Reading material suggestions please...
 

Gang:

Well, it's time for ANOTHER of Nick's famous 'reading suggestions' threads:
I finished Norbert Hannig's Bio, 'Luftwaffe Fighter Ace' & that of course gives rise to my new Q:

Is there a first person JW pilot bio/war Memoir of a FW 190 pilot who flew exclusively in the West? Let it be said that I have either read or actually own almost every English language first person Memoir out there---Knoke, Hannig, Lipfert, Dickfeldt---and even the 'semi-fictional/totally fictional' accounts like 'Heaven Next Stop' & 'I fought you from the skies/Alarm Im Westen'---I haven't read Meimberg's, Bob's or Clade's but as I understand THEY all flew Me's...

TiA

NickM

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Meimberg flew also 190 in the West for a while, and his biography is one of the best, very recommendable...

Another interesting reading is Wolfgang Zembrowskis (SKG 10) "Nachts über den Wolken".

But AFAIK, there's nothing available from any JG 2 or 26 pilot...

Heuser

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Heuser:

OR JG1/11 either I take it...

Thanks for the Hint on Memberg & Zembrowski, though.


Sigh!

nickm

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

What is the title of Meimberg's bio?
Thanks,
George

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Hi George,It's "Feindberührung: Erinnerungen 1939-1945", published by Neunundzwanzigsechs in 2002.

Meimberg got to fly the Fw 190A-2 for a few months as part of 3./JG 2, and he says a lot of nice things about it. He's obviously bummed about being re-assigned to 11./JG 2, a Höhenstaffel, flying the 109G-1. He's even more bummed about that unit being transferred to North Africa, and eventually being subsumed by JG 53.

It's a quality book, just like the other biographies by the same publisher, namely Rall, Lützow, Falck, and Zorner.

Regards,
Leon Venter

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Dear Nick,

as far as I know some years ago Fritz Engau of I./JG 11 has published his experiences as a fighter pilot flying the Fw 190 both on home defense and in France against the allied invasion. Unfortunately the title of his book eludes me right now, but you can probably find it out on the internet.

Regards

Jochen Prien

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

I believe Heinz Gomann wrote a book too. He was with II./JG 26.

cheers,

John.

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

John,

you're right, entitled "Und über uns der Himmel".

Regards

Heuser

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Hi George, Quote:
Thanks for the information, Leon.
All the best,
George

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Wow...THANK you--that IS Good NEWS!! I DO hope it'll be translated into English one day!

nickm

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

John:


AND THAT is also GREAT news; I remember Gomann flew for II/JG26 (Even as wingie for Wutz Galland on the day he was shot down & killed) from 1942 to the end & it cost him more than a few extended stays in the Hospital...here's hoping I'll be able to find it in English too!

nickm

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Hi Nick,Gomann's "Und über uns der Himmel" is a fun read. It's a smallish book at 131 pages, and can best be described as a collection of anecdotes, since most of its 78 chapters consist of just one page.

There's not a lot of detail to be had, but the author provides many interesting insights. Several of the short stories are humorous, e.g. JG 26's conversion to the Fw 190, flying backwards in a Storch, ramming a p-47, burying a ringfinger, etc. Others are more serious, e.g. Galland's exhortation about confronting Flying Fortresses, the American's lack of gallantry, quartering with families in Nordhorn, etc.

Regarding Wutz's loss, Gomann suggests that Galland's contempt for Thunderbolts was part of his undoing.

The book contains 6 photos, plus several drawings. Not a conventional biography, but certainly worth tracking down.

Leon Venter

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Excellent suggestion by Jochen. The title is "Frontal durch die Bomberpulks: 1944 Reichsverteidigung - Normandie-Invasion - Deutsche Jagdflieger in ihren schwersten Kämpfen."

I'd forgotten about this one because I'd placed it in a different category. It's actually a combination of an autobiography, a unit history of I./JG 11, and a general treatise on the air war in the West during 1944.

This book is definitely the best match for your original request. It's detailed and wide-ranging, and it includes discussions of other books covering this theater. Its 275 pages contain a good number of photos, diagrams and documents, plus some tables. Highly recommended.

FYI, Engau initially served in II./NJG 1, together with Heinz Schnaufer. His other book, "Nachtjäger, Bomber, Wolken und Sterne", is an account of this earlier period, and it also serves as a biography of Schnaufer.

Leon Venter

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Didn't Priller also wrote something in German...

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Josef Priller:
„Geschichte eines Jagdgeschwaders“ - Das Jagdgeschwader 26 'Schlageter' von 1937 bis 1945", published by Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, Heidelberg 1956
2nd edition Motorbuch-Verlag,Stuttgart ISBN 3-87943-712-2

Regards

Roland

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Roland:

As I recall, Priller's book was the 'framework' that the English language JG26 unit history was 'built over';

Also:

Too bad guys like Borris, Crump, Gluntz, Matoni, Soeffing etc, never wrote Wartime Memoirs...I'm not sure any of them are even still among the living--maybe Crump is but I'm not REALLY sure.

nickm

Re: Reading material suggestions please...
 

Konrad Knabe: DAS AUGE DIETLS - FERNAUFKLÄRUNG AM POLARKREIS. ISBN 3-8061-0860-9. Knabe served flew reconnaissance missions with Do 17s from Lapland and Norway in 1941-1943.