This unique account records the of life of a young Austrian training and serving as a pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War II, flying transport and courier aircraft on the Eastern Front. Karl Sinnhuber writes compellingly of his many encounters with danger, including being chased by Russian fighter aircraft near Stalingrad, and a literally chilling escape, wounded, from East Prussia, as the Red Army advanced on Konigsberg in January 1945, his journey home to Salzburg, capture by the US Army and eventual return to civilian life in which he developed a distinguished academic career. The book details everyday life while training, including the compulsory stint in the Labour Corps during which he followed front line troops invading Poland in September 1939, encountering Jewish villagers just days before the German Army probably took them away. The author's photos of these people are among many previously unpublished images within this historically important eye-witness account.