Reading material suggestions please...

[NickM]

Originally Posted by John Manrho

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

cheers,

John.

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

[leonventer]

Hi Nick,

Originally Posted by NickM

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!

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

[leonventer]

Originally Posted by Jochen Prien

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.

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

[O.Menu]

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

[RolandF]

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

[NickM]

Originally Posted by RolandF

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

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

[Martti Kujansuu]

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.