JG 51 were one of the Luftwaffe's top wartime fighter units, yet their story has never been told in English, until now.The unit's history encapsulates the fortunes of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm as a whole - the heady successes of the early months, the steady attrition and the growing strength of the opposition during the mid-war years, and the final chaos and collapse of the last days.But it is perhaps the details of the pilots who served with the unit tha...

The Ju 87 Stuka was the most feared weapon in the German arsenal in the first year of World War 2, the Luftwaffe using it to deadly effect during the Blitzkrieg between September 1939 and June 1940. Although vulnerable to the enemy fighters due to its moderate speed in level flight and general lack of manoeuvrability, the Ju 87 nevertheless soon came to symbolise the might of Nazi Germany as the mere handful of Stukageschwader supporting the Wehrmacht rampaging out of the Fatherland took a...

This volume tells the story of the daylight air battles over Germany through the eyes of the Bf 109 aces involved. It traces the development of the aerial defence of the Reich from its small beginnings to arguably the most savage and costliest campaign in the history of aerial warfare.The Luftwaffe pilots explain their tactics and relate their experiences – in the early days, waiting for short-ranged Allied fighters to turn back before attacking the bombers, the se...

Arguably the archetypal Luftwaffe fighter unit of World War 2, JG 53 aircraft were encountered on almost every fighting front from the first day of hostilities until the last.During almost six years of near-constant campaigning, JG 53 took a steady toll of Allied aircraft in every theatre it fought over. The variety of camouflage finishes worn by its machines -winter white, desert dapple and Reich's defence black - and the progression of variants are reflected in a...

The highest scoring aces of any aerial conflict were the Luftwaffe pilots involved in the bloody combats on the Russian Front.The most common fighter used by these pilots was the Bf 109, which was involved in the action from Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, through to the doomed Defence of the Reich in 1945. Units like JGs 5, 52 and 54 all flew the Messerschmitt fighter, progressing from Emil to Gustav variants.This volume includes all the high-scoring ac...

Synonymous with the Afrika Korps and the campaign in North Africa, JG 27 provided Rommel's army with fighter protection for virtually the whole 'roller coaster ride that was the war in the Western Desert from 1941-43.Formed in Germany on 1 October 1939 (with Adolf Galland as CO of I.Gruppe), JG 27 saw considerable action both during the Battles of France and Britain, downing 146 aircraft in the latter campaign alone. Sent to North Africa in April 1941, the geschwad...

An illustrated combat history of the He 111, with its distinctive glazed nose, which came to symbolise the German mastery of the skies in the early war years, especially the Russian campaign.The twin-engined He 111 was the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's bomber arm at the start of World War ll. Accompanied by the Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, it provided the aerial striking power for all the early Blitzkrieg campaigns, sweeping all before it throughout the first 12 months o...

The 'storm troopers' of the Luftwaffe, the elite Sturmgruppen units comprised the most heavily armed and armoured fighter interceptors ever produced by the Germans.Their role was to smash like a mighty fist through the massed ranks of USAAF daylight bombers. Only volunteers could serve with these elite units, and each pilot was trained to close with the enemy and engage him in extremely short-range combat, attacking from the front and the rear in tight arrowhead fo...

A detailed account of an iconic aircraft's performance in the invasion of the Soviet Union during World War 2.This final volume of the Osprey trilogy on the Luftwaffe dive-bomber charts its fortunes in the toughest theatre of all: the Eastern Front. Written by John Weal, a leading authority on the Luftwaffe, this book examines how, following its comprehensive defeat over the English Channel in the summer of 1940, the Stuka was able to restore its fearsome reputatio...

This book details the pilots who were credited with scores of between 50 and 100 and includes detail of the harrowing conditions and thrilling aerial battles that the Luftwaffe pilots endured.The four-year long Eastern Front campaign fought between Germany and the Soviet Union produced not only the greatest number of aces, but also the highest individual and unit scores ever recorded in the history of aerial warfare. An ideal complement to its bestselling predecess...

The follow-on volume to Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 11 Bf 109D/E Aces 1939-41, this book charts the story of the myriad aces who flew the later marks of Messerschmitt fighter through to VE-Day.As good as the Emil had been during the opening 18 months of the war, the aircraft was being progressively bettered in virtually all aspects of aerial combat by the Spitfire come 1941, so Messerschmitt updated and improved the breed, firstly with the introduction of the Fried...

An illustrated history of JG 3, which flew every major variant of the two legendary German wartime fighters, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.Jagdgeschwader 3 may not have the same immediate resonance as some of the more famous Luftwaffe fighter units, such Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen', but it is arguably the archetypal German fighter formation of World War 2. Not only did it participate in every campaign fought by the Luftwaffe (with the excepti...