|
. This is a book from the library of Air Force General Russell E. Dougherty, 8th Commander in Chief of the Strategic Air Command For more books from the Dougherty library, click here: CIC SAC Title: ..................................................................................................................................... THE FINAL HOURS A German Jet Pilot Plots Against Goering by Johannes Steinhoff Translated by J. A. Underwood The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America Baltimore, Maryland . satnrose · © 1974, 1977, 1985 Hardcover 9-¼" tall, 204 pages , photos Signed and inscribed by Steinhoff to General Dougherty Signature guaranteed to be authentic Also, with Dougherty's address label on endpaper . . Near fine condition in a near fine dustjacket in a new Brodart mylar dustjacket protector . . . The following information was taken from the Wikipedia: General Russell Elliott Dougherty (1920 – September 7, 2007) was commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command and director of strategic target planning (Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff), at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. General Dougherty was graduate of Western Kentucky University, the Law School of the University of Louisville and the National War College. While attending Louisville, he became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. In addition, General Dougherty held an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Akron, an honorary doctor of science degree from Westminster College, and is an "Old Master" of Purdue University. After serving in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, General Dougherty entered active military service as an aviation cadet at the outbreak of World War II; previously, he had been a member of the 123rd Cavalry, Kentucky National Guard. He received his commission and pilot wings in March 1943. During World War II, he was an instructor pilot in the Air Training Command and later he served in the 3d Air Force in crew and instructor pilot duties, as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot, and on a B-29 combat crew. His post World War II assignments encompass varied duties in operational, maintenance, administrative, political/military and command duties in Air Force, joint, and international assignments. In 1947 he served as a unit instructor with the Air Force Reserve at Standiford Field, Louisville, Kentucky, and in 1948 was transferred to the Far East Air Forces. While flying with the 19th Bombardment Wing, he served as staff judge advocate for the wing and later as assistant staff judge advocate for the 20th Air Force. In April 1950 he became the assistant staff judge advocate for FEAF Headquarters in Japan and, at the outbreak of the Korean War, was assigned to temporary duty in intelligence with FEAF. General Dougherty returned to the United States in 1951 and was assigned to Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as chief of the Appeals and Litigation Division, and as the assistant U.S. Air Force trial attorney for litigation arising out of Air Force procurement and contractual activities. In December 1952 General Dougherty elected to leave the Judge Advocate General's Department for assignment to the Strategic Air Command and attended both B-29 refresher and KC-97 transition training. In June 1953 he began successive assignments in SAC as operations officer for the 303d Air Refueling Squadron; commander of the 303d Armament and Electronics Squadron; deputy chief of operations, 303d Bombardment Wing; and commander, 358th Bombardment Squadron, all at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. He was assigned to Headquarters 15th Air Force, SAC, as chief, Operations Division, where he planned the B-52 round-the-world flight, Operation Power Flite, in 1957. Later he became the deputy director of operations, Headquarters 15th Air Force. He attended the National War College during 1959-60 and, following graduation, was assigned duty in Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Office of the Deputy Director for War Plans. In April 1961 he was appointed deputy assistant director of plans for joint matters, and in February 1963 he was made the assistant director for plans for joint and National Security Council matters. General Dougherty has had four assignments in joint and international duties. During 1964-65, he was the deputy director for plans and operations (J-3), Headquarters U.S. European Command, in Paris, France. During this assignment in November 1964, he was the United States' planner for the successful U.S./Belgian rescue operation at Stanleyville in the Congo. In August 1965 he returned to Washington as director, European Region, Office of the Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs). In July 1967 he again returned to Europe and served until August 