Jagdgeschwader 52: The Experten

Aviation Elite Units #15

by John Weal

Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) was the most successful and highest-scoring fighter unit, not just in Germany's World War 2 Luftwaffe, but in the entire annals of aviation history. No other fighter group has ever come close to matching its staggering total of around 9000 enemy aircraft shot down in combat. And yet, because much of that combat took place over the tractless wastes of the Russian front, very little has been written in English about the exploits of this charismatic unit. This book provides a full combat history of JG 52 and its members, including the three top-scoring aces of all time, who claimed a total of 900 victories between them.

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 20, 2004

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over time, John Weal has written a whole raft of booklets for Osprey dealing with the German air arm during World War II, and I've read a good number of them. Generally speaking, for the fighter units, there's something of a meta-narrative. Units with leadership honed in the Spanish Civil War experiencing glory in the Blitzkrieg era, and then slowly being eroded over time, due to attrition, bad strategy, and losing the technology race to the Allies.

The so-called "Experten" had a somewhat different experience, being thrown together from dribs and drabs beginning in 1938, being a gap filler through the Battle of France, and then getting smashed in the Battle of Britain; very uninspiring stuff.

It took the war on the Eastern Front, to make this unit's reputation as, over time, its pilots racked up insane numbers of kills, most of which were achieved as the war turned against Berlin. This was due to the performance of men like Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn, and Johannes Steinhoff. Hartmann and Barkhorn are the only men ever who had 300-plus "kills" in combat, whereas Steinhoff was the man who ultimately turned JG52 into the killing machine it became.

While more than twenty-years old at this point, this work is still worth reading.

[Luis Arturo Mantilla Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The operational live of the unit is not as well known as one might think, given the numbers of airplanes destroyed by them. It is a milestone that is not going to occur, the aces from the group rebuild the divided Germany after the war, they occupied great places in the NATO. Just imagine yourself, during WWI one leading ace emerged, Manfred Von Ritchoffen, and again in WWII another german pilot emerged as leading ace, Erich Hartmann with more than 320 planes!!!.I recommend the book.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good war-gaming worthy details about this famous squadron. It had the only two 300+ kill pilots ever--in any war, any side. Also this group accounted for around 40% of all Soviet planes destroyed in the war. If you are looking for German pilot names for a war game, this is the place to go.