Adolf Galland

Origin

Adolf Galland was born in Westerholt, Westphalia in 1912, the son of a bailiff. He first became interested in flying in 1927, when he joined a glider club. Because Germany wasn’t allowed an air force due to the Treaty of Versailles, these gliders were used to train pilots. In 1932 he graduated from school and was accepted to Lufthansa’s flying school. After some early setbacks in his flying career he grew disheartened and applied to join the German Army. He received no reply from the army, and remained in pilot training. 

Character Evolution

In 1933 he met Hermann Goring, who impressed him, and was sent to train in Italy. In December of 1933 he joined the Luftwaffe. He flew in the Spanish Civil War in 1937, and was also involved in tactical considerations. Between 1939 and 1941 he participated in a number of reconnaissance and bombing missions in Poland, Western Europe, on the Channel Front and in the Battle of Britain. In late 1941, Goring chose Galland to be General de Jagdflieger. He did not enjoy having a less hands-on job, but executed several successful plans anyways. In 1944 he was removed from his post due to conflict with Goring. He returned to the front lines in early 1945, but by the end of April he had surrendered along with the rest of the German Army. He was released from interrogation in 1947.  
 
After the war, Galland relocated to Argentina. While there he flew with the Argentina Air Force. He returned to Germany in 1954. While there he formed his own aircraft consultancy. In 1969 he served as a consultant on the set of the film Battle of Britain, in which a character is based off of him. He married three times, first to Sylvinia von Donhoff, who he was married to from 1954-63, then to Hannelies Ladwein from 1963 to 1984, and finally to Heidi Horn from 1984 to his death. Adolf Galland died on February 9th, 1996.