Presents an account of the massive aerial campaign fought in the skies over the Soviet Union following the launch of Operation Barbarossa. This book includes information from both Russian and German sources. It features eye-witness material, photographs, biographical studies of major players in the conflict, data tables, and technical assessments.

9 x 12, 200+ b/w photos, maps & tables, 27 color profiles

200 photographs, 25 full-color aircraft profiles plus maps, tables andnumerous first-hand accounts.Rommel's advance into Egypt forced the Allies to retreat to the El Alamein defenses. As the British Eighth Army prepared for a massive offensive, there followed a period of stalemate on the ground, but in the air the Luftwaffe was faced with a numerically superior force. Luftwaffe's fighter units, outnumbered and continually starved of supplies, fought on in support of Rommel's final battles in North Africa and against the vital British island fortress of Malta. Eventually forced to transfer units from an already critical situation on the Russian Front, German fighter pilots faced growing Allied air power but achieved some outstanding successes, and for a while the battle for Malta hung in the balance. German and Italian forces in North Africa were eventually defeated by superior Allied forces, ULTRA intelligence and the 'Torch' landings. This 96-page title tells the story of the German fighter force in North Africa from the El Alamein offensive inOctober 1942 to final defeat in Tunisia in May 1943.

Defeat in North Africa and the disastrous loss of Sixth Army at Stalingrad were undoubtedly huge blows to the Wehrmacht, but the most critical battle of 1943 was fought at Kursk. In the spring of 1943, the Russian front bulged into the German lines between Kharkov and Orel. Here, in July, German forces tried to regain the initiative on the Russian Front by a planned attack to pinch off this salient and straighten the front, but forewarned, the Soviets absorbed the German thrust and counterattack. The climax to this titanic clash of forces was the battle at Kursk, scene of the largest tank battle in history, where German land forces were defeated and forced to retreat in the face of an unstoppable Soviet counterattack. Is it against this background that in this 96-page tile, Christer Bergstrom, an acknowledged expert on the air-war in Russia, describes the activities of the Luftwaffe's fighter-force in its battles over the Russian Front.

A new book by Jerry Crandall - Fighters of the Iron Cross, Men and Machines of the Jagdwaffe.Presented will be short biographies and combat stories about their fighter experiences in the Luftwaffe of the pilots based on personal interviews conducted by Jerry and Judy over the past 45 years. Many more pilots are featured including most of those who signed the signatorie page.Numerous photos from their private collections, many never before published, documents and full color profiles complete the book.Numerous photos from their private collections, many never before published, documents and full color profiles complete the book.

“Fascinating . . . you’ll gain tremendous insight into some of the best fighter pilots the world has ever known, as well as the Luftwaffe’s rise and fall.” —The Military Book Club In 1939, the Luftwaffe was arguably the world’s best-equipped and best-trained air force. Its fighters were second to none, and their pilots had a tactical system superior to any other in the world. In campaigns over Poland, Norway, the Low Countries and France, they carried all before them. Only in the summer of 1940 did they fail by a narrow margin in achieving air superiority over England. In the West, with a mere holding force, they maintained an enviable kill-loss ratio against the RAF, while elsewhere they swept through the Balkans, then decimated the numerically formidable Soviet Air Force. Their top scorers set marks in air combat that have never been surpassed. Yet within three years—despite the introduction of the jet Me 262, the world’s most advanced fighter—the Luftwaffe fighter arm had been totally defeated. How did this happen? Air-warfare historian Mike Spick explores this question in depth in this incisive and compelling study of World War II’s most fearsome air force. “Spick’s work explores one of the interesting questions of World War II: why did the Jagdwaffe, the most efficient, best-trained and most technically advanced air force in the world in 1939 endure a bewildering defeat within three short years. Spick comes up with some interesting theories to do with the influence of the cult of Manfred Von Richtofen (the Red Baron).” —In Flight USA

A rigorous new analysis of America's legendary 'Big Week' air campaign which enabled the Allies to gain air superiority before D-Day. The USAAF's mighty World War II bomber forces were designed for unescorted, precision daylight bombing, but no-one foresaw the devastation that German radar-directed interceptors would inflict on them. Following the failures of 1943's Schweinfurt-Regensburg raids, and with D-Day looming, the Allies urgently needed to crush the Luftwaffe's ability to oppose the landings. In February 1944, the Allies conceived and fought history's first-ever successful offensive counterair (OCA) campaign, Operation Argument or “Big Week.” Attacking German aircraft factories with hundreds of heavy bombers, escorted by the new long-range P-51 Mustang, it aimed both to slash aircraft production and force the Luftwaffe into combat, allowing the new Mustangs to take their toll on the German interceptors. This expertly written, illustration-packed account explains how the Allies finally began to win air superiority over Europe, and how Operation Argument marked the beginning of the Luftwaffe's fall.

This book provides up-to-date insight into the notorious German unit, JV 44, its numerous aces and its stunning success with the revolutionary Me 262 during the last dramatic months of World War 2. There was no Luftwaffe fighter unit like Jagdverband 44. Formed in February 1945, the unit grew out of Hitler's bizarre decision that the Me 262 jet fighter should be used as a bomber, despite its potential in the daylight defensive battles over the Reich. Seen as a grave mistake by Göring, a small fighter unit was formed in southern Germany to 'prove' the Me 262's ability as an interceptor. Formed with some of Germany's most experienced fighter pilots, Jagdverband 44 numbered a disproportionately high number of leading aces in its ranks, to the extent that it was said that the Knights' Cross was the unofficial badge of the unit. With numerous first-hand accounts from pilots and detailed colour profiles, this book is a fascinating account of the dramatic birth of the jet fighter and the impact it had during the bitter struggles of 1944-45.

With the publication of this, the last of 20 titles, Classic Publications' acclaimed Jagdwaffe series reaches its conclusion. The final book in the series could also be considered one of the most interesting as it examines the various types of advanced aircraft with which the Luftwaffe desperately tried to challenge what, by then, was overwhelming Allied air supremacy in the skies over the Reich. Whilst each book in the series can be enjoyed on its own, together the Jagdwaffe collection offers a very authoritative and detailed study of the camouflage and markings of Luftwaffe fighter units, in all theatres, throughout World War Two.

“A wonderful book on the Luftwaffe’s WW2 operations (German Air Force) and its struggle to defend Germany from the Allied bomber attacks.” —FSAddon 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. “Looking for a better book on the German air defense of the Third Reich in daylight during the war would probably be a useless endeavor.” —A Wargamers Needful Things