Memoirs of a Stuka Pilot
Memoirs of a Stuka Pilot

Author: Helmut Mahlke

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2013-05-10

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1473822378

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“Well-written and holds the reader’s attention . . . an engaging book and a rare personal view of flying one of the most iconic aircraft of WWII.” —Firetrench After recounting his early days as a naval cadet, including a voyage to the Far East aboard the cruiser Köln and as the navigator/observer of the floatplane carried by the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer during the Spanish Civil War, Helmut Mahlke describes his flying training as a Stuka pilot. The author’s naval dive-bomber Gruppe was incorporated into the Luftwaffe upon the outbreak of war. What follows is a fascinating Stuka pilot’s-eye view of some of the most famous and historic battles and campaigns of the early war years: the Blitzkrieg in France, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the bombing of Malta, North Africa, Tobruk, and Crete, and, finally, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Mahlke also takes the reader behind the scenes into the day-to-day life of his unit and brings the members of his Gruppe to vivid life, describing their off-duty antics and mourning their losses in action. The story ends when he himself is shot down in flames by a Soviet fighter and is severely burned. He was to spend the remainder of the war in various staff appointments. “An engaging, engrossing and exceptionally informative book. A worthy addition to any military enthusiast’s library and is unhesitatingly and heartily recommended.” —Aviation History

500 Days
500 Days

Author: Sean M. Mcateer

Publisher: Dorrance Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 1434961591

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Borodino Field 1812 and 1941
Borodino Field 1812 and 1941

Author: Robert Kershaw

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2021-04-20

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0750997591

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The Battle of Borodino resonates with the patriotic soul of Mother Russia. The epic confrontation in September 1812 was the single bloodiest day of the Napoleonic Wars, leaving France's Grande Armée limping to the gates of Moscow and on to catastrophe in snow and ice. Generations later, in October 1941, an equally bitter battle was fought at Borodino. This time Hitler's SS and Panzers came up against elite Siberian troops defending Stalin's Moscow. Remarkably, both conflicts took place in the same woods and gullies that follow the sinuous line of the Koloch River. Borodino Field relates the gruelling experience of the French army in Russia, juxtaposed with the personal accounts, diaries and letters of SS and Panzer soldiers during the Second World War. Acclaimed historian Robert Kershaw draws on previously untapped archives to narrate the odyssey of soldiers who marched along identical tracks and roads on the 1,000-kilometre route to Moscow, and reveals the astonishing parallels and contrasts between two battles fought on Russian terrain over 100 years apart.

To Defeat the Few
To Defeat the Few

Author: Douglas C. Dildy

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-07-09

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 1472839153

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Over the past 80 years, histories of the Battle of Britain have consistently portrayed the feats of 'The Few' (as they were immortalized in Churchill's famous speech) as being responsible for the RAF's victory in the epic battle. However, this is only part of the story. The results of an air campaign cannot be measured in terms of territory captured, cities occupied or armies defeated, routed or annihilated. Successful air campaigns are those that achieve their intended aims or stated objectives. Victory in the Battle of Britain was determined by whether the Luftwaffe achieved its objectives. The Luftwaffe, of course, did not, and this detailed and rigorous study explains why. Analysing the battle in its entirety in the context of what it was – history's first independent offensive counter-air campaign against the world's first integrated air defence system – Douglas C. Dildy and Paul F. Crickmore set out to re-examine this remarkable conflict. Presenting the events of the Battle of Britain in the context of the Luftwaffe's campaign and RAF Fighter Command's battles against it, this title is a new and innovative history of the battle that kept alive the Allies' chances of defeating Nazi Germany.

Battle for the Channel
Battle for the Channel

Author: Brian Cull

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2017-08-19

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13:

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10 July, the official first day of the Battle of Britain, witnessed increased aerial activity over the English Channel and along the eastern and southern seaboards of the British coastline. The main assaults by ever-increasing formations of Luftwaffe bombers, escorted by Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters, were initially aimed at British merchant shipping convoys plying their trade of coal and other materials from the north of England to the southern ports. These attacks often met with increasing success although RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes endeavoured to repel the Heinkel He 111s, Dornier Do 17s and Junkers Ju 88s, frequently with ill-afforded loss in pilots and aircraft. Within a month, the English Channel was effectively closed to British shipping. Only a change in the Luftwaffe’s tactics in mid-August, when the main attack changed to the attempted destruction of the RAF’s southern airfields, allowed convoys to resume sneaking through without too greater hindrance.

