Nazis Soaring Over Washington - Prologue Fall 2011

8/3/2019 Nazis Soaring Over Washington - Prologue Fall 2011

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After World War I, the German government encouraged

the sport of gliding as a way to train pilots and participate in

aviation, since the German aircraft industry was severely lim-

ited by the reaty of Versailles. After their assumption of pow-

er in 1933, the Nazis enthusiastically continued this supportas a way to make Germans air-minded and rebuild Germa-

ny into an air power. It was also source of national pride, given

that Germany had become a world leader in the sport of glid-

ing and soaring, and German pilots held many world records.

One of the most renowned of these record-setting pilots

was Peter Riedel. Born in 1905, Riedel studied engineer-

ing and became a commercial pilot, worked at the Meteo-

rological Institute of Rhn-Rositten Company, and toured

South America with the institutes head, Dr. Walter Geor-

gii, to promote the sport of gliding.

After working as a pilot for Lufthansa, and briefly under-

going reserve training in the German military, Riedel took ajob with the Colombian airline SPACDA. He claimed to

find life in the Tird Reich to be too confining and sought

broader horizons. In any case, he had become romantical-

ly involved with a married Argentinian woman and crossed

the Atlantic to be closer to her. In 1937, Riedel, sponsored

by the German Aero Club, competed at the Soaring Soci-

ety of America national competition. Flying a DFS Sperber

Nazis

Over Washington?

In the years shortly before Americas involvement in World War II, a graceful, cream-

colored glider could often be seen soaring above Washington, D.C., and vicinity.

Since gliding was a popular sport in the 1930s, a glider was not an unfamiliar

sight, except that this one flaunted a red tail band with a Nazi swastika in the center.

Tis is the story behind that glider and its pilot.

By Chas Downs

20 Prologue Fall 2011


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Peter Riedel stands next to his Kranich

(Crane) glider with its Nazi swastika

insignia, ca. 1938. The German text on

the tail gives the gliders maker and

place of manufacture and notes that

it was the property of the German

embassy in Washington, DC.

Prologue 2Nazis Soaring Over Washington?


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glider, with German registration and swas-

tika national markings, he won the Bendix

gold trophy for the longest distance flight,

133 miles from Elmira, New York, to Eliza-

beth, Pennsylvania.

While at Elmira, Riedel met the Ger-

man military attach in Washington, D.C.,

Col. Friedrich von Boetticher, who was im-

pressed enough with Riedel to offer him a

job as technical assistant for aviation matters

at the German embassy in Washington. At

first Riedel refused, but he subsequently ac-

cepted the position in order to stay in Amer-

ica. After a replacement for his airline job ar-

rived, he then traveled back to Germany to

be vetted by the Air Ministry.

In Berlin, he was interviewed by the

Abwehr, the Germany military intelligence

agency headed by Adm. Wilhelm Canaris.

Te Abwehr played by its own rules and was

distrusted by other German military and in-

telligence organizations. While later in life

Riedel denied being a Nazi or ever having

been a NSDAP member, records show that

he had joined the Nazi Party twice, in 1931

and 1933, letting his membership lapse

both times. According to State Department

sources, Riedel was by all appearances a con-

firmed Nazi while in the United States, but

his affiliations seem to have been more of

convenience than conviction. He was prob-

ably too much of a free spirit to be a good

party man.

The Swastika over Washington:Crossing the Mall before LandingBefore starting his duties at the German em-

bassy in Washington, Riedel stopped by El-

mira to participate in the 1938 American

national soaring competition under the aus-

pices of the German Aero Club. His two-

seat DSF Kranich glider again carried full

German national markings, including a red

band with a swastika on its rudder. Riedels

ground crewman also briefly displayed a

Nazi flag, which drew unfavorable attention

to his gliders Nazi markings.

Reflecting a changed political climate

since 1937, the swastika insignia caused Riedel

considerable embarrassment in 1938. Regis-

tered in Germany in order to avoid U.S. im-

port duties, his glider displayed the Nazi mark-

ings that were required on all German military

and civil aircraft. Once it became known he

was working for the German embassy, howev-

er, this explanation did not convince many of

Riedels acquaintances, who began to assume

he was a confirmed Nazi.

