The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich

Donald Caldwell and Richard Muller

• A riveting account of the German daylight air defense effort, 1939-1945.
• Complete - thorough coverage of tactics, technology, weaponry, personalities, and combat operations.
• Authoritative - based on original documents and correspondence with German and American airmen - the definitive history.

The Luftwaffe over Germany tells the story of one of the longest and most intense air battles in history. The daylight air struggles over Germany during the Second World War involved thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of separate aerial engagements. Until now, there has been no single book that covers the complete story, from the highest levels of air strategy and military decision-making to the individual tales of Fw 190s, Bf 109s, and Me 262s in air combat against the American bomber streams.

This work traces the development of the German air defense system from its beginnings during the First World War through its collapse in 1945. It examines the detrimental effect of Luftwaffe theory and doctrine, which emphasized the offensive use of air power, on the German air arm’s ability to defend the homeland once the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive began in earnest. The hard-pressed Luftwaffe leadership attempted to cobble together an air defense network while at the same time tending to the demands of the combat fronts in Russia and the Mediterranean. They were nothing if not resourceful. Units developed specialized tactics and weapons for dealing with heavily defended bomber formations, while senior commanders sought to construct an elaborate command and control system integrating radar, observers, antiaircraft guns, and fighters into a formidable force. By mid-1944, they had lost the battle—but exacted a terrible price in the process.

The product of a ten-year collaboration between two noted Luftwaffe historians, this work fills a major gap in the literature of the Second World War. The authors have examined original war diaries, logbooks, doctrine manuals, after-action reports, and interviews with many combat veterans to produce a richly detailed account. Illustrated with nearly two hundred photographs, as well as new maps and diagrams by Les Butler, this book is certain to become the standard work on the subject.