Siegfried Knemeyer
Encyclopedia
Siegfried Knemeyer was a German
Aeronautical engineer and Aviator
. He invented an early flight computer, was the Head of Technical Development for the Ministry of Aviation
during World War II
, and invented numerous aviation technologies for the United States Air Force
during the Cold War
. In the words of his supervisor in the U.S. Air Force, Colonel John Martin, "Kne was a genius in the creation of new concepts in flight control. Many people are good in analysis of ideas after the ideas have been created and presented, but Kne was one of those rare people who could create good ideas, and without exception his ideas proved sound."
. After one year he left to attend the Technische Universität Berlin, from which he graduated in 1933 with a dual major of theoretical experimental physics and aeronautical engineering. He was affiliated with the Academic Flying Group, with which he became noted as a stunt flyer. Thanks to these exploits the other students nicknamed him "Knall Max" (dynamic Max).
Shortly after graduating Knemeyer invented the Dreieckrechner, better known to contemporaries as “System Knemeyer”, a flight computer than enabled pilots to plan their flight ahead of time and compute the wind triangle for correcting drift in real-time during a flight. “System Knemeyer” was the primary German flight computer for the next decade, through the end of World War II.
In 1935 Knemeyer was a flight instructor for the RLN, or Aviation Ministry
, a civilian organization at the disposal of the German military. In this capacity he gave practical flying instructions and technology indoctrination to senior military personnel, including Field Marshall Albert Kesselring
, General Walther Wever
and Colonel General Ernst Udet
, the great World War I
flying ace
. Kesselring referred to Knemeyer’s abilities flying a Heinkel He 111
as “amazing.” Later he was shifted to a more engineering-focused position, where he tested, examined and recommended modifications to aircraft manufacturers based on prototypes they submitted.
During the Spanish Civil War
Knemeyer served as a test pilot and also observed planes in combat, submitting written reports analyzing their operational attributes and performance.
In 1938 Charles Lindbergh
visited Germany to inspect war planes, aircraft factories and research laboratories. Knemeyer was Lindbergh’s personal pilot during this visit and guided his tours of the Heinkel
factory at Oranienburg
, the Junkers
factory at Dessau
and Magdeburg
, the Messerschmitt
factory at Augsburg
, the Dornier
factory at Friedrichshafen
, and the Luftwaffe
experimental station at Rechlin
under the command of Oberst Edgar Petersen
.
Like many German civilians peripherally serving the military, he resigned his civilian commission and enlisted in the Luftwaffe as a private just after the outbreak of World War II, on 4 September 1939.
In autumn 1939 Knemeyer flew a reconnaissance mission to Narvik
, Norway to observe whether the British had occupied Narvik seaport. While on this mission Knemeyer took photographs of the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow
and out-maneuvered two Spitfires to escape with the photographs. Based on this intelligence the Kriegsmarine
sank the renowned British battleship Royal Oak and Knemeyer was awarded his first Iron Cross
.
In April 1943 Knemeyer was appointed the technical officer of General Dietrich Peltz
, who was responsible for the air war against England. In this capacity he established a program focused on capturing and re-fitting enemy aircraft, as a means to gain a tactical advantage and assist the Luftwaffe’s internal research efforts.
In 1943, alarmed that Allied advances in aviation technology threatened to tip the balance of the war against Germany, Hermann Göring
convened a conference at Carinhall
among his senior leadership. Peltz brought Knemeyer with him to this conference, and Göring was enamored with Knemeyer’s innovative ideas. After the conference Göring declared “Knemeyer is my boy!” and in July 1943 re-assigned him to be his personal technical advisor. Several months later Knemeyer was promoted to Oberst
and made Director of Research and Development of the Luftwaffe. Göring came to call Knemeyer the “Star Gazer” and would greet him with the question, “Now, my Star Gazer, what do you see in your crystal ball?” In November 1943 Knemeyer was appointed Head of Technical Development for the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM).
