HJM

"Nicht umdrehen, immer vorwarts blicken"

[karayauno]

28 September 1942: Hans-Joachim Marseille was telephoned by Erwin Rommel, who wanted him to accompany him to Berlin, Germany for a speech at the Berlin Sportpalast. Marseille rejected the offer, citing his wish to save his leave time to marry Hanne-Lies Küpper later in the year...He died two days later, but I think that they have met again in Heaven.

[karayauno]

"As Marseille laid still and the men arrived and paid their silent respects, the sounds of a song echoed over the base. Marseille's favorite, the Rumba Azul , came from Marseille's tent. Jost Schlang had put the record on as he sat on Marseille's vacant cot. Soon he was joined by others, they all had a drink, and began to sing as Mathias walked up and entered the tent. He had just finished burning Marseille's clothes, that were meant to be washed and dried, in an empty fuel drum". 30-9-1942 / 30-9-2015 ... 73 years without Jochen

[karayauno]

“Marseille had a natural flying talent, I guess you could call it a gift. He would pull stunts over the airfield doing amazing things, he was good. That was not the problem. His problem was that he knew he was good, and his ego always got the better of him” (Johannes Steinhoff)

[karayauno]

"It was late that night and Jochen Marseille was in front of the station of Potsdamer Platz, but it was closed...the last train was gone and he didn't know how to arrive at home in Schoneberg. A policeman who was walking there recognized him and invited Jochen at his home (in fact his wife was out of town)..Jochen accepted and they began to drink beer and to cook four fried eggs...Jochen was his guest and when two berliners eat together the separation is really hard...It was getting late so Jochen decided to spent the night at policeman's house...All Berlin seemed to be his host" (From "Mein Freund Marseille" by Fritz Dettman)

[karayauno]

"He used to wear a 'bum-freezer' uniform which was so faded and crumpled that it looked rather like a jeans jacket today. His hair was too long and he brought with him (to the desert) a list of disciplinary punishments as long as your arm. On top of it all, he was a Berliner" 13/12/1919-13/12/2014 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOCHEN

[karayauno]

"I am flying, then suddenly it gets dark all around me. I know I'm falling, but I don't feel anything and before I hit the ground, it's already over" (Hans-Joachim Marseille) 30/09/1942-30/09/2014 72 years without Jochen

[karayauno]

I came back to the memorial of Jochen in Berlin and I brought there another picture of him with a few lines written by me and I have discovered, with great joy, that somenone (maybe one of his living relatives) have put the other picture I myself brought there seven month ago in a beautiful frame (as you can see on the right)...I can't describe the emotion i have felt for this nice gesture made by an unkown man...now my two pictures stand in front of the memorial...I hope Jochen could have seen me from Heaven, with the usual grin on his face :)

[karayauno]

Sometimes i wonder how Jochen would have been if he had had a son; we can only imagine it...in this picture the kid is the son of a friend of him...the fate prevented Jochen from having a son with his fiancée Hanne-Lies...but i'm sure that he would have been a great dad

[karayauno]

Marseille had said some very unflattering things about Hitler and the nazi party that seemed not to have been very well received...one of the officers asked him if he had considered joining the party, being a national hero and all...Marseille said something to the effect that "if he saw a party worth joining, he would consider it, but there would have to be some very attractive ladies present"....Galland was laughing uncontrollably as he told me the story, and i have to admit, I laughed also...Yes, Marseille was one in a million. (Eduard Neumann, commander of JG27)

[karayauno]

"When I met Marseille I found him very boyish and free spirited, but not completely immature..I have to admit, he was not shy at all about his lifestyles..he played his banned American jazz music so loudly that i was sure the British could hear it in Egypt" (Adolf Galland, general of the fighters)

[karayauno]

Find the differences between me and Jochen :) :)

[karayauno]

Two days ago I felt one of the deepest emotions of my life…I’ ve found in Schoneberg (after an hour of research) the memorial of Jochen and his family, among hundreds and hundreds of gtavestones...i was beginning to lose hope but i never gave up…the sun went beyond the horizon and in the last minutes of light finally I saw the right stone….it was fated, and it was worth it. I’m very happy, I left here a picture of Jochen and his mother Charlotte with few lines written by me, hoping he could have seen me…or smiled at me from Heaven :)

[karayauno]

Political chaos reigned in Berlin on the 13th of December 1919, nevertheless, both Frau Charlotte Marseille and her husband, Siegfried Marseille, were happy. A son had been born to them, whom they named Hans-Joachim. The child already possessed an independent spirit, even before he could walk. He screamed to make the walls shudder. Frau Charlotte: "One time, when we were moving into a larger and prettier apartment, I was carrying him in my arms. I stood in the entry way in order to oversee the movers and give them instructions on where to put each piece. Jochen was screaming like a stuck pig." "One of the strong movers, carrying a dresser on his back, mentioned as he passed by/The little one has the mouth of Fritz Ebert. He, too, will someday be a great man." HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOCHEN :) :) :)

[karayauno]

"Jochen Marseille was tempered by a deep sense of chivalry, he was known to have notified the British that one of their pilots was down and wounded, after he scored the kill...he did not believe that a man should die on the ground...Marseille broke all the rules, and did so with a smile..he lived his life as if he was immortal" (Adolf Galland...general of fighters)

[karayauno]

"His motto was: 'Don't turn back, always look ahead.' And this best exemplifies his character. I was and continue to be proud of my boy, who so thoroughly fits the ideal of an officer I had pictured as I held the tiny human bundle in my arms shortly after his birth." "Brave, honest and true, that was my Jochen!"   (Frau Charlotte Reimer, mother of Jochen)

[karayauno]

An informal shot of Jochen with his friend Fritz Dettmann, author of "Mein freund Marseille"

[karayauno]

30/09/1942...today 71 years ago..R.I.P. Jochen...a young knight born in the wrong period :(