Here the author describes his experiences as a Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft Assistant from 1944-1945: "It was simply a question of us fifteen to sixteen-year olds manning the anti-aircraft guns on the ground defending ourselves against the airmen in the bombers and fighters 20,000 feet above our heads."

Letters, reports, documents and above all, the author's complete diary and photographs do so much to authenticate this time capsule. He describes how it was in those days, the final two years of World War II, both on the ground and in the air, manning the guns and systems of the 7th German Anti-Aircraft Brigade, or on operations with the bombers of the 15th US Air Fleet - including insight into the lives of the schoolboy troopers "down here" and the bomber crews "up there".

About the Author
MSc Eng. Gerhard Oberleitner was born in Ybbs an der Donau, Austria, on April 7, 1928, the younger son of a Master Carpenter. He attended grade school in Ybbs, and the first to fourth years of high school in Vienna 19. He was supposed to attend the fifth to eighth high school years in Amstetten, but after the first trimester of the 6th grade, he was drafted as a Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft Assistant. Almost up to the end of World War II, he served with a heavy AA battery in St. Valentin.