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Stormbird: Flying Through Fire as a Luftwaffe Ground-Attack Pilot and Me 262 Ace
Bomber pilots who become fighter aces are rare-Hermann Buchner was one. A Luftwaffe NCO pilot and Knight's Cross holder, the author gives a riveting account of his training with the pre-war Austrian airforce, instructing with the Luftwaffe, then the terrifying ground attack operations on the Eastern Front trying to stop the Russian mincing machine. Sometimes taking off from his home airfield while under Soviet shellfire, he paints a picture of a man surviving against incredible odds, who became one of the elite with JG7, and learned that the important thing with the Me 262 was to land near a convenient foxhole . . .
- GenresWorld War IIAviation
176 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 30, 2023
"STORMBIRD" is the story of the author's life as a combat pilot in the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, first with a ground attack unit (fighter-bomber) on the Eastern Front and later as a jet fighter pilot on the Western Front (1944-45).
Buchner, an Austrian by birth, had served as an apprentice baker between the wars before joining the Austrian Air Force in 1937. Within a year, through the Anschluss, Austria was incorporated into the German Reich. Consequently, the Austrian Air Force was absorbed into the Luftwaffe. Buchner underwent flight training, showing an aptitude for flying. This led to him being made a flight instructor upon completion of training. He would be retained in Germany in this role until he managed to wrangle a transfer into a frontline unit early in 1942.
"STORMBIRD" also has a remarkable array of photos, illustrations, and footnotes which lend a solid historical veracity to the text. Any history buff and aviation enthusiast will love this book.
Buchner, an Austrian by birth, had served as an apprentice baker between the wars before joining the Austrian Air Force in 1937. Within a year, through the Anschluss, Austria was incorporated into the German Reich. Consequently, the Austrian Air Force was absorbed into the Luftwaffe. Buchner underwent flight training, showing an aptitude for flying. This led to him being made a flight instructor upon completion of training. He would be retained in Germany in this role until he managed to wrangle a transfer into a frontline unit early in 1942.
"STORMBIRD" also has a remarkable array of photos, illustrations, and footnotes which lend a solid historical veracity to the text. Any history buff and aviation enthusiast will love this book.
March 8, 2021
For all the fascinating and death defying exploits of this relentless ground attack/fighter pilot, this book had all the excitement of John Major reading a spreadsheet. It may be something to do with the translation (I'm presuming the original was in German) dulling down the language but the number of times phrases such as 'I breathed a sigh of relief' or 'my Kommandeur congratulated me on the outcome of the mission' really grated. The facts are astonishing but so underplayed you sometimes didn't notice them; dangling off chimneys and trees in his parachute, massive injuries, breaking his feet as he tried to push open the cockpit of a stricken plane all relayed in dreary prose. Some facts were too startling to be hidden, such as his casual mention of the retreating German army machine gunning 30,000 horses as they retreated from the Crimea; the bodies were bulldozed into the sea and Buchner describes flying over this and how the bodies appeared like meat floating in soup - chilling. He also seemed to have a lack of self awareness always imagining that he had a good relationship with local enemy civilians - a strange encounter with some Belgian women, a friendship with French prisoners who made fighter planes that he test flew (and, to his surprise, sabotaged) and good relations with Russian women. No mention of the fact that he was part of a brutal invading military machine ravaging their country. He even complained that the Russian were beastly!
Although the tag line describes Buchner as one of the top scoring Me 262 aces, this only features in the final parts of the book. And even here he desribes, for example, a devastating attack on an American Lightning (so overwhelming that the American pilot thought he had been hit by flak) but gives no sense of the feeling of flying, let alone flying in the most advanced plane of the war. In fact, not once in the entire book did he talk about the feeling of being in the air, the intensity of combat and the moments of terror. Contrast that with accounts by Pierre Closterman, Geoffrey Wellum or Heinz Knocke where you feel you are there in the cockpit with them, flying on the line between life and death.
All in all a book of great historic interest but not a riveting read.
Although the tag line describes Buchner as one of the top scoring Me 262 aces, this only features in the final parts of the book. And even here he desribes, for example, a devastating attack on an American Lightning (so overwhelming that the American pilot thought he had been hit by flak) but gives no sense of the feeling of flying, let alone flying in the most advanced plane of the war. In fact, not once in the entire book did he talk about the feeling of being in the air, the intensity of combat and the moments of terror. Contrast that with accounts by Pierre Closterman, Geoffrey Wellum or Heinz Knocke where you feel you are there in the cockpit with them, flying on the line between life and death.
All in all a book of great historic interest but not a riveting read.
Want to Read
November 13, 2013So far, I'm soaking up the facts, but in terms of "story" (and all history is "story"), Buchner is very "show don't tell" - it would have been good if he'd either had a narrative talent (which he doesn't), or a gifted co-author (I see none in the credits). So my mind has to fill in the details, and I have to find a way to amuse myself while reading this - much like reconstructing a joke after the teller has already ruined it. It can be done, but it's sad that such a dramatic story with such good detail is told in the "and then... and then" style of a schoolkid.
In any case, he's filling in a lot of the blank space I've had about the Luftwaffe, and the photos are really good material for the military historian with an interest in aviation.
