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.

=====================

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.

[mars]

Just learn from Stone & Stone that the second column of "Mediterranean Air War" will be delayed until April 2014

[John Beaman]

Originally Posted by Frank Olynyk

Just back from another week in Washington at NARA II.

I will have to check with Chris to see how much German commentary he has available. I don't know how much untranslated material he has.

With regard to the photo recce units, the intention is to include all combat related losses but less of the strictly accidental losses. For the US, I have end-of-war statistical studies of 12th AF combat units, another of the transport units, and a third of the photo recce units. Among other things these list total monthly losses, so I know how much I am looking for. I also have lists of 12th AF losses through about mid-1944 by serial number. All of this goes into the outline, and then I go looking for details. Which is why I go to NARA II every month for a week (except Jan/Feb/Mar -- bad winter driving).

I have been building a database of aircraft losses, and crew deaths, which is far more detailed than we can put in the books. When the series is done I may look into publishing the database.

Enjoy!

Frank.

My old Friend, you had better publish it! Your other works are the sine qua non!

[Frank Olynyk]

The nearly final manuscript for volume two of The Mediterranean Air War has gone off to John Davies at Grub Street for final editing and typesetting. Once this is done it will be necessary to review the available photographs and slot them into the book. Then once that is done a rather intense week or more will be spent by Chris in preparing an index. And we should have a reasonable bibliography for this volume. So hopefully everything is on schedule for an April release.

Work has already started on volume 3, which will cover operations from Torch (November 1942) to the Axis surrender in North Africa (May 1943). It is far too early to guess as to when volume 3 will appear.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Dominik]

Although I'm not a writer I've noticed that forecasting the publishing date is rather senseless. So I keep my fingers crossed for April publishing date of the second volume of the MAW and I hope that the third volume will be published as soon as it's ready
Yet I wish the second volume was published soonner than April.

[Felix C]

Email from Amazon regarding volume 2 release date.
Release date: June 30, 2014

[Frank Olynyk]

News. And progress. The manuscript for MAW2 has been typeset, and a full copy-editing pass has been made on it, and the corrections are on their way back to the typesetter to be incorporated. Chris has completed the preparation of the index for all the personnel of all countries involved. He basically has just the indexing of the units and places to complete. The expectation is that the index will be done in about two weeks, and have been sent to the typesetter. A final proof-reading pass, and the book should go to the printer before the end of the month. Which should mean the book is available in the UK before the end of May, and in the US before the end of June. Approximately, ...

One reason for the delay in getting the book published is that it has grown substantially from MAW1. MAW1 was 560 pages, MAW2 is currently 736 pages, the largest book Grub Street has ever published.

Work on MAW3 will start after a short vacation break.

I would note also that Grub Street is planning to reprint Malta: The Spitfire Year, which has been out of print for some time.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear All,

Everyone seems to have passed over Chris' comment that he is 76 and that his wife of 53 years is not all that amused that he is devoting so much attention to this ongoing effort. So, too, is the lady I've been seeing for the past 23 years and I am approaching my 75th birthday, so I know from whence such concerns arrive. My friend Manfred Boehme, who will be 80 this year, was approached in the past to do an update on his famous book on JG 7. There is certainly much new information to add to it, but he mulled over the same concerns as Chris and elected not to pursue it. He thought it unfair to his wife and preferred to spend his time in ongoing research. Both of us have willed our collections to museums so that others will have the benefit of our research. Yes, that leaves a big gapping hole as to our accumulated knowledge to assess what we have, pull together various strings for making far better conclusions than we could when we were young, and the network of friends and associates to help us in our efforts will be gone.

But, life doesn't go on forever and while it is tonic to receive encouragement, it also places on one a burden if one accepts the load. So, our encouragement of Chris to keep going, to complete volume 2 and then, hopefully, the remaining 5 volumes, may be too much to ask. It's "we want, we want, we want" without giving due consideration as to the impact on his and his wife's lives.

Regards,
Richard

[kaki3152]

I remember William Manchester, the famed historian who started a biography of Winston Churchill, only to be struck by illness and ultimate death. He was trying to find someone to finish his manuscript.

If Christopher Shores doesn't finish his work, I fear it will fall by the wayside.

[Nick Beale]

I suddenly feel very young in this company! However the trick is to find a partner who is a patchwork quilter. Then you will find out what dedication to a hobby means. Trust me there will never be any complaints about the time you spend on aviation history, it's trivial by comparison.