I Flew for the Fuhrer

Rating:
Summary: A facinating story of the Luftwaffe experten
Review: Heinz Knoke is one of the few Luftwaffe experten who started the war and who had been able to survive untill the end. During the war he lost all of his friends and was wounded 5 times. The book generally is a diary of the German ace; it's full of the combat discription, though most of them were against American bombers. I highly recommend this book to all Luftwaffe enthusiast, as well to the people who's interested in WWII air war

Rating:
Summary: Views from the sky
Review: Heinz Knoke was not only a heroic German aviator, but a father and a husband, completely dedicated to his country. A part of Nazism was a huge sense of nationalism, which Knoke often referred to. He fought, not neccesarily for the Nazi cause, but becasue he was a German, and he wanted to protect his country. I obtained this book from my father, who had gotten it from his father. His father bought it in the '50's, as aviation has been a passion in my family for years. My grandfather trained British pilots during the war. I am glad that he thought enough of Knoke and his story to pass his story down. It is the most startlingly blunt story I have ever read, and it was wonderfully written.

Rating:
Summary: Views from the sky
Review: Heinz Knoke was not only a heroic German aviator, but a father and a husband, completely dedicated to his country. A part of Nazism was a huge sense of nationalism, which Knoke often referred to. He fought, not neccesarily for the Nazi cause, but becasue he was a German, and he wanted to protect his country. I obtained this book from my father, who had gotten it from his father. His father bought it in the '50's, as aviation has been a passion in my family for years. My grandfather trained British pilots during the war. I am glad that he thought enough of Knoke and his story to pass his story down. It is the most startlingly blunt story I have ever read, and it was wonderfully written.

Rating:
Summary: Straight account of daily life.
Review: If Heinz had been an RAF pilot he would have been out of the cockpit more than in it. An absorbing account of the never ending and punishing grind of the German combat pilot. His accounts of aerial bombing of US B17's and B24's is made all the more remarkable in the way the tactic came about. His regard for his enemy and his comrade admirable. Not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Straight account of daily life.
Review: If Heinz had been an RAF pilot he would have been out of the cockpit more than in it. An absorbing account of the never ending and punishing grind of the German combat pilot. His accounts of aerial bombing of US B17's and B24's is made all the more remarkable in the way the tactic came about. His regard for his enemy and his comrade admirable. Not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: I FLEW FOR THE FUHRER
Review: just a beautiful true not hyped up story of a fighter pilots everyday life with clean well writen storys.How wounderful and full of energy knoke was in the early 40,s to the total destruction of his fighter wing in 45.

Rating:
Summary: WEAK NARRATIVE
Review: Like most biohraphies written by German military men, this one is completely written without any style, in a totally dry manner, that's very unpleasant to read. Knoke's career itself is very interesting and brave, but he could have done more than justpublishing this sort of diary.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting, Col. Klink
Review: Like the defeated in France and Japan, Knoke blames betrayal. Interestingly, he accuses the Nazis, not for their values, but for betraying their values. He criticizes Nazism, but not German nationalism, as if waiting for the next war with Russia.

His diary provides a contrast with American training for pilots. He demonstrates chivalry; shallow, but committed, family life; crack ups and victories; and the grim reality of attrition. He's the one who thought up "bombing" American bombers from above, without prior approval from headquarters, with consequences that illlustrate why Germany lost the war: It was over-organized.

He must have known about deportation of Jews; he may not have known about extermination as public policy, as he was immersed in fighting. His diary is the work of a very young man, so naievete is understandable and excusable. Taken whole, he's the sentimental sadist in the German "boy next door," illustrating qualities that terrified ancient Romans and American bomber pilots alike--intelligence, tenacity, courage, obedience, discipline. His dairy also shows what happens when these qualities are controlled by gangsters.

Rating:
Summary: Unintentionally good self-potrait of an ace - and a Nazi
Review: One thing must be admitted - this book is exceptionally honest. As such, it comes out as a portrait of the author, his experiences and his thinking. I don't think he intended it that way but he comes out looking as an egoistic and shallow youth, completely fooled by the Nazi propaganda. He truly believed in the Nazi cause and found it hard to understand just why is everyone else at war with the righteous and oh-so-good Third Reich. After the war he became a member of the Neo-nazi "Deutsche Reichspartei" which was consequently outlawed in Germany - obvoiusly the defeat changed nothing in his beliefs. I certainly would feel resentful to having anything to do with people of his character - one begins to wonder if all German pilots were like this, but probably not.

