Download or read book Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet in World War II written by Jochen Prien and published by Schiffer Military History Book. This book was released on 2003-07-21 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jochen Prien, author of the definitive Messerschmitt Bf 109 F/G/K Series, and the extensive three volume study of JG 53, presents JG 3 in its complete history from formation to the end of World War II. This second volume presents the unit history of the "Udet" Geschwader's second Gruppe, II./JG 3, beginning with its formation in 1938 and the subsequent service of the newly formed Gruppe in the Campaign in the West from 1940-1941. Next the Gruppe's 1941 tour of duty in Russia is dealt with, followed by a short spell in the Mediterranean theatre of war, where II./JG 3 was involved in the fighting over Malta in the spring of 1942. In June 1942, the Gruppe was again shifted to the east where it took part in the advance on Stalingrad where it suffered serious losses. 1943 saw the Gruppe still in Russia until it was recalled to the Reich to see further service in the defence of Germany between August 1943 and early June 1944. After its return to the Reich and a short period of rest and re-equiping, II./JG 3 was again called upon for service in the Reichsverteidigung, this coming to an abrupt end when in November 1944 the Gruppe was separated from its parent Geschwader in order to re-equip with the new Me 262 jet fighter and become part of the first jet fighter Geschwader of the Luftwaffe, JG 7. Vol. II then takes up the history of the newly formed II./JG 3, a former bomber unit that was transformed into a fighter Gruppe at the end of 1944; this new Gruppe came too late to see significant service against the Western Allies but was transferred to the east at the beginning of 1945 in order to counter the massive Soviet offensive that overran the eastern parts of the Reich since mid-January 1945. Hopelessly outnumbered, its operations being curtailed now by a lack of fuel, the new II./JG 3 struggled on until the collapse of the Reich.
Download or read book Aces of Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet written by John Weal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-11-20 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated history of JG 3, which flew every major variant of the two legendary German wartime fighters, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. 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. Not only did it participate in every campaign fought by the Luftwaffe (with the exceptions of Poland and Norway), during the course of the hostilities it numbered among its ranks more than 70 Knight's Cross winners (a total exceeded by only one other Jagdgeschwader). Against the backdrop of the historic battles of Britain, Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy, the Ardennes and Berlin – this illustrated history portrays the multitude of stories, exploits and ultimate fates of the many aces themselves, from the now unknown trio who achieved their first five kills during the Blitzkrieg in France in the late spring/early summer of 1940 to the nearly two-dozen highly acclaimed and lauded 'centurions' who flew with JG 3.
Download or read book Aces of Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet written by John Weal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-11-20 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated history of JG 3, which flew every major variant of the two legendary German wartime fighters, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. 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. Not only did it participate in every campaign fought by the Luftwaffe (with the exceptions of Poland and Norway), during the course of the hostilities it numbered among its ranks more than 70 Knight's Cross winners (a total exceeded by only one other Jagdgeschwader). Against the backdrop of the historic battles of Britain, Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy, the Ardennes and Berlin – this illustrated history portrays the multitude of stories, exploits and ultimate fates of the many aces themselves, from the now unknown trio who achieved their first five kills during the Blitzkrieg in France in the late spring/early summer of 1940 to the nearly two-dozen highly acclaimed and lauded 'centurions' who flew with JG 3.
Download or read book Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet in World War II written by Jochen Prien and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A description of the operational history of the new I-JG3 "Udet" which was formed at the beginning of 1942 and saw its first action during the German summer Russian offensive of 1942, then served a tough and costly tour of duty in the Defense of the Reich and over the Western Front before seeing several weeks of desperate defensive action in the east of the Reich.
Download or read book World War II Fighter Planes Spotter s Guide written by Tony Holmes and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-04 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War II saw pilots from around the world battling in the skies over Europe, Asia and Africa, with victory resting upon their nerve, skill and the capabilities of some of history's most iconic aircraft. In the chaos of battle, it was vital that they could quickly identify friend from foe. But do you know your Hurricane from your Bf 109, or what the legendary P-51 Mustang looks like? Do you know the wingspan of the A6M Zero-sen, or how fast it could fly? THE WORLD WAR II FIGHTER PLANES SPOTTER'S GUIDE answers all of these questions and more, providing essential information on over 90 legendary aircraft, from the celebrated Spitfire to the jet-powered Me 262. Featuring full-colour artwork to aid recognition, as well as all the details you need to assess their performance, this is the perfect pocket guide to the Allied and Axis fighters of World War II.
Download or read book Jagdgeschwader 54 Gr nherz written by John Weal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-20 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring photography and illustrations throughout, a combat history of one of the most successful of the high-scoring Luftwaffe Jagdgeschwader during World War 2. JG 54 'Grünherz' (Green Hearts) was formed from three disparate fighter 'Gruppen' immediately prior to the Battle of Britain. Having enjoyed immediate success over the Channel and South-east England during the summer of 1940, the unit was transferred to the Eastern Front in the spring of 1941 in preparation for Operation Barbarossa - the German invasion of the Soviet Union. JG 54 would remain a Jagdwaffe stalwart in the east, flying firstly Bf 109Fs and then the Fw 190. By war's end, the Geschwader's pilots had claimed over 9500 kills, and produced over 100 aces. Men like Hans Philipp, Walter Nowotny and Otto Kittel are profiled in this volume, which reveals the struggle in the face of overwhelming odds that was the lot of the Jagdflieger on the Eastern Front.