1969 as director, J-5 (Plans and Policy) at Headquarters U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. In September 1969 General Dougherty was again assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force where he served as the assistant deputy chief of staff, plans and operations, and in February 1970 became deputy chief of staff, plans and operations for the U.S. Air Force. He was assigned as commander, 2d Air Force, SAC, with headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in April 1971. In this position, General Dougherty commanded the U.S. Air Force's largest numbered Air Force, consisting of the majority of SAC's B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers. On May 1, 1972, General Dougherty was promoted to his four-star grade and assigned as chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, headquarters of NATO's Allied Command Europe. He returned to the United States on August 1, 1974, to become the eighth commander of the Strategic Air Command [1974-1977]. He was a command pilot and included among his military decorations and awards are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his tenure as the U.S. Air Force's operations deputy on the Joint Staff. He was a member of the Kentucky State Bar Association and the Bar Association of the U.S. Supreme Court. Dougherty retired from the Air Force October 1, 1977, and practiced law in the Washington, D.C. area for several years. He died in Alexandria, Virginia on September 7, 2007, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. For the rest of the article, click here: wikipedia . .. . The following information was taken from the Wikipedia: The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a major command and a "specified command" in the U.S. Air Force and was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based bomber aircraft and land-based ballistic missile strategic nuclear arsenal from 1946-92. SAC also controlled the infrastructure necessary to support the strategic bomber and ICBM operations, such as tanker aircraft to refuel the bombers in flight, strategic reconnaissance and command post aircraft, and, until 1957, fighter escorts. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, SAC was succeeded in June 1992 by the U.S. Strategic Command....... For the rest of the article, click here: wikipedia . . . . The following information was taken from the Wikipedia: Johannes Steinhoff (September 15, 1913 – February 21, 1994) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace of World War II, and later a senior West German air force officer and military commander of NATO. Steinhoff was one of very few Luftwaffe pilots who survived to fly operationally through the whole of the war period 1939-45. He was one of the highest-scoring pilots with 176 victories, and one of the first to fly the Me 262 jet fighter in combat, being a member of the famous aces squadron JV 44 led by Adolf Galland. Johannes Steinhoff was born on 15 September 1913 in Bottendorf, Thuringia, the son of a millworker and a housewife. He had two brothers, Bernd and Wolf. Before WWII, he studied to become a teacher at the University of Jena but unable to find a job, he enlisted in the Kriegsmarine, where he served for one year as a naval flying cadet. Steinhoff transferred to the Luftwaffe after Hermann Göring became its commander in chief in 1935. After completing his pilot training he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 26. His first combat experience was in 1939 when he fought RAF Vickers Wellington bombers that were attacking coastal industry in the Wilhelmshaven region, shooting down several. He was also appointed Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 26 in this period. In February 1940, he was transferred to 4./JG 52 with which he served in both the French campaign and the Battle of Britain. By the end of the Battle , Steinhoff's score had advanced to six kills. Steinhoff's great strength was in his ability to pass on his knowledge and training to novice pilots, equipping them with the skills to survive and ultimately become experienced fighter pilots. In June 1941 JG 52 were on offensive operations against the Soviet Union, becoming one of the highest scoring units in the Luftwaffe. Steinhoff himself claimed 28 Soviet aircraft shot down in the first month. Steinhoff remained with JG 52 until March 1943, when he took over Jagdgeschwader 77 as Geschwaderkommodore, then operating over the Mediterranean. Only a short time after taking command Steinhoff was shot down by Spitfires and had to crash land his damaged aircraft. He was shot down only once earlier, during the Battle of Britain. On 28 July 1944, Steinhoff received the Swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He ended the war as a jet pilot, first being posted to Kommando Nowotny in October 1944, and then, with the rank of