Luftwaffe pilot, commander of the 7th and then 9th squadron, participant in the battles in the vicinity of Paris Willy Heilman talks about the combat everyday life of German pilots. About how few veterans of air battles took on the brunt of the war, participating in endless assault attacks under anti-aircraft fire and “dog fights” with the enemy, because inexperienced pilots were sent to the front, trained in just a few weeks and almost immediately died in battle. Heilman analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the system for recording aerial victories and scoring awards for awards. The author concludes his memoirs with a story about the last days of World War II.