Astute Review of Untold Valor

Posting this review by Jan Peczkis of my book on Amazon. Mr. Peczkis is that rare Amazon reviewer who actually reads the book and then is provides some synthesis and analysis. Thank you, Mr. Peczkis.

Click here for Mr. Peczkis' review, which focuses on German treatment of Jewish American POWs.

Czechs Keep Alive Memories of Battle Over Ore Mountains on September 11, 1944

It never ceases to touch me deeply how Europeans are so much more linked to memories of the air war than Americans and to the extent people will go to preserve the memories of the men who flew the skies in World War Two. The latest example of this is found in the Czech Republic. I became acquainted with a pilot and historian by the name of Michal Holy about a year ago due to our mutual interest in WWII aviation history. Michal put me in touch with a museum in the Czech Republic called The Museum of the Air Battle over the Ore Mountains on 11th September 1944. The museum is located in the town of Kovarska, in the northwest part of Bohemia in the Chomutov district, about 120 km from Prague. The town is nestled up against the German border, a very short distance from the German city of Dresden (it appears to be less than 150 km between them on a map), which explains how the area became a pivotal location in the air war. More on that later. The museum was created in 1997 to honor the veterans--both American and German-- of a classic air battle that raged in the skies over the eastern Czech Republic on September 11, 1944.

The booklet about the battle, written by Dr. Jan Zdiarsky of the Museum, reports that the day started like any other day, and that "the intense thunder of war had so far not touched the mountains that defined the border between Germany and the remnants of Czechoslovakia, but this day was fated to bring the realization that war had come even here. This day saw the meeting of the American 8th Army Air Force and the Luftwaffe in a particularly violent encounter. Only a few minutes of combat produced the loss of over fifty aircraft on both sides."

In fact, casualty figures for this battle run a full four pages in Dr. Zdiarsky's book Black Monday over the Ore Mountains. This book can be ordered by emailing the museum at 517@centrum.cz. To quote the website, "On September 11, 1944, high above the Ore Mountains, on the Czech-German frontier, a formation of B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 100th Bomb Group, 3rd Bomb Division...escorted by P-51 Mustang fighters of the 55th and 339th Fighter Group...clashed with a formation of German Me109 and FW190 intercept fighters of the II. (Sturm) and III. Gruppe Jagdeschwader 4...Due to the furiousness of the combat, most of the shot-down aircraft fell in a very small region of the Czech and German Ore Mountains...This sunny September day entered the history as Black Monday over the Ore Mountains."

Also involved in this battle were aircraft from the 95th Bomb Group (H), though the 95th's losses were much lighter. Michal Holy and Dr. Zdiarsky sent me some pieces from the recovered crash of B-17 42-97334 of the 95th Bomb Group, known as Haard Luck, that crashed during the air battle.

One 100th BG B-17, piloted by Lt. Albert E. Trommer, actually fell on the small town of Kovarska. The plane, 42-102657, came apart over the town and the tail section landed on the roof of the town school, impaling itself into the roof. In the minutes directly after noon, four B-17 bombers from the 100th fell into the town of Kovarska. Most of these planes either broke up in the air or were crippled when the crews bailed out. As a result, 23 of the men on board were killed and only 13 survived to become POWs. Another 10 B-17s fell nearby. The vast majority of the men on these planes also perished. In fact, total losses ran to 52 American airmen KIA. The 100th's 350th Squadron lost all nine planes dispatched, and the 100th as a whole lost one-third of its planes.

The German fighter pilots fought valiently and also suffered losses, though due to the fact that each fighter carried only one man instead of ten, the totals were lower. 21 German fighter pilots were killed in the battle. Losses were high because of the fact that American P-51 Mustangs also joined the battle. The 55th FG lost two pilots killed and one POW.

Total losses, KIA, WIA, or POW ran to 143 Americans and 32 German.

Townspeople tell of the rain of aircraft parts, parachutes, and men from the terrible battle overhead. Many men jumped from low altitude and hit the ground before their chutes could deploy. Men were impaled on trees and one dead airman even landed in a shop on the town's main street. Carnage was everywhere. It was a day that the young children of the town would never forget, and this is perhaps why the town to this day sees this battle as such an important part of its history.

I have only scratched the surface of this amazing story. I highly recommend a visit to the website, which has an English translation as well. It is very easy to navigate and one could spend several hours there. It is also an excellent site for researchers for the 100th BG or for the German researchers of the two Luftwaffe fighter groups involved.

Here is a link to the museum's virtual tour

Here is a link to the museum's Parts Identification Project

Here is a link to the U.S. Embassy's official website about the Museum and its Events.

