Download or read book The First and the Last written by Adolf Galland and published by . This book was released on 2018-10-10 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland was a German Luftwaffe General and one of the greatest flying aces of World War II. He flew 705 combat missions, and fought on the Western and the Defence of the Reich fronts. On four occasions he survived being shot down, and he was credited with an astonishing 104 aerial victories, all of them against the Western Allies. He is a legend of air combat, and this is his heroic story. First published in 1954, this is a reprint of the original edition and not any revised version. It was a best-seller in 14 languages and sold three million copies. It was also very well received by the British and American airforces as a frank and honest statement of how the war was won and lost in the air. Time magazine called this book "The clearest picture yet of how the Germans lost their war in the air."
Download or read book Adolf Galland written by Robert Michulec and published by MMP. This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biography of perhaps the most famous Luftwaffe ace, a fighter pilot who fought against the Spanish, the British & Americans, the Russians, and even within the Nazi hierarchy itself! From the Condor Legion in Spain, to the first use of jet fighters over Germany at the end of World War Two, Adolf Galland was in the thick of the action as an outstanding fighter pilot and charismatic leader. Outspoken in his criticisms of the German leadership late in the war, he was demoted to hazardous front-line duties, but survived to build strong friendships with his former aerial opponents.
Download or read book The Luftwaffe Fighter Force written by Adolf Galland and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Luftwaffe was the official Nazi air force during World War II and The Luftwaffe Fighter Force features thirty-four accounts of its missions given by pilots and members of its flight crews. Stories included give a rarely heard perspective on the war and Luftwaffe members are frank in revealing the difficulties they encountered and what they believe led to their downfall. The Luftwaffe pilot and crew members featured in this unusual collection divulge what was once highly-confidential information, including fighter tactics, aircraft technology and operations, how they received their commands, and what the chain in carrying out their orders was. Also included are thirty rarely seen photographs and five maps and diagrams. Images feature things such as uniformed Luftwaffe officers, close-up shots of fighter planes, and the boundaries the planes were authorized to carry out their missions in. This unique volume was compiled by acclaimed military historian David C. Isby and is extraordinarily comprehensive. To make it, Isby poured over accounts of the war given by members of the Luftwaffe shortly after the events they describe. Much of the information in the book has been shared for the first time within it, and after a limited print run nearly twenty years ago, is finally, seventy years after the Luftwaffe missions, finally back in print. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book Fighter General written by Raymond F. Toliver and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 1999 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adolf Galland began World War II in Poland, as a lieutenant and squadron commander, flying obsolescent biplanes. He ended the war as a Lieutenant General - and was again a squadron commander - this time flying Me 262 jet fighters. In all of aviation history there is no comparable rise and fall by a fighter pilot. The most famous German ace and fighter leader of his generation, Galland's story is simultaneously that of the Luftwaffe Fighter Arm, in which he served from foundation to finish. Fighter General recounts the career of an outstanding combat leader torn from the fighter cockpit to defend his country - and sometimes his own pilots - in the bizarre bureaucracy of the Luftwaffe High Command. Galland's battles against the Allied air forces, both as a general and in individual combat, hold no less drama than his head-on battles with Goering and Hitler. Galland's triumphs and tragedies, his friends and his flames, his humor and heartaches pulse anew in Fighter General. Here in this official biography is real-life adventure to shame the wildest fiction.
