The story of the rise of one of the world's most powerful air forces - the Luftwaffe - is one immersed in adversity and audacity. In 1939, after years of increasing tension, the German assault on Poland unleashed warfare in Europe for the second time in a generation. For Poland's allies the speed of the German invasion, advance and victory was a salutary warning as to the potency of the massive growth in German military prowess since the Nazi's came to power in 1933.
With victory assured in the east and with Poland carved up between Germany and the Soviet Union, Hitler was able to turn his attention to the west. Both Britain and France had responded to the growing crisis of the late 1930s with a significant enhancement to their military capability but, in strategic planning, many of their commanders anticipated a war similar to that fought between 1914 and 1918, a strategic overview emphasised by the French construction of the Maginot line. As in 1914, Britain sent an Expeditionary Force to France, with limited air support and equipped with armour that would prove to be no match to that possessed by the Germans. The failure of Allied planning was highlighted by the rapid German victories in the Low Countries, France and then Scandinavia. As in th east, German success was largely the result of the integrated use of air and land power, a combination that the Allied forces were unable to match.
In the second of a new series, noted aviation historian, Edward Hooton, examines the period between the victory over Poland in 1939 and the crushing defeats of Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Denmark during the dark days of 1940, when ultimately only Britain was left undefeated. As in the campaign against Poland, it was probably the Luftwaffe that had perhaps the most important role. It won air supremacy over the theatre of operations and was able to destroy much of the enemy's material before the army swept forward. This book examines in detail the Luftwaffe's role in the Blitzkrieg during the Spring and Summer of 1940.
This volume contains many rare and unpublished photographs along with colour diagrams of the aircraft involved and also some high quality 3-D mapping to show key military operations. It will be required reading for all aviation enthusiasts, historians as well as for those who model the aircraft of the period.