ETA: I own a different version of this, published in softcover by Crécy.
In any case, he's filling in a lot of the blank space I've had about the Luftwaffe, and the photos are really good material for the military historian with an interest in aviation.
ETA: I own a different version of this, published in softcover by Crécy.
November 10, 2020
A fascinating autobiographical account by a former Luftwaffe pilot, Hermann Buchner.
First of all, I am giving this book only three stars because it is white-washing so much. Buchner pretends that Nazism was something that happened to other people. He comments that others were Nazis, or that the national-socialist movement was popular in certain regions, but never acknowledges any political belief by himself. He comments on the presence of Jews in a town in the German-occupied zone of the USSR, without the slightest reflection on their fate. As for the other civilians in the area, apparently they were always welcoming and hospitable, which is difficult to believe. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this autobiography is, like so many others, more than a little dishonest and self-serving. While I would not condemn a man for supporting his fellow soldiers in combat, this total lack of reflection on the cause they fought for is objectionable.
That aside, it is a really interesting book. An NCO pilot of Austrian birth, Buchner spent most of his career flying ground attack missions with the Schlachtflieger, acquiring a lot of combat experience both during times of German success and during the retreat. His account is mostly sober, undramatic and professional. It gives a good insight in the life at a close air support unit near the front, the chaos of combat, and the gradual erosion and final collapse of the Luftwaffe. Buchner clearly was both courageous and resourceful, and above all very lucky to survive. It is a very personal account of the man’s many (mis)adventures, without much of an attempt to look beyond his personal experience, but this bottom-up view is a good complement to the many institutional and technical studies of the Luftwaffe.
My edition, by Crécy Publishing, is well illustrated, with a high quality of reproduction of the pictures. It comes without introduction or comment, which it perhaps should have. There is a short list of endnotes, but that doesn’t provide much context.
First of all, I am giving this book only three stars because it is white-washing so much. Buchner pretends that Nazism was something that happened to other people. He comments that others were Nazis, or that the national-socialist movement was popular in certain regions, but never acknowledges any political belief by himself. He comments on the presence of Jews in a town in the German-occupied zone of the USSR, without the slightest reflection on their fate. As for the other civilians in the area, apparently they were always welcoming and hospitable, which is difficult to believe. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this autobiography is, like so many others, more than a little dishonest and self-serving. While I would not condemn a man for supporting his fellow soldiers in combat, this total lack of reflection on the cause they fought for is objectionable.
That aside, it is a really interesting book. An NCO pilot of Austrian birth, Buchner spent most of his career flying ground attack missions with the Schlachtflieger, acquiring a lot of combat experience both during times of German success and during the retreat. His account is mostly sober, undramatic and professional. It gives a good insight in the life at a close air support unit near the front, the chaos of combat, and the gradual erosion and final collapse of the Luftwaffe. Buchner clearly was both courageous and resourceful, and above all very lucky to survive. It is a very personal account of the man’s many (mis)adventures, without much of an attempt to look beyond his personal experience, but this bottom-up view is a good complement to the many institutional and technical studies of the Luftwaffe.
My edition, by Crécy Publishing, is well illustrated, with a high quality of reproduction of the pictures. It comes without introduction or comment, which it perhaps should have. There is a short list of endnotes, but that doesn’t provide much context.
July 29, 2019
An excellent memoir from a former Luftwaffe pilot, this time an Austrian, who flew the Bf-109 and FW-190 in a (ground) strike squadron and then went on to become a leading Me-262 jet ace. He writes in a calm and deliberate manner, yet as though he does not know the final outcome of his own tales, which keeps things from becoming predictable.
As a schlachtflieger (strike pilot) Buchner's focus was not on aircraft combat but on ground attack. In spite of this, he managed to shoot down 46 Soviet ac and then another 12 ac over the Western front as a Me-262 pilot. He spends time describing non-combat situations such as Austria's absorbtion into the Wehrmacht, his childhood and his initial military training. He keeps this interesting due to the amount of factual detail he is able to supply. The many combat stories do not lack for detail either, though there are only a few air-to-air stories.
I have the Hikoki edition of the book, whose large size and quality paper lends itself well to the display of the plethora of included photographs and full color profiles of aircraft which Buchner flew. Also included are photocopies of his flightbook, decorations and his victory list. Written by an unassuming fellow, this is not an account which dwells on human drama but notes it nonetheless. Great publication, edited by Barry Ketley.
As a schlachtflieger (strike pilot) Buchner's focus was not on aircraft combat but on ground attack. In spite of this, he managed to shoot down 46 Soviet ac and then another 12 ac over the Western front as a Me-262 pilot. He spends time describing non-combat situations such as Austria's absorbtion into the Wehrmacht, his childhood and his initial military training. He keeps this interesting due to the amount of factual detail he is able to supply. The many combat stories do not lack for detail either, though there are only a few air-to-air stories.
I have the Hikoki edition of the book, whose large size and quality paper lends itself well to the display of the plethora of included photographs and full color profiles of aircraft which Buchner flew. Also included are photocopies of his flightbook, decorations and his victory list. Written by an unassuming fellow, this is not an account which dwells on human drama but notes it nonetheless. Great publication, edited by Barry Ketley.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews