Anthony Fokker

[jeroen]

Just this evening I saw a rather critcal documentory film on Dutch Avro television channel 2 named Hoge Bomen (high trees) Pioniers: Anthony Fokker see also AVRO - Voor een breder beeld .
Fokker (april 6,1890- december 23, 1939) of course well known for various reasons, was presented as an ambiguous person.
First he escaped from Dutch army service, possible bribing some doctor, suggesting respiratoiry problems in a military hospital and bribing an army sergeant with cigars at Naarden garnison!?
1910 he went to study technics at Technikum Bingen later at Mainz flugzeugbau and december 1910 first flew his own constructed plane.
from Baden-Baden his compagny Fokker Aviatiek/Aeroplanbau went to Johanissthal, and later Schwerin as you all might know.
December 1914 he got german citizinship, producing about 700 aircraft for german military, and totaly earned about 88.000.000 german mark with it by 1918.
March 25, 1919 he married Sophie Marie Elisabeth von Morgen, a nice of Hermann Goering.
Most remarkable remark of the documentary is by Albert Plesman junior, son of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij KLM founder senior Plesman who states on personel title that in his opinion, that would after WW1 certain persons had been trialed like after WW2 before the Nurnberg war tribunals, that Anthony Fokker would have been sentenced to 10 years for war crimes!?
Other comments in the film are made by aviation historian Peter Van den Noort and Fokker biograaf Marc Dierikx, Dwarswind, and relatives of Fokker.
I wonder what our forummembers think of such a anachronistic statement?

[rammjaeger]

I wonder too. What could have been his "war crime"?

Did Fokker use forced labor in WWI?

[jeroen]

Well in the documentory no further comment was made by Plesman. Others stated that though Dutch political lines were that of neutrality, other dutchmen joined UK or other forces either, should those be trailed then?

Possible Plesman was thinking about the 42 or so industrialist and bankers that were charged before US military follow up court.
Most famous was the case X against Krupp concern, december 8, 1947.

Maybe also we should charge the Belgian Fabrique Nationale at Herstal for producing the model 1910 gun that Gavrilo Princip used in 1914!?

[retread]

How many airmen from the United States, a neutral, served for the U.K. and France prior to the involvement of their own country? By the same standard they would be guilty of war crimes.
Ambiguity aside, Fokker's war crime was the fact he aided those eventually defeated.

[Der Grüne Flieger]

Originally Posted by retread

How many airmen from the United States, a neutral, served for the U.K. and France prior to the involvement of their own country? By the same standard they would be guilty of war crimes.
Ambiguity aside, Fokker's war crime was the fact he aided those eventually defeated.

I think Retread has got this one exactly right. Fokker was brilliant, devious, had drive and ambition, but ultimately ended up on the losing side. I believe he courted orders from the British before the war, didn't he?

I think it was Curtis LeMay who said he would have been hanged for war crimes if the US somehow lost WW2. He was the architect of the brutal air war against the Axis.

Phil

[jeroen]

Might be so. The documentary stated that because of Fokker sellling so much US planes in Europe, that even todays US dominancy on aircraft market in Europe is explained, so was he that unsuccesfull?

Ironicaly the germans took over his compagny, shortly after he died in 1940.

[Sreiko]

I have read the memories of his leading welder and from this I have find that Anthony is not fine person but I don't know anything else.

[Der Grüne Flieger]

Originally Posted by jeroen

Might be so. The documentary stated that because of Fokker sellling so much US planes in Europe, that even todays US dominancy on aircraft market in Europe is explained, so was he that unsuccesfull?

Ironicaly the germans took over his compagny, shortly after his died in 1940.

Hi jeroen,

You are right, but I only noted that he ended up on the losing side, I didn't say he was unsuccessful. From everything I've read about him (not that much!), he was very shrewd.

I don't think you can connect the dots from his time to now in terms of dominance but it is an interesting theory.

Phil

[austin08]

This is something of a nonsense, is it not? I think Rammjaeger is correct, most industrialists charged post ww2 as war criminals had exploited forced labour.

[jempie]

Hi Jeroen and others!

Nurnberg ?

What did the Americans and Russians do with those German savants who invented the V-1 , V-2 (making so many victims!) and later the atomic bomb ?


Were they trailed at Nurnberg

NO!NO!NO!

So what ...????

Sorry,

VBr

Jempie