In this second volume detailing the service of the Fw 190, Chris Goss
has assembled 190 photographs, many from the archive of the late Dr.
Alfred Price, to illustrate the aircraft's use in the final years of
the war. 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-armored 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.
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The Latter Years - D-Day to the Fall of Germany
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781473899421
Publisert
2024
Utgiver
Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, LLC
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter