The fun to be had from a successful attack played a major role in the Luftwaffe airmen’s conversations. The category not only served to mutually confirm the virtuoso skill with which one handled one’s aircraft and the superiority one enjoyed over the enemy or others. It also had a considerable communicative significance. Fun was part of what made a story worth telling. It was part of the tension of a well-rounded narrative, comprehensible and with a striking ending, and the mutual laughter it elicited showed that soldiers inhabited one and the same world, a world in which hitting targets and having fun went hand in hand. Victims in the sense of people with whom soldiers could empathize do not appear in their stories. Whether they were talking about ships, planes, or houses, bicyclists, fairground visitors, train and ship passengers, or mothers with children, the victims appear only as targets.
The following anecdotes from Germany’s air campaign against England from 1940 to 1944 require no commentary:
ESCHNER: Our KOMMODORE arranged on various occasions a day-time attack for us as a special treat—on shipping and suchlike. He intended this as a special favour for us… So we started—myself in front, and I found a ship which was outside a small harbour near LOWESTOFT—there were two ships there with only one guard ship. There was a cloud bank at 5–600m. I could see the ships from a distance of 10 km. I wanted to do a gliding attack and had already got into the gliding angle and attacked; the boat was hit; they opened fire, I opened the throttle and was off. That was great fun.111
BUDDE: I’ve taken part in two intruder patrols attacking houses.
No, only intruder patrols. Whatever we came across; country houses on a hillside made the best targets. You flew up from below, then you aimed—and crash! There was the sound of breaking windowpanes and the roof flew off. But I’ve only done that with the 190, twice in attacks on villages.
At the Market Place, there were crowds of people and speeches were being made. They ran like hares! That’s great fun! It was just before Christmas. We had no losses on that occasion.112
BAEUMER: Then in the retreat we played a fine game in the “111.” We had a 2-cm cannon built into it in front. Then we flew at low level over the streets, and when any cars came towards us we put on the searchlights and they thought another car was coming towards them. Then we turned the cannon on them. We had plenty of success like that. That was grand, we got a lot of fun out of it. We did it with railway trains, too, and that sort of thing. The nights are comparatively light in RUSSIA anyhow, if the weather doesn’t happen to be really bad.113
