Aces of the Luftwaffe: The Jagdfliegern and Their Tactics of World War II

by Peter Jacobs

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 a considerable 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 'Aces of the Luftwaffe', 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 first ace to score 100 victories in aerial combat; and Adolf Galland, perhaps the most famous ace of them all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Aviation

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2014

Reviews

[Ellie Midwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter if you’re just starting studying the Luftwaffe or are already familiar with its history, most celebrated names, and techniques used - “Aces of the Luftwaffe” is a great source of information. I did find it a bit short and I thought that it could have benefited from more developed paragraphs dedicated to certain aces, but since the book’s main task was to trace the Luftwaffe’s history starting from 1935 and to the end of the war, I understand and respect the author’s desire to keep it short and to the point.
What I appreciated the most about this particular study was the author’s explanations of the flying formations and techniques, and the Luftwaffe’s organizational structure, which will be easy to understand and visualize even to the people who only have a superficial knowledge of the subject. Geschwader, Staffel, Schwarm, Rotte - by the end of the book you will be so familiar with each of these notions that you won’t ever have to consult a glossary when reading a certain ace’s biography after that. The comparisons of different aircraft, their strength, and maneuverability, was also wonderfully presented and easy to visualize even if one doesn’t have any idea about WW2 fighters/bombers’ design.
I also enjoyed learning more about night fighters and their role in the war, and the first jet fighters and their contribution to the war effort. I was already familiar with quite a few names of the aces who flew them, but it was great to learn about a few new ones and particularly the techniques they developed in tactical air warfare.
Overall, it was an extremely well-researched and wonderfully presented historical study of the German Air Force, and I’d definitely recommend it to everyone interested in the subject.

[bernard j denver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost unbelievable how could they lose?

It needed this story to tell the truth about how Germany eventually lost the war. So many brave and competent men their lives were wasted.