ACE PROFILES - The Men and their Aircraft # 2 - MAX-HELLMUTH OSTERMANN by Bergstrom, Christer w/profiles by Claes Sundin

airpower 2007, new copy, paper covers, 8 1/4 x 12, glossy page stock, 72 pages, prof. illustrated in B&W and color, 50 rare photographs and 13 colour artwork profiles.----------------------------------- From a young, inexperienced, novice pilot who struggled to master the twin-engined Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer in early 1940 to a fearsome exponent of the Bf 109 over the English Channel, Yugoslavia and the Russian Front, Max-Hellmuth Ostermann’s war ended in August 1942 with 102 confirmed aerial victories to his credit – the majority of them against the Soviet Air Force. He flew with ZG 1, JG 21 & JG 54. ------------------------------ Whilst to date, the diminutive Ostermann has not been regarded by English language historians as one of the most renowned of the Luftwaffe Experten, he was nevertheless decorated with the Knight’s Cross with Oakleaves and Swords – the tenth officer in the German armed forces to receive the award – for his ‘repeatedly proven heroism’, Ostermann frequently scored two victories in one day and his final operations saw him in command of a Staffel of JG 54, the famous Grunherz geschwader.