JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe

JG 26 was the perhaps the most famous of all of the German fightersquadrons during the Second World War. The squadron was created prior to the war shortly after Hitler came to power and first participated in the invasion of France in 1940, where it served well. It was during the following Battle of Britain, however, that the squadron, under the command of Adolf Galland, rose to prominence. Following the this phase in the war, JG 26 remained in western Europe, although several detachments were sent to Russia and the Mediterranean Theater, where they proved to be extraordinarily successful. In 1942, the British and Americans began a systematic strategic bombing campaign against France and Germany, and the squadron was in the forefront of the "Defense of the Reich." Although they were responsible for a great number of the American bombers lost, it was a losing battle from the beginning, and by the time of the D-Day invasion, the squadron, like the Luftwaffe in general, was but a shadow of its former glory. The men of JG 26, however, fought on regardless, and continued to fly sorties until the very last days of the war. JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe is simply an excellent book. Since much primary documentation was destroyed at the end of the war, Caldwell had little to work with; he therefore had to rely mainly on testimonies of surviving pilots, Josef Priller's German language history of the squadron, Allied records and over a thousand secondary sources. The result is as complete a book as can be written about a German fighter squadron during the Second World War, and thus is valuable and very interesting resource.

A friend reccomended this book to me because I was interested in WW2. I decided to buy it (It was only 5 bucks) Well anyway, I started the book and after the first 50 pages, I was hooked. I didn't set this book down for 4 days, until I was done. The descriptions of Aerial combat are great. If you like WW2, The German Luftwaffe, READ THIS BOOK!

Caldwell's book is a well written, riviting masterpiece of military history. From the humble beginnings as merely another fighter formation in an air force made illegal by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, to a gaggle of half-trained boys and shell-shocked veterans stunned that they have survived as long as they have, Caldwell leaves no stone unturned. He chronicles the buildup and training of the Jagdwaffe, the fighting over Poland, France & the Low Countries, the Battle of Britain, transition to the Fw 190 'Wurger' aircraft, and its slow death at the hands of the Allied air forces. The reader becomes engrossed with the personalities, and experiences loss as one by one, these brave men fail to return home. By the end of the book, a reader is left almost as dazed and empty as the "Schlageter Geschwader" in April 1945. For anyone wanting intimate knowledge of the best fighter unit during the Battle of Britain, the only German aircraft above Normandy on D-Day, the only unit that Allied airmen were truly were afraid of during the air offensive over Germany, this is the book that shall deliver in full.Dale E. Amsbaugh

Don Caldwell wrote an amazing book about one of Luftwaffe's most capable and well led fighter units of WW II. With an insight look through the files, he takes us on a six-year journey of dogfights against RAF and USAAF bombers and fighters, in a fighter group full of skilled aces and dare-devil pilots, which, like all Luftwaffe, suffered terrible losses in the end. If there was one such book for every famous fighter group of WW II, history would be well served!

If you study WW-2, in particular, the air war in Europe, then this book is a must. To study war means to look at both sides and this book accurately traces the birth of JG 26 from it's nobal beginning as just another Luftwaffe unit to being the most feared fighter unit by Allied airmen in the world. Then, as war would have it, it accurately traces it's tragic destuction at the hands of not nessessarily superior pilots, but superior numbers, better tactics, and much better upper leadership on the part of the Allies. As you read the book, it, at times, seams like the same old stuff. For example, on this mission, they shoot down this many Spitfires or this many B-17's at a loss of this many of their own pilots and this seams to go on forever, however, the more you read, the you will begin to feel their unselfish and unquestionable devotion to not nessessarily their leader, Adolf Hitler, but their country and fellow pilots. In the face of devastating losses and iminent defeat, they continue going up to meet the increasing number of Allied bombers and fighters with no hope of stopping them or even sometimes surviving the battle. By the time you get to the end of the book, you will actually feel a note of sarrow for the brave men of JG-26, as well as what the air war was like on the losing side. Caldwell hits it right on the mark with this book and I highly recomend it to any war historian or aviation buff. At the end, I'm sure you will agree with one of the surrendering pilots of JG-26 when he said, "That was the end of all our dreams."