Te 1938 soaring competition had few-

er but more experienced pilots than in 1937.

Riedel took an early lead with successful flights

to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington,

Delaware. He was determined to do something

spectacular to publicize the sport of soaring

fly from Elmira to Washington, D.C. Such a

feat would also win a thousand-dollar prize.

On the morning of July 3, after determining

that conditions would be favorable, Riedel was

launched in his Kranich at 10:30 a.m. He soon

found a strong thermal and reached an altitude

of 6,000 feet, high enough to clear the 3,000-

foot ridges he was crossing, but he often need-

ed to fly on instruments through cloud for-

mations. By 5 p.m., Riedel had reached Balti-

more, but the strong thermals that gotten him

that far were failing. Despite his knowledge

and skill, he was losing altitude too quickly.

Pulled toward the ground by the cooling

air, he spotted the familiar environs of Wash-

ington D.C. He passed over College Park Air-

Riedels German glider pilots license. Riedel had

been an airline pilot for Lufthansa and a German-sup-

ported Colombian company, SCATA. He had briefly

trained for the German military, but his Nazi Party af-

filiations seemed to have been pro forma.

Riedels two-seat Kranich being towed aloft. Note

the gliders wheels falling to the ground in the low-

er right of the photograph. They were jettisoned af-

ter takeoff, and a fuselage skid was used when it was

time for the glider to land.



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ers. He predicted that by 1942 American

built aircraft could be supplied to the Allies in

such quantity that they would dominate the

war in the air. Riedels superiors at the embas

sy did not fully support his reporting and es-

timates even though they were reasonably ac

curate. Since they contradicted the Nazis un

realistic but unquestioned views of America

Riedels projections were ignored or dismissed

by the German leaders in Berlin.

Riedel Flies for Fun,Takes Friends on RidesBut Riedel still lived to fly.

Te German embassy kept a two-sea

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fr Segelflug

(D.F.S.) G-27 Kranich glider at College Park

Airport, in suburban Maryland, for his use

In an era when aeronautical feats were an al-

most daily news staple, Riedel and his glider

received their share of attention.

A September 26, 1938, article in the Wash

ington Postdescribed how Riedel had taken

off from College Park Airport to watch the

Presidents Cup regatta. After staying alof

for three hours, he was forced to land at

nearby Hoover Airport because of cool air

port, hoping that the sun-warmed streets of

Washington would give him just enough lift

to make it to Hoover Airport (now Ronald

Reagan Washington National Airport), just on

the other side of the Potomac River in Virgin-

ia. He crossed the Mall and skimmed 200 feet

above the Washington Monument.

Just when he no longer needed it, he found

another thermal, circling to gain altitude in or-

der to do some acrobatic turns and loops be-

fore landing at Hoover Airport at 6:20 p.m. In

this remarkable flight, Riedel set a national and

international distance record of 227 miles for a

flight to a predeclared target.

After returning to Elmira, Riedel made an-

other long-distance flight, 196 miles to Roos-

evelt Field on Long Island, New York. As he

had been in 1937, Riedel was the highest scor-

ing pilot in the 1938 Elmira competition and

would have been U.S. national champion but

for the fact that he was not an American citizen.

Nazi Leaders Reject WarningsAbout U.S. Aviation IndustryAt the height of his gliding career, Rie-

dels fame, training, connections, and back-

ground were all helpful to him in carrying

out his new duties at the German embassy,

which were to collect, organize, and evaluate

information on American military aviation.

Youthful and convivial, Riedel did not

get along well with his new boss, whom he

found stiff, humorless, and pompous. On

his part, von Boetticher, who was vehement-

ly opposed to German diplomatic personnel

engaging in espionage activities in the Unit-

ed States, may have suspected that Riedel

had a relationship with the Abwehr.

Riedel himself claims to have used no un-

dercover agents but extrapolated quite accu-

rate statistics on American aviation indus-

try production and expansion from pub-

lished sources, both governmental and com-

mercial. He managed to tour various Amer-

ican aircraft manufacturing facilities in per-

son, but most of his efforts were directed at

reviewing and analyzing the massive files of

clippings and publications readily available

from the American media.

