Mediterranean Air War by Chris Shores

[David N]

Originally Posted by Frank Olynyk

Chris sent the following in an email to me, in response to questions about the frequency of publication of The Mediterranean Air War:

I also understand that there has been some speculation regarding the frequency of appearance of the volumes. When John Davies of Grub Street pressed me to get on with the series we sat down together and worked out what would be likely to be the size - and came to about seven volumes. I said at the time "You realise that this will take me at least ten years to do - providing that I remain alive and that my health hold out ?" John's response was "I'll take the chance if you will !" and off we went.

When Volume 1 was so unexpectedly well-received last year, Giovanni and I were at Duxford for the signing and in the euforia of the moment, unwisely said, when asked, that we could probably bring out Vol 2 by the same time next year (like now). Madness !! We have tried, and will have the greater part completed by the end of September. But it is a huge job with a team of five to draw all the threads in from - and then there will be the tedious jobs of indexing, listing sources, referencing maps and captioning photos. And please remember guys - I'm not the lively 30 year-old who did 'Fighters over the Desert' - I'm 76, and the rest of the team are not that far behind me. I had been retired for getting on ten years when all this really blew up, and for the last couple of years I have effectively been back to full time work, and look like being so into the forseeable future. My modelling, which I love, has not been touched during that time, and the Boss (thats the lady I've been wed to for the last 53 years) is not always all that amused by it all.

But rest assured, we will all be doing the BEST we can to get these volumes out, and your patience is very much appreciated. Thanks very much for your continued support.

Very good wishes to you all, Chris.

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Further to the question of quotations from German pilots, Chris says that he does not seem to have anything more than what appears in Fighters Over Tunisia. Any number of books on Marseille, but I don't think there are any quotes from him. And looking over a list of my collection of biographies of aces, I don't see much that would apply to volumes 2 or 3 of MAW. Any suggestions? Including bomber, Stuka, transport, etc pilots?

Enjoy!

Frank.

Thanks. I never have seen an interview or comments by Reinert, but many by most of the other German pilots in the various books of recent years.