By February 1944 Knemeyer had suprisingly never flown a German heavy bomber
of any sort, until he got his turn to fly one of the Heinkel He 177B prototypes on February 24 at the Wiener Neustadt
military airfield. His favorable opinion on the twin tail
-equipped He 177 V102 aircraft's "excellent handling qualities" compelled him to recommend that the Heinkel
firm place the He 177B design's priority above that of the Heinkel He 343
four-jet bomber design, which was still in its early stages.
Shortly after rising to this appointment Knemeyer became close with old colleague General Werner Baumbach
. Thanks in part to their relationship with Albert Speer
, the two pursued a progressive agenda through the end of the war. According to Baumbach, Knemeyer was the primary person championing the Messerschmitt Me-262 as the crucial technology to turn the tide in the war. Knemeyer was included on a Special Committee of top-ranking Luftwaffe administrators in November 1943 for the purpose of advocating broad adoption of and investment in the Me-262. Smith and Creek credit Knemeyer and General Adolf Galland
as the men responsible for Germany’s finally putting the Me-262 into mass production as a fighter.
In 1944 the German hierarchy placed a renewed call for creative plans to reverse the now-inevitable defeat descending on Nazi Germany
. Familiar with the newest technologies, Knemeyer conceived of a plan to develop a long-range bomber that would drop a radioactive “dirty bomb
” on New York City
, in hopes of intimidating the United States
out of the war. This idea was embraced, and Knemeyer set up and personally supervised a competition between the three most promising technologies: Wernher von Braun
’s Aggregat A-9 rocket missile and A-10 booster rocket; Eugen Sänger
’s Silbervogel, and the Horten brothers
' Horten Ho 229
. While this competition accelerated the progress of bleeding edge aviation technology, none of the projects were completed prior to the end of the war.
In the summer of 1944 Knemeyer informed Baumbach that Otto Skorzeny
had organized a secret unit of German suicide bombers, many of whom were unclear as to the nature of their appointment, some even thinking they were in place to retrieve Mussolini from Italy, if necessary. Knemeyer implored Baumbach to use his influence with Adolf Hitler
and the Schutzstaffel
to cancel this program, which he believed ran counter to Nazi promises that all soldiers would have some chance of survival in their missions, no matter how slight. Finally Baumbach and Speer took a private meeting with Hitler and convinced him to personally cancel the program.
At the end of the war in 1945, Knemeyer, Baumbach and Speer cooperated to preserve the latest aviation technology for the Western Allies
, transporting all relevant records out of Berlin
prior to the arrival of the Soviet Red Army. During the war Knemeyer flew every model of production and experimental aircraft produced in Germany, as well as every captured enemy airplane model.
. Upon learning who Knemeyer was, the British government offered to bring him to England as a guest of the Queen, for the purpose of his contributing to their aviation research and development. Thanks to this agreement Knemeyer arranged for British agents to retrieve his sister Hildegard from East Germany. However, when the Labour Party
re-gained control of the British government in July 1945 they cancelled many of these deals with ex-Nazis. He was instead interred in the Latimer
prison camp.
After his release in May 1946 Knemeyer returned to his family in Bokel. He was contacted multiple times by Soviet agents offering lucrative packages to come to the Soviet Union
and take a high-ranking position, but Knemeyer did not consider this an option. Instead he took a 6-month position with the French government for 45,000 francs a month, working at the Arsenal de l'Aéronautique
, Kressbroun, Paris
researching airplane remote control and gyroscopic technique.
While performing his contract with the French Knemeyer was approached by agents from the United States
who hoped to recruit him for Operation Paperclip
. At the time Knemeyer was considering a long-term agreement with France. However he was concerned that the French political climate might be swinging toward communism
and instead decided to join the United States. In June 1948 he was awarded a permanent contract of employment with the United States Air Force
, Air Material Command, at a salary of five hundred ninety dollars a month, based at Wright Field
in Dayton, Ohio
. His family was then able to join him in America.
when it was transferred to Wright Field some months after the July 8, 1947 crash. However these files remain classified and attempts at gathering evidence via U.S. Freedom of Information Act requests have been ignored by the government.
