Tim Heath - In Furious Skies

IN FURIOUS SKIES

To the memory of my uncle Reg Harwood who assisted in sowing the seeds of my fascination for Second World War aircraft so many years ago. Also, to my parents Trevor and Jean Heath, for all the books, technical explanations, the building of Airfix kits and the weekend trips to the air shows now many years ago. If it wasnt for you, this book would never have been written .

Flying with Hitlers Luftwaffe in the Second World War

Tim Heath

First published in Great Britain in 2022 by

PEN AND SWORD HISTORY

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Tim Heath, 2022

ISBN 978 1 52678 523 7

eBUP ISBN 978 1 52678 524 4

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52678 524 4

The right of Tim Heath to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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by Bob Collis

Most books dealing with the subject of the wartime Luftwaffe tend to fall into distinct categories. Some detail at length the campaigns fought, while others refer to the flaring personalities within the Nazi hierarchy. Many focus on the machines and their crews.

In Furious Skies: Flying with Hitlers Luftwaffe in the Second World War , written by Tim Heath, has managed to weave together from his extensive files the tangled strands of history covering all of the different aspects of the wartime Luftwaffes chequered history in a concise, apolitical and thoroughly readable manner.

By far the most compelling part of Tims narrative are the accounts from the people themselves. From the excited, nave exuberance of the Hitler Youth in gliders, through the cocky, self-assured and all-conquering young men of the Blitzkrieg, to the steely-eyed, cynical group of dwindling but highly experienced men who finally mutinied against their leaders as the tide of war changed. Their accounts I have found both sad and uplifting.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the history of the wartime Luftwaffe, it is to be found within the covers of this book.

Bob Collis

Author, historian and archivist

18 August 2021

My interest in the Luftwaffe began around the age of eight. At the time it was a typical boyhood fascination as the Second World War was still considered recent history, so much so it was rarely if ever mentioned or debated in any of the history lessons throughout the entirety of my school life. I vividly recall my mothers uncle, Reg Harwood, whom we used to visit almost every Saturday night back in the late 1970s. Reg was a widower living in a quaint former farmworkers cottage on the outskirts of the village of Harvington near Evesham. His living room was typically cosy, and I recall being amazed by the rows of highly polished antique brassware that adorned the fireplace and mantelpiece. He had worked as a foreman at the nearby Bomfords farm at Church Lench and recalled many stories from the years of the Second World War. One was how he often used to see Wellington bombers of the Royal Air Force towing targets and the crews of other bombers firing their machine guns at them as part of their training regimen; the discharged brass cartridge cases often came clattering down onto the corrugated roofing of his outbuildings. He then opened one of two old wooden biscuit barrels he kept on his sideboard and presented me with four of the spent cartridge cases that he had collected from his former address. If that wasnt enough to light the fires of enthusiasm further, he also had in his kitchen, on top of an antique wooden box either side of a chiming clock, a pair of 20mm cannon shell cases which Reg explained had been fired by a British aircraft and these had been given to him by a friend many years earlier. These two 20mm cases looked huge to me back then. Reg eventually gave them to me and today they are two of my most sentimental items due to the memories attached to them from my childhood and of a man who nurtured my interest, albeit it inadvertently, in military aircraft.

My fascination with German aircraft of the Second World War period lasted a great many years, and eventually I would meet many people connected either with the German air force or those involved in archaeology and the recovery of German aircraft crash sites in the UK. I began writing to Luftwaffe veterans, attempting wherever possible to document their experiences. At the time I had no idea at just how valuable the material I had gathered would be, as I was researching purely out of personal interest. Along the way I met many fascinating individuals, many of whom were old hands in researching Luftwaffe aircrews killed on operations over the UK. I learned a lot from them and as most steadily curtailed their research activities due to old age, and the expense of airmail letters to the various institutions in Germany, I continued. For a few years I teamed up with an ex-prison officer named Eddie Clarke from Chelmsford in Essex and together we would go through wadges of paperwork regarding German airmen lost over the UK. Eddie had been working closely with the German War Graves Commission based at Kassel in Germany, by making all research material available to the commission and any German families who might still be searching for information on their relatives. Together we acted in an unofficial capacity as a liaison between the UK and Germany where our research work was concerned. It was also around 1997 that I began to submit my research findings to the UK-based militaria magazine, The Armourer . My first real exclusive for the magazine was a two-part article on the loss of German fighter pilot Gefreiter Richard Riedel in November 1940. His family had kindly supplied me with a set of the very first photographs of him that would ever be published. It was also from this article and some of the letters I received following its publication from some notable names in the aviation history field, that I learned that this was also a cutthroat business where there are those who are prepared to take your hard work and publish it in their books, claiming all the credit and giving you none.

So, to me this book is more than just a book on the Luftwaffe; it is my chance to present what material I have collected over the years since I first began researching this fascinating subject. It is by no means an exhaustive study, as to produce a comprehensive text on this subject would require many volumes, not just one. So, I have attempted to cover as much as possible with the material at hand and write a book that I dedicate not only to Reg but also my parents, Trevor and Jean Heath, who encouraged my love of aviation by taking me and my sister Tracey as a family to many of the big air shows over the years. So, this book is for Reg and my wonderful parents; whilst sadly, Reg passed away many years ago, I am pretty sure my mum and dad will enjoy reading this book. I must also offer special thanks to aviation historian Bob Collis who agreed to read the manuscript and write a foreword, providing he was happy to have an association with it. Throughout, Bob has highlighted and corrected me on any errors in my original draft, thus limiting the chances of falling victim to the Anoraks, as Bob puts it in his own unequivocal manner. Bob is one of those old school aviation historians, a colourful yet amusing character, who is never afraid to speak his mind. His wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of aviation and archaeological research are without peer. Thank you, Bob; it has been an honour to have had your assistance with this book.