WESPENGESCHWADER: the remarkable story of the Luftwaffe’s famous ‘Wasp Squadron’ in the Battle of Britain, Russia and Mediterranean.

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WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE?

STORM OF STEEL 

Uncovering the story of soldier and writer Ernst Jünger who authored an acclaimed First World War diary which later became a universal bestselling account of life on the front line for a German soldier. 

 

WESPENGESCHWADER 

A fascinating photographic study covering the history of the Luftwaffe’s famous ‘wasp’ Geschwader which operated during the Battle of Britain, on the Eastern Front and later in the Mediterranean theatre. 

 

A HIGHER FORM OF KILLING 

The intriguing and tragic tale of German scientist Fritz Haber who introduced weaponised gas to the battlefields of the First World War, becoming internationally reviled as the father of chemical warfare. 

DIRLEWANGER’S DEMISE 

In the second part of our study of Oskar Dirlewanger’s infamous penal battalion, its murderous history final comes to end with the rout of its criminally culpable troops and, ultimately, the death of its odious leader.

CONFLICT ARCHAEOLOGY 

How excavations at the crash site of a Messerschmitt 410, brought down over Britain in November 1943, finally identified the specific aircraft thus unlocking the mystery of the disappearance of its crew. 

 

REAL TO REEL 

What was then a ground-breaking piece of cinematography, ‘It Happened Here’ was a classic 1960s film telling the story of what might have been had Germany successfully invaded and occupied Britain in 1940. 

 

UNLOCKING HISTORY 

Determined detective work by Iron Cross magazine unravels for the first time the facts behind mysterious ‘grenade launchers’ which were fitted in the tail of some Luftwaffe bombers operated over Britain.

 

NOTES FROM THE ARMOURY 

A detailed examination of the truly extraordinary First World War anti-tank gun, the mighty T-Gewehr rifle. 

 

RESTORATION PROFILE 

A uniquely surviving First World War aircraft (a Rumpler CIV) restoration in Germany during the 1970s comes under the spotlight. 

 

PHOTOS FROM THE FRONT 

The featured colourised photograph in this issue depicts a captured Pfalz D.III fighter aircraft being examined by a group of British pilots.

 

ZERBERUS, DONNERKEIL AND FULLER 

Eighty years after the famous ‘Channel Dash’, Chris Goss examines the story of this famous event when the Scharnhorst, Prinz Eugen and Gneisenau all escaped from Brest and brazenly sailed through the English Channel under the very noses of the British. The background to the ‘dash’ is explored, with the passage of the ships, the efforts to protect them and the somewhat disastrous attempts by the British to thwart the passage are chronicled in detail as this issue’s ‘Editor’s Choice’.

 

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT 

In our occasional series, a poignant letter from the Eastern Front tells a family the painful details of a family member’s death in action. 

MILITARIA COLLECTING 

In this issue, a specialist dealer unravels the mysterious and dark histories behind two extremely rare examples of SA presentation daggers. 

 

WAR POSTERS 

Our featured poster in this issue depicts a patriotic recruitment advertisement from the troubled interwar Weimar period of German history.