Black Fokker Leader: Carl Degelow—The First World War's Last Airfighter Knight

By: Peter Kilduff

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Synopsis: This biography of the WWI fighter pilot offers &“an intimate portrait of the last recipient of the &‘Blue Max&’&” (Barrett Tillman). One of the most noteworthy German fighter pilots of World War I was Leutnant der Reserve Carl Degelow, whose squadron of mostly black Fokker D.VII fighters posed a formidable threat to some of Britain&’s most celebrated air units on the Western Front. Black Fokker Leader, filled with new information and original photos, is based on the author&’s research of significant German archival material and documentation, as well as British, French, and Belgian sources, shedding new light on this legendary ace. The biography offers previously unpublished material about Degelow and his comrades: how he was almost court-martialed; how his career was saved by Josef Jacobs; how Degelow helped Willy Rosenstein escape from Nazi Germany; and much more. Also included are new insights into men like Field Marshal Erhard Milch, Degelow&’s wing commander in WWI; and V-2 rocket chief Gen. Hans Jeschonnek, a Degelow protégé in 1918.