Download or read book The German Aces Speak written by Colin D. Heaton and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVDIVFor the first time, four German WWII pilots share their side of the story./divDIV/divDIVFew perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?/divDIV/divDIVOf all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot./div/div
Download or read book To Fly and Fight written by Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bud Anderson is a flyers flyer. The Californians enduring love of flying began in the 1920s with the planes that flew over his fathers farm. In January 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. Later after he received his wings and flew P-39s, he was chosen as one of the original flight leaders of the new 357th Fighter Group. Equipped with the new and deadly P-51 Mustang, the group shot down five enemy aircraft for each one it lost while escorting bombers to targets deep inside Germany. But the price was high. Half of its pilots were killed or imprisoned, including some of Buds closest friends. In February 1944, Bud Anderson, entered the uncertain, exhilarating, and deadly world of aerial combat. He flew two tours of combat against the Luftwaffe in less than a year. In battles sometimes involving hundreds of airplanes, he ranked among the groups leading aces with 16 aerial victories. He flew 116 missions in his old crow without ever being hit by enemy aircraft or turning back for any reason, despite one life or death confrontation after another. His friend Chuck Yeager, who flew with Anderson in the 357th, says, In an airplane, the guy was a mongoosethe best fighter pilot I ever saw. Buds years as a test pilot were at least as risky. In one bizarre experiment, he repeatedly linked up in midair with a B-29 bomber, wingtip to wingtip. In other tests, he flew a jet fighter that was launched and retrieved from a giant B-36 bomber. As in combat, he lost many friends flying tests such as these. Bud commanded a squadron of F-86 jet fighters in postwar Korea, and a wing of F-105s on Okinawa during the mid-1960s. In 1970 at age 48, he flew combat strikes as a wing commander against communist supply lines. To Fly and Fight is about flying, plain and simple: the joys and dangers and the very special skills it demands. Touching, thoughtful, and dead honest, it is the story of a boy who grew up living his dream.
Download or read book A Higher Call written by Adam Makos and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: “Beautifully told.”—CNN • “A remarkable story...worth retelling and celebrating.”—USA Today • “Oh, it’s a good one!”—Fox News A “beautiful story of a brotherhood between enemies” emerges from the horrors of World War II in this New York Times bestseller by the author of Devotion, now a Major Motion Picture. December, 1943: A badly damaged American bomber struggles to fly over wartime Germany. At the controls is twenty-one-year-old Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown. Half his crew lay wounded or dead on this, their first mission. Suddenly, a Messerschmitt fighter pulls up on the bomber’s tail. The pilot is German ace Franz Stigler—and he can destroy the young American crew with the squeeze of a trigger... What happened next would defy imagination and later be called “the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II.” The U.S. 8th Air Force would later classify what happened between them as “top secret.” It was an act that Franz could never mention for fear of facing a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would search the world for each other, a last mission that could change their lives forever.
Download or read book Eagles of the Third Reich written by Samuel W. Mitcham and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published under the title "Men of the Luftwaffe", "this insightful, well-researched book traces the rise and fall of Hitler's air force from the perspective of its top leaders, concentrating on problems of organization, policy and aircraft production rather than battles and campaigns" ("Publishers Weekly").
Download or read book The Luftwaffe Over Germany written by Donald Caldwell and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2014-04-02 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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
Download or read book The First and the Last written by Adolf Galland and published by Cerberus Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adolf Galland trained as a pilot in the 1930s in antiquated aircraft and gliders. Adolf Galland, went on to become a household name during the early part of Second World War and the Battle of Britain. During the Battle of Britain, Galland commanded one of the leading Western Front Jagdgeschwaderen, JG26 'Schlageter'. Later, on the death of his friend Werner Molders, he was appointed 'Inspector of Fighters' and became the youngest Luftwaffe general. Never an adherent of the Nazi Party, Galland's forthright approach soon earned the enmity of the German High Command and, in particular, the wrath of Hermann Goring. Towards the end of the war Adolf Galland was put in charge of the Luftwaffe's 'Defence of the Reich' operations during which time he flew the new jet aircraft, the Me262.
