• Fledglings of the Third Reich

Under the Nazi regime, the Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps (NSFK – National Socialist Flyers Corps) instructed Germany’s ‘Aviation Hitler Youth’ boys and other aspirants of flight in all matters of aviation. Intended as a preparatory school for the main Luftwaffe, NSFK personnel delivered both theoretical and practical aeronautical training to these keen young aviators. More sinisterly, however, they also intertwined their instruction with virulent Nazi ideology and propaganda. That a considerable segment of Luftwaffe personnel either administered or received instruction via the NSFK renders the latter organisation highly pertinent to understanding the operational and political culture of the main German air force. As the NSFK has not yet been the subject of a truly focussed and expansive study, this paper rectifies a long-standing historiographical lacuna by delving into contemporary handbooks, organisational documents, and flight magazines to determine how the NSFK attempted to entice Germany’s youth into flying for both the Führer and the fatherland.