Having said that his book is a very accurate description of what it was like to be a German fighter pilot, especially as an insight into the terrible losses the "Jagdfliegern" suffered towards the end of the war. I heartily suggest it as a "required reading" for anyone who is interested in the air war over Europe in WW2. The insight into author's soul makes it even more interesting.

Finally let me say that I'm glad that Mr. Knoke's flying career ended as it did, and especially WHERE it did. Too bad it probably saved his life.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating insight
Review: When Lieutenant Heinz Knoke spotted the British Spitfire, it was flying in circles, taking pictures of the docks below. Knoke maneuvered his Messerschmitt Me-109G above the plane just as it stopped circling and headed back for England. Opening his throttle, he dived on the Spitfire, firing at its tail. Despite the British pilot's twisting maneuvers, Knoke's fire ripped into the Spitfire's fuselage. Then another Messerschmitt flew in to finish the job. As Knoke watched the Spitfire plummet to earth, he shouted, "Bail out! Bail out!" Then, as the plane began to break apart, Knoke saw a body detach itself from the Spitfire, and parachute bloom. It was March 5, 1943, and Heinz Knoke had just bagged his first enemy plane. There would be other enemy planes: B-24 Liberators, B-17 Flying Fortresses, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs. All Knoke's victories and an eyewitness account of the eventual destruction of the Luftwaffe are revealed in I Flew for the Führer, Knoke's World War II diary, a fast reading tale of the air war over Europe. Originally published in 1957, Knoke's story has been reprinted by Greenhill Books. It is easy to see why. Knoke's book is raw, seat-of-your-pants storytelling. The day-by-day war journal is free of the imagery and adjectives that weigh down some military histories. There is no apology for the war or any profound theme; the book is just a combat pilot's simple daily record. And Knoke saw plenty of combat. Earning his wings after the Battle of Britain, Knoke went on numerous routine patrols all over France, but saw very little action. It was not until he was stationed at Jever, in northwest Germany, that the action stepped up. Shortly after he downed the Spitfire, American bombers began crossing over into Germany. To break up the formations, Knoke and his comrades came up with the idea of attacking the bombers using bombs with delay fuses. The operation worked for a while, but the Americans eventually began to learn how to dodge the falling bombs. Slowly, as Knoke racked up enemy kills (his tally rose to 33), the number of bombers flying over from Great Britain grews. Soon, they were escorted by P-47 Thunderbolts, keeping the Messerschmitts away from the formations. Knoke found himself bailing out or crash landing more and more often. In one action, Knoke came under fire from a Thunderbolt and popped his canopy to bail out. But the Thunderbolt kept firing at him. Knoke crouched down in his cockpit, despite the flames all around him. When his engine quit, the Thunderbolt overshot his plane, so Knoke opened fire on the enemy fighter before crash landing his plane. The American, his plane shot-up, ended up parachuting down near Knoke, where they shared a cigarette. But that kind of chivalry became rare as pilots on both sides began firing on parachuting pilots. Eventually Knoke found himself forced to fly wounded, taking off with one, sometimes two other pilots to engage hundreds of bombers escorted by hundreds of fighters. Despite his injuries, Knoke continued to fly his plane until incapacitated by a land mine while driving to his airbase. I Flew for the Führer is an excellent microcosm of Germany during World War II. Knoke started off eager for war, believing the war propaganda churned out by the Nazi press. He became a professional who enjoyed the excitement of the war. Eventually, he saw many of his friends killed but held on to the hope that Hitler's wonder weapons would turn the tide of the war. As the Allies closed in on Germany, he clung to the hope that Germany could make peace with the West, then turn and defeat the Red Army. He ended the war a cripple, cursing the Führer he once glorified. I Flew for the Führer is not only World War II in Europe at its best, it is combat aviation at its best. Both historians and aviation buffs will find something of interest in these pages.