Veterans of both the 8th Air Force and the German Luftwaffe meet as friends at the ceremony on September 15, 2007.

Did Germany develop Stealth Technology During WWII? It Appears it Did.

A contempory model constructed from the 1944 blueprints below. Many more photos and information on the weblink below.

England's 'Daily Mail' has a very interesting report on a stealth jet developed by the Germans in World War Two. I must admit this is outside my area of knowledge. I ran the article past Maurice Rockett, who was a B-17 bombardier in the war, and he commented: "It seems it was two or three weeks ago, on TV, the stealth bomber was discussed in depth. One had to be spellbound by the accomplishment of the Germans who were so far ahead of us. Once again little we realize how close we came to be manhandled by the Germans with their weaponry. As for this writeup, there are a couple of changes to be made as far as I can remember. First of all, it is stated that the flying wing never got beyond the blue print stage. Not true, because on the TV special, they showed the plane in flight, and acknowledge the pilot by name who died in the process of test flying. On the next point I am a lettle secure, but it seems to me the body was essentally made of plywood."

For a link to the Daily Mail article, click here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1198112/Sleek-swift-deadly--Hitlers-stealth-bomber-turned-tide-Britain.html#comments

More on the Russian P-39

My friend Partha wrote to dispute my comment that Russian pilots did well against the German Luftwaffe. He writes:

Your stories about "the recovery of the ill fated Airacobra from the Russian lake were both interesting to read. Even after so many years, how all the details about the ferrying of this particular aircraft just going by the serial number, could be collected, is very interesting.

Your observation that 'several outstanding Russian pilots flying the P 39 were able to rack up massive kills against the Germans flying superior aircraft' seems to be your imagination. As far as I know, the Germans simply dominated the skies of the East and particularly the Jagdgeschwaders such as Erich Hartmann's were able to wipe out entire Russian air fleets. Compared to these sky knights, only a few, i.e. very few Russians such as Ivan Kozhedub could do some damage to the Luftwaffe. In fact, even on his last combat sortie, Hartmann could claim at least four victories, and some of his victims were flying American birds."

Thanks for the comments, Partha. I have added photos of both Erich Hartmann and Ivan Kashedub to today's post as well.

Hartmann had 356 victories in the war. A good site to read more about Erich Hartmann is: http://www.acepilots.com/misc_hartmann.html. His victories are listed at http://www.luftwaffe.cz/hartmann.html

Kazhedub had 62 victories in the war, and was the top ace of the Russian Air Force. An excellent biography and victory list for this Russian ace is found at this link: http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/kozedub/kozedub.htm

Erich Hartmann: The Greatest Fighter Pilot of All Time

Hartmann chalked up most of his victories on the Eastern Front. He remains the greatest fighter pilot of all time in terms of enemy aircraft destroyed.

In terms of claimed aircraft, German super-ace Erich Hartmann is the greatest ace of all time, in any war . Hartmann is credited with 352 victories. The top US ace, Richard Bong, had 40. The top British ace, South African Marmaduke Pattle, had 51. The top Soviet ace, Ivan Kozhedub, had 62. Japan's top fighter ace, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, had an incredible 87. It should be noted that the German pilots flew until they were killed, while Allied pilots often were promoted out of combat positions. Also, Soviet aircraft and pilots were poor in comparison to the highly-skilled German pilots and their high performance aircraft. However, this in no way tarnishes the fact that Hartmann had on average 300 more victories than even the best of his contemporaries.

Erich Hartmann joined the German Air Force in October 1940 at age 18. In March 1941 he entered flight school, and in October 1942, already in the 2nd half of World War 2, he graduated as a fighter pilot at age 20, and was posted to fighter wing 52 (JG52) which operated Me-109 fighters in South Russia. He remained in JG52 until the last day of the war, and in 1400 combat sorties he scored 352 victories which make him the all time ace of aces, the most successful fighter pilot in history. All his victories were in the eastern front. Most of them were Russian aircraft.

A very young Erich Hartmann, 20 years old and a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe.

When he arrived, with a group of new pilots, his squadron leader, who had 13 victories then, told the new pilots that "On the ground we live by standard military discipline. In the air, the only thing that counts is how many victories you scored. Not rank, aristocratic title, age, nothing. Just how many enemy aircraft you shot down. The highest scoring pilots will always lead the formations, regardless of rank." The message was very clear and definitely got through. Erich Hartmann was assigned as wingman of Rossmann, an experienced pilot with many victories.

