From the publishers blurb;
In early 1943, the Luftwaffe based in France had to occupy the whole of France following the invasion of the southern Free Zone at the end of 1942. This proved to be a real headache for a local command that had to square the circle since it had a wholly inadequate number of air units and Flak (DCA)! The situation was to worsen with the deterioration of the Axis' military situation in the Mediterranean, with France too often becoming a reservoir of men and aircraft from which to draw if necessary to reinforce Africa, Greece and, finally, Italy. 1943 also saw increasingly powerful raids launched on the continent by the American USAAF and its formidable four-engined aircraft. The daytime fighter force, the Tagjagd, would thus be gradually worn down and overwhelmed, regularly losing aces whose disappearance could not be compensated for by the arrival of young aviators lacking experience and training. RAF Bomber Command by night increased the number of intrusions, forcing the local command to develop its night fighter arm (Nachtjagd) which, until then, had remained somewhat embryonic.
Despite these efforts, few new units could be raised to reinforce the offensive and defensive potential of the German air force in occupied France. Thus, the KG 6, which was formed from bits and pieces in 1942, operated only slightly from French territory, being called up in Italy or Denmark before being engaged in raids of very low strategic value on England.
Even the inevitable approach of an allied invasion could not overturn the scales and the Normandy landings of June 6, 1944 following by those in the south (Provence) dealt a fatal blow to the Wehrmacht. By the end of August 1944, almost all Luftwaffe units had evacuated France.
Withdrawn to Germany, they carried out sporadic actions in French airspace, mainly in support of land forces or purely on the defensive. On 1 January 1945, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte, which was hardly a success. The last Luftwaffe aircraft to fly over France were the He 111s of TG 30, which flew night-time resupply missions to the German-held Atlantic coast pockets until the end, surrendering only on 8 May 1945.
Page views and pre-order info at this link
here
volume 1 of 'The Luftwaffe in France' reviewed on this blog
here
A 'new look' tenth edition in the tenth anniversary year of the ' Luftwaffe Gallery' monograph series has been available for a while now from http://luftwaffe.be.
Via Del Davis;
"..I received the book yesterday and have not finished reading it but my initial impression is very positive. There are articles on Ubben and Wurmheller with previously unseen photos and color schemes. Other articles cover airfield tank trucks, the He-115 and aircraft markings with a gambling theme. The overall layout has been revised and photo numbers are tied directly to items and remarks in the text. It seems to be available in the US on eBay and Amazon as well as several other locations..."