Once World War II broke out in Europe

in September 1939, Riedels task was to de-

termine when American aircraft production

would be substantial enough to adversely af-

fect the military operations of the Axis pow-

Col. Friedrich von Boetticher (left), the German military attach in Washington, with Riedel.

Their relations were sometimes strained, as von Boetticher mistrusted both Riedels data

collection methods and his conclusions on the American aviation industrys potential

expansion and future aircraft production.

Right: A State Department translation of Riedels brief resume. He noted his prewar gliding

achievements and technical experience, as well as his service in the German Army.

Nazis Soaring Over Washington?


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currents above the Potomac and had to be

towed back to College Park.

It was just for fun, Riedel is quoted as saying.

When I havent flown for 14 days, I feel bad.

Since the Kranich held two, he was able to

give glider rides to friends and colleagues. Riedel

also participated in various soaring events and

demonstrations around the United States, in-

cluding the 1938 Cleveland Air Races, where his

longtime friend and fellow glider pilot Hannah

Reitsch dazzled the crowds with her acrobatics.

Riedel normally based his glider at CollegePark Airport, although he flew out of other area

airports, including Hybla Valley in Virginia.

When it was not in use,

he was allowed to store

his Kranich at the U.S.

Above:In a September 1938 letter to the War Departments foreign liaison officer, von Boetticher asked for

permission to store a Kranich glider on Bowling [sic] Field or any other place near Washington.

Below:Riedels Kranich glider was a familiar sight at College Park Airport in nearby Maryland. Despite his

official duties as air attach, Riedel found time to fly it often and participated in various soaring events and

demonstrations around the United States. The tri-motored aircraft at right is a Stinson

SM-6000B, which was used as an airliner and executive transport in the 1930s.

Riedel at his desk at the German embassy. His

prediction that by 1942 American-built aircraft could

be supplied to the Allies in such quantity that they

would dominate the war in the air was not well-

received by the German High Command.

24 Prologue


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Army Air Corps Bolling Field, in southwest

Washington, D.C.

In 1939, Congress authorized the War De-

partment to provide supplies and services to air-

craft used by accredited foreign military attachs,

so the U.S. Army ended up defraying much of

the expense of maintaining Riedels glider.

Now Married, Riedel is FBI Target;An Assault Incident Is DisregardedAfter war broke out in Europe, German diplo-

mats fell under greater scrutiny. On November

11, 1939, Riedel was involved in an alley argu-

ment, which became an international incident

and generated stories in the Washington papers.

Tis incident began innocently enough,

when Riedel borrowed a friends Buick au-

tomobile in order to retrieve his glider trail-

er from Skyline Drive in Virginia. Te Buick

was housed in a garage in Northeast Washing-

ton, D.C. While picking up the car, Riedel

inadvertently parked on a neighbors flower

bed. Te neighbor, an auto mechanic and ex-

boxer named Frank Werner, became enraged

and assaulted Riedel, leaving him bruised and

bloody. Police eventually arrived but did not

issue any citations since all those involved gave

conflicting stories.

Both parties were summoned to the assis-

tant district attorneys office the next day, but

Riedel never appeared, probably because the

German embassy was not contacted through

proper State Department channels, and the

embassy did not want him to appear in any

case. Since no complaint was filed against Wer-

ner, he was never charged.

Te German embassy did lodge a formal

protest of the incident with the State De-

partment. Dr. Karl Resenberg, first secretary

of the German embassy, was quoted as saying,

We do not consider the affair a personal con-

troversy between Riedel and Werner, but rath-

er an issue between two governments.

In any event, the State Department turned

it over to the Justice Department, which quiet-

ly closed the case.

In 1940, Riedel was promoted from technical

assistant to assistant air attach, with an increase

in salary and status. His personal life also under-

went a major adjustment. Riedel had taken up

horseback riding as a diversion, and on one of his

rides in Rock Creek Park, he met and fell in love

with a beautiful American of German descent,

Helen Kluge, who worked as an art teacher in

the District of Columbia public schools.

Riedel met resistance from von Boettich-

er when he requested permission to mar-

ry Helen. After Berlin officially approved the

match, the two married in July 1941. Von

Boettichers initial disapproval then evaporat-

ed, and he warmed to the relationship, arrang-

ing for a lavish reception at the embassy.

