Colin’s Comments (group member since Dec 16, 2012)

Colin’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

On this topic I interviewed many U-Boat commanders involved during this period (Cremer, Kretschmer, Hardegen, Topp, Guggenberger, Bode, etc), and RAF Bomber Command pilots where these discussions came up. Likewise, I interviewed both Generals James H. Doolittle and Curtis E. Lemay of US Bomber command. Both knew Harris, Portal and the rest. Doolittle and Harris had differing views on the bombing campaign, while Lemay thought Harris was "a man after my own heart. I actually used his paradigm when I left England to start bombing Japan. We got along very well."

Two of my late friends, one a U-Boat commander and the other a Luftwaffe bomber pilot attacked the Arctic convoys. Both said they felt sad for the merchantmen in those waters, a sure death sentence.

Welcome aboard

I interviewed many of the AVG pilots, and all had their opinions of Chennault, some good, others not so.

Bev wrote: "The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower Stephen E. Ambrose is on ..."

Ambrose, whom I knew (and we did not get along at all, long story) has, in post mortem, been condemned for this book and a few others. There are some factual errors and even ethical issues involved, such as plagiarism, but even worse, his claims of interviews that never occurred, even with Eisenhower. Basically, he lied about a lot of things.

Yes, after I write the next book which covers American pilots in the ETO in WW II, which will also be a series, more ETO and some Pacific pilots, even 2 Japanese.

Interesting as I interviewed MANY German fighter pilots during that battle.

My friend Barrett Tillman wrote the book "Enterprise" regarding the aircraft carrier in WW II, fyi

I interviewed one of the 3 HMS Hood survivors, Albert Briggs and also Lt Baron Burkhard von Mullenheim-Rechberg, the senior officer to survive the Bismarck. Good men.

Adolf Galland commanded the Luftwaffe fighter units, and orchestrated with JG-2 and JG-26 who flew from dawn to sundown, organizing the overlapping air defense for the two ships during Operation Cerberus, the Channel Dash. The success saw him promoted to general.

Wow, Amazon ran a special on my Me-262 Stormbird book? Well, there go the royalties after all these years!

My wife Anne and I are honorary Raiders, were friends with the guys for many years, good interviews.

James wrote: "Hi Colin, thanks for your input. I added The Star of Africa: The Story of Hans Marseille, the Rogue Luftwaffe Ace Who Dominated the WWII Skies to my list of books to get."

I think you may enjoy it. We have received great reviews, and we have some film interest also.

I knew Erich Hartmann and Saburo Sakai quite well. You may want to see some of my titles from my interviews with great WW II pilots also.

I gave Adam a lot of info for his book, being friends we help each other out. The part of his book dealing with Trautloft and Buchenwald is on my website, www.lewisheatonbooks.com and the info on Franz Stigler, Johannes Steinhoff and the Gestapo is from my interviews with both men, see The German Aces Speak II.

I also published a 2 part interview with Doolittle, same link group.

Ironically the first use of primitive napalm (naptha) was in the Spanish Civil War when Adolf Galland and Gunther Lutzow experimented with various flammables in 1937 for ground attack.

happy wrote: "Bevan wrote: "The leader Goring was certainly a master of over-promising and under-delivering!"

As the 6th Army at Stalingrad can attest

As well as the people of Britain :)"

Read my book, The German Aces Speak, and in Galland's interview chapter, he gives a great account of his meeting with Wolfram von Richthofen and Goering, regarding the air resupply of the 6th Army at Stalingrad.

I also have an old magazine article in WW II magazine, which may still be online. I interviewed a Communist Tito resistance fighter, and a pro Fascist Chetnik, together, Lothar Pankosk and Milo Stavic. I also had another interview with a Chetnik friend of mine who lived in the USA, good interview indeed, Milorad Krstovic also in WW II.

I interviewed SS Standartenfuehrer Johannes-Rudolf Muelenkamp who took over as commanding officer of the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" under the overall command of Gruppenfuehrer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski during the uprising. His story was very interesting indeed. Muelenkamp received the Oak Leaves for his actions during the 2nd General 1944 Uprising.