Ocean Sentinels

摘要

One of the best known Condor pilots was Bernhard Jope, who had been fascinated by flying from an early age. Born in Leipzig in 1914, he studied aircraft construction at the Danzig Technical Institute while at the same time undertaking civilian pilot training. In 1935 he joined the Luftwaffe, eventually being posted to the Heinkel He 111 unit Ⅱ Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 253 (Ⅱ/KG 253) at Nordhausen, where he was the Gruppe's technical officer. He was promoted to Oberleutnant in June 1938, and the following January flew some 20 missions in the latter stages of the Spanish Civil War, for which he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords. Posted to KG 76 in May 1939 as technical officer and instructor, Jope flew operationally in Poland. He briefly joined KG 28 as technical officer to the Geschwader before being sent to the newly formed Condor-equipped Ⅰ/KG 40 in the summer of 1940. He joined as a pilot within 2/KG 40 and once again carried out the role of Gruppe technical officer.