Leaving on a cross-country trip for their

honeymoon, the newly married Riedels were

followed by FBI agents. After some initial an-

tagonism, they and the agents became solici-

tous of one another. Once, Riedel waited for

the G-men, as FBI agents were known in the

slang of the day, to catch up when they were

delayed by heavy traffic, and later, the FBI

agents informed the Riedels when they had

missed the turn to their destination.

In 1940, an unwanted burst of notoriety for

German diplomats in America only indirectly

affected Riedel. Shot down over England and

captured, the Swiss-born Luftwaffe ace Bar-

on Franz von Werra escaped his guards while

en route to a POW camp in Canada, crossed

to the United States, and turned up at the Ger-

man embassy in Washington in January 1941.

Determined to get back to Germany, the

flamboyant von Werra made life difficult for

the German ambassador and for von Boettich

er. Riedel finally took von Werra aside and ex-

plained how he could covertly enter Mexico

then travel to South America, and from there

fly back to Europe.

Prologue 2


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Von Werra followed Riedels advice and suc-

cessfully made his way back to Germany in

April 1941. He returned to active service, only

to die when the engine of his new Bf-109F

failed in a routine patrol over the North Sea on

October 25, 1941.

As War Begins, Riedel ReturnsTo Germany, Is Later BetrayedShortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl

Harbor. Hitler declared war on the United

States. on December 11, 1941. Subsequent-

ly, U.S. authorities rounded up and interned

German diplomatic personnel and sent

them to the Greenbriar resort in West Vir-

ginia for safe-keeping. Riedels glider became

U.S. property and apparently was allowed to

rot to pieces at College Park Airport, ac-

cording to a history of the Skyline Soaring

Club. U.S. authorities also confiscated a

trunk full of 8mm movies Riedel had tak-

en while flying his glider around the coun-

try. German and Italian diplomats were put

aboard the old Swedish liner S.S. Drotting-

holm for repatriation.. It sailed from New

York on May 7, 1942, and arrived in Lisbon

on May 16. Te Riedels arrived in Frank-

furt-am-Main on May 25, 1942.

Helen Riedel, as the American wife of an

Axis diplomat, made the difficult choice to

accompany her husband back to Germa-

ny. Tere she contracted a lung disease and

eventually had to go to a sanitarium in Swit-

zerland for her health. While separated from

his wife, Riedel, an inveterate womanizer, en-

gaged in several romantic relationships with

other women. After being debriefed by Ger-

man authorities, Riedel began working for

the German Air Ministry. While there he

tried to convince the Nazi leaders in person

of the growing power of the American aircraft

industry, again without success.

Riedel managed to obtain an assignment to

Sweden as air attach, all the while working for

the Abwehr. Disillusioned by official indiffer-

ence to his warnings about the American air-

craft production and by published reports of

Nazi atrocities, he tried to contact Office of

Strategic Services chief Bill Donovan, whom he

had met in New York before the war, but the

OSS was uninterested in him.

Betrayed to German authorities by a confi-

dant of his current lover and recalled to Ger-

many, Riedel instead went into hiding in

Sweden, with the help of his female friends.

After the war, he fled Sweden only to be im-

prisoned by the French in Casablanca before

escaping on a yacht to Venezuela. Tere he

was joined by his faithful wife, Helen, who

had reclaimed her American citizenship after

returning to the United States from Switzer-

land. Leaving Venezuela, they went to Cana-

da, and when Riedel was expelled by the Ca-

nadians, to South Africa.

Finally able to return to the United States

in 1955, he worked as an engineer for rans

World Airlines and Pan American Airlines. In

retirement, he wrote a three-volume history of

the prewar German gliding movement and col-

laborated with fellow gliding enthusiast Martin

Simons on his biography. Riedel died in Ard-

more, Oklahoma, in 1998. His devoted wife,

Helen, died in a exas retirement home on De-

cember 11, 2000.

Riedel was a larger-than-life character who be-

came a world-renowned glider pilot, setting many

German, American, and international records.

