A fully illustrated account of the Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe from 1942 to 1945. Military and aviation history enthusiasts have always been interested in the fighter pilots of Hitler's Luftwaffe. Some of their stories are extraordinary. Fighting from the Arctic Circle to the North African deserts, from the Caucasus in the East to Normandy in the West, the German fighter pilot flew and fought until he was shot down, "flown out," wounded or killed in action. A handful survived from "first to last."This first volume of Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe traces the story of the Luftwaffe's day fighter arm (der Tagjagd) from its inception to 1942. Organized campaign by campaign, this chronological account interweaves brief biographical details, newly translated personal accounts and key moments in the careers of a host of notable and lesser known Luftwaffe aces. Around 500 Luftwaffe fighter pilots were awarded the Knight's Cross, accumulating huge numbers of missions flown. A similar number achieved more than 40 victories - more than the two leading USAF and RAF fighter pilots.

Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1939–42 (Casemate Illustrated)

History

Page, Neil

Americas

Casemate

A fully illustrated account of the Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe from 1942 to 1945. Around 500 Luftwaffe fighter pilots were awarded the Knight's Cross, accumulating huge numbers of missions flown. A similar number achieved more than 40 victories--more than the two leading USAF and RAF fighter pilots.This volume of Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe traces the story of the Luftwaffe's day fighter arm from 1942 through to the end of the war in Europe, covering missions over Russia in 1943, over the West and the Reich, the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean. Organized campaign by campaign, this chronological account interweaves brief biographical details, newly translated personal accounts and key moments in the careers of a host of notable and lesser known Luftwaffe aces. Fully illustrated with 200 contemporary photographs, maps and profiles of the aircraft flown by these aces, this is a visual delight for anyone with an interest in the day fighter aces of the Luftwaffe.

Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1943-45 (Casemate Illustrated)

During World War II, the Luftwaffe's Nachtjagd evolved from chaos to effective night fighter units in response to RAF Bomber Command raids. On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht launched its assault on the West. One element of the West's response was the dispatch of RAF Bomber Command 'heavy' bombers at night over German industrial centers. These raids had only limited effectiveness, but the inability of the Luftwaffe to chase down RAF bombers at night so annoyed Wolfgang Falck that it swiftly resulted in the creation of a credible night fighter force. Initial trials had been flown with Bf 110s at dusk in Denmark in April, and 1. Nachtjagd.Division was founded in the summer of 1940. Its first few months were chaotic, with constant reorganizations of units, and reassignment of aircraft, but soon enough the night fighter arm was achieving steady victories--and losing crews at a similarly steady rate. Despite the efforts of senior leadership, the Nachtjagd constantly struggled to secure sufficient personnel or aircraft, and would spend most of its life playing catch up--its radar systems regularly outdone by RAF Bomber Command's jamming capabilities, though the development of Schräge Musik and Wilde Sau did give the Nachtjagd an edge. The first specialist Luftwaffe night fighter--the Heinkel He 219--would be trialled only in 1943. Fully illustrated, this is a full chronological account of the night fighter units for the first part of World War II, covering major campaigns, the biographies of individual aces, and the details of the technology developed for the Nachtjagd.

Night Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1940–43 (Casemate Illustrated)

Roba, Jean-Louis

Military

Night Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1943-45 (Casemate Illustrated)

Contrary to the myth, the Luftwaffe of the Second World War was not a 'mighty force' created from scratch virtually overnight. For the most part German fighter pilots were hopelessly outnumbered. Indeed the Jagdwaffe - the fighter arm - never numbered more than 1500 serviceable single seat fighters. By mid-1944 its major opponents could easily field five times that number. As with much of the German war effort, the surprising thing is not that the Luftwaffe fighter arm failed but that it performed as well as it did for as long as it did.\nThis publication takes a slightly different angle on the Luftwaffe 'ace' pilots and their aircraft from the traditional approach of trumpeting their triumphs and hailing their 'kill' tallies. Including many newly translated personal accounts, it details the individual experiences of some less well known Luftwaffe pilots, Gruppen and Geschwader.

Luftwaffe Fighters - Combat on all Fronts - Part 1

Tempest

The Luftwaffe was able to field some of the world's finest fighter aircraft and pilots during the Second World War. This publication from renowned researcher and historian Neil Page looks at the German Jagdflieger throughout the conflict, covering campaigns, unit histories and ace pilot biographies, illustrated throughout with more than 250 rare images, some published here for the first time. It traces the the story of the Tagjagd from the inception of the Luftwaffe to final Götterdämmerung. This is the second volume in our Luftwaffe Fighters series, covering units flying the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, where Vol. 1 contentrated primarily on units flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109.Regards

Luftwaffe Fighters - Combat on all Fronts: Volume 2

Europe

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