Review

An Eagle’s Odyssey - My Decade as a Pilot in Hitler’s Luftwaffe, Is written by Johannes Kaufmann from his own memoirs he created from the time he spent serving during peace and war time to bring us a very detailed insight into what it was like for a pilot of the Axis forces. Facing an abundance of Allied forces in some of the most leading edge aircraft created by the German’s, It was definitely a battle for the skies.

An Eagle’s Odyssey or it’s original birth name ‘ Meine Flugberichte’ originally published in 1989 (Now published by Greenhill Books and has been provided for review by Pen and Sword Books Limited), is a hardback book containing 233 pages of high quality matte paper. The dust cover has a very interesting appearance, the front has some Ju52’s and Bf110’s and on the back is a picture of Johannes Kaufmann himself in his Luftwaffe uniform, a captured Luftwaffe Bf109, a Ju88 due to crash over the bay of Biscay and preparing a Bf110 for a bombing mission. Johannes was born in 1915 and started his working life as an apprentice in an aircraft factory before volunteering in 1934 for the Luftwaffe. He finished his career as a Hauptmann commanding a Staffel of Bf109 fighters.

The book is formed of 12 chapters separated into ‘The Peacetime Years’ which is formed of 4 chapters,
Chapter 1 - Fliegerschule Magdeburg
Chapter 2 - Fliegerschule (S) Schleissheim
Chapter 3 - 1./Jagdgeschwader 132 ‘Richthofen’
Chapter 4 - Fliegerschule Salzwedel
and ‘ The Years of Conflict’ section formed of 8 chapters,
Chapter 5 - Kampfgruppe z.b.V.9
Chapter 6 - Flugzeugführerschule A/B 120
Chapter 7 - Chef Aw Le Bourget
Chapter 8 - Zerstörerschule Schleissheim
Chapter 9 - Schnellkampfgeschwader 210
Chapter 10 - Zerstörergeschwader 1
Chapter 11 - Kampfgeschwader 40
Chapter 12 - Jagdgeschwader 4

In The Years of Conflict section, it goes into detail about the logistics of having to get the Luftwaffe and their flying machines to bases and into the occupied sections of Europe for some of the biggest campaigns of the Second World War. Which include the occupation of the Rhineland, to the Invasion of Poland and D-Day.

Conclusion

I think this book provides an insight into one of the members of the Axis forces’ side of the War, it shows the issues that they faced and the daily struggles they went through. It also shows the training and challenges a new pilot had to face to join the Luftwaffe. I always enjoy reading memoirs of people who were actually involved in the war, but this one ranks quite high on my list. Even though it’s translated from German it has comes across well and makes for an excellent read.