Once Nazi Germany had conquered Norway in 1940, just a handful of Gruppen flying the Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters were able to shatter all opposition and dominate the air in the Arctic Circle. This is a guide to the Arctic Experten and the planes they flew.
The twin-engined He 111 was the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's bomber arm at the start of World War ll. Accompanied by the Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, it provided the aerial striking power for all the early Blitzkrieg campaigns, sweeping all before it throughout the first 12 months of hostilities. This title deals with this aircraft.
Jagdgeschwader 3 may not have the same immediate resonance as some of the more famous Luftwaffe fighter units, such Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen', but it is arguably the archetypal German fighter formation of World War 2. This title deals with this war.
Das Jagdgeschwader 53, auch „Pik-As“ genannt, fand sich an nahezu jeder Front des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Sein bekanntes Pik As –Emblem wurde zum Symbol für die Deutsche Luftwaffe und fand sich neben den Kampffliegern auch weltweit auf Modellen, Drucken, Illustrationen und Buchumschlägen. Die Geschwader des Pik-As waren neben der Verteidigung des Deutschen Reichs in vielen der wildesten Luftattacken des Krieges mit von der Partie, u. a. in der Normandie, Stalingrad und El Alamein. Der Autor John Weal recherchierte viele Jahre in den deutschen Bundesarchiven. Zusammen mit seinen umfassenden Kontakten zu diversen Kriegsveteranen entstand daraus ein maßgeblicher und menschlicher Bericht über den langen und ereignisreichen Krieg des JG 53.
Originally designed in the mid-1930s as a fast airliner that could be easily adapted for the bombing role, the He 111 first saw action in Spain with the Legion Condor during the civil war. By the time Germany invaded Poland, more than 700 were in service with the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwadern, and they were used with devastating effect during the fall of Poland and France. However, the He 111 met its match during the Battle of Britain when over 240 were lost. It then became a night-time pathfinder, guiding in the bigger bombers during the Blitz. Elsewhere, He 111s filled a number of roles including acting as torpedo bombers against convoys and as reconnaissance platforms. This book charts the full story of the deployment of the He 111 in the western theatre of Word War II, including their last missions as V-1 Doodlebug launch platforms.
Poznejte historicky nejúspěšnější stíhací esa jagdwaffe, piloty, kteří se zůčastnili krvavých bojů na východní frontě v letech 1941 - 1945. Kniha detailně seznamuje s průběhem jednotlivých bojů, s životními osudy samotných pilotů i postupným vývojem letounu Bf 109, na kterém dosahovali svých úspěchů.
Completing Osprey's triliogy on the Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader this new volume focuses on activities on the Eastern Front during World War II (1939-1945). Comprising the main punch of the Luftwaffe's bomber arm during the initial invasion of the Soviet Union, the Ju 88 participated in a number of early strategic bomber raids on Moscow before assuming responsibility for supporting the Wehrmacht's ground forces in the field. In this role, the Ju 88s attacked bridges, road and rail communications, and troop concentrations and gave rise to many individual incidents that contribute to a varied and interesting narrative.Along with this main narrative, the book also covers the role the Ju 88s played in attacking the artic convoys that were shipping allied war supplies to Russia, and the several variant models that were employed. The strangest of these was a Ju 88 packed with explosives and guided by a fighter clipped onto its back that was used as a giant bomb against the Russians as they were approaching Berlin late in the war.
The 'storm troopers' of the Luftwaffe, the elite Strumgruppen units comprised the most heavily armed and armoured fighter interceptors ever produced by the Germans. Their role was to smash like a mighty fist through the massed ranks of USAAF daylight bombers. Only volunteers could serve with these elite units, and each pilot was trained to close with the enemy and engage him in extremely short-range combat, attacking from the front and the rear in tight arrowhead formations. In exceptional circumstances pilots would even ram their enemy. This book chronicles the brief, but violent, career of the Sturmgruppen during the dark days of 1944-45, employing first-hand accounts and rare archival photography.
JG 51 is Luftwaffe's top wartime fighter units. The unit's history encapsulates the fortunes of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm as a whole - the heady successes of the early months, the steady attrition and the growing strength of the opposition during the mid-war years, and the final chaos and collapse of the last days.
Jagdgeschwader 52 was the most successful and highest-scoring fighter unit, not just in Germany's Luftwaffe, but in the entire annals of aviation history. This text provides a full combat history of the JG 52 and its members, including the three top-scoring aces of all time, who claimed a total of 900 victories between them.