April 27, 2006

Gratuitous WWII Aviation Posting

Go over to Basil Seal's place and read this amazing account by rookie American P-51 pilot Lawrence Thompson of his run-in with the absolute badest of bad-assed Luftwaffe aces.

Suffice to say, Thompson was one seriously lucky S.O.B.

Posted by Robert at April 27, 2006 11:21 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Just Damn.

Posted by: Brian B at April 27, 2006 11:38 AM

What I find amazing about Hartmann, is that at the time of this dogfight he was only 22 years old...Just a kid, but a very deadly one for his foes.

Posted by: Basil Seal at April 27, 2006 12:25 PM

Hartmann had an interesting life after the war - a prisoner of the Soviets for a number of years, he was eventually released and went on to help build the West German Luftwaffe, rising to become a General. He died in the 1970s (I think) of cancer (I think.)

Posted by: Russ at April 27, 2006 12:38 PM

Actually he died in 1995. He spent 10 years in a Soviet re-education camp.

Posted by: Basil Seal at April 27, 2006 12:42 PM