New from Éditions Arès " The Luftwaffe in France - From the Phoney War to the invasion of the Unoccupied Zone";
From the publisher's blurb;
"...In 1939 and barely five years old, the German military air force, the Luftwaffe, was launched into what was to become World War II. With motivated and competent personnel, a strong command and good aircraft, the young Luftwaffe performed well during the first two years of the war. Forced to establish itself very largely in France in July 1940 against England, after the refusal of the British government to conclude a separate peace, it fought both day and night against Great Britain before undergoing a serious draw-down shortly before the invasion of the USSR in June 1941. The Luftwaffe was now reduced to a small size in France, but with the help of a few "key" units, the Luftwaffe continued to hold its ground against the RAF, both during the Non Stop Offensive at the end of 1941 and during the attempted Canadian landing at Dieppe in August 1942. In November 1942, the Allied landing in North Africa would force the Wehrmacht to occupy the 'zone libre' (unoccupied zone of southern France) while ensuring the air defense of Southern France. It was at this time that the lack of units and men was clearly going to be felt and, from this date, the Luftwaffe command based in France had to juggle with the meager units at its disposal. The Luftwaffe was not limited only to air detachments. In France were also present a variety of other air units - Flak, parachutists (Fallschirmjäger), airfield personnel (Fliegerhorst), signals (Nachrichten), etc. Their story is also told in this book illustrated with nearly 600 photos, many of them previously unpublished..."
Published during September 2020. Volume 1 available now for pre-order;
Publisher's website for ordering and page views is here
Format 215 x 305 mm - Bound, hardcover, 196 pages, 600 photos, 7 color artworks. French text
Received here recently is Volume 13/VI of the enormous Jagdfliegerverbände series - indispensable for aficionadoes of the Luftwaffe fighter force, the Bf 109 or Luftwaffe history in general. Teil 13 - the defence of the Reich and operations in the West during 1944 - concludes with this latest volume from Jochen Prien and team. This volume is a 300-page large format hardback and principally covers JG 77, JG 300 and JGs 301 and 302 during 1944 in the defence of the Reich and over the 'Invasionsraum' where JG 301 in particular was active with many night-time sorties flown against the Allied bomber forces. Teil 13/VI also features additional chapters on the day fighter units operating over Norway, principally JG 5 and there is more photo material on a unit that was featured in early parts of this history, II.(J)/186 (T). Other units in this volume include the Erprobungskommando 262 and the rocket fighters of JG 400.
From Jochen Prien;
" ..JFV 13/VI, the final part of the coverage of Luftwaffe fighter operations over the Reich and the West in 1944, has now been released. It comprises 300 pages and covers Stab/JG 76, Stab, I., II. and III./JG 77, JGr. 200, Stab, I., II., III. and IV./JG 300, Stab, I., II., III. and IV./JG 301, Stab, I., II. and III./JG 302, Stab, I. and II./JG 400, Jasta Erla and EKdo. 262 as well as Stab, III., IV. and 13(Z)/JG 5 fighting against the Western allies. The addendum contains additions, corrections and several photos complementing the earlier volumes. There are in all some 180 photos. JFV 14 is in the final round of corrections and will go to the publisher before the end of September - Vol. 14 covers the operations in the Mediterranean ToW in 1944 of I./JG 2, I./JG 4, I./JG 5, Stab, III. and IV./JG 27, II./JG 51, Stab, I., II. and III./JG 53, Stab, I., II. and III./JG 77 with 10./JG 301 as well as II./JG 301. It will comprise some 460 pages and 347 photographs,so that we will have three volumes this year. And we’re approaching the end of the tunnel – just two more volumes of Part 15 – 1944 in the East -, the first already under way, and one or two for 1945. I’m really looking forward to it, and the team is determined to bring this series to a fitting conclusion.."
The publisher's Ebay sales site is here