I recommend this interesting narrative by Johannes Steinhoff for anyone interested in the history of the Luftwaffe at a pivotal moment in history. Although written 25 years after the Second World War, the former Kommodore of the German 77th fighter wing does not disappoint the reader as he vividly chronicles the disintegration of the unit under his command over the skies of Sicily between June 21st and July 13th, 1943. Faced with an overwhelming array of opposition against himself and his men, Steinhoff could do little but watch the round the clock Allied bombing raids destroy airfields, ground crews, and his planes.. On a daily basis, Steinhoff narrates vivid stories of sleep deprived and exhausted German pilots flying away on futile missions returning(less one or two pilots) to bombed out airfields a few hours later. The Luftwaffe pilots nevertheless carried out their their desperate missions as instructed despite the mounting operational difficulties that confronted them. This memoir describes how Steinhoffs pilots and ground crew managed to resourcefully scavenge for parts, supplies, and fuel while repairing their damaged planes and airfields under extreme wartime circumstances. Oberst Steinhoff and his men could do little but follow their orders, all the while being inexorably pushed from Sicily towards the Italian mainland in the wake of the massive Allied invasion. Although there are several interesting descriptions of aerial engagements mentioned in this book, it is important to note that this narrative does not contain swashbuckling tales of derring-do above the skies of war-torn Europe. This is a no-nonsense non-romanticized wartime narrative, an insightful memoir written by a conscientious German Luftwaffe colonel doing his best to keep the men under his command motivated and alive from mission to mission. Steinhoff recognized, as did many of his colleagues, that at this point in time Germany had already lost the war and that the days of the Third Reich were numbered. He witnessed first hand the near-infinite supply of war material, planes, fuel, and men the allies had at their disposal and came to the correct conclusions. The German High Command became increasingly detached from reality and could not seem to understand why their beleaguered forces were incapable of stemming the tide of the Allied and Soviet armies and Air Force(s). Was it cowardice and incompetence, 'softness' and dereliction of duty that was causing these catastrophic losses for the Luftwaffe, as Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring so vigorously argued? Or was Germany finally outclassed, out-gunned and significantly outnumbered (sometimes at ratios greater than 50 to 1) on nearly every front as many German officers have opined in their memoirs after the fact? The German Reich at this point in mid 1943 still had the ability to mass produce planes and machines, but was quickly running out of soldiers, men, fuel, and more importantly trained pilots. The best part of this book for me was Steinhoff's insightful epilogue on this chapter of history (and on the subject of war in general) written after many years of service in both the German Air Force and later NATO. A worthwhile read written by an intelligent, brave, and conscientious leader of men.
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