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368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
I just finished reading The German Aces Speak: World War II Through the Eyes of the Luftwaffe’s Most Important Commanders. I had high hopes for this book when I first saw it on Goodreads. I was not disappointed. To tell you simply that it is comprised of the stories of four of Germany’s top fighter aces from World War Two as conveyed to the author would be accurate, but it would not do justice to this book. It is a refreshing and fascinating look into the lives and minds of great military men from the other side, the privilege of which is rarely ours.
German veterans of World War II have had to live with an unjustly deserved taint—presumed guilt by association with the barbarous acts of Nazi monsters who ruled Germany from 1933 until 1945. Nazi Germany, in the minds of many people, is all about SS goons, death camps, evil doctors, mass exterminations, war crimes, and anti-Semitism. The German Aces Speak dispels that myth as it introduces us to four great men of the German Luftwaffe--fighter aces who, yes, did shoot down many Allied aircraft during the war, but who were civilized gentlemen, gallant and chivalrous warriors, and humane opponents. Professional military men all, they were apolitical—not members of the NDSAP (National Socialist German Workers’ Party, i.e. “the Nazis”). They fought for their country, as any good patriot would. As members of the unique fraternity of combat pilots, these men fought well, fought fair, and when the occasion allowed, were gallant and even merciful toward their foes.
The German Aces Speak is a required read for any military history enthusiast, especially World War II enthusiasts. Every year we lose more of our veterans from the greatest war in human history. Their memories, experiences, and wisdom are priceless and irreplaceable. The author has done us a service in finding and preserving these stories from Germany’s “greatest generation.” It gives hope that, even amidst the unadulterated evil of criminals like Hitler, Goring, Himmler, and Goebbels, there were men like Macky Steinhoff, who wept over the death of a Soviet fighter pilot who had become trapped in his burning plane after engaging him in a brief dogfight; and like Adolf Galland and Gunther Lutzow who, for the sake of their men, dared to stand up to the craven and amateurish leadership of Reichmarschall Hermann Goering. Even while the world lurched in the bloody throes of world war, German and Allied pilots regarded each other with respect and admiration, treating each other with chivalry in combat, and magnanimity in victory.