Interesting thread. All of my “Ace friends” happen to come from the “other side” (my father served in 6th Bomber Group, RCAF). The late Franz Stigler was a personal friend of mine, having taught me the ways the ways of the Messerschmitt (Bf108) that belonged to the late (Brit) Dr. Allan High in the 70’s. Through Franz, I met Adolf Galland a couple of times and got him to sign my copy of The First and the Last. He also signed the photo of him confronting Goering at the Pas de Calais, at the time he made the famous “squadron of Spitfires” reply. I vividly recall witnessing a number of “waiving hand dogfights” between Galland, Stigler and an RAF P-40 pilot (from North Africa that Stigler had fought against with Marseille) whose name now escapes me. It was quite a thrill for me as an airplane crazy 16 year old. As a youngster, for a school book report (Stuka Pilot), I wrote to Hans Ulrich Rudel who replied (after a circuitous routing of my letter which ultimately landed in Paraguay) with a personally written note on an original Luftwaffe propaganda ministry postcard photo of him with all his decorations. I imagine this item may be worth something some day as Rudel (an ardent Nazi to the end) is considered by many to be the highest achieving soldier of any nation in the history of warfare.
Mk.1
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