Download or read book Jagdverband 44 written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-01-20 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe in World War II written by Philip Kaplan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2007-03-22 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary German fighter aces of World War II. It explains why only a small minority of pilots - those in whom the desire for combat overrode everything - accounted for so large a proportion of the victories. It surveys the skills that a successful fighter pilot must have - a natural aptitude for flying, marksmanship, keen eyesight - and the way in which fighter tactics have developed. The book examines the history of the classic fighter aircraft that were flown, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke Wulf Fw 190, and examines each type's characteristics, advantages and disadvantages in combat. The accounts of the experiences of fighter pilots are based on archival research, diaries, letters, published and unpublished memoirs and personal interviews with veterans. The pilots included are Werner Molders, Gunther Rall, Adolf Galland, Erich Hartmann and Johannes Steinhoff.
Download or read book Luftwaffe Aces in the Battle of Britain written by Chris Goss and published by Air World. This book was released on 2020-12-02 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An extraordinary analysis of the ‘scores’ chalked up by individual fighter pilots serving in the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. So much detail!” —Books Monthly The term “fighter ace” grew in prominence with the introduction and development of aerial combat in the First World War. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an “ace” has varied but is usually considered to be five or more. For the Luftwaffe, a number of its fighter pilots, many of whom had fought with the Legion Condor in Spain, had already gained their Experte, or ace, status in the Battle of France. However, many more would achieve that status in the hectic dogfights over southern England and the Channel during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. A number would also be either killed or captured. Some of these men, individuals such as Adolf Galland, Werner Mölders, and Helmut Wick, who between them had claimed 147 aerial victories by October 31st1940, are well-known, but most are less so. In this book, the story of each of the Luftwaffe’s 204 Messerschmitt Bf 109 “aces” from the summer of 1940 is examined, with all of the individual biographies, detailing individual fates during the war, being highly illustrated throughout. Original German records from the summer of 1940, have been examined, providing a definitive list of each pilot’s individual claims. It also covers, to a lesser extent, those forgotten fifty-three Messerschmitt Bf 110 pilots who also achieved ace status by day and also by night between 10 July and 31 October 1940. “A fascinating book indeed.” —UK Historian
Download or read book Operation Millennium written by Eric Taylor and published by Isis. This book was released on 2006 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Operation Millennium' was the terrible culmination of months of pressure from 'Bomber' Harris to get this new and deadly strategy accepted. It was an extraordinary feat of organization involving 1048 bombers, over 6000 aircrew and 53 British airfields. To ensure success, 'maximum effect' was the order. The Royal Air Force waged a campaign against any airmen whom showed faltering commitment, ruthlessly trying them by court martial. The atmosphere of night bomber stations is vividly recalled - the comradeship, the pity and the fear. The raid on Cologne is remembered by the crews of Bomber Command and the unlucky citizens of Cologne who endured the night raids. Eric Taylor has interviewed Britons and Germans, whose eyewitness accounts testify to the horror and heroism on both sides.
Download or read book Adolf Galland written by David Baker and published by Combined Publishing. This book was released on 1996 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography is the life story of Germany's most famous World War II air force officer, Adolf Galland. As a fighter ace, he became the youngest general in the Wehrmacht, whose combat career spanned the years from biplanes over Spain to the first operational jet fighters. His command position put him in perilously close contact with the leaders of the Third Reich.
Download or read book JG 26 written by Donald Caldwell and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2023-04-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jagdgeschwader 26, the German elite fighter unit, was more feared by the Allies than any other Luftwaffe group. Based on extensive archival research in Europe, personal combat diaries and interviews with more than 50 surviving pilots, Caldwell has assembled a superb day-to-day chronicle of JG 26 operations, from its first air victory in 1939 to its final combat patrol in 1945. A microcosm of World War II exists in the rise and fall of this famous fighter wing. For the first two years of the war it was an even match between the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs; but the scales tipped in favor of the Allies in 1943 with the arrival of the Eighth US Air Force and its peerless P-51 Mustang. The book has been endorsed by the top fighter commanders of three air forces: the RAF (Johnnie Johnson), the USAAF (Hub Zemke), and the Luftwaffe (Adolf Galland) and is considered essential reading for anyone interested in the aerial war of 1941-45.