The Allies Strike Back, 1941–1943
The Allies Strike Back, 1941–1943

Author: James Holland

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13: 0802190146

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Volume two in this “expert, anecdote-filled, thoroughly entertaining” history of WWII follows The Rise of Germany as the Allied forces turn the tides (Kirkus). James Holland’s The Rise of Germany, the first volume in his War in the West trilogy, was widely praised for his impeccable research and lively narrative. Covering the dawn of World War II, it ended at a point when the Nazi war machine appeared to be unstoppable. Germany had taken Poland and France with shocking speed. London was bombed, and U-boats harried shipping on the Atlantic. But Germany hadn’t actually won the Battle of Britain or the Battle of the Atlantic. It was not producing airplanes or submarines fast enough. And what looked like victory in Greece and Crete had expended crucial resources in short supply. The Allies Strike Back continues the narrative as Germany’s invasion of Russia unfolds in the east, while in the west, the Americans formally enter the war. In North Africa, following major setbacks at the hands of Rommel, the Allies storm to victory. Meanwhile, the bombing of Germany escalates, aiming to not only destroy the its military, industrial, and economic system, but also relentlessly crush civilian morale. Comprehensive and impeccably researched, “Holland brings a fresh eye to the ebb and flow of the conflict” in this “majestic saga” of 20th century history (Literary Review, UK).

Ju 87 Stuka vs Royal Navy Carriers
Ju 87 Stuka vs Royal Navy Carriers

Author: Robert Forsyth

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-07-22

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1472840844

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Ju 87 dive-bombers, originally developed for pin-pointing bombing missions against land targets and Allied naval vessels were deployed by both the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica against the Allied forces. Included in such a target were perhaps the greatest prize of all for a Stuka pilot: a British aircraft carrier. This superbly illustrated book looks at the duel between the Ju 87 Stuka and the aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. Despite their gun protection ('pompoms')and their squadrons of fighters, these immense and mighty vessels proved irresistible targets to determined and experienced Stuka aces as they endeavoured to stop British naval intervention in the campaigns in Norway, Malta and Crete. By 1941, the Ju 87 had become known by the British as a fearsome aircraft following its operations in France, specifically at Dunkirk, as well as in the Balkans. For the Luftwaffe, it was an aircraft in which they still had great confidence despite its mauling in the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. This book examines the key attributes and shortcomings of both aircraft and carrier by analysing various compelling episodes including the dramatic attacks on Ark Royal by Stukageschwader (St.G) 1 off Norway in April 1940, the strikes by the Luftwaffe's St.G 1, St.G 2 and the Regia Aeronautica's 237° Squadriglia against Illustrious in Malta harbour. Aside from outstanding photography and artwork, this volume also include numerous personal accounts from Stuka crews, the pilots of carrier-borne fighters opposing them and the sailors embarked in the various carriers that came under attack.

Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg

Author: Lloyd Clark

Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 0802190340

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A “masterly account” of the juggernaut offensive that conquered France—but also marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany in World War II (Kirkus Reviews). In the spring of 1940, the German forces launched an attack on France that combined superb intelligence, cutting edge strategy, and new technology—the blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” In just six weeks, it would achieve what their fathers had failed to do in all four years of the First World War. It was a stunning victory. But here, leading British military historian and academic Lloyd Clark argues that much of our understanding of this victory is based on myth. Far from being a foregone conclusion, Hitler’s plan could easily have failed had the Allies been even slightly less inept or the Germans less fortunate. The Germans recognized that success depended not only on surprise, but also avoiding a protracted struggle for which they were not prepared—making defeat a very real possibility. Their surprise victory proved the apex of their achievement; far from being undefeatable, Clark argues, the Battle of France revealed Germany and its armed forces to be highly vulnerable. And Hitler dismissed this fact as he planned his next move—and greatest blunder: the invasion of the Soviet Union. In this eye-opening reassessment, complete with maps and illustrations, Clark “presents a well-balanced narrative that highlights the knife-edge victory of the German forces” and reveals how very close the Nazi war machine came to catastrophe in the early days of World War II (New York Journal of Books).

Barbarossa Through German Eyes
Barbarossa Through German Eyes

Author: Jonathan Trigg

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2021-06-15

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 1398107239

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The story of the world’s largest ever invasion through the voices of the men – and women – who witnessed it first-hand.

806 Naval Air Squadron
806 Naval Air Squadron

Author: Brian Cull

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2019-09-08

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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806 Squadron was formed in early 1940 and was equipped with Skuas and Rocs, both outdated as fighters and dive-bombers, the latter hampered by a gunner's turret, and most unsuited for modern warfare. However, 806 was fortunate to have at its head the volatile but skilful and aggressive Lt-Cdr Charles Evans, a 30-year-old born-leader with ten years experience flying with both the RAF and RN. With the aid of his equally experienced Senior Observer, Lt Desmond Vincent-Jones, the young fledgling pilots, mainly straight from training school, were soon receiving expert instruction. Having survived early ops over Norway and Dunkirk, 806 was selected to fly the new fleet-fighter, the underrated Fulmar, with which it went to war in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier Illustrious and won its spurs. The young pilots, led by the CO, wreaked havoc amongst the Italian navy's spotter seaplanes and bombers. This is their story.