record in World War , he spoke of generals who had “lied for
each other’s medals.” By this time Galland’s following among the
lower ranks had dwindled. “That Galland,” muttered one cor-
poral after entering British captivity in February , “is per-
fumed like a whore. I last saw him in November [].... He
may have been a good fighter-pilot, but you’ve got to have some
talent for organization and technical ability too. He used to show
up wearing boots, a general’s stripes, and knickerbockers: a real
sight.” Officers had more time for Galland, but higher up still
his life-style had caused offense to Göring and the prudish Hit-
ler. Even Allied interrogators would find his moral precepts pe-
culiar Galland had ordered his pilots not to marry, and him-
self lived with several women simultaneously, explaining that he
“had to set an example to his men.”
Galland in turn had little time for the Reichsmarschall. He
had refused to pander to him which was a mistake and his
eyes had been opened by Göring’s sizable black-market opera-
tions in the west. Before returning to the Eagle’s Nest, the
Reichsmarschall ordered him to Carinhall and informed him, in
the course of a two-hour monologue, that he was to be dismissed
for employing the “wrong fighter tactics” and for insubordina-
tion. Until a successor could be found, he would be sent on
leave.
His tail now between his legs, Galland drove back to Berlin.
His dismissal was barely noticed, coinciding as it did with
Göring’s most spectacular operation yet Operation Boden-
platte, the Luftwaffe’s mass attack on the Allied air forces.
Speculating on the chance of catching the enemy aviators with
their pants down, Göring had authorized a swoop on their air-
bases in the Low Countries at first light on New Year’s Day .
Reconnaissance planes had brought back tempting photographs
of their quarry for example, of P- fighters and heavy