Luftwaffe Fighters and Fighter-bombers Over the Far North

Book excerpt: This is a reprint of the final volume of the acclaimed 'Jagdwaffe' series. This title was first published only last year. The 'Jagdwaffe' series represents one of the most comprehensive pictorial accounts of the air war in Europe between 1939 and 1945 from the standpoint of the Luftwaffe, its aircraft and its crew. Each volume incorporates more than 200 rare images, many previously unpublished, alongside specially commissioned colour artwork, detailed narrative and personal reminiscences. As such, the books provide a unique insight into the men and equipment of the Luftwaffe during this period.This final volume in the series covers the final phase of World War 2 in Europe, with the German forces on the retreat in Italy and on both the Western and Eastern fronts. For the Luftwaffe, increasingly short of serviceable aircraft and more importantly trained pilots to fly them, it was a period when supremacy over the sky was ceded to the victorious Allies.Although the recently-introduced jet aircraft promised a great deal in terms of performance against more traditional aircraft types, production was limited and their arrival was too late to swing the tide of war in Germany's favour. With the might of the Allied bombing fleets appearing regularly over the skies of Germany and with raw materials, in particular aviation, fuel, increasingly scarce, the last months of the war represented a struggle for the aircrew, where few expected to survive.