JG 300 book

[O.Menu]

Ok, ok... i was only able to turn pages for 10 mn this morning before running to work and then post on the forum. I finally come back home only after midnight, and do some search to answer Simon about the He162. Now it's near 2am so excuse if i m short:

- as big as Vol 1: 350 pages

- Chapters:
1: the Netherlands: 16 Sept44 - 2 Oct44
2: Last reinforcements: 3 Oct44 - 23 Nov44
3: The climbing: 26 Nov44 - 20 Janv45
4: Incursion on the East Front: 21 Janv45 - 24 Fev45
5: Last jerks: 22 Fev45 - 8 Mai 45

- very same very good quality paper and big format photos

- if i m right 14 profils from C.Sundin and 4 from R.Goyat. Those last as in vol 1 unfortunately again slightly too much contrasted in the printing process.

- some very interesting photos: I will extract 4:
* one showing a pilot in is Bf 109 from above with knees in contact with both side wall from the cocpit
* one color photo which confirm black nosed JG 300 aircraft at the end of the war
* one we already viewed here on TOCH showing a JG 301 Fw 190A with white horizontal bar (J.Y Lorant also though this one is from I./JG 301 ) and overpainted fuselage number which is actually a very famous Fw 190 previously from JG 300 !
* And finally a JG 300 pilot took a photo from his last flying equipement: a map, a knife, flying google, yellow "Deutsche Luftwaffe" arm band,... and the clock from his instrument panel
>> I though to remember that this clock was very personnal and that the pilot took it with them when they left the cockpit could anyone confirm this?

2h30 am time to sleep a little, Cheers, Olivier...

[O.Menu]

forgot to mention about the appendices:

- list of the victories
- list of the losses
- Luftflotte6 units and airfields (but not airplanes) from 6th May 45 and an uncredible less detailed same kind of statement from 7th May 45 !

[Jean-Yves Lorant]

Hi Olivier

The sheer relief and pleasure that we should have felt on the publication of Vol II of our history of JG 300 - after 25 years research and writing - has been somewhat tarnished by the stupidity of a picture editor at the French publishers Larivière. Against our wishes, the photo on page 17 of Volume II has been gratuitously retouched - a large defect just above the Staffel number 12 on Ofw. Otto Hehlert's Bf 109 G-14/AS (9./JG 300) has been removed. The authors weren't consulted of course. Fortunately this detail did not escape our good friend Claes Sundin, who has produced a magnificent profile of this machine on page 18. The 'curse of Lariviève' also struck on pages 180-181- the contrast compared to the original photos is much reduced. The authors have taken the publishers to task for this and other calamities, notably the two colour pictures in Vol 1 that were printed in black and white (page 66). Purists now have a number of additional reasons to prefer the Eagle Editions productions of the two volumes of our JG 300 history.
The Larivière JG 300 volumes are otherwise superbly printed and while these 'faults' may appear unimportant when set against the 350 pages of each book, I nonetheless felt it should be pointed out that Richard Goyat and myself were not responsible. While I'm here, I'd like to warmly thank Claes Sundin for his superb profile artwork. He met all the editor's deadlines despite the workload....Merci et bravo, Claes ! Thanks to our friend Joël Taton - Larivière's talented graphic artist- who really got into the subject and produced a superbly laid-out book..
The French edition - unlike the American - does not feature an index.. However we have reproduced the most spectacular pages from the Flugbuch of Oberleutnant Kurt Gabler- featuring the last flights of the infamous Bf 109 G-6 'Red 8' - with its seventeen victory markings - for the benefit of our friend 'Bobo'. Perhaps now he's confronted with the evidence - Gabler did not fly a machine with a black Staffel number - as he persists in believing....
Congratulations for your work about JG 301 late-war markings, Olivier - et bonne lecture !

Hals und Beinbruch an alle -

[Erich]

Jean-Yves :

Simple question :

Is Erich Staschewski still wtih us ?, and I should probably await EE's second volume but didn't he fly the Dora-9 in the unit ?

many thanks

Erich ~

[Jean-Yves Lorant]

Hi Erich,

Erich Staschewski (7./JG 300) died for many years. His only known mission at the controls of a Dora-9 occured on April 24th, 1945 (low level attack of the last Donau-bridges and allied road-traffic in the Höchstädt-Dillingen-Aislingen area). This was the second mission of II./JG 300 of the day - and for him, as described in our volume 2, the very last one.

All the best from France

[Erich]

vielen Dank Jean-Yves !

Beste Grüße

Erich ~ and wishing you much success with the new volume 2 French and in the English

[FalkeEins]

.. my copy JG 300 Vol II (Docavia ) arrived just in time for Christmas... thanks Richard !!

stunning ! & the Goyat/Sundin artwork is superb !...highlights (covered photographically) include the G-6/AS with the large comet emblem on the cowl in close-up (10./JG 300), six new photos of a red-legged G-10 of IV./JG 300, a Sturm 190 in eastern front camo finish with the blue/white/blue bands ..and plenty more ..

most Luftwaffe unit histories end up covering the late-war period in only sketchy detail.. here the last chapter in the book (March, April) is the longest at over 100 pages.. there are even personal accounts from the fighting in Prague in May 1945..
Book of the year !