Alarmstart: The German Fighter Pilot's Experience in the Second World War: Northwestern Europe – From the Battle of Britain to the Battle of Germany

by Patrick G. Eriksson

This book charts the experiences of the German fighter pilots in World War II, based on extensive recollections of veterans as well as primary documents, diaries, and flying log books, with photographs from the veterans themselves. There are no more than a handful of WWII Luftwaffe members alive today. Patrick Eriksson had the foresight to record their experiences first-hand. Some witnesses ended up as senior fighter controllers, and one was even a Luftwaffe psychologist. The recollections and views of the former pilots are put within the historical context of the German aerial war. This first volume covers Poland, Denmark, and Norway, the Phoney War, the invasion of France and the Low Countries, the Battle of Britain, combating the RAF sweeps in the West, and finally, the Battle of Germany.

Genres: World War II, Military History, Aircraft, History, Aviation

352 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2019

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a history of Luftwaffe daytime fighter operations on the Western Front during World War II, from the Phony War to the D-Day invasion at Normandy, and is the first one in what should be a series of three or four books. It's not extremely comprehensive as it relies on lots of personal interviews of former Luftwaffe fighter pilots, as well as their log books, Staffel and Gruppen records and some personal correspondence. Many of the interviews were conducted in the late 80's and early 90's, so there is a bit of fuzziness in the memories in a few of the interviewees, but that's understandable and doesn't detract from their stories.

Much analysis is put into the German invasion of France and how it adversely affected the Luftwaffe's performance in the Battle of Britain, and the Battle of Britain takes up a fair part of the book as well. The rise of American air power and subsequent bombardment of targets in Occupied Europe and Germany is covered in the final part of the book. Several of the pilots interviewed experienced combat against both the RAF and the USAAF, and as such, some of them are featured multiple times in the book. The vast majority of those interviewed were not the so-called "Experten" who achieved 100+ victories, but that doesn't mean their stories are any less interesting or valuable. Along the way there are also recollections of some of the Luftwaffe's leading aces such as Mölders, Galland, Wick, Bär, Oesau, Hahn, just to name a few. There's also a nice selection of photographs in the middle, several of which are discussed in the text.

If you're looking for a really detailed book on Luftwaffe fighter operations in the West, this would not be what you're looking for. However, if you want to know what it was like to strap yourself into a Messerschmitt or Focke-Wulf and take on Spitfires, Flying Fortresses, Thunderbolts and Mustangs, then this is the book for you. While the majority of the pilots flew single-engine fighters, there are some interviews with pilots who flew the Messerchmitt 110 and the Messerschmitt 410. Since these planes didn't fare very well in combat, I found the stories of those who flew them to be especially interesting.

A very good read and I can't wait for the second book in the series. Horrido!!

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALARMSTART: The German Fighter Pilot's Experience in the Second World War is the result of the past 30 years of research carried out by the author, in addition to his interviews with surviving Luftwaffe fighter pilots who had flown in the West (from September 1939 to June 6, 1944), as well as a few who had flown in the invasion of Poland and subsequently were assigned to the West.

"Alarmstart" (Scramble!) constitutes what is likely to be one of the last books of its kind in which Luftwaffe veteran pilots are able to share their stories, because the ranks of surviving pilots is thinning out very quickly. Indeed, many of them are now dying off. It is a book that also benefits from containing photos never before released, as well as primary documents, diaries, and flight logs. For that reason, "Alarmstart" comes very highly recommended.

[TheHenry Blank · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a solid contribution to the knowledge base concerning the role of the Luftwaffe during WWII. It was interesting to read about the experiences of everyday Luftwaffe pilots who didn't shoot down large numbers of planes. Interesting also to see the contrast between the strategies and tactics employed during the Battle of Britain versus those used later during the 'Battle of Germany' when the shoe was on the other foot (although the author failed to do this himself). The main differences being that 1) the Allied forces came to greatly outnumber the Luftwaffe defenders, 2) the Allied bombers flew at much greater heights, forcing the defenders to use much more time to reach their altitude, 3) The Luftwaffe had a much greater area to defend than the British did during the Battle of Britain, 4) the mainstay Luftwaffe fighters, the Bf-109 and FW-190 generally lacked high-altitude performance while their Allied counterparts excelled at this, 5) the Allied fighters employed free-roaming tactics (i.e., no close-escort of bombers) much more than the Luftwaffe allowed their fighters during the BoB, 6) Luftwaffe fighters suffered from a chronically reduced operational range, compared to Allied P-51s and P-47s. It seems as though P-51 and P-47s flying from England could spend more flying time over German-held territory than Luftwaffe fighters themselves could. The author also pointed out that Germany's focus was on achieving quick victory, and was not able or prepared for a long war of attrition, which was what eventually happened. I found it strange that the book's coverage did not extend past May 1944 - thus there being no mention of jets' role or their potential as a game-breaking weapon. If the author planned another book installment covering the period from D-day to the war's end, I missed it. Was also puzzled by the author's criticism of the use of boom-and-zoom tactics by the Luftwaffe, blaming it on the obsession of German leaders with rewarding pilots with medals and promotions based on the number kills achieved.

[Pedro Plassen Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first-hand account of those that fought the European Air Battle brings to the light the harsh truth of a battle won by numbers, irrespective, of the german technological advances frequently touted elsewhere. Personally, I would have enjoyed a more personal stories-oriented book, tough. Now on to the other two books of this series.