Black Tulip is the dramatic story of history's top fighter ace, Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann. It's also the story of how his service under Hitler was simplified and elevated to Western mythology during the Cold War. Over 1,404 wartime missions, Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills, and his career contains all the dramas you would expect. There were the frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War that ended with conflict and angst. Just when Hartmann’s second career was faltering, he was adopted by a network of writers and commentators personally invested in his welfare and reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published elaborate, celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. With each dogfight tale put into print, Hartmann’s legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. A simplified, one-dimensional account of his life - devoid of the harder questions about allegiance and service under Hitler - has gone unchallenged for almost a generation. Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we’re used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we’ve inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.

William Gregory, "Greg," to all, was born into a sharecropper's life in the hills of northcentral Tennessee. From the back of a mule-drawn plow, Greg learned the value of resilience and the importance of living a determined life. Refusing to accept a life of continued poverty, Gregy sought and found a way out - a work-study college program that made it possible to leave farming behind him forever. While at college, Greg completed the Civilian Pilot Training Program and was subsequently accepted into the Army's pilot training program. Earning his wings in 1942, Greg became a P-38 combat pilot and served in North Africa during the summer of 1943 - a critical time when the Luftwaffe was still a potent threat, and America had begun the march northward from the Mediterranean into Europe proper. Following the war, Greg served with a B-29 unit, then transitioned to the new, red-hot B-47 strategic bomber. In his frequent deployments, he was always assigned the same target in the Soviet Union - Tblisi, Stalin's home town. While a B-47 pilot, Greg was selected to join America's first high-altitude program - the Black Knights. Flying RB-57D aircraft, Greg and his team flew peripheral "ferret" missions around the Soviet Union and its satellites, collecting critical order-of-battle data so desperately needed by the Air Force at that time. When that program neared its design end, and following the Gary Powers shoot-down over the Soviet Union, Greg was assigned to command of the CIA's U-2 unit at Edwards AFB. It was during that five-year command that Greg and his team provided critical overflight intelligence, including during the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam build-up. He found time to also become one of the first to fly U-2s off aircraft carriers in a demonstration project. Following his U-2 command, Greg attended the National War College, was assigned to the reconnaissance office at the Pentagon, and then was named Vice-Commandant of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Greg retired from the Air Force in 1972.

This book is compilations of the 4-view color profile, scale plans and photo details of the single variant of the Lockheed P-38L-5-LO Lightning. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also photos of the details in B&W and color.

This book is compilations of the 4-view color profile, scale plans and photo details of the single variant of the Messerschmitt Me 163 B-1 Komet. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also photos of the details in B&W and color.

This book is compilations of the 4-view color profile, scale plans and photo details of the single variant of the NAA P-51D-5-NA Mustang. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also photos of the details in B&W and color.

This book is compilations of the 4-view color profile, scale plans and photo details of the single variant of the PLZ P11.a. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also photos of the details in B&W and color.

Scale plans in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 of the P-51B/C & F-6C Mustang.

The next book in the popular Polish Wings series is on the famous Russian WW2 bombers in Polish Air Forces. Covers duty of these aircraft during WW2 and postwar period. More than 120 photos, mostly unpublished, and many color profiles.

40 color profiles of the famous Henschel Hs 129, a German WW2 ground-attack aircraft. German and foreign users’ camouflages are shown.

This book examines the genesis of the AT-9 design, its competitors and, eventually, comrades-in-arms, with whom AT-9s were always literally the best and the brightest, and looks at the fielding of the aircraft to the 24 initial stations as well as an astonishing number of unusual and special assignments – including assignment to line, tactical units.After producing 791 aircraft between September 1941 and January 31, 1943, and assigning every single one of them, and having served actively and continuously through to VJ-Day, exactly one complete AT-9 survives, and this solitary example is actually a composite of several aircraft.

This book describes famous Bf 109 G variants with DB 605 A engine. Technical aspects of all variants. Books describes all variants differences in detail. A detailed technical description is attached. All variants are lavishly illustrated by pictures including strip down and walk around pictures of the fighter and its systems. 1/72 scale plans of all versions.Colour profiles.

In the early stages of World War Two, the Italian Forces in Abyssinia, East Africa, consisting of 200,000 troops and nearly 400 aircraft constituted a grave threat to Kenya and the Sudan. To meet this threat three South African Air Force (SAAF) fighter squadrons were deployed to East Africa to counter the attacking Italian Air Force. The three squadrons operated mostly old and antiquated bi-planes in the form of Hawker Furies, Gloster Gauntlets and Gloster Gladiators. Between then they did also operate a number of Hawker Hurricane Mk. Is, of which some still had fabric wing surfaces and two-bladed wooden propellers. These aircraft were also passed along between the various units, depending on the area that had the highest requirement. Among the three squadrons, 1 Squadron primarily used Gloster Gladiators, while 2 Squadron used Furies and Gladiators, with 3 Squadron being the primary users of the Hurricanes. These units were joined by 4 Squadron, training on Furies and Curtiss Mohawks, before moving to Egypt for operations in the Desert. 3 Squadron later converted to these Curtiss Mohawks, and eventually ended up with a mix of Mohawks, again supplemented by Gladiators. 41 Squadron, an Army-Cooperation unit, also converted to a fighter squadron after the major campaign was completed and served as a holding unit in East Africa, flying Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIs. One Detached Flight, operating Mohawks during the final part of the campaign, was renumbered as B-Flight of 3 Squadron and joined the primary unit for the last major operations in East Africa. The squadrons operated on all fronts in Somaliland and Abyssinia, and made a considerable contribution towards the victory that was achieved in that campaign. Commenting on the part, that the SAAF Fighter Squadrons played in the campaign, Sir Archibald Sinclair said: "When the Italian come to draw up a list of the factors that caused them to lose the East African Empire, they will place the South African Air Force somewhere near the top of the list”. This volume covers the combat history of these fighter squadrons during the campaign, as well as the colors and markings of their aircraft. Primary sources, such as Squadron war Diaries and Pilot Logbooks. were used in the preparation of the text contained herein. This volume contains 23 full-color plates and 112 b&wphotos, indicating the people and aircraft operated by these squadrons. This volume will be followed by two further volumes, tracing the onwards history of these squadrons as well as additional SAAF Fighter Squadrons during the campaign in North Africa and Malta, and the campaign in Sicily, Italy and the Balkans. The authors have already written eight books covering the colors and markings of the SAAF and SA Army equipment in a series of booklets entitled South African Colours and Markings, numbers 1 to 8.

