The air battles of the Second World War were fought ferociously and with extraordinary skill and courage on both fronts. The fighter pilots of the Luftwaffe, the jagdfliegern, in fact outscored their Allied counterparts by some margin and were some of the highest scoring fighter pilots of all time. More than a hundred recorded a century of aerial successes with two going on to surpass a quite astonishing 300 victories.
In the end, the vast effort required by the Luftwaffe to maintain the air war on so many fronts proved too much and few jagdfliegern survived the last days of the Reich but their courage and ability was beyond question, and the names of some will live on in the annals of air warfare with their extraordinary achievements never to be surpassed.
In Luftwaffe Fighter Aces, Peter Jacobs examines the many campaigns fought by the Luftwaffe from its fledgling days during the Spanish Civil War to its last days defending the Reich, and includes the exploits of Erich Hartmann, the highest scoring fighter pilot of all time, Hans-Joachim Marseille, the Star of Africa, Werner Mölders, the first recipient of the Diamonds, and Adolf Galland, perhaps the most famous of all.
Chapter 4. The Mediterranean and the Balkans, 1941
Chapter 5. Invasion in the East: Barbarossa
Chapter 6. North Africa and the Mediterranean, 1941–1943
Chapter 7. The Tide Turns in the East
Chapter 9. Struggle in the East: Zitadelle
Chapter 10. America Enters the Fray
Chapter 11. Final Defence of the Reich
Appendix 1. The Highest-Scoring Experten
Appendix 2. Highest-Scoring Experten by Operational Theatre
Appendix 3. Highest-Scoring Experten at Night
Appendix 4. Recipients of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Appendix 5. Recipients of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Appendix 7. Luftwaffe Hierarchy