Iron Cross

Iron Cross is the UK’s only magazine of German military history from the First World War to the end of the Second World War. Covering all aspects of German military history including the Imperial German forces of the Great War, the Weimar period and the Nazi period. Iron Cross prides itself on the highest quality production with stunning content in the unique and ground-breaking features, often revealing untold stories and publishing photographs that have never been seen before. Iron Cross features specially commissioned and innovative artwork in all issues.

Iron Cross

Editorial

CONTRIBUTORS • Introducing you to some of our main contributors for this issue:-

First to Fall • Around 1,200 Luftwaffe aircraft were downed over Britain during the Second World War, with the first enemy aircraft down over the mainland in 1939 seeing a significant discovery by RAF investigators. Andy Saunders tells how this important discovery was hidden in plain sight and initially overlooked.

RAF Air Intelligence Report • The following is a transcript of the RAF intelligence report in respect of Heinkel 111 H-2, W.Nr 5449:

First Bombs on British Soil

The Knickebein System

First Enemy Aircraft Downed in England

NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT

The Zündapp K 800 W

Anthropoid • An act which is said to be the only verified successful government-sponsored assassination of a senior Nazi leader during the Second World War was that carried out on Deputy Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich in Prague. Robert Mitchell outlines the story.

Enigma and its Variations • The Enigma machine is probably as well known in history as Sir Edward Elgars ‘Enigma Variations’ is in music. By contrast, as Georg Wiessala explains, German entrepreneur and Enigma inventor, Jacob Ludolf Arthur Scherbius, is as good as unknown today.

Enigma and its nemesis

Of Friend and Foe • The war cemeteries of the old Western Front proliferate across northern France and Belgium, but as Chris Goss discovered during a tour of the battlefields, the tides of time and of war have left changing landscapes at many of the original burial locations.

Two-Seater Aces • One generally thinks of German air aces of the First World War as single-seater pilots who flew Albatros Scouts, Fokker Dr.1 triplanes or Fokker DVIIs. As Norman Franks outlines here, there were also several aces who flew two-seater machines.

Tail-End Trophy • In Issue #12 of Iron Cross magazine, we ran one of our occasional ‘Unlocking History’ pieces which looked at the unusual fitment of a grenade launcher in the tail of some Heinkel 111 bombers brought down over Britain. Andy Saunders explains how a specimen of the launcher has unexpectedly turned up.

WE'RE FREEZING OUR SUBSCRIPTION PRICES! • Due to rising costs the cover price of Iron Cross will be increasing from Issue 23 onwards … but you don't need to pay that!

Evolution of the 1939 Iron Cross • Our expert on the orders and decorations of the Third Reich, Dietrich Maerz, looks at the evolution of the 1939 Order of the Iron Cross which almost saw the introduction of a ‘higher-grade’ Iron Cross First Class: The Iron Cross First Class with Oakleaves.

Junkyard Junkers • Occasionally, collections of photographs or albums arrive at Iron Cross magazine. Recently, a collection of photos of wrecked German aircraft landed on the editor’s desk depicting Junkers 88 aircraft and other types from the Junkers factory which had all been abandoned by the Luftwaffe.

Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin • Hitler’s only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin and its forgotten ‘Dambuster’ link is a story explored by Martin Mace and John Grehan in what is an extraordinary account of a vessel that never served its intended purpose.

Aircraft for Graf...