Nachtjagd War Diaries Volume 1 September 1939 March 1944

Initially designed as a fast medium bomber, the Junkers Ju 88 was also used as a Zerstörer heavy fighter by the Luftwaffe. It saw its combat debut over Poland in 1939, and heavy fighter variants saw action on every front up to VE Day. The ultimate Ju 88 fighter variant was the G-model of 1944, which boasted a FuG 220 or 227 radar, an astounding array of cannon and machine gun armament and advanced Junkers Jumo or BMW engines. A dedicated nightfighter, the first Ju 88G-1s entered service with the Nachtjagd in the summer of 1944, replacing Ju 88C/Rs as well as some Bf 110Gs. Despite suffering heavy losses in the final months of the war, Ju 88Gs also inflicted serious casualties on Bomber Command throughout the war. From patrolling over the Bay of Biscay, to the Arctic circle opposing Allied convoys and, most successfully, as radar-equipped nightfighters engaging RAF heavy bombers during defence of the Reich operations from late 1941, this is the story of the Ju 88 aces who menaced Allied aircraft and shipping throughout World War 2.

A woman’s journey to uncover the fate of seven RCAF crewmen who perished in the Second World War. For most of her life, Lisa Russ knew little about her second cousin, Robert “Bud” George Alfred Burt. All she had were two grainy photos, a poem Bud had written shortly before his death, and the knowledge that he was a tail gunner in a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War. It was only when Russ—a self-described “discouraged modern-day war bride”—found herself displaced, unemployed, and homesick in Australia that she began to search for a deeper connection to her family back in Canada and stumbled upon the remarkable story of Bud and his fellow crewmen, who were shot down over Stuttgart, Germany, in March of 1944. Just nineteen at the time of his death, Bud was one of the bomber boys of Lancaster II, a member of 408 “Goose” Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Although he was but one of tens of thousands of long-forgotten Allied soldiers who perished in the War, for Russ he became an emblem of courage and sacrifice. Last Flight to Stuttgart is a riveting story, told in parallel timelines, of one woman’s quest for remembrance of a brave crew and their ill-fated mission. For every leader who has his story told, there are many thousands of servicemen whose stories never come to light. This book honours the marginalised by telling their story.

They were the best of enemies – dedicated, skilled and deadly. In the night skies above wartime Germany an RAF navigator-air bomber from New Zealand and a Luftwaffe pilot seek out their targets, testing the gap between success and their own destruction as they cross each other's paths. The odds are heavily against either of them making it through the war, but as this sobering realisation displaces their initial exuberant sense of adventure, both come to see in their youthful sacrifice the survival of all they hold dear. UNDER A BOMBER'S MOON reaches across the divide of years, of geography, of nationality, to tell their story largely in their own words – describing both the breathtaking clashes in the air and the camaraderie, humour, patriotism and personal tragedies that became their war. Stephen Harris began his journey of discovery because he wanted to know the truth of his great-uncle Colwyn Jones's fate. With Col's vividly written letters and diary as a starting-point, he set out to discover what really happened on the night Col's extraordinary luck ran out. Little did he know that his quest would lead him to a meeting with a former Luftwaffe pilot who was pitted against his great-uncle in the skies over Germany. Otto-Heinrich Fries proved to be both engaging and articulate, eventually allowing Harris to tell his story in this book. The result is a unique and personal account of two highly successful airmen from opposing sides.

In its earliest, dark days, Bomber Command operated deep into occupied Europe with the underdeveloped Avro Manchester. Powered by the Rolls Royce Vulture, it was the only British aircraft to use this engine operationally. The design was revised and amended several times, with three enlargements of the flying surfaces required to provide an adequate flight envelope. Nevertheless, Manchesters entered service without adequate type-testing, leading to four groundings in the first ten months of use. Aircrews were faced with airframe and engine challenges, and the Manchester continued to evolve as the war was being fought. Despite this, seven RAF squadrons would eventually use 202 Manchesters (with 538 Vultures) on 1,260 sorties. Manchesters may have contributed to Bomber Command failures (as set out in the Butt Report of August 1941), but they also contributed to its success in denying German capital ships the naval base at Brest. Bomber Command’s persistence with the type was soon shown to be wise, as the Manchester was developed into the famous and war-winning Avro Lancaster. This second edition of The Avro Manchester: The Legend Behind the Lancaster retains the keen analysis and gripping narrative of the first, but it also fills many gaps, revises key passages, and provides six appendices for references. It is richly illustrated with 200 images, many of which are previously unpublished. Illustrations: 190 black-and-white photographs

The experiences of the German fighter pilots in the Second World War, based on extensive recollections of veterans as well as primary documents, and diary and flying log book extracts, with photographs from the veterans themselves, many never previously published.

This, the fourth volume of a five part work that provides a comprehensive insight into all aspects of RAF Bomber Command in World War Two, begins in the spring of 1944 with a completely new insight on the catastrophic raid on Nuremburg on the night of 30/31 March and follows with the disastrous attack on Mailly-le-Camp in May. Gradually, the Allied Bomber Offensive began to bear fruit and in June 1944 the invasion of Normandy took place under an umbrella of almost total Allied air superiority. RAF Bomber Command was to play a huge part in what proved to be the final steps to ultimate victory, returning to the mass raids on German cities by night and even mounting raids on the Reich by day. The authors well-tried formula of using background information interspersed with the crews personal narrative takes you raid by raid through each tour of ops while carrying full bomb loads in sub-zero temperatures, blighted by atrocious weather conditions and dogged by fear of fire, death or serious injury or having to endure months if not years of miserable existence and near starvation behind the wire in notorious PoW camps. The path to peace was paved with the unmitigated slow ebbing of courage with an ever-present possibility of death unannounced from a prowling night fighter, nondescript and unseen, as night after incessant night, shattered and ailing bombers could run out of luck to crash in some foreign field while other crews, almost home almost empty - ran out of fuel and died horrible tortuous deaths in twisted and tangled wreckage. Not for them the glory that was accorded The Few but as Winston Churchill said: Fighters are our salvation, but the bombers alone provide the means of victory.

Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 200 maps, plans, and photos. This book is a comprehensive analysis of an air force, the Luftwaffe, in World War II. It follows the Germans from their prewar preparations to their final defeat. There are many disturbing parallels with our current situation. I urge every student of military science to read it carefully. The lessons of the nature of warfare and the application of airpower can provide the guidance to develop our fighting forces and employment concepts to meet the significant challenges we are certain to face in the future.