The Mammoth Book of Fighter Pilots
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Authors: Jon E. Lewis
T
HE
M
AMMOTH
B
OOK OF
FIGHTER PILOTS
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T
HE
M
AMMOTH
B
OOK OF
FIGHTER PILOTS
E
DITED BY
J
ON
E. L
EWIS
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
THE WINGS START TO GROW
Duncan Grinnell-Milne
THE RED AIR FIGHTER
Manfred von Richthofen
SAGITTARIUS RISING
Cecil Lewis
CRASHES AND COCKTAILS
John McGavock Grider
PRISONER OF WAR
James Norman Hall
A REGULAR DOG-FIGHT AND THE STRAFING OF A DRACHEN
Eddie V. Rickenbacker
BATTLE OF BRITAIN DIARY
D.H. Wissler
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
MISSION TO REGENSBURG
Beirne Lay
NIGHT MISSION ON THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL
Mark E. Berent
SEA HARRIER OVER THE FALKLANDS
Sharkey Ward
APPENDIX I: GERMAN WAR BIRDS
Anton H.G. Fokker
APPENDIX III: FIGHTER ACES OF THE WORLD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & SOURCES
The editor has made every effort to locate all persons having rights in the selections appearing 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 future editions. Queries regarding the use of material should be made to the editor c/o the publishers.
“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.
“The Red Air Fighter” is an extract from
The Red Battle Flyer
, Manfred von Richthofen, 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.
“Sagittarius Rising” is an extract from
Sagittarius Rising,
Cecil Lewis, Peter Davies Ltd, 1966 Copyright (C) Cecil Lewis 1936.
“Letters Home” by H.G. Downing, Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, London.
“Flying Fury” is an extract from
Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
, James McCudden, Aeroplane & General Publishing Co., 1940.
“Death Flies Faster” is an extract from
Ace of the Iron Cross
, Ernst Udet, edited by Stanley M. 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.
“Prisoner of War” is an extract from
High Adventure,
James Norman Hall, Houghton Mifflin, 1918.
“A Regular Dog-Fight and the Strafing of a Drachen” is an extract from
Fighting the Flying Circus
, Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker, Stokes, 1919.
“Action” is an extract from
Fighter Pilot
, Paul Richey, Pan Books Ltd, 1969. Copyright (C) Paul Richey 1969.
“Battle of Britain Diary”, D.H. Wissler, unpublished diary, Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, London. Reprinted by permission of Edith Kup.
“Finest Hour” by John Beard, quoted in
Their Finest Hour,
Allan A. Michie and Walter Graebner, Harcourt Brace, & Co., 1941.
“Tally Ho!” is an extract from
Clouds of Fear
, Roger Hall, Bailey Brothers and Swinfen Ltd, 1975. Copyright (C) 1975 R.M.D. Hall.
“Shall I Live For a Ghost?” is an extract from
The Last Enemy
, Richard Hillary, Macmillan & Co., 1943.
“Night Fighter” is an extract from
Cover of Darkness,
Roderick Chisholm, Chatto & Windus, 1953.
“Dogsbody” is an extract from
Wing Leader,
“Johnnie Johnson”, Goodall Publications Ltd. 1990. Copyright (C) 1956, 1974, 1990 J.E. Johnson.
“The Flying Tigers” is an extract from
Way of a Fighter,
Claire L. Chennault, Putnam, 1949. Copyright (C) Claire L. Chennault 1949.
“To Kill a Man” is an extract from
Heaven Next Stop,
Gunther Bloemertz, William Kimber & Co. Ltd., 1953. Copyright (C) William Kimber & Co. Ltd. 1953.
“The Straits of Messina” is an extract from
Straits of Messina
, Johannes Steinhoff, André Deutsch Ltd., 1973. Copyright (C) Paul List Verlag KG 1969. Translation copyright (C) André Deutsch Ltd. 1971.
“Baa Baa Black Sheep” is an extract from
Baa Baa Black Sheep
, “Pappy” Boyington, Putnam, 1958. Copyright (C) Gregory Boyington 1958.
“Heavy Babies” is an extract from
I Flew for the Führer
, Heinz Knoke, Corgi, 1956. trans John Ewing.
“Mission to Regensburg”, Beirne Lay, is extracted from
Bombs Away!
, edited by Stanley M. Ulanoff, Doubleday, 1971.
“Flying High” is an extract from
Yeager
, General Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos, Century Hutchinson, 1986. Copyright (C) Yeager Inc. 1985. Reprinted by permission of Random House Group Ltd.
“Marine Crusader” is extracted from
Life on the Line,
Philip Chinnery, Arrow Books, 1990. Copyright (C) Philip Chinnery 1988.
“Night Mission on the Ho Chi Minh Trail” by Mark Berent was first published in USAF
Air Force/Space Digest
, 1971.
“Sea Harrier Over the Falklands” is an extract from
Sea Harrier Over the Falklands
, “Sharkey” Ward, Leo Cooper, 1992. Copyright (C) Commander N.D. Ward, DSC, AFC, RN, 1992. Reproduced by permission of Pen & Sword Books.
“Interrogation” is an extract from
Tornado Down
, John Peters and John Nichol, Michael Joseph, 1992. Copyright (C) John Peters and John Nichol. Reproduced by permission of Penguin UK.
“German War Birds” is an extract from
The Flying Dutchman,
Anton H.G. Fokker, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1931. Copyright (C) Bruce Gould 1959.
INTRODUCTION
When the Wright brothers invented the world’s first practicable aircraft in 1903, they had a dream that flight would bring the world’s people closer together. It didn’t take long, of course, for someone to come up with the nightmare ruse of turning the airplane into a weapon. Bombs could be dropped from it. Bullets could be fired from it. Whoever first took up a gun in his tiny canvas and wood aircraft is lost to history, but by the Balkans War of 1912 the armed flying machine was in service . . . and the fighter pilot born.