Air War Archive – serie

The most iconic German aircraft of the Second World War, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the Luftwaffe's principal fighter from 1939 until 1942 when the superior Focke-Wulf Fw 190 came into greater prominence. The Bf 109 served in every theatre of the war, though in this book the author examines the Tip and Run era, D-Day and the Eastern Front.In the later years of the war, the Bf 109 fought with some success in the defence of Germany against Allied bombers. The Bf 109 was the most produced fighter aircraft in history and more aerial kills were made with this fighter than any other aircraft. Indeed, A total of 105 Bf 109 pilots were each credited with the destruction of 100 or more enemy aircraft; thirteen of these men scored more than 200 kills, while two scored more than 300\. The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of the war: Erich Hartmann, the top-scoring fighter pilot of all time claiming 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Gunther Rall, who claimed 275 victories. All of them flew with JG 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories, chiefly on the Eastern Front.The Bf 109 was also supplied to several of Germany's allies, including Finland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia.In this selection of unrivalled images collected over many years, the operations of this famous aircraft in the latter part of the Second World War are portrayed and brought to life.

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was widely regarded as the Luftwaffe's finest fighter. It first saw service in France in August 1941, immediately proving itself at least the equal of the then latest Spitfire variant, the Mk.V.There were a number of characteristics which contributed to the Fw 190's success. The first of these was that it had been designed from the outset to be a weapons platform, rather than an aircraft to which weapons were added, as was the case with previous fighters. This meant that it could carry a wide range of armament in the form of various combinations of bomb racks, cannon pods and, later, unguided rockets.It was also built to withstand heavy punishment, with the extensive use of electrically-powered equipment instead of the hydraulic systems which, used by most aircraft manufacturers of the time, were more susceptible to failure if damaged by gunfire. The relatively small diameters of electrical wires were much less likely to be hit by gunfire than larger hydraulic pipes.Another element in the Fw 190's construction which added to its durability was its wide-tracked, inwards-retracting landing gear, as opposed to the much narrower, outwards-retracting landing gear of the Messerschmitt Bf 109\. This gave the Fw 190 much greater stability on the ground which resulted in far fewer ground accidents than experienced by the Bf 109.The Fw 190's BMW 801 D-2 radial engine also produced 1,677 horse power, giving the early Focke-Wulf 190 A-8 a top speed of more than 400 miles per hour - which was considerably faster than the early variant Spitfires.It was the Spitfires with which the Fw 190 pilots frequently had to contend when in combat over the English Channel, and particularly during the Allied raid on Dieppe in August 1942, when more than 100 Focke-Wulfs (from Jagdgeschwaders JG 2 and JG 26) engaged Spitfires and Hawker Typhoons, claiming sixty-one Allied aircraft 'kills' against just twenty-five losses of their own.The Fw 190's weapons capability also saw it used as a fighter-bomber. The Fw 190 A-3/U3 Jabo was used with considerable effect against Allied shipping in the Channel and against the south-eastern coasts of England in 1942 in tip-and-runs raids. These fast, low-level attacks proved very difficult for the defending RAF squadrons to counter and only one Fw 190 was lost on these operations.In this illuminating study of the early service of the Fw 190, Chris Goss has assembled a unique collection of photographs illustrating the wide use of this highly versatile aircraft.

As the war began to turn against Germany, the Luftwaffe was forced to defend the Reich against increasingly overwhelming numbers of Allied fighters and bombers. The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, together with the Bf 109G, was the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's Reichsverteidigung (Defence of the Reich) fighter force, both by day and by night.As the war progressed, the US Eighth Air Force, suffering heavy losses over Germany, changed tactics. The escorting US fighters had been expected to fly alongside the bombers to provide close protection. But this meant that they could not chase after the enemy when in combat, having to return to the bombers. So, from early 1944, the decision was made to free the fighters, allowing them to fly ahead of the bomber stream clearing the skies of German fighters.To counter this, the Luftwaffe developed the Gefechtsverband, or battle formation, composed of two units of Bf 109s and one Sturmgruppe of Fw 190s. In Gefechtsverband operations, the Bf 109s would engage the Allied fighters, particularly the long-range P-51 Mustangs, leaving the more heavily-armed Fw 190s to attack the bombers. Though the large Gefechtsverband formations were unweildy and not always effective, when they did work well, the powerful and well-armoured Fw 190s wreaked havoc amongst the US bombers.Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, the Fw 190 was incresaingly relied upon for fighter and Jabo missions against a dogged Soviet Air Force. With the tide well and truly turned against the Luftwaffe, newer versions of the Fw 190, such as the F and G variants, were intruduced as well as the superlative D-9 which was powered by the Jumo 213 A engine, armed with two MG 131s and two MG 151/20 guns and had a new fuselage and wings.In this second volume detailing the service of the Fw 190, Chris Goss has assembled photographs, many of which have come from the archive of the late Dr Alfred Price, to illustrate the final years of the type's war.