Author: D. Caldwell
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 9781848327412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The Luftwaffe over Germany tells the story of one of the longest and most intense air battles in history. The daylight air struggles over Germany during World War II involved thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of aerial engagements. Until now, there has been no single book that covers the complete story, from the highest levels of air strategy to the individual tales of Fw 190s, Bf 109s and Me 262s in air combat against the American bomber streams. This ground-breaking work explores the detrimental effect of Luftwaffe theory and doctrine on the German air arms ability to defend the homeland once the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive began in earnest. By mid-1944, they had lost the battle – but had exacted a terrible price from the Americans in the process. The product of a ten-year collaboration between two noted Luftwaffe historians, this work fills a major gap in the literature of World War II. The authors have examined original war diaries, logbooks, doctrine manuals, after-action reports, and interviews with many combat veterans to produce a richly detailed account. Illustrated with nearly two hundred photographs, as well as new maps and diagrams, this is the standard work on the subject.

Author: Donald Caldwell
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1473896967
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The Luftwaffe over Germany tells the story of one of the longest and most intense air battles in history. The daylight air struggles over Germany during World War II involved thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of aerial engagements. Until now, there has been no single book that covers the complete story, from the highest levels of air strategy to the individual tales of Fw 190s, Bf 109s and Me 262s in air combat against the American bomber streams. This ground-breaking work explores the detrimental effect of Luftwaffe theory and doctrine on the German air arms ability to defend the homeland once the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive began in earnest. By mid-1944, they had lost the battle – but had exacted a terrible price from the Americans in the process. The product of a ten-year collaboration between two noted Luftwaffe historians, this work fills a major gap in the literature of World War II. The authors have examined original war diaries, logbooks, doctrine manuals, after-action reports, and interviews with many combat veterans to produce a richly detailed account. Illustrated with nearly two hundred photographs, as well as new maps and diagrams, this is the standard work on the subject.

Author: Donald L. Caldwell
Publisher: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal
ISBN: 9781853677120
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The Luftwaffe over Germany tells the story of one of the longest and most intense air battles in history. The daylight air struggles over Germany during World War II involved thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of aerial engagements. Until now, there has been no single book that covers the complete story, from the highest levels of air strategy to the individual tales of Fw 190s, Bf 109s and Me 262s in air combat against the American bomber streams. This work explores the German air defense system until its collapse in 1945. It examines the detrimental effect of Luftwaffe theory and doctrine on the German air arms ability to defend the homeland once the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive began in earnest. The hard-pressed Luftwaffe leadership attempted to cobble together an air-defense network while at the same time tending to the combat fronts in Russia and the Mediterranean. Units developed specialized tactics and weapons for dealing with heavily defended bomber formations, while senior commanders sought to construct an elaborate command and control system integrating radar, observers, anti-aircraft guns, and fighters. By mid-1944, they had lost the battle - but had exacted a terrible price from the Americans in the process. The product of a ten-year collaboration between two noted Luftwaffe historians, this work fills a major gap in the literature of World War II. The authors have examined original war diaries, logbooks, doctrine manuals, after-action reports, and interviews with many combat veterans to produce a richly detailed account. Illustrated with nearly two hundred photographs, as well as new maps and diagrams, Luftwaffe Over Germany is certain to become the standard work on the subject.

Author: Donald Caldwell
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473813476
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
A day-by-day account of Nazi air operations in WWII by the coauthor of The Luftwaffe over Germany, winner of an Air Force Historical Foundation Award. Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich is a detailed, comprehensive daily reference to the air operations flown by the Luftwaffe. During the Second World War, German air defenses struggled to cope with the threat posed by the American 8th and 15th Air Forces, which were charged with destroying Germany’s critical war industries and wresting control of the air over the Reich from the Luftwaffe. This unique volume includes a brief narrative and a table of statistics detailing every mission of every Luftwaffe unit defending the Greater German Reich or the western occupied zone against strategic raids by the USAAF; tables of monthly sorties, losses and victory claims by the USAAF and the Luftwaffe over the Reich and the western occupied zone; and combat accounts by Luftwaffe pilots. This “tremendous piece of work,” is based on documents in the German, American and British government archives and German pilot logbooks and interviews from the author’s extensive collection (Aeroplane Magazine). Caldwell is well known for his balanced presentations and the clarity of his writing. This book is a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in World War II aviation history. “Highly recommended, and quite likely to be remembered as one of the most important new books of the year.”—Stone & Stone “Such a staggering quantity of information would be overwhelming in less capable hands. But Caldwell spices up his tight narrative with excellent photos and informative captions.”—Aviation History

