A Luftwaffe Bomber Pilot Remembers is a bomber pilot's story from his early life prior to the ascension of the Nazi Party to power in Germany, his education and rise through the ranks of the Luftwaffe as a decorated bomber pilot, and even through his demotion at the hands of G�ring late in the war. Also covered are Haeberlen's tribulations in a prisoner of war camp run by the Allies, and his success in post war Germany as a businessman. This book offers a unique first person perspective on the development of the war and its effect on those that were not in the highest realms of power.
Heinz Knoke was one of the outstanding German fighter pilots of the Second World War. This vivid first-hand record of his experiences has become a classic among aviation memoirs and is a fascinating counterbalance to the numerous accounts written by Allied pilots. Knoke joined the Luftwaffe on the outbreak of war, and eventually became commanding officer of a fighter wing. An outstandingly brave and skillful fighter, he logged over two thousand flights and shot down fifty-two enemy aircraft. He had flown over four hundred operational missions before being wounded in an astonishing 'last stand' towards the end of the war. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his achievements. In a text that reveals his intense patriotism and discipline, he describes being brought up in the strict Prussian tradition, the rise of the Nazi regime and his own wartime career set against a fascinating study of everyday life in the Luftwaffe. He also reveals the high morale of the force until its disintegration. His memoirs are both a valuable contribution to aviation literature and a moving human story.
This is the autobiography of Hans Busch, one of the elite of the Luftwaffe and one of the first men to pilot a jet propelled aircraft Hans begins with his service in the Flying Hitler Youth, his Officer Cadet days training on many aircraft up until his transfer to KG51 for ME.262 training in the last desperate months of the war trying to defend the Fatherland against the Terror Bombers of the Allies who were mercilessly attacking anything that moved in what was then left of the Reich. Hans recalls the many fascinating events in his life, such as his meetings with Hitler, Hans Baur (Hitler's personal pilot), and Luftwaffe Ace General Galland, amongst others. He describes his later life in his adopted homeland of the U.S., where he is in demand to speak to youth groups and young pilots about his life.
This book offers the reader thrilling, action-packed snapshots of life as a Luftwaffe nightfighter pilot. 'Suddenly, flash bombs to my right, I instantly dive low to avoid being a direct target. We stay down, close above ground ... before too long life returns in the area and we spot men milling around; Richard and Pitt let them have it, but good. We're down to our last bit of ammunition. Some Russians have frozen in fear, others lift their arm, others still lie flat on the ground. Not a single one remembers to get up and fire.' On 21 June 1941, assigned to Luftwaffe bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 53, the 23-year-old Arnold Döring took off to fly his first mission against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. From that day, he kept a diary describing his operations in vivid detail. These diaries, here translated into English for the first time, give a unique perspective on the action on the Eastern Front, from the point of view of a bomber pilot. Döring's accounts not only give technical aspects but are also filled with suspense and excitement with their close descriptions of bombing raids and narrow escapes from enemy fighter planes. This unembellished account gives an honest and meticulous record that moves rapidly from one area to another, from one operation to the next. With a detached professionalism, Döring offers us thrilling, action-packed snapshots of life as a Luftwaffe nightfighter. Döring flew a total of 392 aerial attacks and was awarded the Knight's Cross in April 1945. **Thomas Baumert** is Professor of Economics at the Complutense University of Madrid. Besides multiple research articles and academic books and monographies in the field of Economics and History, he has also published several biographical studies. His interest in the history of the Luftwaffe was spurred in his early youth by his neighbor, a former Luftwaffe member who had been shot down in in the Battle of Britain. He subsequently got to know several Luftwaffe veterans who shared their war and peacetime experiences with him. In 2016 he edited the Spanish translation of Peter Spoden's nightfighter memories Enemy in the Dark. **James Holland** is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning historian, writer and broadcaster, specialising in the Second World War. The author of a number of best-selling histories, including, most recently, The War in the West, he has also presented - and written - a large number of television programs and series.
