The German Aces Speak

The German Aces Speak PDF Author: Colin D. Heaton
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1610597486
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
DIVDIVFor the first time, four German WWII pilots share their side of the story./divDIV/divDIVFew perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?/divDIV/divDIVOf all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot./div/div

The German Aces Speak

The German Aces Speak PDF Author: Colin D. Heaton
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1610597486
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

Get Book Here

Book Description
DIVDIVFor the first time, four German WWII pilots share their side of the story./divDIV/divDIVFew perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?/divDIV/divDIVOf all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot./div/div

Italian Aces of World War 2

Italian Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: Giorgio Apostolo
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782008551
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Flying aircraft such as the Macchi 200-202, Fiat G.50 and biplane Fiat CR.42, the Italian fighter pilots were recognised by their Allied counterparts as brave opponents blessed with sound flying abilities, but employing under-gunned and underpowered equipment. Following the Italian surrender in September 1943, a number of aces continued to take the fight to the Allies as part of the Luftwaffe-run ANR, which was equipped with far more potent equipment such as the Bf 109G, Macchi 205V and Fiat G.55. Flying these types, the handful of ANR squadrons continued to oppose Allied bombing raids on northern Italy until VE-Day.

Allied Jet Killers of World War 2

Allied Jet Killers of World War 2 PDF Author: Stephen Chapis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472823532
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
Allied fighter pilots began encountering German jets – principally the outstanding Me 262 fighter – from the autumn of 1944. Stunned by the aircraft's speed and rate of climb, it took USAAF and RAF units time to work out how to combat this deadly threat as the Luftwaffe targeted the medium and heavy bombers attacking targets across the Reich. A number of high-scoring aces from the Eighth Air Force (Drew, Glover, Meyer, Norley and Yeager, to name but a few) succeeded in claiming Me 262s, Me 163 and Ar 234s during the final months of the campaign, as did RAF aces like Tony Gaze and 'Foob' Fairbanks. The exploits of both famous and little-known pilots will be chronicled in this volume, detailing how they pushed their P-47s, P-51s, Spitfires and Tempests to the limits of their performance in order to down the Luftwaffe's 'wonder weapons'.

German Jet Aces of World War 2

German Jet Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: Hugh Morgan
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781855326347
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
The Third Reich's last ditch efforts to sweep the massed Allied bomber formations from the skies of Germany centred around the new crop of jet 'wonder weapons' that were issued to the Jagdwaffe from mid-1944 onwards. Far in advance of anything the Allies had even in the experimental phase, types like the Me 262, He 162, Me 163 and the Ar 234 could perform their combat sorties with relative impunity. However, paucity in numbers and unreliable jet engines eventually cancelled out any technological edge that these aircraft offered.

Fw 190 Defence of the Reich Aces

Fw 190 Defence of the Reich Aces PDF Author: John Weal
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782005110
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
The Defence of the Reich campaign completes Osprey's coverage of the German aces that flew the Fw 190 during World War 2. Renowned aviation author and artist, John Weal, presents the last volume of Fw 190 Aces not previously covered in the Aircraft of the Aces series. From mid-1942 until the end of the war, German fighter pilots were deployed in the defence of the homeland in an effort to halt the near-constant bombing raids by Britain and America. This book tells their story, from the moment when the Luftwaffe began to retreat to the dying days of the Reich. Using previously unpublished photographs, this book charts the story of the men who earned their status as aces while fighting a hopeless battle to protect the land and the people they loved.

Soviet Aces of World War 2

Soviet Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: Hugh Morgan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472800575
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
At the time of publication, no single volume in English had ever appeared in the West dealing with this intriguing subject area. Once restrictions relaxed in the former Soviet Union, the records of their elite pilots' deeds - detailed in this book - came to light. Although initially equipped with very poor aircraft, and robbed of effective leadership thanks as much to Stalin's purges in the late 1930s as to the efforts of the Luftwaffe, Soviet fighter pilots soon turned the tables through the use of both lend-lease aircraft like the Hurricane, Spitfire, P-39 and P-40, and home-grown machines like the MiG-3, LaGG-3/5, Lavochkin La-5/7/9 and the Yak-1/3.

The Me 262 Stormbird

The Me 262 Stormbird PDF Author: Colin Heaton
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1610584341
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
The Me 262 was the first of its kind, the first jet-powered aircraft. Although conceived before the war, with the initial plans being drawn in April 1939, the Stormbird was beset with technological (particularly the revolutionary engines) and political difficulties, resulting in it not entering combat until August 1944, with claims of nineteen downed Allied aircraft. The performance of the Me 262 so far exceeded that of Allied aircraft that on 1 Sepember 1944, USAAF General Carl Spaatz remarked that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied daylight bombing offensive. The story of how the Stormbird came to be is fascinating history, and it comes to life in the hands of noted historian Colin Heaton. Told largely in the words of the German aces who flew it, The Me 262 Stormbird provides the complete history of this remarkable airplane from the drawing boards to combat in the skies over the Third Reich. Features two forewords, one by Jorg Czypionka, Me 262 night fighter pilot, and another by historian and author Barrett Tillman.

Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe

Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe PDF Author: Raymond F. Toliver
Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited
ISBN: 9780887409097
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
An account of leading German WWII fighter pilots.

Soviet Lend-Lease Fighter Aces of World War 2

Soviet Lend-Lease Fighter Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: George Mellinger
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782005544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
The Soviet government tried to minimize the importance of Lend-lease fighters well into the 1980s. Only in recent years have these pilots felt free to admit what they flew, and now the fascinating story of these men can emerge. By the end of 1941 the Soviet Union was near collapse and its air force almost annihilated, leaving large numbers of surviving pilots with no aircraft to fly. To help prevent this collapse the UK eventually supplied a total of 4300 Hurricanes and Spitfires to the USSR. After the United States entered the war, the Americans extended Lend-lease to include direct supply to the Soviets as well as the British, and among the aircraft sent were almost 10,000 fighters. Although the aircraft were outdated and often unsuitable to Russian conditions, they served when they were needed, and this book tells how a number of Russian pilots became Heroes of the Soviet Union flying Lend-lease aircraft.

MiG-3 Aces of World War 2

MiG-3 Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: Dmitriy Khazanov
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780960298
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
The complete story of the pilots who 'made ace' while flying the original MiG fighters. The MiG-1/3 family of fighters was built to satisfy a Soviet Air Force requirement for an advanced, fast, high-altitude fighter. Entering service in the spring of 1941, the problematic MiG-1 had its handling issues rectified with the hasty production of the MiG-3. Many of these were destroyed on the ground when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Nevertheless, enough examples survived to allow pilots such as Stepan Suprun and Aleksandr Pokryshkin to claim a number of victories in the type. This book tells the complete story of the men who made ace in the first examples of the famous MiG fighter.