Herman goering was born on January 12th, 1893, in Rosenheim, bavaria. He was educated at the Cadet college in Karlsruhe and the officer's school at Lichterfelde , near Berlin.
goering joined the German army as an infantry man in 1912 , and served the early part of the First Wolrd War in the trenches gaining several distinctions for bravery. Suffering from arthritis, an additional hell to add the life in the trenches he was promted to transfer to the Air service but he was rejected on his first attempt due to low test scores. Bruno Loerzer, an old friend in the srvice , recognised Goering fine abilities as a pilot, and assisted him on his second attempt which he was finally accepted. In 1918 upon the death of his squadran leader, Baron Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, he became the squadran leader . At the end of the war Goering was flying in an all white FokkerD.7 as the commander of the Richtofen Jasta with 22 enemy aircraft to his credit.
In 1933 with Hitler's rise to power , goering's fortunes turned and he was made responsible for the formation of the Gestapo "Geheim Stadt Polizei " and due to his war time record he was given the task of establishing a modern airforce.
As commander in Chief of the German airforce , goering planned much of the strategy , involving close and highly effective coordination between the German ground and air units. (see Blitkrieg)
this strategy resulted the rapid conquest of Poland and the low countries and France.
These appiontments gave Goering considerable and wide reaching political power within the nazi regime, and this was to be his undoing. He abused the powers he was given to appropriate large estates and other trappings of status and wealth , neglecting his military duties and leaving the German Luftwaffe leaderless at the crucial time.
