Eagle Days: Life and Death for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain

[edwest2]

Originally Posted by FalkeEins

I disagree. The author explains that we have largely 'rehabilitated' the Luftwaffe - the 'chilvarous' foe in the Battle of Britain - and thereby glossed over the crimes committed by certain sections of this branch of the Wehrmacht. This was possible because opposing airmen imagined post war that they had shared a common experience, whereas in fact one group was fighting for freedom, the other for a tyrannical dictatorship. I think that's what she's saying...

That may be the intent. One thing I want to make clear is the incredible amount of bias I'm seeing in recent military history books. I paid $100 USD for a book about a weapon fielded by the Germans during the war. I could not have asked for better photos and details, but I vowed to never buy another book from the publisher again. The author decided to add his thoughts about hating Germans and Germany.

Churchill never told the young men, and the public, about tyranny? He never told the public what these young men were dying for?

My father was drafted into the Polish Army at the age of 17. As a boy, I was reluctant to ask him questions since I knew what he had gone through in general terms. I did decide to ask him what combat was like. He made it sound like a sporting event. "They shoot at you, you shoot at them." All he knew at the time was that his country needed him. He went. He never expressed strong feelings toward the enemy. After his capture, he was not sent to a POW camp. He was sent to Germany to work as a forced laborer.

But back to this book. The author displays a clear and non-professional bias by titling a chapter "Better Liars than Flyers." Seriously? As a working book editor, I would immediately strike such a title. Is it too much to ask for fair and balanced reporting of the relevant events? And yes, pilots on both sides had very similar experiences. Both sides had rules of engagement. It was not that long ago that dueling was common in some places. My point is, both sides made a commitment to kill each other.

There is a very large number of books about killing Jews during the war. This book should be entirely about the Battle of Britain. Full stop. There are more than enough accounts about who was a Nazi and who simply did their duty during the war. Nazis are still the villains. So if the author of this book wants to explore that particular tangent in great detail then write a book titled Crimes of the Wehrmacht. Go ahead if it matters so much to the author.

[John Vasco]

Originally Posted by FalkeEins

I disagree. The author explains that we have largely 'rehabilitated' the Luftwaffe - the 'chilvarous' foe in the Battle of Britain - and thereby glossed over the crimes committed by certain sections of this branch of the Wehrmacht. This was possible because opposing airmen imagined post war that they had shared a common experience, whereas in fact one group was fighting for freedom, the other for a tyrannical dictatorship. I think that's what she's saying...

I have to disagree with your disagree. The author once again makes a bland statement that we have largely 'rehabilitated' the Luftwaffe. Who is the 'we' that is being referred to? I have never attempted for a second to rehabilitate the Luftwaffe in all of my writing. All I have ever done is carried out research in an objective way, presented the findings, and have not passed any kind of judgement on a single person who was in the Luftwaffe. I believe that that is also correct for other researchers and writers, but they can obviously speak for themselves on here if they wish to do so. Also, I have never glossed over any crimes, since I have not known of any. Victoria Taylor has entered an area on page 325 which has no relevance to the BoB whatsoever. Yes, we were fighting for freedom, and the Third Reich was a tyrannical dictatorship. So was Stalinist USSR, but they were the 'good guys & gals' since they were fighting the Third Reich.

And yes, opposing airmen did share a common experience: that of each time they took off the fear of being wounded or killed was there with them. It wasn't 'imagined' at all.

The further in I go reading this book...

[John Vasco]

Another excellent post, #162, Ed.

[edwest2]

Thank you John.

[John Vasco]

Chapter 12 read

First two pages, statistics. Pages about liaison between the Luftwaffe and the Army. Letter from an Oberleutnant zur See to his mother; article from the Briestal-Bote newspaper dated 2 September. More losses. 'Ace' rivalry between Galland & Mölders. Account by Klaus Deumling of why he was attracted to join the Luftwaffe. Luftwaffe training for nearly two pages. Quotes from Galland, and Werner Baumbach. Quote from Ulrich Steinhilper's book (not about combat). German aircrews' health, exhaustion, 'abgeflogen'. Taken out of the front line for rehabilitation.

RAF bombing, and a quote from a resident of Zehlendorf in Berlin. This goes on with various civilian quotes for three feckin' pages! Letter from an Air Signalman based in France to his wife! Footnote on the last page of the chapter explaining what the Reichsarbeitsdienst was and what it did!

Details of major combats in this chapter? In a word: No.

Make of it what you will...

[edwest2]

Well, as the saying goes, exactly what it says on the tin. If it has tomato soup on it then there should be tomato soup and nothing else. If it has Battle of Britain on the cover, it should only be about the Battle of Britain.

[John Vasco]

Chapter 13 read

Chapter 13 starts with: ‘As Berlin’s dead bodies piled higher under British bombs’. It then goes on to recount a civilian, Helena Vogel, who shouted abuse to Göring on one of his tours of the city, and was interviewed by the Gestapo as a result. A quote from a resident of Wotrum, Mecklenburg. Some more ruminations over ‘Sealion’, then a quote from a woman in Hamburg. A soldat with the Luftwaffe Station Command 16/XI is quoted. Hand Ekkehard Bob is quoted, with his views on the situation, coloured, obviously, by who he was fighting for.

More writing about Sealion and the preparations for it. ‘The level of meticulous planning included the German High Command launching an exhaustive survey into the capabilities of British guerilla warfare on 7th September 1940.(WTH has this to do with the Battle of Britain!). Then the 45th Division of Infantry Regiment 134 is mentioned (has she got the terminology the wrong way around? I think she has.) with regard to training.

Over two pages of a raid on London that Peter Stahl took part in – no date. A page on the switch to attacking London in a general way. Mention of the high contact rate by RAF fighters on 15th September. Meeting of Ribbentrop and Mussolini on 19th September with the usual bluster from Ribbentrop. More general chit-chat about the German High Command’s views.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

It looks like a Phalanx 20mm (kind of Gatling gun) firing everywhere and hitting nothing...

I remember seen this lady on a RAF Hendon Museum Presentation (Crowdcast abroad). She is very articulated and her presentation was fantastic.

But I am feeling that ON THIS BOOK, she messed up and got nowhere....starting from the cover which is tendencious....

A.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Thanks John, for giving us a glimpse of Chapters 12 and 13....
WE all now have a full idea of the contents....and it's worth (or not).

[Chris Goss]

Ben Dunnell has reviewed this book saying complimentary things about it as a general book on what was going on at the time. He also says if you want a who shot down who type book, this is not what this book is about notwithstanding what it says on the cover............