Author: Alfred Price
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1848328672
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The Last Year of the Luftwaffe is the classic story of a once all-conquering force struggling to stave off an inevitable and total defeat. This superbly written book gives a complete account of Luftwaffe operations during the last twelve months of the fighting in Europe including the dramatic Bodenplatte (or 'Baseplate') offensive over the Ardennes in December 1944. In this comprehensive examination of Hitler's air force, Dr Alfred Price examines its state from May 1944 to May 1945, analysing not only the forces available to it, but also the likely potential, and impact, of new aircraft and weapons systems. He also assesses the Luftwaffe's High Command's performance and the effect of Allied attacks and operations. In doing so he rejects a number of long-standing myths, clarifies the impact of the jet and rocket fighters, and demonstrates that the Luftwaffe performed as well as could be expected under the harsh circumstances of fighting a losing war.

Author: James S. Corum
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
A study of the resurrection of Germany's air force during the period, providing an account of the evolution of German military aviation theory, doctrine, war games, and operations between the two world wars. Draws on archival material to reveal debates with the General Staff about the future role of airpower and the problems of aligning aviation technology with air doctrine. Also examines the early WWII period and the Luftwaffe's effectiveness in Poland and France. Includes bandw photos. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author: General Werner Baumbach
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786259966
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe is the story of Germany’s bomber forces in World War II—the counterpart to the story of German fighter forces told by Adolf Galland in The First and the Last. Designated General of the Bombers—the highest post in the Luftwaffe bomber command—Werner Baumbach saw combat as a dive bomber pilot at Narvik and Dunkirk. Later he commanded the Luftwaffe forces in Norway, attacking Allied convoys on the Murmansk run, and led Germany’s bomber fleets on the Russian front and in the Mediterranean. An outspoken critic of the Luftwaffe blunders committed by Göring and Hitler, Baumbach was saved from dismissal only by his extraordinary record of leadership and courage. In The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe, he presents a rare inside view of German decisions and strategy, based on personal combat experience and official Luftwaffe files—from the blitzkrieg in Poland and the fall of France to the Battle of Britain, the siege of Stalingrad, and the collapse of German air power under the torrent of American bombing at the end of World War II.

Author: Generalmajor a. D. Fritz Morzik
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1787205711
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Germany’s imaginative employment of transport aircraft in World War II produced as many innovations as Germany’s use of tanks. Indeed, like the tank, the transport aircraft was closely associated with the Blitzkrieg concept. This relationship was advantageous at the outset of the war, but it became dangerous as the war dragged on and German armies outran their surface supply lines in North Africa and Russia. Then ground commanders began to think of air transport as the means of supply. The history of this trend is one of the main themes of this study, which was first published in its English translation in 1961. Some of the questions embodied in this theme—How much air transport is enough? Under what conditions is an air-supply operation feasible? What are the prerequisites for a successful airlift to encircled ground forces? What are the advantages and limitations of the glider?—are as vital and controversial today as they were during World War II. Generalmajor a. D. Fritz Morzik, who began his military career as a non-commissioned officer in the German Air Service in World War I and ended it as Armed Forces Chief of Air Transport in World War II, is especially well-qualified to write the present study. His long career, spanning two world wars, and his experience with both civilian and military transport aircraft testify to the breadth of his practical knowledge.

Author: Daniel Uziel
Publisher: McFarland Publishing
ISBN: 9780786465217
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
"Based on German records, Allied intelligence reports, and eyewitness reports, this study explores the military, political, scientific, and social aspects of Germany's World War II aviation industry, such as production, research and development, Allied attacks, the use of foreign workers and slave labor, and daily life and working conditions in the factories"--Provided by publisher.

Author: Cajus Bekker
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780306806049
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
The Luftwaffe War Diaries is the definitive history of the German air force in World War II, from the blitzkrieg on Poland to the last desperate stand over Germany—the only account ever to come from a German source. Its masterfully organized chapters detail, summarize, and evaluate every important strategy and campaign. Cajus Bekker has drawn on official German archives and collections, the combat journals and personal papers of leading officers, and the collated Luftwaffe war diaries, none of which have been published outside Germany, as well as interviews with hundreds of former German airmen.The result is a critical examination of the Luftwaffe's development and command against the vivid background of World War II's greatest air battles. While the author does full justice to the performance of German airmen, he does not embellish it. Thus his chronicle of the deadly struggle of these men is anything but a heroic saga; the exploits of the other side are treated with equal justice. Heroes and villains are not described or eulogized here—only men fighting a war that most of them did not want. With over 100 photographs, numerous maps, and a complete index of personalities, The Luftwaffe War Diaries brings into stunning focus for now and all time the ironic triumph and inevitable tragedy of war.