Udet and Leni Riefenstahl

Barrett · 21 July 2005, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregvan

Hi,

According to Armand van Ishoven's biography of Udet "The Fall of an Eagle", which is pretty authoritative, the pistol was "his Mexican 12mm Colt".

Greg

Good lord! That's about .50 caliber! I suspect that AvI's sources lack familiarity with frontier shootin' irons. The most common caliber of Colt revolving pistol was .45, which is 11.43 mm.

Gregvan · 21 July 2005, 06:03 PM

Hi Barrett,

Yeah, 12 mm seemed pretty unlikely to me too. Van Ishoven may have had a misprint or something. Hans Herlin also wrote a biography of Udet, with the English title "Udet-A Man's Life" (1960) but I prefer Van Ishoven's. However, Herlin says it was a "Mexican Colt" too, but he says Udet "put a 10 mm bullet in the barrel".

Greg

21 July 2005, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Speak of appetites: ladies and aircraft and flying.
None of which are for middle & old age men, at least, not at the pace of what Udet had talked himself into.

Hey... Wait a minute... I thought we ALL had those same appetites!

"Prost!"

Barker · 23 July 2005, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VonReichel

Hey... Wait a minute... I thought we ALL had those same appetites!

The trick is not to shoot yourself over it

TomVrille · 30 July 2005, 09:45 PM

It seems that the 'Mexican Colt' is the popular choice for Udet's last shot. I found yet another reference to this weapon of mysterious caliber on this German website:

www.br-online.de

Go to the site, type Udet in the Suche: block, and you will end up on a calender page from May 28, 2002. The lead article credits the 'Mexican Colt' for Udet's demise, but also adds the interesting tidbit that this was the gun Udet used regularly for target practice in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel, much to the dismay of the other guests. Apparently, he was well-supplied with ammunition that worked, whatever caliber it may have been!

The 'Mexican Colt' is a strange way to refer to this weapon, since there were no Mexican-made Colts at the time. The only realistic meaning of the term is to a US-made gun that found its' way into Mexico at some point in time, and was later repatriated. The mysterious 'Mexican Colt' was a six-shot revolver that was presented to Udet during his time in Hollywood as a stunt flyer.

Such stunts as picking Mary Pickford's handkerchief off the ground with his wingtip guaranteed Udet a celebrity status in tinsel town, and it may well be that the origin of the 'Mexican Colt' story was in local newspaper accounts at the time of Udet's Hollywood tour. If any forumites can access the 'morgues' of some of the longtime newspapers in the Los Angeles area, they might yield a wealth of information on one of the most colorful figures to come out of the Great War!

kiwimac · 31 July 2005, 02:04 PM

I have a copy of Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will." Damn she was a GOOD film maker. I confess that next to Manfred von R., Udet is about my favourite WW1 German pilot.

I suppose the question really is moot but I wonder how he would have done during WW2.

Kiwimac

Epee · 2 August 2005, 01:48 PM

"Mexican" Colt undoubtedly refers to the revolver's provence or claim to fame, having belonged to Pancho Villa, rather than the location of it's manufacturer. Most likely the Colt was .45 Colt caliber which could loosely be described as 12mm although 11.5mm would be more accurate. There were many "unusual" caliber's to be found in Colt's some of which 12mm would describe more accurately than the .45 Colt, many being 19th century European service rounds. However these guns were custom order pieces made on request and consequently in very small numbers. It would seem unlikely that a Mexican bandit turned revolutionary would have the opportunity or desire to arm himself with so singular a weapon.

Of course having received the pistol as a gift in Hollywood could mean the Pancho Villa connection is pure bunk devised to make the gift more attractive.

Roundel · 8 August 2005, 01:15 PM

The other day I saw a brief film clip of Goering surrending his sidearm at the end of WWII. It was a large American double-action revolver, a Colt New Service or a Smith & Wesson N-frame; the shot was too brief and too distant to be sure which. The Colt was designed for the .45 Colt ("Long Colt") and I believe that the S&W was offered in that caliber.

Could it have been Udet's?

TomVrille · 11 August 2005, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roundel

Could it have been Udet's?

Possible but unlikely!? Udet's Colt was probably a single-action model. The gun may have been manufactured as early as the mid-1800s since there is no indication of when it first showed up in Mexico.

Red Baroness · 20 August 2005, 05:21 PM

Ah Udet. Near and dear to my heart.

I actually found a couple of films of Ernie doing stunts in the 1930s in Long Island. Can't remember where I GOT them, but I have them on my fileserver, the links which I will gladly share.

He looked much happier then, so much happier.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~cdowling...-kunstflug.zip

http://www.frontiernet.net/~cdowling05/udet-landung.zip

and of course, for those who haven't seen THIS:

http://www.frontiernet.net/~cdowling05/red_baron.zip

Again I don't remember where I got the files, but the last one should at least be of SOME interest. Heh heh heh.