KNOWN AS “THE ALLIES’ SKY-HIGH HEROES”, OUR VICTORIOUS WWII PILOTS OVER BRITAIN,EUROPE, AND THE MEDITERREAN WERE THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY HAD NO MONOPOLY ONVALOR DURING THE AIR COMBAT – – THEIR SKY RIVALS WERE OFTEN JUST AS DARING, HEROIC,COURAGEROUS, AND GALLANT – As these two Schiffer Company republished books testifyReviewed and Highly Recommended as Christmas Gifts by Don DeNevi“GERMAN FIGHTER ACE – ERICH HARTMANN, The Life Story of the World’s Highest ScoringAce”, Photo Selection & Commentary by Ursula Hartmann/Introduction by Manfred Jager/Translated from the German by James C, Cable. Schiffer Military History, Schiffer Publishing Ltd:296 pages, hc, 9” x 11 ½”; $59.99. Visit, www.schifferbooks.com.“GERMAN FIGHTER ACE – HANS-JOACHIM MARSEILLE, The Life Story of the Star of Africa”, byFranz Kurowski, Translated from the German by Don Cox. Schiffer Military History, SchifferPublishing Ltd: 233 pages, hc, 9” x 11 ½”; $49.99. Visit, www.schifferbooks.com.In “ERICH HARTMANN”, the hardcover, as well as the fighter pilot himself, we have WWII’shighest-scoring, most successful ace on either side. He was active over Belorussia and Kursk andcontinued shooting down the planes of the Allies right to the very end, 9 May 1945, VE Day. TheGermans credited him with 352 victories, but the British and American officials only cited 263.“What makes Erich stand out from the crowd, even by today’s standards,” reads the insidejacket flap, “was his personal integrity and unshakable character which helped him remain true
to his convictions while enduring merciless burdens, and the courage to be tough when his
convictions demanded it, even when it was inopportune and brought more than passingdisadvantages.”During WWII, the Soviets places a hefty price on his head. Despite this, he made no attemptsto flee or evade aerial combat, but at the end of the war chose to enter captivity with his men.Thus, it was that he spent 10 ½ years behind Russian Siberian barbed wire. Erich not onlysurvived captivity and forced labor but got through it physically healthy and psychologicallysound.His life story published by Schiffer became a great success in Germany when it was initiallypublished in 1992. This volume was reprinted recently, and every page is just as brilliantly laidout to reflect Erich’s life entire as the original book. “He was a man who wanted to become adoctor, but whose fate it was it was to become and remain a soldier,” reads the final sentenceof the flap. So do the book’s 560 b/w photos.In “German Fighter Ace: HANS-JOACHIM MARSEILLE”, gift recipient-buffs, or general warreaders, have another tribute to one of Germany’s top pilots of World War II available. Hisexploits are legendary, 17 victories in one day, and 158 total victories, 151 of them in NorthAfrica, during 382 missions. All these aerial battles were achieved before Hans-Joaquin turned23 years of age. Marseille was also one of the most highly decorated pilots in the Luftwaffe,and was awarded the Diamonds to the Knights Cross, one of only 27 in all the war, as well asthe German Cross, and the coveted Italian Medaglia d’Oro. Also chronicled is the combat life ofJG 27, Marseille’s unit, including accounts of Marseille’s fellow pilots, Cream of the Crop Edu
Neumann, Werner Schroer, Gustav Rodel, and others.
