4. Adolf Galland flew in combat until he was forbidden to do so by Herman Goering
Adolf Galland flew most of his 705 combat missions against the Western Allies during World War II. He gained combat experience in Spain during the Civil War there, and supported the invasion of Poland by flying ground support missions, a technique honed in Spain. He fought in the Battle of France, the ensuing Battle of Britain, and against the Allied bombing campaign on Nazi Germany. All of his eventual 104 victories came against the Western Allies, with most of them occurring before the Americans entered the war. Galland ascended to command to command the Luftwaffe’s fighter forces in November 1941, and was forbidden from flying further combat missions.
Throughout the remainder of the war, Galland dealt with falling morale among his pilots, and openly challenged Goering regarding the leadership of the air war. Several times he requested to be relieved from command and returned to an operational combat unit. He actively championed the development of jet fighters, frequently ignoring orders from Goering and even Hitler over their use. Among the orders he ignored was the ban on his flying in combat. He flew several missions against USAAF heavy bombers, shooting down at least one B-17, and possibly as many as three. He became one of the earliest pilots to win an air-to-air victory flying jets in 1945. Galland remained a controversial figure in Germany following World War II, accused of both pro-Nazi and anti-German leanings until his death in 1996.