Knemeyer was positioned to be the Technical Director of the Flight Control Laboratory at Wright Field but requested to serve as a consultant instead, so he could focus on new inventions and technical developments as opposed to the bureaucracy he observed within the organization. In this position he provided technical vision and leadership to hundreds of aviation advances including:
- Establishment of the Pilot Factors program, which pioneered the transition of technologies from the paradigm of subsonic flight to supersonic flight
- Flare-Out System for All Weather Touch-Down of Aircraft
- Flight Instrument Panel for T-33 Shooting Star Jet Aircraft
- Flare-Out Unit for Push-Button C-54
- Doppler-Inertial Systems
- Flight Instrument Panel for F-102 Delta Dagger Jet Aircraft
- Force Steering (or, Control Stick Steering) Technology
- Horizontal Situation Display Instruments for air speed, Mach number, rate of climb, and altitude instruments, used in the F-105, F-106, X-15, C-141 and F-111
- Scanning Beam Technology
- Horizontal Situation Indicator
- Control Force Disconnect
- Radar to detect electrical storms
As acknowledgement of his collective contributions, in 1966 he received the highest civilian award granted by the U.S. military, the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award.
In the United States
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Aeronautical engineer and Aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
. He invented an early flight computer, was the Head of Technical Development for the Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government, established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and invented numerous aviation technologies for the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. In the words of his supervisor in the U.S. Air Force, Colonel John Martin, "Kne was a genius in the creation of new concepts in flight control. Many people are good in analysis of ideas after the ideas have been created and presented, but Kne was one of those rare people who could create good ideas, and without exception his ideas proved sound."
Early career
Knemeyer enrolled at the University of Göttingen in 1927 and studied physicsPhysics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. After one year he left to attend the Technische Universität Berlin, from which he graduated in 1933 with a dual major of theoretical experimental physics and aeronautical engineering. He was affiliated with the Academic Flying Group, with which he became noted as a stunt flyer. Thanks to these exploits the other students nicknamed him "Knall Max" (dynamic Max).
Shortly after graduating Knemeyer invented the Dreieckrechner, better known to contemporaries as “System Knemeyer”, a flight computer than enabled pilots to plan their flight ahead of time and compute the wind triangle for correcting drift in real-time during a flight. “System Knemeyer” was the primary German flight computer for the next decade, through the end of World War II.
In 1935 Knemeyer was a flight instructor for the RLN, or Aviation Ministry
Aviation Ministry
An aviation ministry is a cabinet level department of a government which is concerned with matters of aviation within a particular country's airspace...
, a civilian organization at the disposal of the German military. In this capacity he gave practical flying instructions and technology indoctrination to senior military personnel, including Field Marshall Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring was a German Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall during World War II. In a military career that spanned both World Wars, Kesselring became one of Nazi Germany's most skilful commanders, being one of 27 soldiers awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords...
, General Walther Wever
Walther Wever (general)
Walther Wever was a pre-World War II Luftwaffe Commander.-Early life:Walther Wever was born on 11 November 1887 in Wilhelmsort in the county of Bromberg . He was the son of Arnold Wever, the one-time director of a Berlin bank and the grandson of the Prussian Prosecutor-General Dr...
and Colonel General Ernst Udet
Ernst Udet
Colonel General Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war . His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus...
, the great World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
. Kesselring referred to Knemeyer’s abilities flying a Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
as “amazing.” Later he was shifted to a more engineering-focused position, where he tested, examined and recommended modifications to aircraft manufacturers based on prototypes they submitted.
During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
Knemeyer served as a test pilot and also observed planes in combat, submitting written reports analyzing their operational attributes and performance.
In 1938 Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
visited Germany to inspect war planes, aircraft factories and research laboratories. Knemeyer was Lindbergh’s personal pilot during this visit and guided his tours of the Heinkel
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
factory at Oranienburg
Oranienburg
Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.- Geography :Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.- Division of the town :...
