What are you guys reading?

[Ludwig]

I got this one and just ordered Vol. 2 because of the questions earlier about aircraft damage. I had a copy of the Rote Kampflieger in my library and I really thought that it had the list I referenced but I can't find it now. I was amazed at the number of aircraft that it listed as burned, well more than half and I took that to be the case. This book however has to be the definitive version because the amount of information is crazy. Doesn't mean that it is 100% accurate, but I would have to think that it is closer than anything else I have seen to date. It tells you pretty much everything about the day, the aircraft, serial number, pilot name age rank it just goes on and on. He is quoting MvR from his account on every one it seems. From a cursory look, I only saw one mention of a victim burning on the way down. 

[Bussard]

Hi Ludwig,

here you go with the "Der rote Kampfflieger": The Project Gutenberg eBook of Der Rote Kampfflieger, by Manfred von Richthofen

And here in english: The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Red Battle Flyer, by Captain Manfred Freiherr Richthofen.

Horrido!

[Ludwig]

I wonder about the translation, I had the German version and it should still be in the boxes but I have snooped most of them and can't find it. There was a table at the back of the book that listed the information but after looking at this book (above) it is incredible how much detail was apparently out there and just needed to be compiled. It has pretty much everything short of what they had for breakfast that morning.  Thanks for the links. 

[Ludwig]

WELL... I am stunned....  BLOWN away.  I got the Vol. 2 of the above book on Inside The Victories of  MvR today and just got home from a long day playing pilot and I had no idea what I was in for in the form of this second book. 

I TOTALLY bought into the theme that the family of MvR set up his trophies and collections in the family home and was opened as a museum to the public in 1933. It stood there until the Russians came through Schweidnitz and everything was looted and gone forever. I could never understand how that could happen. Sure, wartime, gasoline, securing vehicles... but surely they could have packed up SOME of these things and saved them.  But... I never heard or saw anything about them. Even with the advent of the mighty internet I thought SURELY someone would stash away something and it would appear... but Nope.

Well... cancel that. 

The Potsdam treaty after the war gave some of Germany to Poland and the home of MvR was Schweidnitz which became Swidnica Poland. The houses were still there last time I looked, but the stone memorial across the street was there but unattended and the memorial plaque was LONG gone. It seems the Poles had no favor to show towards the family or the memories. Probably kicking themselves now because they would have made money off the tourists. 

Anyway... it's late I will cut to the chase. Yes... the trophies exist, the cups, and who knows what else. Uniform parts, medals, no telling what all...  because it seems that the story was a hoax. When it was obvious that the Russians were going to be occupying the area "the fat one" Goring himself saw to it that vehicles and help were provided to move out the materials from the museum. It seems that the family has been selling off the pieces to very private collections for more than 50 years now and pieces and parts continue to resurface. Some of the most recent pictures of these pieces are from 2008. There are several pictures of smiling collectors holding the miniature silver cups (described as a shot glass) that MvR awarded himself and the double-sized cup for the 10th, 20th, 30th, etc. They confirm that after 60, the tradition stopped for whatever reason. The popular myth (I will never trust one again) being that Germany was too short on silver and the other argument being that Manfred just got sick of it. I believe the latter. Reading his book in German was different than the English translation was to me anyway... and you could sense his frustration and attitude that he knew death was waiting for him and not far away. 

One picture shows both Manfred's and Lothar's Ehrenbechers being held in one pair of hands.... incredible NO date... so I can't say with any authenticity of when the picture was taken. The author states that eight of the small cups were known to be in the USA as of 2008 and that the reason the Baroness went along with the ruse was to prevent every collector and faker hounding the family. The items from Hawker are incredible.  His bible removed from his body, his scarf, other pieces were known to have survived and are in the hands of private collectors. Images (color) from as recent as 2013 of the 10th and 11th (10th was Hawker) cups. It says that the bible or scarf or both were sold by the family to collector that owned the cup. 

It is going to take a long time to sift through this.... but I honestly had no idea about this. If you guys knew about this... you are way ahead of me but I had never, ever seen so much as a picture of one of the actual cups. Turns out that they were simply silver shot glasses from the local silversmith and the shop owner added the date at the request of Manfred. It does go on to say that when Manfred stopped, Lothar kept going and expanded things. From what I remember reading, Lothar was the real killer. Maybe because he came along later with better planes, but he really cut a swath through the history books. 

