A Biography of the LARA's Friend and Advisor
Gottfried P. Dulias was born on June 25, 1925 in Koenigsberg, the capital of former East Prussia, Germany. He was the third child of Paul and Lucie Dulias. The family’s ultimate settling in June of 1939 to Fuerstenfeldbruck (near Munich) in Bavaria followed a move in 1934 to Osterode.
Gottfried had developed an interest in flying and often watched the take-offs and landings practiced by cadets at the nearby Luftwaffe Air-War School #4. He joined the flying program of the Hitler Youth, which was dedicated to pre-military glider training. This was the prerequisite for pilot training in the Luftwaffe. Gottfried earned his “A” and “B” certificates in this way during the period of 1940-1941.
In May of 1943, Gottfried was called to serve in the “Arbeitsdienst” (Labor Force), a pre-military organization mandated for all future soldiers. After a six-month tour of duty building fortifications at the Northwest coast of France, he was finally called to join the Luftwaffe in November of that year.
Gottfried was now 18 years old. Upon completion of a three-month boot camp at Oschatz, Saxony, he entered Air Academy #2 at Berlin-Gatow on February 1, 1944. His training consisted of theoretic training, glider and soaring, and ultimately powered aircraft flight school. This gained Gottfried the long-awaited “C” certificate.
The first of the series of powered aircraft flown by Gottfried was the Focke Wulf FW44D “Stieglitz”. This was the two seat, open cockpit trainer similar to the U.S. Navy N3N trainer.
After being evaluated as a potential fighter pilot, Gottfried moved on to the famous Buecker Jungmann, a highly aerobatic two-seat bi-plane. Training in the better-known Buecker Jungmeister, considered by some to be the best aerobatic airplane of its time followed this.
Gottfried’s first monoplane was the dual controlled Messerschmitt 108 Taifun. The natural progression from there led him to the legendary Messerschmitt Me109E Emil. During Gottfried’s training in the former front-line fighter, he developed a mechanical failure in one of the landing gear of his plane. After realizing his situation, the flight instructor radioed his choices of either bailing out or attempting a landing with only one of his wheels down and locked. Gottfried opted for the landing and successfully landed the warbird, which sustained minimal damage. This earned Gottfried an honorary commendation.
In August of 1944, he moved on to train in the Me109G Gustav. This training included gunnery practice. With a minimum of instrument training, Gottfried was cleared for combat. He and a handful of fellow graduates were assigned to Jagdgeschwader 53 “Pik As”, stationed near Aachen, Northwest Germany. Their assignment there was to engage the escort fighters of the waves of U.S. B-17’s in order to allow neighboring Focke Wulf 190 units to attack the bombers themselves.
Gottfried was considered a newcomer, referred to by his elder pilots as a “Haes-chen”, or “Little Rabbit”. As such, he was assigned to be an observer of tactics. During one of these early missions, the pilot of a British Spitfire took him for easy prey. However, after a 15-minute dogfight, Gottfried disabled the Spit, forcing the pilot to bail out. The English pilot parachuted down near the JG53 base and was taken prisoner. Leutnant Gottfried Dulias and Leftenant Fred Browning had the opportunity to discuss the dogfight and the fliers’ life in general. Gottfried commented that he believed that it was the superiority of his plane and not necessarily his skill that earned him this first victory.
Gottfried flew on for a few more days before encountering a similar situation with another Spitfire. That plane too was disabled in flight, forcing the pilot to bail out.
In late October of 1944, JG53 was relocated to a base North of Budapest, Hungary. Their mission there was to stave off the advancing Russian Army. After a brief furlough at home, during which he had the opportunity to attend the wedding of his sister, Gottfried reported back to his unit. In January and February of 1945, Gottfried shot down 3 Russian “Ratas”, Polikarpov I-16’s. Even though the I-16 was a much older aircraft, dating to Spanish Civil War days, the Russians needed to use whatever they could in their on-going battle with the Luftwaffe.
