1939: The "Flower Wars"
Before the world burned, there were the "Flower Wars"—Hitler’s annexation of neighboring nations. The illusion of peace shattered in March 1939. Großmann’s diary records the date simply: "March 15, 1939: Slowakei..." as German troops marched into the rest of Czechoslovakia. He spent that spring in "Böhmen" (Bohemia), stationed in an occupied country.
Training to Track
Flak School
By the Autumn he was back in Germany attending Entfernungsmesser training in Goppingen (later Cooke Barracks) where he would learn the intricacies of predicting the flight of aircraft for engagement with the 88mm Flak canon. Even in 1939, radar (Funkmessgerät) was a closely guarded state secret and not yet widely deployed to field units. The defense of the Reich’s airspace relied almost entirely on optical detection and tracking where he initially learned his trade.
His technical training included:
-
"Target Classification" - he had to memorize the silhouettes of hundreds of aircraft—British, French, Polish, and German—from every angle and altitude. In the split second of an engagement, identifying a friend from a foe was a matter of life and death.
-
"Evaluation on Measuring Devices" - He was trained on the Em 4m R rangefinder. and spent days in evaluation and measurement.
-
"Aircraft Identification" - Beyond silhouettes, this involved estimating speed and climb rates, essential data for the fire control computer.
Ernst (second from left) in Göppingen for rangefinder
training at the Flak Kaserne
Czechoslovakia
& Austria
Train to Czechoslovakia March 1939. The text painted on the train is a satirical parody of the Lord's Prayer (the Vaterunser), mockingly directed at the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.
The drawing of the umbrella on the right is a further jab at Chamberlain, as it was his well-known trademark accessory and became a symbol of his perceived "weakness" or failed policy of appeasement in German propaganda.
"Father Chamberlain, who art in London, Extinguished be thy name! Thy empire vanish! Thy will be done neither on the moon nor on earth! Our daily bread thou shalt not steal from us, Pay thy debt, which thou hast never paid, to thy debtors And lead us not into the abyss, but deliver us from thee For to thee belongs NO KINGDOM, no power, no glory..."
In October his unit moved from Heilbronn into Austria, where they set up their flak guns to defend the “Ostmark” as Hitler named Austria. Großmann's photos center on the trains taking him to occupy the newly “liberated” lands as well as sightseeing trips to Vienna. He was stationed in St. Margarethen where he engaged in live fire training on the 88mm cannon. He was a young soldier seeing the world, riding a wave of nationalistic fervor that had not yet revealed its full, horrific cost.
Ernst on the train to Vienna in October 1939. He is the second man looking out.
Ilse
Beginning of a journey
At the same time Ilse Wansky, Ernst's future wife, was in Breslau (present day Wroclaw) having completed nursing school. She had a stern, Prussian upbringing a world away from Ernst’s easy going Swabian childhood. Her father was a mounted police officer patrolling lower Silesia and raising a devout Catholic family in predominantly Protestant Prussia.