[TedsOnMeds]

[Bussard]

I like memoir books from this German publisher most, some of them are out of print and sought after books. They are only in German language, but if you don´t mind you can buy directly from the publisher in new conditon (dunno if he sends overseas):

Bücher – NeunundzwanzigSechs Verlag

Additonally I like the whole line of books from the british historian Antony Beevor about WW2. A good, entertaining and educational read with new insights and background informations. All books are available at Amazon:

Amazon.com : antony beevor

Furthermore you can look at youtube for several contributions from him.

Cheers 

Bussard

 

 

 

[Erhardt]

Currently rereading this book: https://www.stellabooks.com/books/david-nicolle/arab-mig-19-and-mig-21-units-in-combat/1603891

Quite a few Arab pilots falling during combat with the Israeli, makes for sober reading - also some people dying when their short range Mig 21s run out of fuel and they try to eject or to force land. Have to say Mig pilots are brave people, glad I am not a Mig 21 or Mig 19 pilot......wait a sec....!?

[Bussard]

Stumbled about an old book from Cajus Bekker (1964), which caught currently my attention. Never read in such way the story of the German Luftwaffe in WW2 in one book. The compact book counts in the German version around 400 pages. Every chapter ends in the German version with "expierences and lessons", which points what was achieved and what was missed, though tacitcal and stratgically. Book is available from the big A or elsewhere.

 

 

 

[Snaggle]

Finished:

I have not previously read any books on personal accounts of flying during WWII.

I find the stories shared in this book to be gripping with the true feeling of the day, with none of the machismo, one might expect.

2 aviators doing their duty more no less, without loosing their humanity!

[Britchot]

I thoroughly enjoyed that book.

I own and have read Günther Rall's My Logbook and wish it was easy to share with you all. 

[Klaiber]

57 minutes ago, Britchot said:

I thoroughly enjoyed that book.

I own and have read Günther Rall's My Logbook and wish it was easy to share with you all. 

I've been wanting to pick this up for a while, but the prices have been so high.

[Snaggle]

Listening:

40 Years since I read this, WOW had I forgotten how different it was from the movie.

 

reading:

[Ludwig]

 

Colonel Kidd of the 6th Michigan giving his opinions on the 1863+ exploits of the Michigan Cavalry. 

He has pretty high impressions of Custer and Sheridan. Seems to think that Stewart and Fitzhugh Lee were overrated.  <snort>

On 1/4/2022 at 9:28 AM, Klaiber said:

I've been wanting to pick this up for a while, but the prices have been so high.

Gunther was a hoot. I loved seeing him here in DFW when he came through which was fairly often.  I loved his rendition of Hartmann trying on Hitler's hat while they were waiting to be brought into the luncheon. He was a crack-up. 

 

 

[Firefly]

Been thinking of picking this up, it's getting good reviews. Has anyone here read this? Picture borrowed from Crecy Publishing's Facebook page.

[TedsOnMeds]

 

[Barton]

I just finished reading The Iliad for my mythology course.  Good book.  Very interesting to contrast it to the 2004 movie.  In some ways, the movie is better.

[Firefly]

17 hours ago, Barton said:

I just finished reading The Iliad for my mythology course.  Good book.  Very interesting to contrast it to the 2004 movie.  In some ways, the movie is better.

Now imagine you go back in time 2800 years to somewhere in ancient Greece, bump into Homer and discuss the Illiad. "Nice book, but in some ways the movie's better".

[Barton]

6 hours ago, Firefly said:

Now imagine you go back in time 2800 years to somewhere in ancient Greece, bump into Homer and discuss the Illiad. "Nice book, but in some ways the movie's better".

LOL well I don't speak Greek so I'd probably starve to death or get sold as a slave.  But Hector is more honorable in the movie.  His fights with Patroclus and Achilles are much different in the book.  His final encounter with Achilles in the Iliad is akin to something you'd expect from Monty Python.

[Snaggle]

current

Finished

[Snaggle]

very good stories of the everyday airman, not the famous ones we all hear about but these guys need to be remembered too.

[Pfeil]

Started with this.

[Snaggle]

Knew a lot about the Naval Battles, but this bring into focus the ground war....

