Bf 109 Defence of the Reich Aces (Aircraft of the Aces)
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"This is a very good text for information about the daylight air campaign over the skies of Germany in WWII." -Bolling Smith, "Coast Defense Journal"
"This story of the ascendancy of the daylight defense of the Reich, the struggles to keep pace with the daylight bombing campaign and the eventual defeat of the Luftwaffe is nicely presented by describing specific missions and many first hand descriptions of the battles... This is a very good text for information about the daylight air campaign over the skies of Germany in WWII." -Michael Koznarsky, "Historical Miniature Gamer Magazine
".".. a nice informative book, which depicts in an austere but effective way the combat of Messerschmitt pilots against an overwhelming force of heavy bombers and escort fighters... I recommend this book for all wanting to know a little more about the men behind the machines."-Jean-Luc Formery, "AeroScale"
"This story of the ascendancy of the daylight defense of the Reich, the struggles to keep pace with the daylight bombing campaign and the eventual defeat of the Luftwaffe is nicely presented by describing specific missions and many first hand descriptions of the battles... This is a very good text for information about the daylight air campaign over the skies of Germany in WWII." -Michael Koznarsky, "Historical Miniature Gamer Magazine
".".. a nice informative book, which depicts in an austere but effective way the combat of Messerschmitt pilots against an overwhelming force of heavy bombers and escort fighters... I recommend this book for all wanting to know a little more about the men behind the machines."-Jean-Luc Formery, "AeroScale"
Product Description
Luftwaffe aces explain their tactics and relate their experiences during the bloody campaign known as the Defence of the Reich. Their missions changed from waiting for the short-range Allied fighter escorts to turn back before attacking the bomber formations, to see-saw battles for aerial supremacy against long-range P-51s defending US heavy bomber streams. The story - based on personal accounts and official records from both sides - is predominantly that of the Bf 109's struggle to defeat the US Eighth Air Force (although latterly both the 'mediums' of the US Ninth Air Force and the 'heavies' of RAF Bomber Command were also active by day over Germany).
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
..another Weal title in the aces series .. While Mr Weal continues to write with a fluency (& a productivity) that I can only marvel at, Osprey production quality appears to be going downhill slightly - I didn't like the paper quality, indifferent and sometimes dark photo reproduction and in this age of superlative computer profile artwork renderings, Mr Weal's 'paintings' look a little amateurish - the colours especially are poorly printed. The text skips through major events and personalities with mere paragraphs being devoted to events that otherwise fill entire books and relies a touch too heavily on Knoke's oft-cited account - at least four of this volume's 96 pages are directly extracted from Knoke's book - no credit, no footnote. The story ends prematurely with Bodenplatte and mentions the biggest Reich's defence battle of the war over Berlin on 14 January 1945 in a couple of sentences...This is probably not the authors fault but like his 'Sturmgruppen' title this volume could have been better
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Weal has written a clear history of the plight of Messerschmidt pilots in defence of their home territory. Imagine being a 19 or even 23 year old with only a few hours flight experience having to take off with thirty colleagues to take on a thousand well trained and well armed opponents. The narrative gives you food for thought. It is the first book I have read which points out that most victories were scored by the novices who only survived very few missions.
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4 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Tales of Desperate Battles over the Reich!
8 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Noted author-illustrator John Weal examines the daylight air battles fought over Germany by Bf 109 pilots in this compact, comprehensive volume, #68 in the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series.
The missions flown by Luftwaffe units in defense of their homeland have to rank as some of the most harrowing, vicious and pivotal missions of the war. Imagine having to scramble day after day with the prospect of facing hundreds of B-17s, each armed with 10-12 .50 caliber machine guns!
To their credit, Heinz Knoke, Hugo Frey, Gunther Specht, Walter Oesau and the other Bf 109 aces discussed in Weal's book almost took the measure of their American opponents. Continually experimenting with weapons and tactics such as head-on attacks, heavier armament and even air-to-air bombing, units such as JG 1, 3, 11 and 300 forced the Americans to pause in their air campaign. Fortunately the arrival of the P-51 allowed the campaign to continue and rendered all the Jadgfliegers' previous efforts moot. The 8th and 15th Air Forces would still face some hard missions but the initiative had passed to the Americans.
Though this subject has been written about many times, Weal does a good job of summarizing a huge topic - Defense of the Reich missions date from Septmber 1939! - in just 96 pages. He covers the exploits of various units and pilots, detailing missions flown, losses suffered and victories claimed and actually scored, tactics, etc.
The book features over 80 black & white photos - I would have liked more - along with nine pages of color profiles by Weal.
All in all, a good introduction to an immense subject and very reasonably priced.
***
p.s. You have to hand it to Osprey. Endlessly revisiting the world of fighter aces, they keep turning out 'new slant' accounts of those fabled few. What's next: an Osprey volume on LEFT-HANDED ACES OF WORLD WAR II?
The missions flown by Luftwaffe units in defense of their homeland have to rank as some of the most harrowing, vicious and pivotal missions of the war. Imagine having to scramble day after day with the prospect of facing hundreds of B-17s, each armed with 10-12 .50 caliber machine guns!
To their credit, Heinz Knoke, Hugo Frey, Gunther Specht, Walter Oesau and the other Bf 109 aces discussed in Weal's book almost took the measure of their American opponents. Continually experimenting with weapons and tactics such as head-on attacks, heavier armament and even air-to-air bombing, units such as JG 1, 3, 11 and 300 forced the Americans to pause in their air campaign. Fortunately the arrival of the P-51 allowed the campaign to continue and rendered all the Jadgfliegers' previous efforts moot. The 8th and 15th Air Forces would still face some hard missions but the initiative had passed to the Americans.
Though this subject has been written about many times, Weal does a good job of summarizing a huge topic - Defense of the Reich missions date from Septmber 1939! - in just 96 pages. He covers the exploits of various units and pilots, detailing missions flown, losses suffered and victories claimed and actually scored, tactics, etc.
The book features over 80 black & white photos - I would have liked more - along with nine pages of color profiles by Weal.
All in all, a good introduction to an immense subject and very reasonably priced.
***
p.s. You have to hand it to Osprey. Endlessly revisiting the world of fighter aces, they keep turning out 'new slant' accounts of those fabled few. What's next: an Osprey volume on LEFT-HANDED ACES OF WORLD WAR II?
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
another super Weal potboiler !
22 Dec 2006
Format:Paperback
..another Weal title in the aces series .. While Mr Weal continues to write with a fluency (& a productivity) that I can only marvel at, Osprey production quality appears to be going downhill slightly - I didn't like the paper quality, indifferent and sometimes dark photo reproduction and in this age of superlative computer profile artwork renderings, Mr Weal's 'paintings' are starting to look a little amateurish - the colours especially are poorly printed. The text skips fluently through major events and personalities with mere paragraphs being devoted to events that otherwise fill entire books and relies a touch too heavily on Knoke's oft-cited account - at least four of this volume's 96 pages are directly extracted from Knoke's book - no credit, no footnote. The story ends prematurely with Bodenplatte and mentions the biggest Reich's defence battle of the war over Berlin on 14 January 1945 in a couple of sentences...This is not the authors fault at all but like his 'Sturmgruppen' title you can only squeeze so much into the proverbial pint pot ...a potboiler then !
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Bf109 Defence of the Reich
14 July 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Book is a repeat of much of the same information other similar books contain. I found it really lacked the information/photographs of aircraft that appeared in the final days. Disappointing at best !
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