Black Cross/Red Star: Air War Over the Eastern Front , by Bergström & Mikhailov - 2

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Barry Smith
Russian Taran Rammings; Black Cross/Red Star
Thu Aug 22 05:55:29 2002
152.163.201.68

Does someone have Christer Bergström and Andrey Mikhailov's book entitled Black Cross/Red Star: The Air War over the Eastern Front: Operation Barbarosa, 1941, vol. 1.(Pacifica, California: Pacifica Military History, 2000)on hand? I need to know two bits of information. Is it correct that the authors state that the Russians carried out some 580 Taran attacks during the war? If so, on what page does this information appear in Volume 1? Thanks in advance.

Barry Smith

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Juha
Re;Russian Taran Rammings; Black Cross/Red Star
Thu Aug 22 07:55:16 2002
62.236.235.13

Hello
they wrote "more than 580 German planes were destroyed by taran during the conflict." on page 37. I would say that more exactly more than 580 enemy a/c were claimed to be destroyed by taran according to Soviet sources. Reason: not all taran victims were Germans, some were Finns, Romanians etc.; some collisions were probably accidents not intentional and in some cases victims managed to return to their home fields. Already in Geust, Keskinen, Niska & Stenman's Red Star in Sky 3 (Forssa 1983) the writers identified 8 tarans "were the other part has without doubt been a Finnish a/c." There is a table on these cases in that book on page 43 where one can see that in two cases the participating Finn landed successfully and also claimed victory.

Hope this helps
Juha

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Michi
Sorry for my question: What means TARAN?? (n/t)
Thu Aug 22 21:49:10 2002
140.78.3.1

MfG Michi

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Barry Smith
Taran
Thu Aug 22 23:01:06 2002
152.163.197.206

Michi -

Taran attacks were air-to-air ramming attacks (Rammangriffe) carried out by Russian pilots during the Russo-German war of 1941-1945.

Barry

[Richard T Eger]

In response to an inquiry on 12 O'clock High! as to when Vol. III would be available, Christer wrote:

Christer Bergström
Vol III & Graf & Grislawski
Wed Aug 28 18:51:48 2002
213.65.46.206

Vol III will be published probably in the summer of 2003.

Before that (very soon) - the book on Graf & Grislawski:

http://www.graf-grislawski.elknet.pl/

Best wishes

Christer

[Richard T Eger]

The reader is referred to the "Luftwaffe Units & Operations" forum, "Luftwaffe victory claims - 4" topic, for a discussion including references to the following books:

Hannu Valtonen's Luftwaffen Pohjoinen Sivusta. Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseon julkaisuja 6. ISBN 951-95688-5-9. Jyväskylä 1997

Christer Bergstrom's "Black cross/red star"

Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

RJH
How many Nowotny kills in Bf-109?
Sun Sep 22 04:03:54 2002
67.8.165.209

Does anybody have any idea on how many kills Maj. Walter Nowotny got in the Bf-109 before JG54 converted to the Fw-190?

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Sean Michael Leeman Master Blaster
Nowotny
Mon Sep 23 18:55:24 2002
198.26.122.12

RJH, According to the profile of him on the black cross red star page it has to be at least 43, but may be more. Sean L.

[Richard T Eger]

From within a thread on 12 O'Clock High!:

Sean Michael Leeman Master Blaster
Christer when can I buy volume three?
Wed Oct 16 15:37:37 2002
198.26.122.12

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Christer Bergström
Black Cross/Red Star 3 and Graf & Grislawski books
Thu Oct 17 21:12:50 2002
217.210.156.201

Relatively soon.

Please see:

http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/

Click on "Information about the publication of Volume 3".

Yes, I know that there are many waiting for Vol. 3. I hear from them almost every day. Let's hope the publisher hurries up... :-)

But "relatively very soon", my book "Graf & Grislawski: A Pair of Aces" will be published (by Eagle Editions) - and that one will be much similar to the "Black Cross/Red Star"-style.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Sean Michael Leeman Master Blaster
Thanks Christer I am looking forward to it!
Fri Oct 18 13:46:11 2002
198.26.122.14

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Drew Dorman
Is Black Cross Red Star site down? n/t
Thu Dec 19 16:41:56 2002
66.189.235.106

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

John Beaman
Re: Is Black Cross Red Star site down? n/t
Fri Dec 20 11:57:45 2002
216.136.45.130

Try
http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Drew Dorman
Thank you! n/t
Fri Dec 20 18:48:35 2002
66.189.235.106

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Rob Romero
Gollob & Hero of USSR POW
Mon Dec 23 06:17:00 2002
216.194.7.87

I came across a photo of Gordon Gollob with a Russian POW (pilot) who appears to have been awarded a Hero of the Soviet Union medal. Does anyone have any details concerning this incident (who, when, where -did the pilot survived confinement?)