Publisher's Summary

When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942, having successfully left the Philippines to organize a new American army, he vowed, "I shall return!" More than two years later he did return, at the head of a large U.S. army to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. The place of his re-invasion was the central Philippine Island of Leyte. Much has been written about the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf that his return provoked, but almost nothing has been written about the three-month long battle to seize Leyte itself.

Originally intending to delay the advancing Americans, the Japanese high command decided to make Leyte the "Decisive Battle" for the western Pacific and rushed crack Imperial Army units from Manchuria, Korea, and Japan itself to halt and then overwhelm the Americans on Leyte. As were most battles in the Pacific, it was a long, bloody, and brutal fight. As did the Japanese, the Americans were forced to rush in reinforcements to compensate for the rapid increase in Japanese forces on Leyte.

This unique battle also saw a major Japanese counterattack - not a banzai charge, but a carefully thought-out counteroffensive designed to push the Americans off the island and capture the elusive General MacArthur. Both American and Japanese battalions spent days surrounded by the enemy, often until relieved or overwhelmed. Under General Yamashita’s guidance it also saw a rare deployment of Japanese paratroopers in conjunction with the ground assault offensive.

Finally there were more naval and air battles, all designed to protect or cover landing operations of friendly forces. Leyte was a three-dimensional battle, fought with the best both sides had to offer, and did indeed decide the fate of the Philippines in World War II.

 

[Vonrd]

 

I've read all of his books about a Huey assault company. While fictional, it's a thinly veiled autobiography with most of the characters, events, operational aspects and units historically correct. There are numerous footnotes backing this up.

His "About Me" blurb:

 

Born into a Navy Submarine Family, I traveled the world as a child. Since I was born in 1947 and until 1993, every three years I moved to a new location as a military brat and as a service member. Enlisted in the Army in 1968 after two worthless years of college and became an Army helicopter pilot serving for 18 months in Vietnam. Was promoted to a commissioned officer while serving in Vietnam and stayed on active duty until 1993. In that time I commanded rifle companies at Fort Lewis Washington and Anchorage Alaska where I commanded an airborne company. Highlight of my career was commanding an air assault infantry battalion during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. The Army sent me back to college to finish my bachelors degree and later working on my own, two master degrees. Once I retired I went into private business and finally retired in 2015. My wife has been with me for 51 years now and I have two sons, both Army officers who rose up through the ranks like their grandfather and me.

[Snaggle]

If you like "Radio style Dramas"

About This Audible Original

Jon Hamm leads an all-star cast that includes Kate Mara, Ana de la Reguera, John Slattery, and Bradley Whitford in the riveting true story behind the making of the one American movie the FBI never wanted you to see.

The Big Lie follows FBI special agent Jack Bergin (Jon Hamm), who is sent to investigate three blacklisted filmmakers - Academy Award-winning writer Michael Wilson, Academy Award-nominated producer Paul Jarrico, and director Herbert J. Biberman - who were inspired by a New Mexico labor strike to make a movie that dramatized their pro-labor, pro-feminist beliefs. Convinced the film is a recruitment tool for the Communist Party, Jack will do whatever is necessary to shut the production down.

Featuring a star-studded cast that also includes Giancarlo Esposito, David Strathairn, Lisa Edelstein, Raymond Cruz, Troy Evans, Kirk Baltz, John Getz, and Lela Loren, The Big Lie is an explosive story of conspiracy, betrayal, and temptation that resonates with today’s divided America and reminds us all that fear spreads faster than the truth.

[Snaggle]

HOW GREAT GENERALS WIN

An astute military historian's appraisal of what separates the sheep from the wolves in the great game of War." ―Kirkus Reviews

If a key to military victory is to "get there first with the most," the true test of the great general is to decide where "there" is―the enemy's Achilles heel. Here is a narrative account of decisive engagements that succeeded by brilliant strategy more than by direct force. The reader accompanies those who fought, from Roman legionaries and Mongol horsemen to Napoleonic soldiery, American Civil War Rebels and Yankees, World War I Tommies, Lawrence of Arabia's bedouins, Chinese revolutionaries, British Desert Rats, Rommel's Afrika Korps, and Douglas MacArthur's Inchon invaders. However varied their weapons, the soldiers of all these eras followed a commander who faced the same obstacles and demonstrated the strategic and tactical genius essential for victory. "All warfare is based on deception," wrote Sun Tzu in The Art of War in 400 BCE. Bevin Alexander shows how great generals have interpreted this advice, and why it still holds true today.