" Winner of the Best Aeronautical Book Award from the Reserve Officers Association of the United States "The sky was full of dying airplanes" as American Liberator bombers struggled to return to North Africa after their daring low-level raid on the oil refineries of Ploesti. They lost 446 airmen and 53 planes, but Philip Ardery's plane came home. This pilot was to take part in many more raids on Hitler's Europe, including air cover for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This vivid firsthand account, available now for the first time in paper, records one man's experience of World War II air warfare. Throughout, Ardery testifies to the horror of world war as he describes his fear, his longing for home, and his grief for fallen comrades. Bomber Pilot is a moving contribution to American history.
This book offers the reader thrilling, action-packed snapshots of life as a Luftwaffe nightfighter pilot. 'Suddenly, flash bombs to my right, I instantly dive low to avoid being a direct target. We stay down, close above ground … before too long life returns in the area and we spot men milling around; Richard and Pitt let them have it, but good. We’re down to our last bit of ammunition. Some Russians have frozen in fear, others lift their arm, others still lie flat on the ground. Not a single one remembers to get up and fire.' On 21 June 1941, assigned to Luftwaffe bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 53, the 23-year-old Arnold Döring took off to fly his first mission against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. From that day, he kept a diary describing his operations in vivid detail. These diaries, here translated into English for the first time, give a unique perspective on the action on the Eastern Front, from the point of view of a bomber pilot. Döring’s accounts not only give technical aspects but are also filled with suspense and excitement with their close descriptions of bombing raids and narrow escapes from enemy fighter planes. This unembellished account gives an honest and meticulous record that moves rapidly from one area to another, from one operation to the next. With a detached professionalism, Döring offers us thrilling, action-packed snapshots of life as a Luftwaffe nightfighter. Döring flew a total of 392 aerial attacks and was awarded the Knight’s Cross in April 1945.
The Luftwaffe was the official Nazi air force during World War II and The Luftwaffe Fighter Force features thirty-four accounts of its missions given by pilots and members of its flight crews. Stories included give a rarely heard perspective on the war and Luftwaffe members are frank in revealing the difficulties they encountered and what they believe led to their downfall. The Luftwaffe pilot and crew members featured in this unusual collection divulge what was once highly-confidential information, including fighter tactics, aircraft technology and operations, how they received their commands, and what the chain in carrying out their orders was. Also included are thirty rarely seen photographs and five maps and diagrams. Images feature things such as uniformed Luftwaffe officers, close-up shots of fighter planes, and the boundaries the planes were authorized to carry out their missions in. This unique volume was compiled by acclaimed military historian David C. Isby and is extraordinarily comprehensive. To make it, Isby poured over accounts of the war given by members of the Luftwaffe shortly after the events they describe. Much of the information in the book has been shared for the first time within it, and after a limited print run nearly twenty years ago, is finally, seventy years after the Luftwaffe missions, finally back in print. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
SOME OF THE 150 STORIES IN THIS BOOK: · What WWII was all about · How the German Luftwaffe began and ended · Adolph Hitler's Nazi party and the Waffen SS · 8th Air Force raids over Europe · P-51 Mustang battles with Me-109 · 1093's Cleveland Air Races · Wright Brother's flight in 1903 · WWI Bi-planes in France · P-40s in the Flying Tigers · D-Day and P-47 Thunderbolts · Winter War in Finland · Barbarossa and airplane battles · Zeros in Southeast Asia · P-39 Airacobras fight for Russia · War-Booty in WWII · Hitler robs art treasures · How P-51 Mustangs stopped the Luftwaffe · How the Nazi Gestapo operated · The author's personal observations of WWII This book is dedicated to Orville and Wilbur Wright who discovered flight in 1903 You may purchase this book ISBN 0-595-28235-0 from www.iuniverse.com
"A fascinating "factional' insight into the lives of Luftwaffe fighter pilots during the Second World War. Gunther Bloemertz was one of the legendary 'Abbeville Boys'of Jagdgeschwader 26, who flew Focke Wulf FW 190 day fighters from their base in northern France. In this vivid personal story, Bloemertz describes life and death on the squadron, his fellow pilots and their almost daily duels with the RAF Spitfires and USAAF Flying Fortresses, fought at both ground level and in the stratosphere over the Pas de Calais ..."--Page 4 of cover
