Memoirs of a Stuka Pilot
Helmut Mahlke
May 2013 · Pen and Sword
5.0star
3 reviewsreport
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306
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About this ebook
“Well-written and holds the reader’s attention . . . an engaging book and a rare personal view of flying one of the most iconic aircraft of WWII.” —Firetrench
After recounting his early days as a naval cadet, including a voyage to the Far East aboard the cruiser Köln and as the navigator/observer of the floatplane carried by the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer during the Spanish Civil War, Helmut Mahlke describes his flying training as a Stuka pilot.
The author’s naval dive-bomber Gruppe was incorporated into the Luftwaffe upon the outbreak of war. What follows is a fascinating Stuka pilot’s-eye view of some of the most famous and historic battles and campaigns of the early war years: the Blitzkrieg in France, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the bombing of Malta, North Africa, Tobruk, and Crete, and, finally, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Mahlke also takes the reader behind the scenes into the day-to-day life of his unit and brings the members of his Gruppe to vivid life, describing their off-duty antics and mourning their losses in action. The story ends when he himself is shot down in flames by a Soviet fighter and is severely burned. He was to spend the remainder of the war in various staff appointments.
“An engaging, engrossing and exceptionally informative book. A worthy addition to any military enthusiast’s library and is unhesitatingly and heartily recommended.” —Aviation History
After recounting his early days as a naval cadet, including a voyage to the Far East aboard the cruiser Köln and as the navigator/observer of the floatplane carried by the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer during the Spanish Civil War, Helmut Mahlke describes his flying training as a Stuka pilot.
The author’s naval dive-bomber Gruppe was incorporated into the Luftwaffe upon the outbreak of war. What follows is a fascinating Stuka pilot’s-eye view of some of the most famous and historic battles and campaigns of the early war years: the Blitzkrieg in France, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the bombing of Malta, North Africa, Tobruk, and Crete, and, finally, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Mahlke also takes the reader behind the scenes into the day-to-day life of his unit and brings the members of his Gruppe to vivid life, describing their off-duty antics and mourning their losses in action. The story ends when he himself is shot down in flames by a Soviet fighter and is severely burned. He was to spend the remainder of the war in various staff appointments.
“An engaging, engrossing and exceptionally informative book. A worthy addition to any military enthusiast’s library and is unhesitatingly and heartily recommended.” —Aviation History
Ratings and reviews
5.0
3 reviews
About the author
Born in Berlin in 1913, HELMUT MAHLKE joined the Kriegsmarine as a cadet in 1932 before being transferred to the Luftwaffe three years later. He spent his whole operational wartime career with the same Stukagruppe. After the war, he played a leading role in establishing both the new Luftwaffe and Germanys new naval air arm. He died in 1998.
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