Duel Under the Stars

The Memoir of a Luftwaffe Night Pilot in World War II

By: Wilhelm Johnen, James Holland

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Wilhelm Johnen flew his first operational mission in July 1941, having completed his blind-flying training. In his first couple of years he brought down two enemy planes. The tally went up rapidly once the air war was escalated in spring 1943, when Air Marshal Arthur Harris of the RAF Bomber Command began the campaign dubbed the Battle of the Ruhr.

During this phrase of the war Johnen's successes were achieved against a 710-strong force of bombers. Johnen's further successes during Harris's subsequent Berlin offensive led to his promotion as Staffelkapitan (squadron leader) of Nachtjagdgeschwader and a move to Mainz. During a sortie from there, his Bf 110 was hit by return fire and he was forced to land in Switzerland.

He and his crew were interned by the authorities. The Germans were deeply worried about leaving a sophisticatedly equipped night fighter and its important air crew in the hands of a foreign government, even if it was a neutral one. After negotiations involving Göring, the prisoners were released.

Johnen's unit moved to Hungary and by October 1944, his score was standing at 33 aerial kills. His final one came in March the following year, once Johnen had moved back to Germany.

©1956 Richard Bärenfeld Verlag, Düsseldorf and Wilhelm Johnen; copyright 2009 by Verlagshaus Würzburg GmbH & Co. KG; translation copyright 2018 by Greenhill Books; foreword copyright 2018 by James Holland (P)2018 Tantor

The best pilots in history

Another incredible and chivalrous account from a brave Luftwaffe pilot of the night fighter wing.

What an insight into the operations of the 'ememy'

...there is a bit lost in translation but for the most part...a great reproduction in english

Great Insight

This was a very good surprise of a listen. When I thought of World War 2 aerial. it was more of daylight combat. This certainly opened my eyes to night combat and the challenge that the night fighter pilots must have faced.

One of the things that I did not like is that the book used feets, yards and MPH instead of meters, kilometers or KMH which you would thing would have been used being a German pilot. Another thing I didn't like was that the memoir starts early in the war and ends in 1945. There was no information of his life before or after his war time service which was a bit disappointing.

One of my favorite parts of the books was when his plane got damaged and had to bail out. He deployed his parachute but was hanging in the trees. He didn't know how far down he was so he dropped his knife to hear a sound but didn't. Morning came and he realized that he was 3 feet off the ground which his fellow comrade had a good laugh about.

Overall, this was a great memoir.

Beautiful story.

This is a tier one audiobook. The narrator and the historical aspects are beautiful. Give this one a chance.

Too British to make the German story as believable

A lot of British English terms I wonder if Germans used, ie Tommy gun, petrol, old boy etc

Amazing Recollections of Being a Nightfighter Pilo

This audio book was simply amazing. Written by a Bf110 pilot, this book pulls no punches. The audio was expertly produced with excellent narration.

Good

This book has been an accurate account of the Lufftwaffe during the second world war.

bad narrator, good story

I didnt like the narrator but this has alot of good content on Luftwaffe night operations. Wish is had more about his capture and post war life. Overall good

Interesting memoir from a different perspective

We always read memoirs from Allied pilots but few from the other side. So, it was interesting to read one from a Luftwaffe pilot. The stories in this book were well written and quite engaging. It was sad to hear how the author lives through the war but, throughout the book, eulogizes many (most?) of those who he fought with. It was also touching to hear the author's sympathy for some of his opponents.

James Holland's introduction (you should listen to some of his books, too, BTW), puts this book into the same class as First Light, which was written by British fighter pilot Geoffrey Wellum. First Light was extraordinary and I'm not sure this is exactly up to its level, but it is close.

I guess the one thing I would like to have heard a bit more about would have been the author's reactions to the Nazi policies. At one point he details how his own family got caught up in them but, given that this was written after the war, it would be interesting to hear how he, and his fellow Luftwaffe pilots, really felt about the atrocities and how the war was executed. I don't think it should be a major focus but it was probably due a paragraph now and again.

Anyhow, overall, this is a very worthwhile listen for anyone who's into WW2 aviation.

Excellent

I enjoyed this audio book a great deal. It is wonderful to get the view from the German side.

Regarding narration, I would prefer if the book was read by a native German. The English accent of the narrator was off putting.

Many thanks for this work.