, the Junkers
Junkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG , more commonly Junkers, was a major German aircraft manufacturer. It produced some of the world's most innovative and best-known airplanes over the course of its fifty-plus year history in Dessau, Germany. It was founded there in 1895 by Hugo Junkers,...
factory at Dessau
Dessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
and Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, the Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
factory at Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, the Dornier
Dornier Flugzeugwerke
Dornier Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in Friedrichshafen in 1914 by Claudius Dornier. Over the course of its long lifespan, the company produced many notable designs for both the civil and military markets.-History:...
factory at Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen
This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
, and the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
experimental station at Rechlin
Rechlin-Lärz Airfield
Rechlin-Lärz Airfield is an airfield in the village of Rechlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, which is certified for aviation equipment up to 14 tons weight...
under the command of Oberst Edgar Petersen
Edgar Petersen
Edgar Petersen was a German Luftwaffe bomber pilot and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership...
.
Like many German civilians peripherally serving the military, he resigned his civilian commission and enlisted in the Luftwaffe as a private just after the outbreak of World War II, on 4 September 1939.
With the Luftwaffe
After serving as Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch’s pilot during the brief Invasion of Poland, Knemeyer was assigned to the Rowehl Reconnaissance Group. During his time with this group Knemeyer flew hundreds of reconnaissance flights in every theater of the German war.In autumn 1939 Knemeyer flew a reconnaissance mission to Narvik
Narvik
is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
, Norway to observe whether the British had occupied Narvik seaport. While on this mission Knemeyer took photographs of the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
and out-maneuvered two Spitfires to escape with the photographs. Based on this intelligence the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
sank the renowned British battleship Royal Oak and Knemeyer was awarded his first Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
.
In April 1943 Knemeyer was appointed the technical officer of General Dietrich Peltz
Dietrich Peltz
Generalmajor Dietrich Peltz was a German World War II Luftwaffe bomber pilot. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, who was responsible for the air war against England. In this capacity he established a program focused on capturing and re-fitting enemy aircraft, as a means to gain a tactical advantage and assist the Luftwaffe’s internal research efforts.
In 1943, alarmed that Allied advances in aviation technology threatened to tip the balance of the war against Germany, Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
convened a conference at Carinhall
Carinhall
Carinhall was the country residence of Hermann Göring, built on a large hunting estate northeast of Berlin in the Schorfheide forest between the Großdöllner See and the Wuckersee in the north of Brandenburg....
among his senior leadership. Peltz brought Knemeyer with him to this conference, and Göring was enamored with Knemeyer’s innovative ideas. After the conference Göring declared “Knemeyer is my boy!” and in July 1943 re-assigned him to be his personal technical advisor. Several months later Knemeyer was promoted to Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
and made Director of Research and Development of the Luftwaffe. Göring came to call Knemeyer the “Star Gazer” and would greet him with the question, “Now, my Star Gazer, what do you see in your crystal ball?” In November 1943 Knemeyer was appointed Head of Technical Development for the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM).
By February 1944 Knemeyer had suprisingly never flown a German heavy bomber
Heavy bomber
A heavy bomber is a bomber aircraft of the largest size and load carrying capacity, and usually the longest range.In New START, the term "heavy bomber" is used for two types of bombers:*one with a range greater than 8,000 kilometers...
of any sort, until he got his turn to fly one of the Heinkel He 177B prototypes on February 24 at the Wiener Neustadt
Wiener Neustadt
-Main sights:* The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the Apostles were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl is attributed to...
military airfield. His favorable opinion on the twin tail
Twin tail
A twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers — often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be — are mounted at the outside of the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer...
-equipped He 177 V102 aircraft's "excellent handling qualities" compelled him to recommend that the Heinkel
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
firm place the He 177B design's priority above that of the Heinkel He 343
Heinkel He 343
The Heinkel He 343 was a four-engine jet bomber project.-Design and development:It was designed by the German Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the beginning of 1944. 20 of these aircraft were ordered. For shortening the development time and for re-use of existing parts, its general design was...
four-jet bomber design, which was still in its early stages.
