Major Hans ‘Assi’ Hahn Award Certificate

[David P. Williams]

Hi Fredo, I haven’t seen the film, although I have a copy of the book. I have written permission from his widow to re publish his autobiography in English. I have about two thirds of it translated so far but am looking for a translator to finish off the last third.

David

[Adriano Baumgartner]

David,

This seems quite interesting to see, and read, in a near futur, his autobiography (hopefully with addends and eventual historical corrections) in English language, hopefully.

There are quite a lot of biographies that were first published in one language and never translated to English. The biography of Walter Nowotny, for instance, written by his brother was never published in English, but at some time was translated in French, which I managed to find. It was not what I was expecting though, but gave me a glimpse of his infancy and early career, nevertheless.

Keep us updated, please!

A.

[David P. Williams]

Hi Adriano,

Thanks for your comments. Before I start going through the manuscript for historical accuracy I need to find a translator that is familiar with military terminology, as well as being a good translator.

I haven’t decided whether to write a biography on Hahn and publish his autobiography separately, or whether to amalgamate the two together, along with the huge amount of photos I have. Many of which haven’t been released or seen before!

D

[Fredo Hara]

Bonsoir David,
When you write to republish his autobiography in English, You are talking about his book in French "Du ciel aux enfers" (in German "ich spreche die wahrheit!")?
Fred

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Fredo,

I did not know his war memories had been translated to French. Merci pour l'information! Thanks for the tip.

However, the French publishers found another title from the original German "Je dis la vérité! Sept ans prisonnier de guerre à Russland".

David, I believe you do have a tremendous oportunity here. I humbly and personally believe that the late 60's up to mid 80's "war memories" do lack of very serious researches "from the other side"; which is matching enemy's activities (ORB, KTB, etc.). And I believe this does apply for every writer's nationality (ex-RAF pilots, ex-USAAC pilots, ex-Free French pilots and ex-LW pilots as well).

The possibility of amalgamating your research onto Hahn's life with his own memories and Memorablia would give us a more complete image of the hero and his personality, characteristics, etc. I do not know if his letters to his Family or wife were preserved...maybe some interesting clues or aspects of the war, or of flying can be found there too. We do rarely see or read original letters on Biographies of Airmen.

Anyway, it is fantastic to know that something new about him will appear. Wish you and the work, all the good work it deserves and will be very happy to see and read it, when published.

A.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by David P. Williams

Hi Adriano,

Thanks for your comments. Before I start going through the manuscript for historical accuracy I need to find a translator that is familiar with military terminology, as well as being a good translator.

D

How many words is the text and what's the deadline?

[David P. Williams]

No deadline. I have the first 22 chapters translated and 12 left to translate, some chapters are quite short, others somewhat longer!

[Chris Goss]

Have you got a publisher?

[David P. Williams]

I do, yes!

[Adriano Baumgartner]

EXCELLENT NEWS David...keep us updtaded, shall you?
Take your time...enjoy the process...it surely will be a fantastic "goal". Make you and your futur readers happy.

A.