All advance indications are that the new Luftwaffe Bomber Aces by Mike Spick will follow in the footsteps of his previous and bestselling Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. The Luftwaffe excelled at ground attack and revolutionised modern warfare. Whether flying in support of the panzer columns in the invasion of Poland and destruction of France, deployed against British airfields and cities, sent in against Soviet tank armies, or thrown into the defence of the Reich, Germany’s bomber and dive-bomber pilots wrought havoc across the face of World War II Europe. In Luftwaffe Bomber Aces: Men, Machines, Methods Mike Spick now turns his attention to outstanding ground-attack pilots. He outlines the Luftwaffe’s revolutionary tactics, first tested during the Spanish Civil War, and highlights individual tactics and methods used against specific types of target. Biographical entries on the leading bombers give an insight into the careers of Luftwaffe personnel and an idea of just what it took to be a bomber pilot. First-hand accounts add gripping drama to the narrative, and give an unsurpassed appreciation of just what it was like to strafe, dive-bomb, come under attack by fighters and brave the barrage of anti-aircraft guns. Mike Spick is an acknowledged expert on the history of aviation and specialises in combat tactics. He is the author of a number of seminal books, including The Complete Fighter Ace, Allied Fighter Aces and the bestselling Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. The chapters of the new Luftwaffe Bomber Aces are: 1. The Storm Clouds Gather 2. Blitzkrieg 3. Anti-Shipping Operations, 1939-40 4. Victory in the West 5. Assault on England, July 1940-May 1941 6. Campaigns in the South 7. War in the East 8. The Strategic War at Sea 9. Western Front, July 1941-May 1944 10. Last Stand in the West 11. The Bomber Aces 12. Stuka and Schlacht Aces Appendix: Main Luftwaffe Bomber and Attack Aircraft An excerpt from Luftwaffe Bomber Aces: “There were hundreds of guns firing at us, as if they’d been brought here from the entire Empire to guard the artery of world power. Flashes appeared from all over the island. It was a veritable wasp’s nest. Through the glass of the cockpit I could see the airfield at Luqa steep below me. We were not going to make it! Then Helbig’s aircraft tilted down, and the entire Staff Flight went with him. The light blue underbellies of all the aircraft showed simultaneously. No waverers! A second later I lowered my dive brakes, put the nose down, and throttled right back. Out of the corner of my eye I watched my wing men. I looked ahead. I was right behind Helbig in the vic of the Staff Flight. The Staff Flight aircraft were racing down ahead of me but seemed to be poised, motionless, over the target area, their wings like narrow lines, as if on an aerial photograph. Press on! … At last! Ahead and below me there was movement in the formation. Almost as if they were rocket-propelled, the staff aircraft, pulling out of their dive, swept out from the target, so that in a flash I could see the imperial crosses on the upper surfaces of their wings. Our turn now! I held my aim down to the smallest ring of light in my sight. The alarm klaxon blared out: that meant that I was 800 metres above the ground. I could see my target clearly … I pressed the bomb release.” Mike Spick has enjoyed considerable success with his books for Greenhill on aces, the bestselling one being Luftwaffe Fighter Aces which has been licensed for translation thus far to: Finland: Oy Greenbay House Russia: Russitch Publishers Estonia: Olion Publishers Germany: Bernard & Graefe Taiwan (Chinese): Rye Field Publishing Czech Republic: Books Hungary: Hajja es Fiai Spain: Libraria San Martin Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 108 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com