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Vasiliy
Mayor Yakov Antonov 84IAP
Mon Dec 23 15:00:32 2002
217.12.97.20

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Christer Bergström
Antonov in "Black Cross/Red Star", Vol. 3
Mon Jan 6 01:33:02 2003
213.67.155.244

In Vol. 3 of "Black Cross/Red Star: Air War Over the Eastern Front" (which is completed and scheduled to be published this summer), there is a description of the air combat when Antonov was shot down - supplemented with an interview that I made with Günther Rall about the encounter on the ground between Rall & Antonov (no, it wasn't Rall who shot him down). Finally, what I believe is the most recent Russian theory about Antonov's final fate is discussed (that he maybe escaped captivity and later was killed while serving with a partisan unit). Anyway, Antonov was the C.O. of 84 IAP/216 IAD/4 VA which was stationed at Beslan Airdrome in the Caucasus when Antonov was shot down. (It remained there from Aug 11 - when it entered combat - to Oct 22, 1942.) By the time Antonov was shot down, 84 IAP had lost 7 I-153s and five pilots in various encounters with Stab/JG 52 and III./JG 52 since August 11, 1942. Viktor Petermann, Günther Rall, and Gordon Gollob (two), were responsible for the unit's casualties on August 15, 17, and 19 (two) respectively.

See:

http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/

Also in Vlad Antipov's and my forthcoming book "Graf & Grislawski: A Pair of Aces" (will be published by Eagle Editions this spring) will there be some information on 84 IAP during this period. See:

http://www.graf-grislawski.elknet.pl/

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!

Christer Bergström
Graf & Grislawski book: Publication update
Thu Feb 27 17:36:54 2003
81.224.232.46

There's a new update on the Graf & Grislawski website, with news about publication date:

http://www.graf-grislawski.elknet.pl/

As mentioned in a posting below - now it is certain: The book "Graf & Grislawski: A Pair of Aces" will be published (by Eagle Editions) in May or June this year! I have just done my proofreading of the printouts of all the layout pages. I can assure you that the guys at Eagle have done a fantastic work! It's the most beautiful aviation book I have ever seen - without any exaggeration. The layout is in the same style as in their "Assi" Hahn book (also a great book), but in the Graf&Grislawski book, it's even nicer.

Best wishes

Christer Bergström

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

richard aigner
how about "Black cross-red star vol.3?"
Fri Feb 28 06:17:25 2003
195.170.76.32

is there a date for publication?
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Christer Bergström
"Black Cross/Red Star", Vol. 3
Sat Mar 1 19:26:03 2003
81.224.232.46

"How about "Black cross-red star vol.3?" is there a date for publication?"

Many people ask about this. "Black Cross/Red Star", Vol. 3 has been completed for some time now. It will be published after the Graf & Grislawski book. Only thing is that the exact publication date is not clear.

Keep an eye on:

http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/

As soon as I've got a fixed publication date for BC/RS Vol. 3, I'll let everyone know.

BTW - the subtitle for BC/RS Vol. 3 is "Everything for Stalingrad", and it deals with the huge Air Battle over Stalingrad.

[Richard T Eger]

From within a thread on 12 O'Clock High!:

Christer Bergström
My forthcoming books in 2003
Sun Mar 9 13:49:26 2003
81.224.232.46

My Graf & Grislawski book will be published in May/June this year, by Eagle Editions. It is clear now.

Regarding "Black Cross/Red Star", Vol. 3, it will follow. For running updates on this, please see:

http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/vol3.htm

(My new co-authors with BC/RS are Andrey Dikov and Vlad Antipov. My friend Andrey Mikhailov and I continue our cooperation but on another level.)

Best wishes

Christer Bergström (currently working on "Black Cross/Red Star", Vol. 4, and a book with Claes Sundin that I think many will like)