Another example of the World War II Forums costing me money....

Thanks to you guys I've come to realise that I have very little knowledge about the Me 262 ( me being a piston sort of person ).

I've just found ( on special offer ) Vol 1 of Me 262 by Smith and Creek under the Classic Publications imprint. It looks very nice but there are three other volumes ( not on special offer ! )

Anyone else got/read them ? What's the verdict ?

[ 16 October 2002, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Martin :

You are very fortunate because volume 1 and 2 are OOP, or at least volume 1 is. The first two volumes cover the devlopment of the a/c. The third volume which I have and the fourth cover the operations of the a/c with units, and also in the fourth volume there is some coverage of the expeiments done towards war's end.
I purchased the third volume because of the coverage of JG 7 which is just the english translation of JG y buch by German author Manfred Boehme. In fact I have found the classic pubs did not translate some of JG 7's missions that well and left out some important info's.
As to the materials on 10./NJG 11 and the jet 262 unit at night. Forsythe tried to work out a deal with my research team for the information we have for this volume but it came to naught. And of course what is written on the pages within their book is not all true and there are many gaps.....so everyone will have to wait for ours I suppose......
All in all the third volume is a definate plus for the research shelf. Profiles are nice but depict machines that have been duplicated elsewhere in other publications.....profiles as well as photos. I would of liked to have seen more pilot interviews and some new profiles included.

E

Thanks, Erich - I just found Volume 2 so bought that as well. It covers development and early daylight operations. I must say these are very handsome books with very interesting photos ( b&w and colour ) which a 'beginner' like me hasn't seen before.

And then I also found a bargain discount copy of Foreman & Harvey's 'Messerschmitt 262 Combat Diary' so my 262 library has grown by 300% this week.

By the time I've read all these, my multi-signed leather-bound boxed-set copy of the Erich Brown Magnum Opus should be here....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Excellent purchases Martin ! you have done well. The Classic pubs are most probably the definitive books in the English language, and I would think the only thing that would top these would be individual unit histories. Foreman/Harvey book is a great resource to cross reference the Allied claims with Me 262 losses and vice versa......good choice !

E

Vielen danke !

The 'Combat Diary' seems to have quite a bit of information about the Me262 successes over the Mosquito ( with which I was totally unfamiliar until you mentioned it ).

I'd never even seen this book before ( it was an 'impulse purchase' ) - it really looks like fascinating stuff ( for under ten pounds, too ! )

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

The Combat diary in my opinion is a companion book to Classic's efforts. I will tell you something Martin......a little secret the info on Kmdo Welter in the Classic Pubs book and even in the Combat diary is from nearly 20 years ago. We found that through our interviews that the pilots/techs of the night fighter unit had not been re-interviewed for these many years so we found some fresh materials as well as many documents and photos that were in the vets possession that were not asked about when the other volumes were presented. We found this very odd, and the subject of claims in both books about the night fighter unit is off. We have all the confirmed as well as probable or I should say doubtful claims made by the jet unit. Imagine flying this thing at night at over 500mph, seeing a mossie bomber or night fighter for almost a split second and firing the 3cm weapons and wondering if you had scored or not.....very confusing.

E

Just managed to get Volume 3 .....

All I need now is Erich's book

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

...and nearly a year later got Volume 4 to complete the set ! A copy of Manfred Boehme's 'JG 7' is also on order via Bookfinder ; all I need now is that leather-bound Erich Brown first edition.... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

At a secondhand bookfair in deepest Suffolk today found a very reasonably-priced copy of Hugh Morgan's 1992 Osprey title, 'Me 262 - Stormbird Rising' .
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My 'Me-262 shelf' is starting to catch up my Mosquito and Lancaster shelves.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

This is a rather nice 'once-a-year' thread....

At last weekend's Duxford airshow, found a cheaply-priced copy of Walter Boyne's 'Messrschmitt 262 - Arrow To The Future' ( NASM 1980 ) which is a good introductory work with plenty of illustrations, including a lovely Frank Wootton painting on the cover depicting JV44 attacking Marauders.

And at the same time, a bargain-priced copy of the Kagero 'Me262 Units' title which features some interesting first-hand accounts ( and yet another JV44-versus-Marauder cover painting ! )

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Since you are a moldy oldie, you need a Blue Oyster Cult song to go with your 262 books. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 14. September 2005, 12:53 PM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

Martin, having read the 262 books maybe you could confirm something for me. A co-worker said that Hitler originally refused to let the 262 be developed as a fighter at first. He tried to force them to develop it as a bomber since fighter planes were "defensive" and Germany was on the offensive. Is this presented in the books?

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PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF. GEORGE ORWELL

Yes, this is often discussed but it sems that in effect Hitler's intervention was marginal ; the 8th USAAF actually did more to delay the 262. See :

http://www.ww2forums.com/ubb/ultimat...=000249#000000

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

My 262 collection has now been joined by 'Me 262A - Broken Eagles', a compendium of photos of abandoned/wrecked 262s as discovered at the end of the war. Not an easy little book to find - mine came from Icarus in the USA.

Would be nice to take a time machine back to Bavaria in the Summer of 1945 and fill a shopping trolley with 262 relics - dream on !

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Just beware you´re not getting close to any booby trapped ones, Martin!

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Thanks to the 'Amazon' reviews by fellow Forum-member FalkeEins, I've just received the two new Osprey Aviation Elite titles, #27 'Jagdverband 44 - Squadron of Experten' and #29. 'Jagdgeschwader 7 'Nowotny' ', both written by Robert Forsyth.

Forsyth of course wrote the legendary ( and now almost unobtainable ) 'JV44' but that was 12 years ago. His new book includes all the latest research, plus some new personal accounts and previously unknown photos. Add a chapter on the airfield-protection Fw190D-8s, a selection of very good colour profiles and a nice Mark Postlethwaite painting on the cover ; the result is a very useful and attractive book at a reasonable price.

Much the same applies to the JG7 title : the profiles are even more attractive and also included are the rare photos of Rudi Sinner's famous 262 recently unearthed by Luftwaffe im Focus magazine.

These are 'proper' books, the author even includes good bibliographies and sources - something Osprey are sometimes weak with.

Don't just take my word for it - read the Amazon reviews ; 'FalkeEins' knows a lot more about the subject than I do !

But I highly recommend them both.........

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

If you really want to dig into the history of the Me 262 I can recommend this book:

Amazon.com: Me 262 Production Log: Dan O'Connell: Books

This is the first time that a detailed summary of every known and identified Me 262 has been compiled.

Where known the fate of each individual aircraft is given as well as much unknown and recently discovered information relative to the manufacture of its revolutionary design.

This book is of course already a part of my library!

RAM

Got all four Martin & there great , read them before I went to see the Me 262 at the Berlin air show this year
My favourite one is THE MESSERSCHMITT COMBAT DIARY Me 262 - great read

I await in another week for the JG 7 book, please be careful with the combat war diary I have searched through that thing high and low and the errors are intermingled within especially on US Mustang kills and the Mustang shoot downs by 262 pilots. hopeful I can get a better grasp to correct in a work that has been plaguing me for some 25 years- still working on it along with other things ............