Nominally a Nazi, he joined the party largely out

of self-interest and probably denied his member-

ship for the same reason. Te intelligence that he

gathered while in Washington certainly could

have proved valuable to the Nazi leadership if

they had acted on it. As for his adventures and ro-

mances, Riedel certainly told a good story, which

he was not above embellishing.

Probably the greatest glider pilot of his

time, he ranks among aviations most out-

standing pilots.

One thing is undeniable: Peter Riedel really

knew how to fly his Kranich.

Riedel with his wife, Helen Kluge, an American

of German descent. They married in July 1941,

and with the outbreak of war and expatriation

of German diplomats, Helen accompanied him

to Germany in 1942

In October 1938, the Chief of the Air Corps in-

formed the Adjutant General that he had no objec-

tion to housing a German glider at Bolling Field in

appreciation for the courtesies extended by the

German Government to our Attache abroad.


To learn more about

he International Civil Aeronautics

Conference of 1928 held in Wash-

ington, D.C., go to www.archives.gov/

publications/prologue/2003/winter/.

Te early days of flight and a race to circum-

navigate the globe by air, go to www.archives.

gov/publications/prologue/2010/summer/.

Using State Department records for research,

go to www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/.

P


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DFS G-27 Kranich

Based on the Rhnsperber, his record-

breaking single-seat glider, Hans Jacobs

designed the DFS G-27 Kranich (Crane)

for the Deutsche Forschunganstalt

Fr Segelflug in 1935. A two-seater, the

Kranich became the standard German

high-performance gliding trainer because

it allowed dual instruction in almost every

element of flying. Used to set numerous

world and national records, it showed it-

self to be the best two-seat glider of its

time. Remaining in production into the

late 1950s, hundreds of Kranichs were

built in Germany and in other countries.

National Markings

Registered in Germany to avoid paying

U.S. import duties, and because it par-

ticipated in international competitions

in the United States, Riedels glider bore

the Third Reichs swastika insignia on its

vertical stabilizer and the German reg-

istration number, D-4-620, on the fuse-

lage. D stood for Deutschland, 4 signi-

fied the Berlin district where it was reg-

istered, and 620 was the individual air-

craft number.

In 1934, the Nazis required that all

German military and civil aircraft, includ-

ing both powered aircraft and sailplanes,

display the swastika-bedecked nation-

al flag of the Third Reich. The regulations

mandated it to appear on the left side of

the vertical stabilizer, with black, white,

and red horizontal bands of the national

colors on the right side. In 1936 the reg-

ulations were amended to require display

of the swastika insignia on both sides of

the vertical stabilizer.

Generally a red band went across the

entire vertical tail surface, with the white

circle and swastika centered on the tail.

Some necessary variation was allowed,

and Kranich gliders normally carried the

marking only on the movable portion of

the rudder, possibly because the man-

ufacturers markings appeared on the

fixed part of the gliders vertical stabilizer.

The basic color scheme of German glid-

ers was overall pale cream (FAS 1), but a

number of other colors were authorized,

including medium blue, medium brown,

medium gray, light green, and chrome yel-

low. Individual marking variations includ-

ed a sunburst pattern on the wing upper

surfaces. Some gliders appeared with oth-

er markings on the nose, including Naz

organization symbols, the name of the

glider type, individual aircraft name, or

the five Olympic rings, honoring of the

1936 Berlin Olympics.

See Erik Mombeek, Jagdwaffe: Birth o

the Luftwaffe Fighter Force (Luftwaffe

Colors , Volume One, Section 1). East Sussex

Classic Publications , 1999, pp. 2627.

Prologue 2Nazis Soaring Over Washington?

Author

Chas Downs is an artist, research

er, and archivist living in Howard

County, Maryland, with his wife

and cat. Retired after a career with

the National Archives, he is an active NARA voluntee

at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

N S

At the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, Re-

cord Group 59, Records of the Department of State, Decimal

Files covering the years 1939, 1940, and 1941, contain sever-

al references to Peter Riedel. Te most voluminous records,

concerning his altercation with Frank Werner, can be found

in the 19301939 Decimal Files, 701.6211-1110. Other ref-

erences are 701.6211-1031 and 1042. 811.7961/328, and

811.796 Sca 2/415. For 1940 and after, references to Rie-

del appear in Decimal Files 701.6111/1134, 701.6219/54,701.62701.6211-111011/1134, 800.20211/767 and 776,

and 811.7961/1439, 1501, 1541, 1558, and 1658.

