrets by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Technology for the Jet AgeBy G. BurketAmerican Raider: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe’s SecretsDespite years of studying military history; one can still fall prey to romantic notions of how the war; and the postwar period were conducted.When I saw the cover of this book; it made me think of GI’s finding advanced German fighters hidden along dirt trails in the woods and towing them out into the light and captivity.Of course; that is not quite how it worked.The story is focused around Major Harold E. Watson; and his mission to gather surviving and flyable aircraft from their hiding places in the fallen Third Reich. Despite being trained as a military pilot prior to World War II; Watson had the fortune or misfortune to gain an engineering degree. The Army Air Force therefore considered him more valuable for his technical skills; and he spent most of the war at the technical center at Wright Field in Ohio. Without realizing it; this actually placed him perfectly for his coming role as being in charge of the technology search of Germany.Despite the timely defeat of Germany; the search for aircraft; engines; guided missiles; and experimental systems was conducted with a sense of urgency. The Allies had come to realize that the Germans had shared many of their technological advances with the Japanese. Plans; components; and even entire aircraft had been clandestinely shipped by U-Boat to Japan. With the invasion of the Home Islands looming in the future; the Allied Powers were desperate to know what they were going to be up against.If that were not enough; many of the locations of the factories; warehouses and airfields where these items were stored were in what would become the Soviet Sector of Occupied Germany. American units were given days to move tons of material to at least a more secure location in Europe before shipment to either the US or Britain.Competition with the Russians was one issue; but the French and British were also scrambling for every nut and bolt they could find… and they were not always willing to share.The good news was that forward thinking leaders such as Carl Spaatz had anticipated the effort that was going to be required. Spaatz and others recognized that the Germans were a full five to fifteen years ahead of the Americans in various fields of aviation technology. Aside from the Japanese; these planners feared that despite America’s dedication to air power; there was a chance that we could fall behind our next enemy. Projects that had been previously derided as “Buck Rodgers stuff” was now a priority.As the war in Europe began to wind down; Combat Crew Training Units suddenly found that their mission was changed to disarmament and exploitation. Teams were organized and trained on how to recognize significant equipment. “Wish lists” were drawn up by various commands and defense contractors.Yet for all this organizing; when these teams were deployed; they were often short of resources; especially to move and warehouse tons of material. It was a daunting task that some how got done through negotiation; conniving; and downright trickery at times.On the receiving end; the challenge was to sort through mountains of crated items as well as documentation to determine what was truly significant. Much of the research; plans and drawings for these wonder weapons was literally found in disorganized piles in abandoned facilities. A good part of it was sent to London to be sorted; catalogued; organized into libraries; and eventually translated.Getting back to Watson and his crew; their primary mission was securing working aircraft under the code name “Operation LUSTY“ (for “Luftwaffe Secret Technology“). Much of this centered around the former Messerschmitt plant at Lechfeld. Scattered around the plant were up to 50 ME-262’s in various states of completion. Watson gathered a crew of USAAF mechanics and pilots with a goal of bringing a dozen of the jet fighters back to working order. Collectively they became known as “Watson’s Whizzers”. Using his authority under the Occupation; he also sought out and recruited former Messerschmitt mechanics; engineers and pilots to assist in the effort. While some had to be “heavily persuaded”; many of the Germans came forward to insure their years of research and development would carry on. Of course; additional rations and guarantees for the safety of their families did not hurt either.At one point it was decided that the aircraft needed to be shipped whole. Previously captured aircraft had been shipped back disassembled to Wright field with less than satisfactory results. Upon arrival; American engineers were hampered by assembly manuals and often failed to rebuild the aircraft successfully.After gathering his menagerie of aircraft specimens; Watson prevailed upon a very talented logistics officer to secure a means of getting them back to the US. For reasons not fully explained in the book; the British had a light aircraft carrier; HMS Reaper; which was scheduled to sail for the US. Watson had to train his pilots; fly the aircraft across Europe; have them cocooned with a protective coating; loaded onto a barge; then loaded onto the carrier.The final tally was 10 ME-262’s; 2 Dornier 335’s; one FW TA 152H high altitude fighter; one Junkers 388 recon bomber; one Ju-88 G night fighter; 3 Heinkel 219 night fighters; 4 highly prized Ardo 234 jet bombers; 9 FW-190 D/F fighters with advanced features; 3 ME-109G’s which were actually out dated; as well as 2 Bucker 181 trainers and an ME-108. There were also three German helicopters and an experimental P-51 recon fighter. A number of ME-163’s were below deck.Impressive as this was; it was not achieved without incident. Two of the ME-262’s were lost before arriving in France in near fatal accidents. Because of the haste; flight qualification training for the American pilots consisted of ONE flight in the ME-262 dual control trainer; and two solo flights!Watson himself elected to stage a grand return to the US by flying one of the few long range bombers developed by the Germans; the four engine JU-290!Mr. Samuel’s book covers a lot of ground in telling this story. Not surprisingly; this was not a simple matter of telling the Major to gather 20 men and go forth! Bureaucracy after bureaucracy; as well as scientific committees and competing commands made this whole effort overly complicated before it even began. This is all described in detail in this book; which unfortunately slows the pace of the adventure story.Equally bad was the description of what it took to get German scientists and engineers cleared to come to the US to continue their research. Due to the hype of wartime propaganda; they were shunned by the American research establishment as “enemy aliens”. Professional jealousy also played a role in delaying their arrival; as well as integrating them into our aviation centers. On top of that; customs; immigration; housing and even civil service pay all had to be worked out.In the end; the single mindedness of the mission prevailed. The aircraft industries of the US; Britain and France all benefited from exploiting the spoils of war. German engineers and scientist worked diligently for their new employers bringing forward their advances in jet and rocket technology; as well as innovations such as the swept wing and Mach + wind tunnels. Of course those captured and working for the Soviets achieved similar advances as well.For all of the efforts of Watson and his crew; the few remaining examples of German advanced aircraft are now scattered among various museums. Watson went on to build the USAF’s Air Technical Intelligence unit at Wright Patterson AFB; and many of his cohort went on to similar achievements.The book is well written and detailed; and is a solid 450 pages. It is well illustrated with a number of these remarkable aircraft; well placed to support the narrative. I recommend it for anyone who wants to understand how the US advanced from the aircraft that won World War II to the Jet Age.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Well documented; well written; fascinating historyBy Tom FeyAs WWII progressed; certain aspects of American aviation technology were found to lag seriously behind those of our German enemy. American Raiders is a fascinating read detailing the late 1944 - early 1945 mad dash for the US to acquire advanced German aircraft; weapon systems; and the engineers that designed them. A special group headed by Hal Watson was built in days to weeks to accomplish this feat; finding aircraft; documents; and hardware; as well as the pilots; engineers; and technicians required to support their export to the USA. It was a foot race against the Russians and to some extent; the British. To its credit; the book does not delve into excessive technical detail (I'm hoping Captured Eagles by Fredrick A. Johnson will satisfy that interest) or get bogged own in the politics of the situation; rather it focuses on the mission; the men; and the interesting incidents this type of endeavor begets. This is a fantastic story; expertly told.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Whatever happened to the German WW2 advanced weaponsBy William ButlerSamuel presents an informative account of what happened to the German scientific advances in aeronautics after the end of WW2. The story about the race against the Russians to capture the" fruits"of war and bring the jet planes and other very advanced gizmos to the US is very interesting. Missing is any discussion of the German advances in naval science such as submarines.