I Flew for the Fuhrer (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Heinz Knoke (Author)

Book Description

Series: Greenhill Military Paperbacks | Publication Date: April 1997

Heinz Knoke was one of Nazi Germany’s outstanding pilots, and this dramatic record of his experiences, illustrated with personal photos, has become a classic among aviation memoirs. He joined the Luftwaffe at the outbreak of the war, rose to the rank of commanding officer, and received the Knight’s Cross. Knoke’s account crackles with vivid accounts of air battles; and captures his utter desolation at Germany’s defeat.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books; Revised edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853672637
• ISBN-13: 978-1853672637
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,637,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insight, August 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: I Flew for the Fuhrer (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This is a fascinating and forthright book about a young German growing up during the Nazi era,who just wants to fly.

I read this book (my Dad bought it back in the 50's) when I was about 12, and am purchasing it again. As a kid growing up in Ireland, I remember being struck by the honesty of the book.

On reading it again in later years, this book still stands out as an honest piece of literature. He makes no excuses for his political views, indeed the book (unintentionally) does a good job at showing how such views developed.

Parts of the book are quite disturbing with the portrayal of unjustified and outright hatred (dropping my bombs at the feet of the dirty Bolsheviks). This is tempered with humanity shown through the joy shown at the shooting down his first Spitfire, watching the pilot parachute to safety, and then having a drink with him later that day after his capture.

This book shows how one was lead to adore and revere Hitler, while keeping one's eyes shut to the political repression, and the maltreatment and murder of Jews, political dissidents, Russian POWs, homosexuals, gypsies, etc.. Having lived for 3 years in Germany, this is a insightful unwitting commentary on the average German citizen of that time.

He expesses shock at finding out about the Holocaust after the war, but I really don't believe him.

The aerial dogfight descriptions are enthralling (especially if you are an aviation fanatic like me), and I recommend this book.

This autobiography was not intended to be a political or social comment upon the thinking in those times, but I believe with the passage of 55 years, it does just that.

This book is one you WILL read again and again.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Story of a Luftwaffe Pilot, March 19, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Leesburg, Virgina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Flew for the Fuhrer (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

When Lieutenant Heinz Knoke spotted the British Spitfire, it was flying in circles, taking pictures of the docks below. Knoke maneuvered his Messerschmitt Me-109G above the plane just as it stopped circling and headed back for England. Opening his throttle, he dived on the Spitfire, firing at its tail. Despite the British pilot's twisting maneuvers, Knoke's fire ripped into the Spitfire's fuselage. Then another Messerschmitt flew in to finish the job. As Knoke watched the Spitfire plummet to earth, he shouted, "Bail out! Bail out!" Then, as the plane began to break apart, Knoke saw a body detach itself from the Spitfire, and parachute bloom. It was March 5, 1943, and Heinz Knoke had just bagged his first enemy plane. There would be other enemy planes: B-24 Liberators, B-17 Flying Fortresses, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs. All Knoke's victories and an eyewitness account of the eventual destruction of the Luftwaffe are revealed in I Flew for the Führer, Knoke's World War II diary, a fast reading tale of the air war over Europe. Originally published in 1957, Knoke's story has been reprinted by Greenhill Books. It is easy to see why. Knoke's book is raw, seat-of-your-pants storytelling. The day-by-day war journal is free of the imagery and adjectives that weigh down some military histories. There is no apology for the war or any profound theme; the book is just a combat pilot's simple daily record. And Knoke saw plenty of combat. Earning his wings after the Battle of Britain, Knoke went on numerous routine patrols all over France, but saw very little action. It was not until he was stationed at Jever, in northwest Germany, that the action stepped up. Shortly after he downed the Spitfire, American bombers began crossing over into Germany. To break up the formations, Knoke and his comrades came up with the idea of attacking the bombers using bombs with delay fuses. The operation worked for a while, but the Americans eventually began to learn how to dodge the falling bombs. Slowly, as Knoke racked up enemy kills (his tally rose to 33), the number of bombers flying over from Great Britain grews. Soon, they were escorted by P-47 Thunderbolts, keeping the Messerschmitts away from the formations. Knoke found himself bailing out or crash landing more and more often. In one action, Knoke came under fire from a Thunderbolt and popped his canopy to bail out. But the Thunderbolt kept firing at him. Knoke crouched down in his cockpit, despite the flames all around him. When his engine quit, the Thunderbolt overshot his plane, so Knoke opened fire on the enemy fighter before crash landing his plane. The American, his plane shot-up, ended up parachuting down near Knoke, where they shared a cigarette. But that kind of chivalry became rare as pilots on both sides began firing on parachuting pilots. Eventually Knoke found himself forced to fly wounded, taking off with one, sometimes two other pilots to engage hundreds of bombers escorted by hundreds of fighters. Despite his injuries, Knoke continued to fly his plane until incapacitated by a land mine while driving to his airbase. I Flew for the Führer is an excellent microcosm of Germany during World War II. Knoke started off eager for war, believing the war propaganda churned out by the Nazi press. He became a professional who enjoyed the excitement of the war. Eventually, he saw many of his friends killed but held on to the hope that Hitler's wonder weapons would turn the tide of the war. As the Allies closed in on Germany, he clung to the hope that Germany could make peace with the West, then turn and defeat the Red Army. He ended the war a cripple, cursing the Führer he once glorified. I Flew for the Führer is not only World War II in Europe at its best, it is combat aviation at its best. Both historians and aviation buffs will find something of interest in these pages.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Views from the sky, June 7, 2001

By 

Allison (Bradenton, Fla) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Flew for the Fuhrer (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Heinz Knoke was not only a heroic German aviator, but a father and a husband, completely dedicated to his country. A part of Nazism was a huge sense of nationalism, which Knoke often referred to. He fought, not neccesarily for the Nazi cause, but becasue he was a German, and he wanted to protect his country. I obtained this book from my father, who had gotten it from his father. His father bought it in the '50's, as aviation has been a passion in my family for years. My grandfather trained British pilots during the war. I am glad that he thought enough of Knoke and his story to pass his story down. It is the most startlingly blunt story I have ever read, and it was wonderfully written.