During another dogfight with a Rata on March 4, 1945, Gottfried hit the Russian plane’s gas tank. The crippled plane tried to escape by diving to tree top level. Not wanting to kill the Russian, Gottfried stopped firing and followed him, hedge hopping to get the forced landing documented by his gun camera. Gottfried had managed to achieve all five of his initial victories without having to actually kill his opponent pilots. Satisfied with this achievement and not wishing to break this pattern of victory, Gottfried pursued his potential sixth victory along the nape of the earth. However, his humanitarianism resulted in his being hit by ground fire, causing his own plane to catch fire. Gottfried found an area suitable for a belly landing and was ultimately able to jump clear before his beloved 109 exploded.
Now down in enemy territory, Gottfried attempted to avoid capture by hiding in the surrounding forest until nightfall. Within only five miles from the German lines, Gottfried was found and captured by Russian ground troops on March 5, 1945. The angry Russians clubbed him with their gun butts, kicking him unmercifully until a Russian Major arrived and stopped them.
Now in Russian hands, Gottfried was constantly interrogated until he began the torturous forced march to the hinterland with 100 other prisoners of war. After two weeks of marching, he and other German POW’s were herded into cattle cars and endured another three or four weeks of train travel. The dead were left in the snow along the tracks. Those too sick or injured to travel were categorically shot and kicked off the train by the guards.
Finally, by the end of April 1945, Gottfried and the other prisoners marched into their POW camp in Gruental (Greendale), along the Volga River, south of Stalingrad. A roll call on May 10 (the end of the War) had a count of 4.864 prisoners. The camp commandant promised the POW’s that they would be home soon, but continued to work them up to 19 hours a day in nearby factories, farms and forests. The Russians fed the POW’s starvation diets of cabbage soup twice daily and a quarter pound of “bread”.
By May of 1946, the POW’s had dwindled to 483 men. The severe Russian winter prohibited the burial of the bodies that had been stacked in piles six feet high outside the barbed wire fence. As the corpses awaited burial by bulldozer, the wolves and dogs from the nearby forest feasted on them.
As time went on, the mortality rate of the prisoners increased until nearly 90 per cent of them had been lost to cold, starvation, disease and fatigue. Those who were left went on to 1947.
In November of 1947, Gottfried was put into a cattle car on a train bound for Germany. His physical condition had deteriorated until he was too sick for slave labor, but too tough to die. Only because he was of no further use to the Russians was he sent home. He began to recover, gaining weight from a low of 67 pounds to a still sickly 145.
After three years of unimaginable torture, Gottfried returned home on January 4, 1948. Four weeks in a medical mountain retreat was followed by his return to architectural schooling and apprenticeship.
On March 31, 1951, he married his lovely fiancé, Hedwig Wagner, whom he had met during his carpentry apprenticeship (a pre-requisite for admission to the Polytechnic Institute in the study of architecture).
Unable to get an apartment in bomb shattered Post-War Germany, Gottfried and Hedwig accepted an offer to join his younger sister’s in-laws in the United States. On March 17, 1953, they docked at Pier 86, New York, having made the voyage aboard the Homeland. Gottfried continued his work as a carpenter and “Hedi” as a catering chef. On July 4, 1954, they had saved enough to buy their own home in Patchogue, Long Island.
The years that followed blessed the Dulias’ with three daughters and ultimately grandchildren. Sadly, 46 years to the day of their marriage, Gottfried lost Hedi to cancer on March 31, 1997.
Gottfried has retired now after having been a locksmith in Long Island, where he resides to this day.
Gottfried Dulias was introduced to the LARA when he visited the Reading World War Two Weekend in June of 2001. The personable and helpful man that he is, he quickly formed a bond with the reenactors who lived and demonstrated a respect for the achievements of his youth. He is actively involved in the reproduction and maintenance of Al Rubenbauer’s Me109G6 replica in Commack, Long Island. He is a friend whose life we in the LARA take pride in honoring.
Gottfried Dulias and Larry Mihlon
Reading World War Two Weekend, Pennsylvania
June 2001
