As new condition black boards with gold spine lettering contained in an as new condition non price-clipped photographic dust jacket. Includes Preface; Notes; List of Illustrations; Bibliography; Acknowledgments; Index; and a rear section of additional Patrick G. Eriksson publications. Illustrated with maps, charts, and a section of black-and-white photographic plates. "I was instructed to take the Gruppe over the leading elements of the Hitler Youth (HJ) Division in the Ardennes - at low level - to counter the enemy fighter-bomber attacks on them. We found them.Their tanks were abandoned. Their supplies of fuel and ammunition had not reached them. At that time, for such missions, there was a standing order forbidding a return without engaging the enemy, so I climbed .I shot down a Thunderbolt and in the same moment my aircraft burst into flames. I bailed out at about 5,000 m. That was the end of my war experiences, the beginning of my life as a POW and then later, sadly, as a Russian captive." - Oberleutnant Hans Hartigs, 4th Staffel, II/JG 26, from the rear outer jacket. "Alarmstart South completes Patrick Eriksson's Alarmastart trilogy on Second World War German fighter pilots, detailing their experiences in the Mediterranean theatre (1941-1944), and during the closing stages of the war over Normandy, Norway and Germany (1944-1945). He utilizes extensive personal reminiscences of veterans and original documents, set within a brief factual framework of campaigns, equipment and the progress of the war. Veterans who flew in Me 109, Fw 190 and Me 110/410 aircraft provide their stories in their own words. They range from junior NCOs to Colonels, including a senior fighter controller and even one of the Luftwaffe's psychologists. The Mediterranean theatre provided the top scoring aces on both sides for the entire war (excluding the Russian front battles): Hans Joachim Marseille (158 victory claims) on the German side and South African 'Pat' Pattle (an estimated 41+), on the Allied side. In the air battles over the Mediterranean region, many aircrew ended up 'in the drink' with little chance of being found. Occasionally, a miracle would happen, as with Dr Felix Sauer of JG 53, a pre-war biology teacher, who used his knowledge of chemistry and a calm demeanor to survive eight day s in a dinghy at sea without water, apart from rain or dew. For many pilots the war would end only in death, for others in imprisonment. Oberfeldwebel Horst Petzschler endured forced labour in southern Russia: 'On 22 September 1949 I arrived in Berlin, my home town, weighing 118 pounds, half dead but having survived!' ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Having retired after a career as a university lecturer in geology, Professor Patrick G. Eriksson has devoted many years to research for this book, the last part of a trilogy following titles on NW Euroe 1939-44 and the Eastern Front 1941-45. He returned to primary sources and, crucially, as an associate member of the German Air Force Beteran's Association since 1974, he has interviewed and corresponded with more than a hundred former members of the Lufwaffe, from junior NCOs to Geschwader commanders. Such primary material is unavailable anywhere else and can never be gathered again.
