Göring's Uniforms on Surrender

[sd]

Hi,

Was Göring wearing two sets of uniforms upon his surrender? I saw photo of him wearing the khaki army uniform and another of him wearing the Luftwaffe powder blue uniform. Here are the pictures from the forum:

[Luft300]

The bottom picture is the actual surrender to the Americans. The upper photo is later when Göring was presented to the press for an interview.

Luft300

[sd]

Many thanks! Were they, the photos, all taken on the May 9th?

[Luft300]

I cannot say 100% but I don't think so. I think he surrendered one day and then the press showed up the next, or other, for the interview. U.S. officers were admonished for allowing Göring to be interviewed like a 'rock star'. He was then subsequently treated as a war criminal, his uniforms stripped of insignia, etc.

Luft300

[Sewer King]

... I saw photo of him wearing the khaki army uniform and another of him wearing the Luftwaffe powder blue uniform.

The simple uniform in which the Reichsmarschall surrendered was Luftwaffe blue-gray, rather than khaki. Good details of it are in Brian L. Davis' Uniforms and Insignia of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945 volume 2 (Arms and Armour Press, 1995), pages 297-301.

Unfortunately for your question of the date, and for all the sequence of events told about Göring going into custody, the exact date of the photos at Augsburg is not given.

I am not sure and have not found why Göring had this "Utility Uniform" made, as Davis calls it.

• It seemed that in expectation of taking flight across a falling Germany he would need something less conspicuous than the finery he was well-known for.
  
  Or in expectation of surrender, it would look better to be taken wearing a "field"-type uniform that looked like he was closer to the business of combat than otherwise.

Is there any extant fact or opinion about this?

Moreover, hadn't he committed suicide wearing his dove-gray uniform, and was cremated in it?

-- Alan

[sd]

There seems to be three different types of uniform, (A) single breasted, (B) double-breasted and (C) army-khaki uniforms (or, perhaps more?) that Göring seen on photos to be wearing during the period of his capture/surrender:

A) Close-up shot of Göring in Augsburg, May 1945



(Source: LIFE, May 1945)

The caption says:

Reichsmarschall Göring
Closeup of German Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (L) next to interpreter, as he is questioned by more than 50 Allied war correspondents after being taken prisoner.
Location: Augsburg, Germany
Date taken: May 1945
Photographer: Margaret Bourke-White


B) Re-decorating of Göring for photo-op - May 9th, 1945



(Source: Wikipedia, May 9th, 1945)

The caption of this particular photo reads the following:

Göring kurz nach seiner Festnahme am 9. Mai 1945 vor einer texanischen Flagge. Orden und Ehrenzeichen hatte man ihm für diese Aufnahme zurückgegeben.

The quote's translation is:

Göring shorty after his arrest in May 9th, 1945 in front of a Texas State Flag. Someone had given back [to Göring] the orders and decorations to him [Göring] for this pose.

During his trial Göring was seen to be wearing the double-breasted uniform which could be the double-breasted uniform him seen wearing upon his capture as per (B) and this uniform could also be seen of him wearing upon his suicide.



(Hermann Göring in the dock during the Nuremberg trials in 1946, Source: MailOnline, 1946)

Göring's suicide



(Source: http://3rd-reichsblog.blogspot.com/2007 ... chive.html)

[Luft300]

Nice color photo of Göring at Nürnberg. He looks great since the allies got him off of the drugs and eating right... sort of looks like his old WW1 ace self again. Nice photo. I know that he surrendered in that one uniform and that he wore another during the press conference, which may be the one with the American at his side. I don't know about the double-breasted one standing in front of the Texas? flag. Not sure what that dangling medal is either. The color photo shows all of his insignia, as well as that of the military defendents, were removed from their uniforms.

Luft300

[John G.]

Luft300....
The "dangling medal" is Göring's Pour le mérite probably "stuck" in the buttonhole for the photograph.
Must be the last time Göring wore any of his decorations....
John G.

[Luft300]

John,

You're right... never saw it worn that way. He has his Grand Cross around his neck and usually wore his Pour le mérite there too, as well as his Knight's Cross (for France) a bit lower than the other two. Of course from the angle this photo was taken, you wouldn't have been able to see his Blue Max under the Grand Cross.

Luft300

[yum182]

Just curious of what become of Görings medals when he was arrested? They would be worth a fortune now.

[John G.]

Yum182;
I don't know if anyone really knows what happened (or should I say, who got....) Görings actual medals at time of capture. His Reichsmarschall"s Baton, the Pistol & holster he was wearing (38 S&W revolver, if I remember right), and
other personal effects are on display at the West Point Museum and are well worth the trip.....but I don't remember any of his medals....(of course, Goring had many others... including Foreign Orders, etc. .....that are also unaccounted for...
A couple were "Diamond encrusted", some unique to Hermann....some could have been "named"....yet none that I know of have surfaced to my knowledge.

I did see a large amount of Göring material, all original- removed from his personal Train, which included uniforms, headgear, shoulder boards & collar tabs, and award certificates for many of Göring "lower awards" and foreign awards (some of those were quite impressive)...but no awards as such that I recall....(some of his uniforms had attached awards- but nothing exotic ......1939 clasps, ribbon bars, WW 1 EK 1st cl. ......didn't really look that closely and knew I'd never own any of it....and I was quite young and still learning, so didn't truely appreciate the opportunity it was to handle these....).

If your ever in NY you should visit West Point's Museum.....many other unique items (from all American Wars)....many great items not on display.....The Baton is worth the trip.....

John G.

[cruff]

His Baton is now on display at the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia.

[Downy]

I own the Signal Corps photos of Göring, who surrendered to Seventh Army forces, presenting himself for detention in Augsburg, Germany on 9 May 1945. In the first photo, Göring is standing proud, holding his sleeved Field Marshall's baton, accompanied by Col. Berndt von Brauchitsch, son of the German Field Marshal.

Goering1.jpg (67.41 KiB) Viewed 10427 times

The second photo shows a rather dejected Göring after having been stripped of his medals, insignia, and baton.
These photos are for sale.

Goering2.jpg (58.9 KiB) Viewed 10427 times

The second photo from post #1 is an Associated Press still taken at the same time, but from a different angle.

[Downy]

Göring's baton:

artifact_baton_lrg2.jpg (19.8 KiB) Viewed 10357 times