Top Ace of the Skies, Axis Powers

I personally do not go in for pillory, and to be fair birdy, you brought this upon yourself..if you'd have posted the text you wanted us to see? and not the article as is? then these replies would not be taking place...I'm sorry that it has..regards, ray..

 

We all have to exercise care with this sort of thing. Many older books about WWII - especially 'mass market' ones - are full of inaccuracies or even downright misleading rubbish. Some books which were past favourites of mine, I'm quite embarrassed to read now.And as we all know, first-hand accounts have to be treated with care ; veterans do not mean to deliberately mislead, but recollections can be notoriously hazy.

Many diligent researchers in recent years have 'exploded' fondly-held myths - just recently, I have had to revise many of my own opinions about incidents of the Battle of Britain and the Ardennes.

But then, one of the reasons for this Forum is to discuss such things and - hopefully - point the 'right' way.....

 

Biak, I've gone to the McGraw Hill website and turned up nothing. Olympic Press have no research facility, and you would think that somebody, somewhere would have heard of this by now. But, it all turns up as BLANK.

Birdy began this thread by making the claim that one Grunter von Haart was not just any old pilot in WW2, but a pilot with "168 CONFIRMED victories and 39 probables". Quick check of the records reveals no such person. Same with the claim that she was awarded "The Iron Cross First Class by Hitler himself", another claim that we have exposed as utter rubbish.

I am beginnng to doubt very much whether this book exists at all either, as Mr McKee has not even given us the privelage of a quote or four from the text itself. If his computer equipment is so lame, then it's up to him to prove his assertions. The title of this thread leaves no error for mistaking the intentions of it's progenitor. The photo supplied as the only reference to substantiate these claims is patently of a modern woman. As pointed out by myself and others, her hairstyle and make-up are far too modern for the mid 20th century.

All this adds up to a big, round, rotund ZERO. This leads me to believe that Mr McKee has some sort of agenda that it outside of information exchange. Maybe he readying a possible "sting" for a major publishing company by testing it out on this site. If he can fool this site or others like it, then he might have a chance convincing some unfortunate publisher as to the authenticity of this nonsence.

So, we all wait for SOMETHING concrete, as requested by myself and other rogues. Not much to ask. But, it seems, we are waiting for no result.

I, too, would love to have my knowledge of WW2 widened by hearing something we have all not heard of before.

This is not it, and it's an insult to our collective intelligence.


This is indeed a RARE BIRD(y)!

 

Biak: Please be aware that I am more than happy to send the book to either you or this web-site for authentication in regards to the claims made. I subscribe to the belief that when one comes by a book that makes fantastic claims is worth investigating, fact or fiction was not meant to be debated, the point that I was attempting to make was thus: """""""War is an art that all who participate therein shall suffer, given the immensity of the troubled times, one must ask herself {or himself} not shall I defend my Country, but rather I shall lay my life down so that others may live in peace."" And as much as I enjoy good debates, to debate with so many on different aspects would be quite useless, as I cannot please one while ignoring all the others. Once again, as I look through the responses to this thread, I find no mention of the entire crux of the entire post. Hoax I am not, nor do I work for or have any affiliation with any publisher. Furthermore, I am just a man who enjoys collecting data from a variety of sources, but most particulary the heart-warming sentence provided above, As for the reply from Volga regarding the absorption of the Olympia Press into the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, he needs to actually investigate this himself, which entails much more than 'searching the web looking for answers,' my assertion that the Olympic Press was absorbed by McGraw-Hill comes from speaking with a representative from McGraw-Hill and having that representative search their archives for the union. More and more intelligent persons must understand that not all information can be gleaned from the use of the "web," and that something more is, indeed, needed. Yet again, as I search the responses to this post, I find nothing that even hints at the answer concerning the statement made, I only find questions compounded by the pounding of chests and references to "hoax," with some even going as far as referencing that I work for an other propounding that I am 'setting this web-site up for a "sting."' But nothing even remotely comes close to suggesting a response to the statement; I guess that I will be cosigned to responding to ridiculous and prosperous claims from afar, all the while maintaining that it is the statement made that needs to be placed in archival material, and not whether the claims made are false or truth; the mention of the statement, in any response, I suppose, would probably render me absolutely speechless, breathless and fall off my chair in utter surprise! -Birdy

 

Birdy,

"War is an art that all who participate therein shall suffer, given the immensity of the troubled times, one must ask herself {or himself} not shall I defend my Country, but rather I shall lay my life down so that others may live in peace."

As i mentioned before it is a nice quote, and it is very much along the lines of statements made by Voltaire and other similar philosophers. The point that is perhaps not clear from the responses here is that you used a title for this thread and placed it in a section of the forum that has led many people to believe that the information provided around the quote was being stated as historical fact. That this is obviously not the case has opened you up to some criticism. Don't take it personally, it is the process of this forum and others like it to discuss and filter information like this so as to end up with a body of information that is as close to actual truth as possible.

What you would be better served by doing in similar situations in future is to post a quote like this as a stand-alone sentiment in one of the other sections of the forum, where people can view it and appreciate it for what it is - my suggestion would be this section;

WWII Books and Publications - World War II Forums

I'm sure everyone appreciates that the whole thread has given us all a useful incentive to research and debate, and claims such as those made in the text from the book around your quote should always be allowed to be seen and discussed, as they are sometimes very useful extra information that was previously unknown to most.

Don't let this thread put you off posting more interesting titbits.

 

As far as the quote goes the last part appears to be a slight rewording of a biblical verse:
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

 

Indeed, and I am one that has greatly enjoyed it.

I have said this before, but one thing new members especially need to realize is we all have had a theory or idea that has been blown out of the water at one time or another on this site. It happened to me when I first joined earlier this year.

If you cannot back up your claims with documented evidence from good sources, or act like you know what you're talking about when you really don't, then watch out! They'll come for ya around here!

I ate my humble pie slice and learned from it. Today, this is my favorite place to hang out on the net.

 

think it is best now as both sides have been represented well enough to close this thread ..........

 

Noth sides represented? All we get from Mr Mckee is a idiotic photograph and some ridiculous promise to send us the book!

Ok then....I'll give you my private address if you send me the book in question. Lot simpler just to type a few paragraphs. But of course, the book doesn't exist.

Strictly for the birds, this one!

 

Well done Lou , good show