La première édition de cet album historique, référence incontestable et pratiquement introuvable, est enfin rééditée, revue, corrigée et augmentée. L’ouvrage offre avec un luxe d’informations, de détails et de photos un panorama exhaustif de l’intervention de la chasse allemande dans le ciel de Normandie et de l’Île de France puis en Provence, après le débarquement allié sur les côtes méditerranéennes.

Those who knew Wing Commander Alan Michael ‘Sticky’ Murphy remember a man who was an inspiration both on and off duty. Indeed, it motivated James H. Coley, who served as a navigator in No. 23 Squadron, to write a book dedicated to his commanding officer’s memory and honour. In 1941 Sticky joined the ‘cloak and dagger’ 1419 (Special Duties) Flight, pioneering short take off and landings dropping agents into occupied Europe. It was extremely hazardous and daring work. On one flight his Lysander was ambushed by Germans, with Sticky having to fly home seriously wounded, and his exploits on a mission to rescue a comrade, John Nesbitt-Dufort, would earn him the award of the Distinguished Service Order. Such feats made him a legend in the secret and clandestine circles in which he moved, a time Sticky recalled as ‘The greatest fun ever.’ In 1943 Sticky converted to Mosquitoes, and was posted to Malta and No. 23 Squadron. Night after night Sticky led the way, following the Squadron motto ‘Semper Aggressus – Always on the attack’, which he was more inclined to translate as ‘Right lads! After the bastards!’. Sticky soon took command of No 23 Squadron, and became loved for his humanity, daring leadership, and natural charm to all. In 1944 Sticky returned to the United Kingdom and Bomber Command’s No. 100 Group, carrying out dangerous intruder operations against German night fighter bases, and it was on one such operation that Sticky flew his final fateful sortie.It was said that those who knew Sticky never forgot his infectious laugh, his joy of living, and indomitable personality. Let there be no doubt that in any Valhalla of warriors, Sticky Murphy sits beside his contemporaries on equal terms and with a smile.

Shot down in his Avro Manchester on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942 Bomber Command observer and navigator John Valentine saw out the rest of the Second World War as a prisoner in Germany. During that period, he wrote extensively to his wife Ursula, telling her of his survival, the circumstances in which he was shot from the sky, his capture, and the daily rigours of life as a prisoner of war. Extraordinarily, and despite being extremely ill, when John was finally liberated he brought back all the letters and photographs he had received from Ursula. Across all their correspondence, parts of which had been blacked out, the word ‘Gepruft’ (‘checked’ in German) had been stamped by the German censor. In addition to the correspondence written during the dark days when John was a prisoner, further letters exist penned when a pregnant Ursula lived in London at the time of the Luftwaffe Blitz, John was training for aircrew duties with the Royal Air Force, and during his operational career with No. 49 Squadron on Hampden and Manchester bombers. In total, this extraordinary archive consists of 224 letters and postcards from John and 305 from Ursula, with a further 73 written to John during his long periods of hospitalisation after his return.These letters, which have been compiled and edited by John and Ursula’s daughter Frances, provide a unique and unprecedented insight in to how two people struggled to find solace, and keep their hopes and love alive despite the anxieties of John’s dangerous operational life and his three years behind barbed wire. Illustrated with previously unpublished photographs Gepruft is a truly remarkable and comprehensive account of the effect of the Second World War on the lives of a young married couple, and their generation.

The aim of those who created the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) was clear – to provide a world-class facility to serve as a point for recognition, remembrance and reconciliation for Bomber Command. In 2018 that aim was achieved.‘Our Story, Your History – The International Bomber Command Centre’ details the story behind the IBCC, the people who came up with the initial idea and the extraordinary dedication and creativity that made the project a reality. The IBCC’s Mark Dodds tells the remarkable story of how the concept arose, the various design and construction phases, the remarkable efforts to raise the necessary funds, and the cutting-edge development of the comprehensive losses database and digital archive. Dr Robert Owen provides a military history of Bomber Command from the first operational flight, less than an hour after war was declared against Germany in September 1939, to the end of hostilities five years and eight months later in May 1945. Historian and author Steve Darlow tells the human story of the aircrews who flew and fought in the skies above Germany and the Nazi occupied territories, drawing on numerous first-hand accounts from veterans. Dr Dan Ellin provides an insight in to the experiences of the male and female ground personnel who served with the Command, and author Sean Feast details the tragic stories behind the loss of specific crews, all of whom are remembered on the IBCC’s Wall of Names.Illustrated throughout with images showing the development of the project and wartime pictures of those whose memory is central to the project, ‘Our Story, Your History’ is a fitting reminder to current and future generations of the commitment and sacrifice associated with the men and women, from 62 different nations, who came together in Bomber Command during the Second World War.