haven't had the chance to read "The Blond Knight" but I was just reading inserts from it and other sites about Hartmann ...seems in his early days he was shot down once.
I like what he said about Hitler
When Hartmann finally met Hitler, “I found him a little disappointing, although very interested in the war at the front and extremely well informed on events as I knew them. However, he had a tendency to drone on about minor things that I found boring. I found him interesting yet not that imposing. I also found him lacking in sufficient knowledge about the air war in the east. He was more concerned with the Western Front’s air war and the bombing of cities. Of course the Eastern Front ground war was his area of most interest. This was evident. Hitler listened to the men from the Western Front, and assured them that weapons and fighter production were increasing, and history proved this to be correct. Then he went into the U-boat war, how we were going to decidedly destroy maritime commerce, and all of that. I found him an isolated and disturbed man.”
http://www.acesofww2.com/germany/aces/Hartmann.htm
