Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Hickey
Can anyone tell me what the book "So lang die Flügel tragen" by someone named Horn is about? I presume that it is a biography of a Ju87 pilot from 1934-1949, but who is the pilot (Horn?). To what units was he assigned and during what periods?
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Hi Larry,
"So lang die Flügel tragen" is the autobiography of Hans Horn, and was self-published in 2001. It's a soft cover of 193 pages, with several B/W photos (mostly pilots, not many aircraft.) It also contains reproductions of many documents, plus a number of color photos of various souvenirs and memorabilia.
Horn joined the Luftwaffe in September 1940 and completed his basic flying instruction in Jan 1943. He was then assigned to 3./Jagdfliegerschule 6 for fighter training on 109s. In March 1943, JFS 6 became JG 106. As a member of 3./JG 106, he was sent to Bergues near Dunkirk for Jabo missions against England. He completed 22 such missions before being transferred to the Eastern Front in July 1943.
As part of 1./Störkampfgruppe Luftflotte 6, he flew ground-attack missions in a He 46. In September 1943, the unit was transformed into 1./Nachtschlachtgruppe 2, equipped with Ju 87D-3s and Hs 129s (he flew missions in both types, but primarily the Ju 87.) He was shot down by Yak-9s on March 19, 1944 in a Ju 87D-3 (D3+NH.) He spent until July 1949 in Russian captivity.
The first quarter of the book covers his training, the second quarter his operational flying, and the last half his captivity in Russia and his return to Germany.
It's very much a "flugbuch"-based memoir, i.e. highly detailed on locations, dates and times, but less so on the actual events during each mission (although his last mission is described in great detail.) Still, it provides useful information about lesser-known units (esp. NSGr 2), training, airfields and flying conditions on the Eastern Front, and the Russian campaign in general.
Leon Venter
14th January 2007, 04:42
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