Martin Pegg was born in Portsmouth in 1944 during a Luftwaffe bombing raid. A member of the Air Training Corps while at school, and later a volunteer with the Royal Observer Corps, he also became an enthusiastic modeller of German aircraft from the Second World War. During the 1960s and 1970s, his interest in the Luftwaffe deepened, particularly in the history, aircraft and operations of German dive-bomber and ground attack aircraft.

In this regard, he visited Germany to attend a reunion of the Stukageschwader ‘Immelmann’ in order to learn more, where he met Hans Rudel and several other holders of the Ritterkreuz who had flown the Ju 87.

In 1977, his first book, Luftwaffe Ground-Attack Units 1939-1945 was published by Osprey. As he wrote that book, so his interest in the Henschel Hs 129 also grew. Subsequently, he corresponded with several former Hs 129 pilots and attended a reunion of former members of 10.(Pz)/SG 9. After further detailed research, his widely acclaimed second book, Hs 129 Panzerjäger!, was published by Classic Publications in 1997.

Since then, as more previously classified material has become available, he has drawn on such resources to write this significantly revised account of the history and operations of what was – contrary to much post-war opinion – a reliable and effective aircraft that achieved much more than had been credited to it.

Martin lives on the South Coast of England with his wife and is working on an account of the surrender of the U-boats in 1945.

Read an interview with Martin Pegg on the writing of the book here: Blog.