Description
The first edition of Their Finest Hours: Narratives of the R.A.F. and Luftwaffe in World War II by Jerome Klinkowitz, signed by nine Luftwaffe pilots.
Octavo, xi, 147pp. Blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on the spine. Stated “First Edition, 1989” on the copyright page. In the publisher’s fine dust jacket, bright illustrations. Signed by nine Luftwaffe pilots on a bookplate affixed to the front free endpaper.
This copy is signed by the following pilots: Hubert Heckmann, Kurt Schulze, Hans-Joachim “Hajo” Herrmann, Hans Busch, Walter Boener, Horst Petzschler, Walter Schuck, Ernst Scheufele, and Wolfgang Späte.
Hubert Heckmann – Bf 109 pilot with JG 1 and later JG 7, credited with 5 victories; Kurt Schulze – Bf 109 pilot with JG 5 and JG 51, credited with 3 victories in 103 combat missions. He later commanded a JG 51 squadron during the fighting around Danzig in 1945; Hans-Joachim “Hajo” Herrmann – Veteran of roughly 320 bomber combat missions who later devised the “Wilde Sau” night-fighter tactic and became the first commander of JG 300. Credited with 9 aerial victories; Hans Busch – Luftwaffe pilot who flew the Me 262 jet with KG 51 late in the war; Walter Boener – Fighter pilot with JG 54, credited with 13 confirmed aerial victories and extensive ground-attack service on the Eastern Front; Horst Petzschler – Bf 109 pilot with JG 3 and JG 51, credited with 26 confirmed victories in 297 combat sorties. He was shot down or forced down thirteen times; Walter Schuck – Luftwaffe fighter pilot, credited with 206 victories in more than 500 combat missions, including 8 victories while flying the Me 262 with JG 7; Ernst Scheufele – JG 5 Bf 109 pilot credited with 18 victories. He served over Norway, Finland, and the Russian Front before transferring to the defense of Germany in 1944; Wolfgang Späte – Credited with 99 victories, mainly with JG 54. He later became a leading Me 163 Komet test pilot and commanded JG 400, the Luftwaffe’s operational rocket-fighter unit.