On the last day of the war, Hartmann flew from his base in German-occupied Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic) and surrendered to the British in north-western Germany, shooting down a Soviet Yak-11 along the way. But the British handed him over to the Red Army and the Soviets held him in a prison camp for ten years. After his release in 1955, Hartmann turned down the offer of a position in the East German air force and joined the West German Luftwaffe instead.

Hartmann died in Stuttgart in 1993. His biography, The Blond Knight of Germany, written with Raymond Toliver, is recommended reading for anyone interested in the WWII air war.

Hartmann's grave in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Amazon link for Hartmann's biography is http://www.amazon.com/Blond-Knight-Germany-Raymond-Toliver/dp/0830681892/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7258335-3060614?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186347914&sr=8-1

Never Was So Much Owed by So Many To So Few..

The original poster celebrating the airmen of the Battle of Britain and using Winston Churchill's famous words.

".......the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin, upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization, upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institution and our Empire." --Winston Churchill

A young Hurricane pilot walks from his aircraft at the beginning of the Battle of Britain.

It was Britain's finest hour, in the words of her great leader Winston Churchill. Pilots of the Royal Air Force faced down the attacking tide of Hitler's Luftwaffe in the desperate summer of 1940, and their courage and flying skills forced Hitler to re-consider his "Project Sea Lion", a planned attack on England. England was saved, not only to fight another day, but to become the jumping-off point for thousands of British, Canadian, Australian and other Allied bombers and fighters as the war continued to rage. And when the final land invasion of 'fortress Europe' began on D-Day, it was launched from British soil.

In this painting by Robert Taylor, a aerial battle rages over the English coastline during the Battle of Britain.

It is impossible to over-state the importance of this air battle, fought by 2,936 Allied pilots against the mighty Luftwaffe. Flying Hurricanes and Spitfires, the young men came from all walks of life, and many had been civilians a brief time before. During the Battle of Britain, 544 of them lost their lives, most killed in action. And lest we forget, over 1,000 Luftwaffe planes were lost as well, each manned by some of Germany's finest aviators at the time. Despite the fanatical evil of their leader, no one can argue with the courage and skill of the Luftwaffe flight crews.

Often overshadowed by the flashier Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane was the unsung hero of the Battle of Britain.

If you have time, take a moment to click on the link below and scroll through the Aircrew Roll of Honor, remembering how much we owe to the names listed here. [ AIRCREW ROLL OF HONOUR ]

Over the years, there have been several moving memorials built to honor 'The Few'. I am featuring both of them here. One was just a few years ago in London.

At the Battle of Britain Memorial in Folkstone, a young RAF pilot waits for his call to scramble.


The Memorial at Folkstone is in the shape of a giant propeller, with the lone airman in the center of the hub.



Unveiled in 2004, the new Battle of Britain Memorial is located on the Victoria Embankment, London.
A graphic showing the entire sculpture. The scrambling pilots in the center seem to be running out of the sculpture, ready to save Britain once again.


Albert Gregory, 219th Squadron, spends a moment with the new sculpture at the unveiling. What thoughts must be going through this aging fighter pilot's mind?

I recommend for further reading the Official Battle of Britain Historical Society Webpage--http://battleofbritain.net/bobhsoc/index.html

The movie 'Battle of Britain' is also very well-done and available on DVD.

There are many good books about the battle. I like Len Deighton's 'Fighter' the best. Here is the Amazon link for this excellent book: http://www.amazon.com/Fighter-True-Story-Battle-Britain/dp/0785812083

German Luftwaffe B-17

Yes, it's a disconcerting sight--an American B-17 Flying Fortress painted in the livery of the Third Reich. There were several during the war, and occcasionally these captured B-17s would fly near formations. Usually they were used to train the German Luftwaffe in the flight characteristics of the enemy.

This particular B-17 went missing in action on December 12, 1942, very early in the war. Originally, this B-17F had the serial number#41-24585, and flew with the 303rd Bomb Group. The plane landed in a hay field near Melun, France, damaging the ball turret. The Germans were able to transport it to Netherlands, repair it, and fly it to Germany. The damaged ball turret was never replaced.

The plane was re-painted with German insignia and given serial number DL+XC. The underside was painted yellow. After careful examination at the Luftwaffe Test and Evaluation Center at Rechlin, the plane, newly named . "Wulfe Hound" made its maiden voyage with the Luftwaffe on March 17, 1943. It was later transferred to the Luftwaffe "Kampfgeschwader" KG200 Squadron at Rangesdforf, Germany on and took part in training and secret missions between May and June 1944.

Source, 303rd Bomb Group website. Link at http://www.303rdbg.com/pp-wulfehound.html