Asked when the plane could be operational as a bomber,
Petersen made a wild guess. “Around three months,” he said.
Göring thumped his fist on the table. The invasion was not
going to wait for the . “You gentlemen dare to do what no
civilian would ever dare quite simply, to disregard orders!
The most ill-disciplined bunch in Germany: our Wehrmacht,
and our officer corps.”
Hitler persisted over the coming weeks that the Me was
to be produced purely as a bomber. Perspiration glistening on
his brow, Göring swore on his own life to comply. On May ,
, he cabled to his generals, “The Führer has ordered the Me
to be operated exclusively as a high-speed bomber. There is
until further notice no question of it as a fighter plane.” Two
days later he told General Galland that “to avoid misunder-
standings” he was removing the from Galland’s jet-fighter
specialist (Colonel Gordon Mac Gollob) and transferring it to
Colonel Marienfeld as general of bombers.
Four days after this conference Göring saw Hitler strolling
down the hill. He had come to pay his respects to little Edda on
her sixth birthday. The child’s mother detected a trace of irony
in the “Frau Reichsmarschall” with which Hitler addressed her
as he kissed her hand.