Shortly after rising to this appointment Knemeyer became close with old colleague General Werner Baumbach
Werner Baumbach
Werner Baumbach was a bomber pilot in the German Luftwaffe during World War II and commander of the secret bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 200...
. Thanks in part to their relationship with Albert Speer
Albert Speer
Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...
, the two pursued a progressive agenda through the end of the war. According to Baumbach, Knemeyer was the primary person championing the Messerschmitt Me-262 as the crucial technology to turn the tide in the war. Knemeyer was included on a Special Committee of top-ranking Luftwaffe administrators in November 1943 for the purpose of advocating broad adoption of and investment in the Me-262. Smith and Creek credit Knemeyer and General Adolf Galland
Adolf Galland
Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland was a German Luftwaffe General and flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. He flew 705 combat missions, and fought on the Western and the Defence of the Reich fronts...
as the men responsible for Germany’s finally putting the Me-262 into mass production as a fighter.
In 1944 the German hierarchy placed a renewed call for creative plans to reverse the now-inevitable defeat descending on Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Familiar with the newest technologies, Knemeyer conceived of a plan to develop a long-range bomber that would drop a radioactive “dirty bomb
Dirty bomb
A dirty bomb is a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the explosion with radioactive material, hence the attribute "dirty"....
” on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in hopes of intimidating the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
out of the war. This idea was embraced, and Knemeyer set up and personally supervised a competition between the three most promising technologies: Wernher von Braun
Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...
’s Aggregat A-9 rocket missile and A-10 booster rocket; Eugen Sänger
Eugen Sänger
Eugen Sänger was an Austrian-German aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology.-Early career:...
’s Silbervogel, and the Horten brothers
Horten brothers
Walter Horten and Reimar Horten , sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were German aircraft pilots and enthusiasts, and members of the Hitler Youth and Nazi party...
' Horten Ho 229
Horten Ho 229
The Horten H.IX, RLM designation Ho 229 was a late–World War II prototype fighter/bomber designed by Reimar and Walter Horten and built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik...
. While this competition accelerated the progress of bleeding edge aviation technology, none of the projects were completed prior to the end of the war.
In the summer of 1944 Knemeyer informed Baumbach that Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
had organized a secret unit of German suicide bombers, many of whom were unclear as to the nature of their appointment, some even thinking they were in place to retrieve Mussolini from Italy, if necessary. Knemeyer implored Baumbach to use his influence with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
to cancel this program, which he believed ran counter to Nazi promises that all soldiers would have some chance of survival in their missions, no matter how slight. Finally Baumbach and Speer took a private meeting with Hitler and convinced him to personally cancel the program.
At the end of the war in 1945, Knemeyer, Baumbach and Speer cooperated to preserve the latest aviation technology for the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
, transporting all relevant records out of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
prior to the arrival of the Soviet Red Army. During the war Knemeyer flew every model of production and experimental aircraft produced in Germany, as well as every captured enemy airplane model.
Free agent
Knemeyer was captured by British soldiers while attempting to return to his family farm in and transferred to an English prison camp in MünsterMünster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
. Upon learning who Knemeyer was, the British government offered to bring him to England as a guest of the Queen, for the purpose of his contributing to their aviation research and development. Thanks to this agreement Knemeyer arranged for British agents to retrieve his sister Hildegard from East Germany. However, when the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
re-gained control of the British government in July 1945 they cancelled many of these deals with ex-Nazis. He was instead interred in the Latimer
Latimer, Buckinghamshire
Latimer is a village and civil parish that sits on the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, in England. The parish forms part of the Buckinghamshire district of Chiltern. Latimer parish includes the villages of Latimer, Ley Hill and Tyler's Hill.Latimer was originally joined with the...
prison camp.
After his release in May 1946 Knemeyer returned to his family in Bokel. He was contacted multiple times by Soviet agents offering lucrative packages to come to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and take a high-ranking position, but Knemeyer did not consider this an option. Instead he took a 6-month position with the French government for 45,000 francs a month, working at the Arsenal de l'Aéronautique
Arsenal de l'Aéronautique
Arsenal de l'Aéronautique was a national military aircraft manufacturer established by the French Government in 1936 at Villacoublay. In the years before World War II, it developed a range of technically advanced fighter aircraft, but none of these were manufactured in sufficient quantities to be...
