will be released November 15/16, 2008 in Telford at the Aviation Bookshop 2 volumes jam-packed with the vitals to fill in the blanks for many seeking the truth from both sides of the conflict. this would be the source for those interested in what happened with the 514 squadron/threads that is so popular on these very forums have fun for those that can attend, as I will be thinking of you. Two former LW night fighter aces will be attending to answer questions - Rolf Eberhardt and friend Peter Spoden enjoy E ~
Kai I think at least one of our members will be able to attend this great event, and I do believe that both volumes will be available at the same time /////// ...... I've got to save my pennies and watch how this will be distrubted here in the states. E ~
Erich They will be distributed by Amazon on Nov 20th . I will order them there and get free shipping!
Skip I have heard that they were going to carry the books 3 times and then decided not to.................oh boy, you may have a very long wait then again you will probably have yours on your doorstep before it is even offered in the States
I will let you know Erich, but if they are available on Amazon France you should be able to get them to the U.S. via them with your U.S. account
..both books have plenty of personal accounts from both pilots and crew members... a bit like the following. I'm not giving anything away here since this piece -part of a much bigger extract- was left out of the final text ... ..35 victory ace Günther Bertram described the first sorties undertaken by the fledgling crews of the Nachtjagdschwärme Ost - the first of the Eastern Front night fighter units. " ....we were to hunt and engage the small Russian aircraft - mostly U2 and R5 biplanes - that operated every night supplying mines and shells to partisan groups located behind the front lines. Our large and ponderous He 111s were hardly suited to this form of aerial interdiction but there were no other available aircraft that could be employed in this role. In terms of tactics our three machines were assigned to patrol in boxes designated after varieties of fruit - Apple - Pear - Plum - Peach - which extended from the front to deep into the rear areas with each aircraft deployed to cover a particular sector. We tended to operate at high altitude in order to be able to better discern the landing sites and drop zones. This was possible since the partisans would light bonfires on the ground in order to guide their small supply machines to their destinations. This tactic of course enabled our own crews to locate the landing zones and, if we were lucky, to shoot down the Russian machine either just as it was going into land or taking off. This was how I was able to achieve my first two victories. Naturally nights when the moon was full particularly favoured our operations and it was on such moonlit nights that I recorded these victories. My first victim had only just got airborne. Closing from astern, I swept alongside and past it, presenting my Bordfunker with the opportunity to unleash a long salvo from his MG. Given that the Russians only managed speeds of between 150-180 kph, while I had to maintain the speed of our cumbersome He 111 at 230 kph at least , achieving a downing was always very much down to good fortune.."
just so you chaps are well aware our forum member Neil Page (Falkeeins) did some translation work for these volumes by Boiten ......good work friend ! hey don't release too much about NJG's as that is for his future Ost front work ~
...the majority of the personal accounts including the Foreword...around 80 pages of text... it took literally days to decipher Bertram's spidery handwriting -some 15 pages of it- let alone translate it, so it was a bit of a disappointment to learn that it wouldn't be included.. thanks Erich!
not included yet Neil; I have pushed Theo about as far as I want to for the future Ost front albums and hopefully he will do so as from your translated works for one there is about a big fat 0 on the night air war in the East............ one result is the unknown sphere in which NJG 100 used the Fw 189 to combat bi-planes and in night recon roles........viewed here in older posts as well as some length on LEMB recently. E ~
this is a teaser but you will get a small portion of the contents...........remember that both volumes are a daily/nightly history http://www.redkitebooks.co.uk/aa/twelveoclockhighNJWDsample3.pdf as I have not seen the books first hand cannot comment on what in-depth materials there will be on the LW pilots and crews
Hehe, the word teaser is pretty appropriate here! Funny to have a small reunion here with of us who are on the Luftarchiv forum too .
Thanks for the link Erich - pretty much what I expect the finished version to look like - just spoke to one of the guys organising the launch. The books haven't yet arrived from the printer - its gonna be a close call !
the impressive intro and thank you pages .......... hey hey check the thing for Neil on lower right http://www.redkitebooks.co.uk/aa/twelveoclockhighNJWDsample1.pdf yeah Neil was thinking the same somewhat simplified but not knowing if more individual NJG diaries for the evenings would be revealed hopeful the books will be on hand this weekend otherwise some disappointed attendee's.