The Mammoth Book of Fighter Pilots: Eyewitness Accounts of Air Combat from the Red Baron to Today's Top Guns

327 Pages·2002·1.87 MB·English

by  Jon E. Lewis

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF
FIGHTER PILOTS
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THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF
FIGHTER PILOTS
EDITED BY JON E. LEWIS
WITH JULIAN JENKINS
ROBINSON
London
Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd 2002
Collection and editorial material copyright © J. Lewis-Stempel 2002
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1-84119-346-1
eISBN 978-1-780-33272-7
Printed and bound in the EU
This one is for Alice Jenkins,
Tristram and Freda Lewis-Stempel, all “ace” kids.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments & Sources
Introduction
THE WINGS START TO GROW Duncan Grinnell-Milne
THE RED AIR FIGHTER Manfred von Richthofen
BLUE NOSE William A. Bishop
SAGITTARIUS RISING Cecil Lewis
LETTERS HOME H. G. Downing
FLYING FURY James McCudden
DEATH FLIES FASTER Ernst Udet
CRASHES AND COCKTAILS John McGavock Grider
PRISONER OF WAR James Norman Hall
A REGULAR DOG-FIGHT AND THE STRAFING OF A DRACHEN Eddie V. Ricken-
backer
ACTION Paul Richey
BATTLE OF BRITAIN DIARY D.H. Wissler
FINEST HOUR John Beard
TALLY HO! Roger Hall
SHALL I LIVE FOR A GHOST? Richard Hillary
NIGHT FIGHTER Roderick Chisholm
DOGSBODY James “Johnnie” Johnson
THE FLYING TIGERS Claire L. Chennault
TO KILL A MAN Gunther Bloemertz
THE STRAITS OF MESSINA Johannes Steinhoff
BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP “Pappy” Boyington
HEAVY BABIES Heinz Knoke
MISSION TO REGENSBURG Beirne Lay
FLYING HIGH Chuck Yeager
MARINE CRUSADER Bruce Martin
NIGHT MISSION ON THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL Mark E. Berent
SEA HARRIER OVER THE FALKLANDS Sharkey Ward
INTERROGATION John Nichol
APPENDIX I: GERMAN WAR BIRDS Anton H.G. Fokker
APPENDIX II: DICTA BOELCKE
APPENDIX III: FIGHTER ACES OF THE WORLD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & SOURCES
Theeditorhasmadeeveryefforttolocateallpersonshavingrightsintheselectionsappearing
in this anthology and to secure permission for reproduction of material from the holders of
such rights. In the event of any errors being inadvertently made, these will be corrected in fu-
ture editions. Queries regarding the use of material should be made to the editor c/o the pub-
lishers.
“The Wings Starts to Grow” is an extract from Wind in the Wires, Duncan Grinnell-Milne,
Mayflower Books Ltd, 1966. Copyright (C) Duncan Grinnell-Milne 1966.
“TheRedAirFighter”isanextractfromTheRedBattleFlyer,ManfredvonRichthofen,trans
T. Ellis Barker, McBride & Co., 1918.
“Blue Nose” is an extract from Winged Warfare, William A. Bishop, Pan Books Ltd., 1978.
Copyright (C) Stanley M. Ulanoff 1967.
“SagittariusRising”isanextractfromSagittariusRising,CecilLewis,PeterDaviesLtd,1966
Copyright (C) Cecil Lewis 1936.
“Letters Home” by H.G. Downing, Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, Lon-
don.
“Flying Fury” is an extract from Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, James McCudden,
Aeroplane & General Publishing Co., 1940.
“DeathFliesFaster”isanextractfromAceoftheIronCross,ErnstUdet,editedbyStanleyM.
Ulanoff,Doubleday & Co., 1970.Trans. Richard K.Riehn. Copyright (C) Stanley M.Ulanoff
1970.
“Crashes & Cocktails” is an extract from War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator (John
McGavock Grider), John Hamilton Ltd, 1926.