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Since this edition is sold out and no other editions are available, here is a similar item which may be of interest : |
Looking for Business by Ivan Berryman. (D) £110.00 | Storm Chasers by Nicolas Trudgian. £140.00 |
Signatures on this item | |||||
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |||||
Name | Info | ||||
Captain Gunther Schack (deceased) *Signature Value : £45 | Major Günther Schack was born in Bartenstein, a small town in Eastern Prussia, on 12 November 1917 as the son of Dr. Willy Schack and his wife, Dorothea (maiden name: Nietzki). He studied at the University of Stuttgart and at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule. In 1937, when he first tried to join the Luftwaffe, he was categorised as wehruntauglich (unsuited for military service) because of a sports injury earlier in his life. Günther Schack resubmitted an application as a volunteer and was accepted into the Luftwaffe on 2 September 1939. After being trained as a fighter pilot, Schack was posted to 7th Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51. Schack claimed first aerial victory in combat on 23 July 1941 on the Eastern front. Meanwhile, he had been promoted to the rank of Unteroffizier. After his 48th aerial victory, he was ordered back to Germany to serve as a flight instructor and was promoted to Leutnant on 1 January 1943. In mid 1943 he returned back to the Eastern front, now serving in the 9th Staffel of JG 51. He claimed his century mark in aerial combat on 3 September 1943. On 8 December 1943 he was made Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 51. Leutnant Günther Schack was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 April 1944 for 133 aerial victories.[2] Schack was then promoted to Hauptmann on 1 July 1944. In December 1944, now a Gruppenkommandeur, in charge of I./JG 51. After this Gruppe was disbanded on 1 May 1945 he briefly was named commander of the 4th Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3. By the end of the war, he had scored 174 victories in 780 aerial combats, and was shot down 15 times. Günther Schack died 14 June 2003 in Schmidt near Nideggen he was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1939 until the end of World War II in 1945. He claimed 174 enemy aircraft shot down, all of them on the Russian front. He survived being shot down 15 times during his 780 combat missions. After the war he lived secluded in the Eifel Mountains, and devoted himself to philosophical research. | ||||
Leutnant Hugo Broch *Signature Value : £55 | Vital to all fighter units are the pilots who make such superb wingmen that their leaders are loath to part with them. Hugo Broch was one such wingman. Having joined VI./JG54 in January he flew first with Horst Adameit (166 victories), and later with Bazi Sterr (130 victories), but soon demonstrated his own skill in combat. By the end of 1944 he had lifted his personal score to 71 victories. One of JG54s great Fw190 Aces, Hugo Broch saw combat on the Eastern and Baltic Fronts, and completed the war having flown 324 combat missions, and claiming 81 victories. He was awarded the Knights Cross. | ||||
Major Fritz Losigkeit (deceased) *Signature Value : £40 | Died 14th January 1994 | ||||
Major Heinz Lange (deceased) *Signature Value : £55 | At the outbreak of war Heinz Lange was with I./JG21 scoring his first victory in October 1939. He flew 76 missions in the Battle of Britain with 8./JG54, and never lost a wingman. After flying in the Balkan campaign he took part in the invasion of Russia, scoring 7 victories during the first week. In October 1941 he was given command of 1./JG54 and in 1942 command of 3./JG51. In January 1944 Heinz Lange returned to JG54 to command 1.Gruppe and then back to JG51 where he was appointed Kommodore of JG51 Molders, leading IV./JG51 at the same time. Heinz Lange flew over 628 missions and achieved 70 victories. He was awarded the Knight's Cross. Born 2nd October 1917, died 26th February 2006.
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The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
Fw190 | The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WWII. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the war many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the war dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended. |
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