OSS records relating to Riedel can be found in Record

Group 226, Records of the Office of Strategic Services, Clas-

sified Sources and Methods Files, Withdrawn Records

(Entry A-1, 215), File W21062; Records of Other Field

Bases, Field Station FilesStockholm-X-2-PS-2-7 (En-

try 125), Folder 2; and Field Station FilesStockholm-X-

2-PS-5 (Entry 125A), Folder 367. Te latter folder con-

tains a good photograph of Riedel standing next to the tail

of his glider.

Several references to Riedel and his activities as air

attach may be found in Record Group 165, Records

of the War Department General and Special Staffs,

G-2 (Military Intelligence Division), Foreign Liaison

Branch, Attach Military, German in Washington; see

the Index, and especially the following files: 343-B-21,

343-D-3, and 343-W-162.

Several articles concerning Riedel appeared in the Wash-

ington Post. A number relate to his accomplishments as a

glider pilot: July 1112, 1937, July 5, 1938, and Septem-

ber 26, 1938. Stories onDecember 4 and 5, 1939, cover

his scrape with Werner and its aftermath. Riedels alley

confrontation is also mentioned in a commentary column

Over the Coffee, by Harlan Miller, December 13 and 20,

1939. Several articles about von Werra appeared in theWash-

ington Postduring 1941, including one with a comment by

Riedel, April 23, 1941. Te fate of Riedels Kranich glider is

mentioned by Jim Kellett in Skyline Soaring Club in thewentieth Century, January 2000 (http://skylinesoaring.org/

HISORY/history-1.html).

A series of three articles about the Riedels by Mike

McCormick appeared in the erre Haute ribune Star

(www.ribstar.com/history),June 18, July 7, and July 14,

2007; Historical Perspective: Pilot under Vigilant Eye

of FBI made rip to erre Haute, Part I; Historical

Perspective: Te Continuing Story of Peter and Helen

Riedel. Part II; and Te Story of Peter and Helen Rie-

del, Part III. Helen Kluge Riedel was a erre Haute na-

tive, and she and Peter visited her relatives there when

they were being trailed by the FBI.

Not readily available in the United States is Martin Si-

monss German Air Attach: Te Trilling Story of German

Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel(Ramsbury,

UK: Airlife, 1997). Simons, a British author and glider

pilot, based this book on a typescript written by Riedel

and tape recordings of their conversations, as well as other

material provided by Riedel. Written in the first person, it

reads as if it were Riedels autobiography and is the source

of information for most secondary works on Riedel.

A scholarly biography of the German military attach

in Washington, Alfred M. Becks Hitlers Ambivalent At-

tach: Lt. Gen. Friedrich von Boetticher in America, 1933

1941 (Washington DC: Potomac Books, 2005), puts

Riedels activities in the context of his position in the Ger-

man embassy and with the German government in Ber-

lin, as well in as sketching out the diplomatic atmosphere

of prewar Washington, D.C. A former Army historian,

Beck had access to some of Riedels papers and photo-

graphs provided by the executor of his estate.

A curator at the National Air and Space Museum, Von

Hardesty puts Riedel into a different context, that of out-standing pilots and historic flights. Von Hardesty. Great

Aviators and Epic Flights (Southport, C: Hugh Laut-

er Levin Associates, Inc., 2002). In the chapter Riedel:

Soaring to Washington, pp. 142153, of this well-illus-

trated coffee-table size book, Hardesty provides a detailed

account of Riedels 1938 flight from Elmira, New York,

to Washington, D.C., which closely follows Riedels own

description in Martin Simonss book. While unfootnot-

ed, this account was apparently based on Riedel estate ar-

chival materials currently in Hardestys possession.

An entertaining book based on Luftwaffe ace von

Werras exploits, Te One that Got Away,by Burt Kendal

and James Leasor, came out in 1956. A movie of the same

name, starring Hardy Kruger, appeared in the next year.

Nazis Soaring Over Washington - Prologue Fall 2011

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