SORRY - SOLD OUT
The increased freedom for photography in former East Germany following the demise of the German Democratic Republic is reflected in this volume (No. 19) of After the Battle covering issues 73-76. In issue 74 we explore the site of the Peenemünde rocket research centre on the shores of the baltic where German scientists developed the V2. Located in strictly forbidden territory, deep inside the GDR, some parts of the former base are still off limits, but even so we are able to photograph all the important areas as they appear today. The tiny Baltic island of Greifswalder Oie — the sub-base of Peenemünde where the initial launches took place — was also visited and described in Issue 76. A vivid comparison to the V-weapons story appears in issue 75 with an eyewitness description from a British soldier on the receiving end of a rocket an who lived to tell the tale of the worst-ever incident at the Rex Cinema, Antwerp. Locations in East Berlin are featured in issue 75 where we tell the story of Horst Wessel, the Nazi martyr killed before the war. Now that one is free to roam at will, we picture all the relevant spots: where he lived, where he was shot and where he was buried. Another security-sensitive area visited for issue 76 was the French naval base at Toulon where the French Fleet was scuttled in November 1942 to stop it falling into Hitler's hands. Black propoganda was the title given to the British radio broadcasts directed at Germany and German-occupied Europe by Sefton Delmer's clandestine organisation which masqueraded as a genuine German radio station. We visit the locations of the secret studios and transmitter sites in Britain in issue 75. Stories by veterans of World War II also feature prominently in this volume: like Harry Beckingham in charge of mine clearing in Guernsey in 1945; Horst Rossberg, a German prisoner in Britain form 1944-1948; Charles MacDonald, US company commander in the Ardennes battle in 1944, and Ivan Kozhedub, the Soviet Union's fighter ace. Other stories cover a wide variety of topics: from MI5's secret interrogation centre just outside London to Kohima in Burma; from US Army airstrips in Britain to the recovery of a Japanese tank on the island of Guam in the Pacific; recreating the Great Patriotic War on celluloid in Russia and clearing the Rhine river in Germany after the war. Plus much more.
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