Download or read book German Air Force Fighters of World War Two written by Martin Windrow and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Operation Barbarossa the Complete Organisational and Statistical Analysis and Military Simulation Volume IIB written by Nigel Askey and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume IIB is the second volume relating to (and completing) the Wehrmacht, and the German mobilisation and war-economy, from June to December 1941. It includes the most detailed Orders of Battle ever published on the German Heer, Luftwaffe, Waffen SS and Kriegsmarine, in all areas of the Reich, between 22nd June and 4th July 1941. Even small and obscure units are included, such as: flak companies, artillery HQs, observation battalions, bridging columns, Landesschutzen battalions, MP battalions, railroad companies, and Luftwaffe Kurierstaffeln, Verbindungsstaffeln and Sanitatsflugbereitschaften. The Luftwaffe OOBs also include details on aircraft types and strengths in each air unit.
Download or read book The Schweinfurt Regensburg Mission written by Martin Middlebrook and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed history of the American World War II bombing mission over Nazi Germany, by the author of The First Day on the Somme. On August 17, 1943, the entire strength of the American heavy bomber forces in England set out to raid two major industrial complexes deep in southern Germany: the Messerschmitt aircraft factory and the KGF ball bearing plant. For American commanders, it was the culmination of years of planning, the day when their self-defending formations of the famous Flying Fortress could at last perform their true role, reaching out by daylight to strike at targets in the deepest corners of industrial Germany. The day ended in disaster for the Americans. Thanks to the courage of the aircrews, the bombers won through to the targets and caused heavy damage, but sixty were shot down and the hopes of the American commanders were shattered. Historically, it was one of the most important days for the American air forces during the Second World War. While researching this catastrophic raid, author Martin Middlebrook interviewed hundreds of the airmen involved, German defenders, “slave workers,” and eyewitnesses. The result is a mass of fresh, previously unused material with which the author finally provides the full story of this famous day’s operations. Not only is the American side elaborated upon, but the previously vague German side of the story—both the Luftwaffe action and the civilian experiences in Schweinfurt and Regensburg—is also now presented clearly and in detail for the first time. Middlebrook also covers the important question of why the RAF did not support the American effort and follow up the raid on Schweinfurt as planned.
Download or read book Red Phoenix Rising written by Von Hardesty and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2021-07-01 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking account of the Soviet Air Force in World War II, the original version of this book, Red Phoenix, was hailed by the Washington Post as both "brilliant" and "monumental." That version has now been completely overhauled in the wake of an avalanche of declassified Russian archival sources, combat documents, and statistical information made available in the past three decades. The result, Red Phoenix Rising, is nothing less than definitive. The saga of the Soviet air force, one of the least chronicled aspects of the war, marked a transition from near annihilation in 1941 to the world's largest operational-tactical air force four years later. Von Hardesty and Ilya Grinberg reveal the dynamic changes in tactics and operational art that allowed the VVS to bring about that remarkable transformation. Drawing upon a wider array of primary sources, well beyond the uncritical and ultra-patriotic Soviet memoirs underpinning the original version, this volume corrects, updates, and amplifies its predecessor. In the process, it challenges many "official" accounts and revises misconceptions promoted by scholars who relied heavily on German sources, thus enlarging our understanding of the brutal campaigns fought on the Eastern Front. The authors describe the air campaigns as they unfolded, with full chapters devoted to the monumental victories at Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk. By combining the deeply affecting human drama of pilots, relentlessly confronted by lethal threats in the air and on the ground, with a rich technical understanding of complex military machines, they have produced a fast-paced, riveting look at the air war on the Eastern Front as it has never been seen before. They also address dilemmas faced by the Soviet Air Force in the immediate postwar era as it moved to adopt the new technology of long-range bombers, jet propulsion and nuclear arms. Drawing heavily upon individual accounts down to the unit level, Hardesty and Grinberg greatly enhance our understanding of their story's human dimension, while the book's more than 100 photos, many never before seen in the West, vividly portray the high stakes and hardware of this dramatic tale. In sum, this is the definitive one-volume account of a vital but still underserved dimension of the war-surpassing its predecessor so decisively that no fan of that earlier work can afford to miss it.
Download or read book Aircraft Anatomy of World War II written by Paul Eden and published by Chartwell Books. This book was released on 2016-01-25 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Full specifications for each aircraft including dimensions, powerplant, weight, performance, and armament.
Download or read book Air Combat written by Dmitriy Khazanov and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle for the skies in World War II fuelled a race between rival air forces to develop ever faster and more capable fighter aircraft – and the struggle for air superiority was never over until the war itself ended. This volume explores four clashes of some of the finest planes and pilots, in key theatres of the war: Spitfires duelling the formidable Bf 109 over the Channel, the Fw 190 battling the Soviet La 5 and 7 on the Eastern Front, the F4F Wildcat in a desperate clash with the legendary A6M Zero-sen, and the F4U Corsair in combat with the second-generation Japanese Ki-84 in the closing days of the war. Fully illustrated with contemporary photographs, maps and colour artwork, Air Combat conveys the full story behind these dramatic aviation duels.