Oberst, as Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 7 in December. JG 7 was equipped with the Me 262 jet fighter, and Steinhoff was allowed to handpick several Staffelkapitäne, including Heinz Bär and Gerhard Barkhorn. After the heavy losses suffered during Operation Bodenplatte, Steinhoff and other fighter leaders fell into disfavour following the so-called 'Fighter Pilots Revolt' against what was perceived as the incompetence of Luftwaffe high command, and Hermann Göring in particular. Steinhoff was relieved of his command. In early 1945 Steinhoff transferred to the Jet Experten unit JV 44 then being put together by Adolf Galland. Steinhoff initially acted as recruiting officer for the unit, persuading a number of the best Luftwaffe pilots around to join the unit. On 18 April 1945, after achieving six kills with the unit, Steinhoff's Me-262 suffered a tire blow-out, crashing on take-off. Steinhoff suffered severe burns (spending two years in hospital) which left him visibly scarred despite years of reconstructive surgery. His eyelids were rebuilt by a British surgeon after the war. His wartime record was 176 aircraft claimed destroyed, of which 152 were on the Eastern front, 12 on the Western front and 12 in the Mediterranean. He also flew 993 operational sorties. During his career as a fighter pilot, Steinhoff was shot down 12 times, but had to bail out only once. After the war he married Ursula, and they had one daughter, also named Ursula - later the wife of retired Colorado State Senator Michael Bird. Steinhoff meanwhile recognised the situation of post war Germany, and was invited by West Germany's new interim government to rebuild the Luftwaffe within NATO, eventually rising to the rank of full general. Steinhoff served as Chief of Staff and acting Commander Allied Air Forces Central Europe (1965-1966), Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe (1966 - 1970) and later as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (1971 - 1974). He retired in 1974. He wrote a book called The Final Hours detailing a late-war plot against Hermann Göring. He also wrote a vivid account of his time in Italy; "Messerschmitts over Sicily: Diary of a Luftwaffe Fighter Commander" Steinhoff received numerous honours for his work on the structure of the post war Luftwaffe and the integration of the German Federal Armed Forces into NATO, including: The Order of Merit with star, the American Legion of Merit and the French Légion d'honneur. Steinhoff played a major part in the controversial Ronald Reagan US Presidential visit to Kolmeshöhe Cemetery near Bitburg, in 1985. Planned as an act of reconciliation in light of the 40th anniversary of V-E Day that week by Reagan and then West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, it was discovered that 22 Waffen-SS graves were among the 2,000 military internments. After severe national and political pressure to cancel the visit from Jewish groups and World War II American veterans on Reagan, the visit was preceded by Reagan and Kohl visiting the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Along with Kohl, 90-year-old General Matthew Ridgway, who had commanded the 82nd Airborne in World War II, and Steinhoff; Reagan placed a wreath at a wall of remembrance in the cemetery. After placing the wreath, and standing at attention in honour while a short trumpet salute was played, at its end, Steinhoff who was flanking Reagan, turned, and in an unscripted act, shook hands firmly with a pleased Ridgway in a true act of reconciliation. Reagan smiled, and firmly shook the General's hand, while a shocked Kohl later thanked Steinhoff for his actions. Steinhoff later said that it just seemed the right thing to do. Steinhoff died in hospital in Bonn on Monday 21 February 1994, from complications arising from an earlier heart attack. He was 80, and had lived in nearby Bad Godesberg. In 1990 the barracks in Berlin Gatow barracks, taken over by the German Federal Armed Forces, were named after Steinhoff. On 18 September 1997 the Jagdgeschwader 73 (fighter wing 73) of the Luftwaffe, was named "Steinhoff" in his honour. Steinhoff is one of only a handful of pilots honoured in this way, along with Manfred von Richthofen and Max Immelmann........ For the rest of the article, click here: wikipedia . . To see our other auctions: click here * . . Winning bidder add $6.00 for Shipping and Handling in the USA Foreign bidders must pay more for postage . We accept payment by check, money order, cashiers check, or PAYPAL . One more thing, and please note: we never never never use "Second Chance Offers" , so, if you get a messageoffering you a second chance to buy this item after the auction closes - IT IS SPAM ! Do not reply! . . Click here for a guide toA Book That Looks Like Nothing Also: Satnrose's Bookselling Hints and Tip of the Day and, just for fun: Deposit Haiku Here ½ ¾ · ·
Place a Bid!
|