Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #561308 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 238 pages

Synopsis
This unique compilation of in-depth accounts by major figures in the German fighter force in World War II describes, in the words of the men who did the flying and the fighting, how the Luftwaffe operated and carried out its missions.'

Customer Reviews

German fighter pilots describe how they fought (and lost)
The book was written (or dictated) by General Adolf Galland (and his co-authors) in 1945 when they were PoWs as part of their interrogation. This is, quite literally, the first draft of the Luftwaffe fighter force's history. On one hand, none of the many authors had documents (except logbooks) to refer back to. But their memories were fresh and, just being captured, they did not really have an interest in pushing a particular agenda except as it kept them from being tried for war crimes (one of the minor co-authors got 15 years).

Galland is the main voice here, and he is always interesting. I met him, and he exuded arrogant yet charming charisma and the fighter pilots' disrespect for authority not legitimized by demonstrated capabilities. You get a lot of that in his writings. He did not suffer the average -- let alone fools -- gladly. Which is one of the reasons he was not offered a job in the post-war German armed forces.

I also found interesting Heinz Bar's descriptions of what a fighter mission would have been like at different stages of the war. It shows the continuity and change in how the fighter force operated from the perspective of the men who flew the missions.

Galland's counterpart for the ground attack forces, General Hubertus Hitschhold writes several chapters on air-ground operations and tactics, especially in the latter war period. This is an area not well covered in English-language sources, which have tended to concentrate on the more glamourous air to air combat of the Luftwaffe fighter force. Readers of Rudel's STUKA PILOT might want to see how that corresponds to the situation as his boss saw it, without the ideological filters.

If you are seriously interested in the Luftwaffe, you should buy this book. If you enjoyed Galland's classic THE FIRST AND THE LAST or the recent biography of Galland, you should buy this book. Because it was written by fighter pilots (as PoWs) for other fighter pilots (doing the interrogation), it assumes a fair degree of technical knowledge, so it is not for the neophyte. The translation, while understandable and a lot better than many dealing with German military experience, is not polished. I suspect the authors, being true fighter pilots, did most of their talking with their hands.

Best book I bought in 2001
I wrote my dissertation on the collapse of the Luftwaffe and its affect on the Wehrmacht and this book was a solid corner stone of the work.
I have always been an admirer of General Adolf Galland, and had an avid interest in the Luftwaffe and to find a book with Galland's views and that of his officers on things like the everyday operation of the Jagdwaffe and its craft and weapons. It also goes into the stratedgies formed by the Jagdwaffe's top brass on how to handle the Allied air incursions.
The reader also gets a good idea as to who the vairious officers blamed for failures, as each tried to shift the blame away from their offices. Most of this is (in my opinion) correctly pointed at the Reichsmarshall.
This book is a MUST have for anyone interested in the Luftwaffe and its internal workings. I am indebted to this book.

Best book I bought in 2001
I wrote my dissertation on the collapse of the Luftwaffe and its affect on the Wehrmacht and this book was a solid corner stone of the work.
I have always been an admirer of General Adolf Galland, and had an avid interest in the Luftwaffe and to find a book with Galland's views and that of his officers on things like the everyday operation of the Jagdwaffe and its craft and weapons. It also goes into the stratedgies formed by the Jagdwaffe's top brass on how to handle the Allied air incursions.
The reader also gets a good idea as to who the vairious officers blamed for failures, as each tried to shift the blame away from their offices. Most of this is (in my opinion) correctly pointed at the Reichsmarshall.
This book is a MUST have for anyone interested in the Luftwaffe and its internal workings. I am indebted to this book.