Download or read book Wings of War written by James P. Busha and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2015-09-25 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experience the exciting combat tales of both Allied and Axis pilots around the world during World War II.Wings of War encompasses the World War II air war from late 1939 through 1945 and provides a chronological snapshot not only of famous and significant events from the global air war, but also of other lesser-known events that are equally thrilling and important. Over three dozen different Allied and Axis airplanes are featured, giving you a unique experience at the controls of a variety of World War II’s famed fighters, bombers, liaison, and jet airplanes.Here are just a few of the stories included about World War II aces from author Jim Busha’s vast archival research and interviews: ·A pilot that flew a P-36 against the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, while still in his Sunday pajamas. ·A B-25 pilot who launched off the USS Hornet along with his fellow Doolittle Raiders. ·P-40 pilots who flew against Rommel and his Afrika Korps. ·A PBY pilot helped locate and recover a downed Zero over the Aleutians, which was later used as a test bed to learn its deadly tricks. The action is truly global—from the skies over England, Greenland, mainland Europe, the African deserts, the CBI Theater, the entire Pacific Theater (including the Aleutians, Russia, Japan, and China), and many more—this is one book no fan of warbirds will want to miss!
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 229 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 Germany and the Second World War written by Horst Boog and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-05-04 with total page 3789 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the spring of 1943, after the defeat at Stalingrad, the writing was on the wall. But while commanders close to the troops on Germany's various fronts were beginning to read it, those at the top were resolutely looking the other way. This seventh volume in the magisterial 10-volume series from the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt [Research Institute for Military History] shows both Germany and her Japanese ally on the defensive, from 1943 into early 1945. It looks in depth at the strategic air war over the Reich and the mounting toll taken in the Battles of the Ruhr, Hamburg, and Berlin, and at the "Battle of the Radar Sets" so central to them all. The collapse of the Luftwaffe in its retaliatory role led to hopes being pinned on the revolutionary V-weapons, whose dramatic but ultimately fruitless achievements are chronicled. The Luftwaffe's weakness in defence is seen during the Normandy invasion, Operation overlord, an account of the planning, preparation and execution of which form the central part of this volume together with the landings in the south of France, the setback suffered at Arnhem, and the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes. The final part follows the fortunes of Germany's ally fighting in the Pacific, Burma, Thailand, and China, with American forces capturing islands ever closer to Japan's homeland, and culminates in her capitulation and the creation of a new postwar order in the Far East. The struggle between internal factions in the Japanese high command and imperial court is studied in detail, and highlights an interesting contrast with the intolerance of all dissent that typified the Nazi power structure. Based on meticulous research by MGFA's team of historians at Potsdam, this analysis of events is illustrated by a wealth of tables and maps covering aspects ranging from Germany's radar defence system and the targets of RAF Bomber Command and the US 8th Air Force, through the break-out from the Normandy beachhead, to the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Download or read book Germany and the Second World War written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 931 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume VII of the 'Germany and the Second World War' series looks at Germany and her Japanese ally on the defensive after the tide of war turned in 1943. An exhaustive study of the air war over the Reich and the Luftwaffe's growing impotence is followed by an account of the invasion of occupied France and the Allies' advance to Germany's borders. A final section examines Japan's defeat and capitulation, and the creation of a new order in the Far East.
Download or read book The First Day on the Eastern Front written by Craig W.H. Luther and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sunday, June 22, 1941: three million German soldiers invaded the Soviet Union as part of Hitler’s long-planned Operation Barbarossa, which aimed to destroy the Soviet Union, secure its land as lebensraum for the Third Reich, and enslave its Slavic population. From launching points in newly acquired Poland, in three prongs—North, Central, South—German forces stormed western Russia, virtually from the Baltic to the Black Sea. By late fall, the invasion had foundered against Russian weather, terrain, and resistance, and by December, it had failed at the gates of Moscow, but early on, as the Germans sliced through Russian territory and soldiers with impunity, capturing hundreds of thousands, it seemed as though Russia would fall. In the spirit of Martin Middlebrook’s classic First Day on the Somme, Craig Luther narrates the events of June 22, 1941, a day when German military might was at its peak and seemed as though it would easily conquer the Soviet Union, a day the common soldiers would remember for its tension and the frogs bellowing in the Polish marshlands. It was a day when the German blitzkrieg decimated Soviet command and control within hours and seemed like nothing would stop it from taking Moscow. Luther narrates June 22—one of the pivotal days of World War II—from high command down to the tanks and soldiers at the sharp end, covering strategy as well as tactics and the vivid personal stories of the men who crossed the border into the Soviet Union that fateful day, which is the Eastern Front in microcosm, representing the years of industrial-scale warfare that followed and the unremitting hostility of Germans and Soviets.
