For Kaiser and Hitler: From Military Aviator to High Command — the Memoirs of Luftwaffe General Alfred Mahncke 1910 —1945

The memoirs of General der Flieger a.D. Alfred Mahncke are the first from a former General of the German Luftwaffe to be published in the English language since those of Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring in 1953. Since then, thousands of books have been written on every aspect of the Luftwaffe, but the historiography has lacked a fresh, detailed and personal insight into the leadership and command of the Luftwaffe from its earliest years through to the period of crisis which ensued after the tragedy of Stalingrad. Alfred Mahncke's For Kaiser and Hitler rectifies this omission, providing those with an interest in the history of the German military machine with an absorbing, detailed, highly readable and evocative account of life within the Luftwaffe at senior command level. It is also a chronicle of the very beginnings of military aviation. Mahncke was among the first German military aviators and flew with the Kaiser's fledgling air unit in 1911, witnessing and experiencing the exhilaration – and dangers – of flying in some of the earliest military aeroplanes. By the outbreak of the First World War, Mahncke was an experienced pilot and he flew subsequently over the Western and Eastern Fronts, before assuming staff positions in France and Russia where he controlled tactical air operations. He went on a dive in a German U-boat in 1915 and later travelled to Palestine. He also suffered, and describes in highly graphic and emotional terms, the carnage and horror of the trench warfare on the Western Front in 1917. For Kaiser and Hitler is unapologetic, honest, readable and engaging. It provides an intriguing insight for those with an interest in the air power and military history of the First World War and the Third Reich and forms an important resource for scholarship. SELLING POINTS: Insightful and rare memoir of a former General of the German Luftwaffe ILLUSTRATIONS: 90 b/w photos & 4 maps

About the Author :
Jochen O.E.O. (John) Mahncke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia in 1926. While attending high school in Berlin, he was conscripted as an anti-aircraft auxiliary in the Flak defence of Berlin from February 1943 to mid-1944. He joined the Wehrmacht as a Panzergrenadier in 1944 and was despatched to Italy where he served as an NCO (Officer Cadet). He was taken Prisoner of War by American forces in May 1945 and handed over to the British later that year and was shipped to North Africa. He was held in various PoW camps at El Dabbah, near El Alamein, until 1947. In mid-1947 he was moved to Cairo and then to the Suez Canal Zone where he served in a guard unit intended to protect British troops in their camps. By the time he was repatriated to Germany at the end of 1948, he was working as an assistant paymaster for the British administration at Port Said/Port Fouad. Upon returning to Germany he took up an apprenticeship with an import/export business in Hamburg, but emigrated to South Africa in 1957 where he now lives with his wife and where he worked in the printing and packaging industry in Johannesburg and Cape Town until retirement in 1992. He has two sons and four grandchildren. Jochen Mahncke is author of U-Boats and Spies in Southern Africa: Anecdotes, Legends, Stories (Cape Town, 2007) and is an Honorary Life Member of the South African Military History Society.

Review :
This is an usual personal window into events between 1908 and 1952. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and cannot recommend it enough. To my mind, this is the book of the year.