Ildefonso Arenas

The riveting story of the Third Reich’s best Spanish pilot

In 1813, the Iron Cross became the most highly esteemed military decoration for a Prussian soldier. Starting with the Great War, this became the case for German soldiers. Anyone could be awarded one, regardless of their nationality or social class. The only requirement was to perform acts of supreme heroism, first while fighting for the Kingdom of Prussia, and later for the German Empire.

During World War II, a higher grade of this medal was created, the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. Of more than seven thousand Knight’s Crosses awarded by the Third Reich, forty-four went to non-German soldiers. However, only forty-three of their names were recorded. Cross forty-four was awarded to a Spanish pilot whose name did not appear in any Spanish Navy archive. He served in the Luftwaffe and achieved over two hundred air combat victories, several with the Condor Legion, the Israeli Chel Ha'Avir and the Katanga Air Force.

This novel tells the riveting tale of this born pilot, a mercenary who enjoyed life to the fullest and gave everything to fly planes.

“A thrilling story told with painstaking rigour in terms of aeronautical and military terminology, so that its tone makes it something like The Kindly Ones for the Luftwaffe.” Jacinto Antón, Babelia-El País, 19/05/2017

'Ildefonso Arenas retrata el siglo XX a través de un piloto de combate a sueldo', David Yagüe, Blog XX Siglos, 20 Minutos, 17/07/17