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Originally Posted by edwest2
We are far removed from those events. Also, we do not have the original participants to consult with and clarify or dispute any points.
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I don't want to get into the TOCH habit of reviewing books we haven't yet seen. I'll just confirm that for his 1996 JV 44 book (to which, full disclosure, I contributed material) Robert did interview a number of JV 44 veterans, Galland included.
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Originally Posted by edwest2
I think it is odd to see "disillusioned" or "war weary." I recall reading Adolf Galland's first impression of flying the Me 262: "It felt like angels were pushing me."
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The angels did their pushing in (IIRC) early 1943. Germany's situation in April 1945 was radically different.
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Originally Posted by edwest2
Whether or not the men involved felt like "outcasts" or "exiles," they acquitted themselves well. American G.I.s thought they would be home by Christmas, 1944.
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Agreed that there was a lot of wishful thinking about when it would all end, but JV 44 only deployed to Riem on 1 April 1945 and it's worth considering where the front lines were by then.
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Originally Posted by edwest2
Like all good soldiers, they fought for their country.
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As I've said here before, it's very hard to fight for your country without fighting for the people in charge of it.
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Originally Posted by edwest2
As an aside, I've grown tired of seeing "war-winning" applied to the V-2 or Me 262 and other German developments from the war.
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I agree absolutely. The more German documents I read, the better I grasp that so many of the "advanced" aircraft that interest postwar readers were seen at the time as disappointments, although the Me 262 is perhaps an exception. The Ar 234 B was seen as deficient in speed and range, and it was hoped the C-series would fix that; the Do 335, with no rear view, was only seen to have any future in reconnaissance and (maybe) night-fighting; the Ta 152's pressure-cabin wouldn't work reliably; the Me 163 produced "meagre success"; and so on.