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Iron Cross - Issue 26

The extraordinary Spӓhkorb was a unique development driven by problems facing Zeppelins during the first Blitz on England!

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Iron Cross - Issue 26

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A SPY IN THE SKY

The Spӓhkorb was manned by an observer, who dangled below cloud so that he could send target instructions to the Zeppelin that remained hidden in the overcast above. Ian Castle describes the development of this extraordinary device, its effectiveness and explores the myths and stories that surround it.

 

‘SPARE PARTS’ MESSERSCHMITT

During the height of the Battle of Britain, a Bf 110 purportedly comprised of parts from several salvaged Zerstörer met its match over Kent. Andy Saunders details what happened to the Messerschmitt, and its crew.

 

STURM-FLAK AHEAD!

May 1940. At the beginning of the Blitzkrieg in the West, a new weapon system was available to the German frontline troops – the Sturm-FlaK. As Thomas Anderson explains, this self-propelled gun combined the high firepower of a 2 cm anti-aircraft weapon with the off-road capability of a half-tracked tractor.

 

TANK’S TRUSTY TRAINER

Considered a lady in almost every sense of the word by those who had the good fortune to fly the aircraft, Focke-Wulf’s Fw 58 Weihe (Harrier) was a key twin-engined pilot trainer with a broad capability, as Barry Wheeler reveals.

 

GREY WOLVES

For Allied seamen during the Second World War, the U-boat was a hidden menace, a faceless killer lurking beneath the waves, and the urgent needs of survival afforded them little time or energy to consider the challenges and privations of their enemy. Roger Moorhouse relates what it was like to be a U-boatman, some 30,000 of whom perished during the war.

 

GREAT WAR RIBBON BAR

Military historian and German state awards specialist Christophe Déruelle turns detective to discover the story behind a ribbon bar that he acquired some years ago.

 

THE BATTLE OF GRAVENEY MARSH

When a Ju 88 was forced down on Graveney Marshes, in north Kent, on 27 September 1940, shots were allegedly heard to ring out as the four crewmen emerged from the downed bomber. What followed has led to it being described as the last land battle fought against a foreign power on British soil since 1797. Andy Saunders unravels the truth behind one of the Battle of Britain’s strangest stories.

 

A BLACK DAY FOR BRANDENBURG

On 8 May 1916, a series of devastating explosions at Fort Douaumont exacted a terrible toll on German troops just three months after it had been captured from the French. Graham Rumney examines the events surrounding this catastrophe, in which more than 700 soldiers died.

THE PANTHER II

Craig Moore forensically details the sole example of the ‘mythical’ Panther II tank hull, preserved in the US Army Armor and Cavalry Collection at Fort Benning, Georgia.

 

REVIEWS

Our regular look at military history publications covers books from Head of Zeus, Greenhill Books, Osprey and Pen & Sword and The Great War Aviation Society 2026 calendar.

 

KNIGHTS OF THE AIR

This photograph, expertly colourised by regular Iron Cross contributor Richard J Molloy, features two Bf 109 pilots from II./JG 53 ‘Pik As’ discussing the art of dogfighting in early September 1942.

 

NOTES FROM THE ARMOURY

When the campaign in the East, despite great initial successes, did not lead to a rapid defeat of the Red Army, the Wehrmacht was forced to use more ammunition than originally planned. Stockpiles shrank alarmingly and, as Michael Heidler recounts, the arms industry had to resort more and more often to inferior raw materials or substitutes such as Nipolit.

 

PHOTOS FROM THE FRONT

Richard J Molloy has used his magic to colourise a humble Scheuch Schlepper and its ‘cargo’, an Me 163 Komet.

 

WAR POSTERS

Performing a multitude of tasks, German Pioniere were both soldiers and combat engineers during the First World War and in the turbulent post-armistice years.
 

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