, Kressbroun, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
researching airplane remote control and gyroscopic technique.
While performing his contract with the French Knemeyer was approached by agents from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who hoped to recruit him for Operation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip was the Office of Strategic Services program used to recruit the scientists of Nazi Germany for employment by the United States in the aftermath of World War II...
. At the time Knemeyer was considering a long-term agreement with France. However he was concerned that the French political climate might be swinging toward communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and instead decided to join the United States. In June 1948 he was awarded a permanent contract of employment with the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, Air Material Command, at a salary of five hundred ninety dollars a month, based at Wright Field
Wright Field
Wright Field was an airfield of the United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces near Riverside, Ohio. From 1927 to 1947 it was the research and development center for the Air Corps, and during World War II a flight test center....
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. His family was then able to join him in America.
With the U.S. Air Force
Knemeyer began with the United States War Department on July 1, 1947. Since he oversaw all technical development for the Luftwaffe, it is believed that he oversaw the technical review of the wreckage from the Roswell UFO IncidentRoswell UFO incident
The Roswell UFO Incident was the recovery of an object that crashed in the general vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, in June or July 1947, allegedly an extra-terrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of...
when it was transferred to Wright Field some months after the July 8, 1947 crash. However these files remain classified and attempts at gathering evidence via U.S. Freedom of Information Act requests have been ignored by the government.
Knemeyer was positioned to be the Technical Director of the Flight Control Laboratory at Wright Field but requested to serve as a consultant instead, so he could focus on new inventions and technical developments as opposed to the bureaucracy he observed within the organization. In this position he provided technical vision and leadership to hundreds of aviation advances including:
- Establishment of the Pilot Factors program, which pioneered the transition of technologies from the paradigm of subsonic flight to supersonic flight
- Flare-Out System for All Weather Touch-Down of Aircraft
- Flight Instrument Panel for T-33 Shooting Star Jet Aircraft
- Flare-Out Unit for Push-Button C-54
- Doppler-Inertial Systems
- Flight Instrument Panel for F-102 Delta Dagger Jet Aircraft
- Force Steering (or, Control Stick Steering) Technology
- Horizontal Situation Display Instruments for air speed, Mach number, rate of climb, and altitude instruments, used in the F-105, F-106, X-15, C-141 and F-111
- Scanning Beam Technology
- Horizontal Situation Indicator
- Control Force Disconnect
- Radar to detect electrical storms
As acknowledgement of his collective contributions, in 1966 he received the highest civilian award granted by the U.S. military, the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award.
Awards
In Germany- Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
(1939)- 2nd Class
- 1st Class
- German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold (27 July 1942) - Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
on 29 August 1943 as MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
im Stabsamt des RLM (with the staff of the Air Ministry) and GruppenkommandeurGruppenkommandeurGruppenkommandeur is a Luftwaffe position , that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. Gruppenkommandeur usually has the rank of Hauptmann or Major, and commands a Gruppe, which is a sub-division of a Geschwader. A Gruppe usually consists of three or four...
of Aufklärungs-Lehr-Gruppe of the OB.d.L.Oberkommando der LuftwaffeThe Oberkommando der Luftwaffe was the air force High Command of the Third Reich.Air Force Commanders-in-Chief* Reich Marshal Hermann Göring * Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim -History:... - Front Flying Clasp of the LuftwaffeFront Flying Clasp of the LuftwaffeThe Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe was awarded in Bronze, Silver, and Gold with upgrade possible to include diamonds. Pennants suspended from the clasp indicated the number of missions obtained in a given type of aircraft...
in Bronze, Silver and Gold
In the United States
- Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service AwardDepartment of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service AwardThe Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award is the highest civilian award given by the United States Department of Defense. This award and accompanying Distinguished Civilian Service Medal is the Department's highest award given to career DoD civilian employees whose careers...