JG26

Top Guns of the Luftwaffe

Donald Caldwell

• Publisher: Frontline Books
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781848327467
• eBook ISBN: 9781473831612
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

"This unique, impressive study presents a history in microcosm of the entire Luftwaffe Fighter Corps . . . [a] spellbinding work." — Library Journal
Jagdgeschwader 26, the German elite fighter unit, was more feared by the Allies than any other Luftwaffe group. Based on extensive archival research in Europe, personal combat diaries and interviews with more than 50 surviving pilots, Caldwell has assembled a superb day-to-day chronicle of JG 26 operations, from its first air victory in 1939 to its final combat patrol in 1945.
A microcosm of World War II exists in the rise and fall of this famous fighter wing. For the first two years of the war it was an even match between the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs; but the scales tipped in favor of the Allies in 1943 with the arrival of the Eighth US Air Force and its peerless P-51 Mustang.
The book has been endorsed by the top fighter commanders of three air forces: the RAF (Johnnie Johnson), the USAAF (Hub Zemke), and the Luftwaffe (Adolf Galland) and is considered essential reading for anyone interested in the aerial war of 1941–45.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. ORIGINS (1935–1939)

The Resurgent Luftwaffe

The Condor Legion

Days of Peace

Albert Leo Schlageter

War Looms

2. SITZKRIEG AND BLITZKRIEG (1 September 1939–26 June 1940)

War Begins

Formation of the Third Gruppe

The Geschwader’s First Victory

10(Nacht)/JG 26 and the Battle of the Helgoland Bight

The Winter Doldrums

The Blitzkrieg Strikes West

Breakthrough on the Meuse

The Dunkirk Evacuation

Operation Paula—The Air Attack on Paris

The End of the Campaign

3. JG 26 IN THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (24 July 1940–9 February 1941)

Return to Germany

The First Phase—Channel Attacks and Free Hunts

The Second Phase—Adlerangriff

13 August—Adlertag

15 August—The Luftwaffe’s Black Thursday

18 August—The “Hardest Day”

Galland Takes Command

Decimation of the Defiants

The Third Gruppe in Action

The Third Phase—Attacks on London

15 September—The Battle’s Climax

The Fourth Phase—Fighters as Bombers

Conclusions

4. THE 7TH STAFFEL IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER (February–August 1941)

A New Theater of War

The Scourge of Malta

Flank Duty for the Balkan Campaign

Back to Sicily

Malta Reprieved

Return to the Kanalfront

5. DEFENSE IN THE WEST (1941)

New Equipment

Cover for the Navy

Back to the Channel

The Nonstop Offensive

Arrival of the FW 190

A Successful Summer

Galland to Berlin

6. ABBEVILLE KIDS AND ST. OMER BOYS (1942)

One Day on the Kanalfront

Winter on the Channel Coast

The Channel Dash

Formation of the Jabostaffeln

Renewal of the British Offensive

Focke-Wulf Summer

The Dieppe Raid

A New Enemy

A Time of Trials

7. SCHLAGETER FIGHTERS ON THE EASTERN FRONT (January–July 1943)

The First Gruppe Leaves the Kanalfront

The Situation in the North Is Stabilized

The Seventh Staffel on the Leningrad Front

Springtime Lull

The Return

8. HOLDING IN THE WEST (January–June 1943)

The Jabo Effort Peaks

Change of Command

Battles with the RAF

A Slow Buildup

Arrival of the Thunderbolts

9. TEMPORARY ASCENDANCY (July–December 1943)

The Battles Escalate

The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid

Steady Pressure

Defensive Reorganization

The Muenster Raid

The Second Schweinfurt Raid

The Dueren Raid

Harder Battles

10. THE ALLIES COMMAND THE SKIES (January–May 1944)

The War of Attrition

Big Week

The Berlin Raids

Jaegerschreck—Fear of Fighters

The First Attacks on the Oil Industry

11. THE INVASION FRONT (6 June–3 September 1944)

D-Day

The Defensive Plan and Its Execution

Hopeless Inferiority

Successes and Failures

A Black Day for the Lightnings

Retreat to the Reich

12. SUPPORT FOR THE ARMY (September–December 1944)

Disorganization and Recovery

Operation Market Garden

A Dreary Autumn

The Battle of the Ardennes

III/JG 54 Returns to Combat

13. UNTERNEHMEN BODENPLATTE—The Attack on Allied Airfields (1 January 1945)

JG 26 Gets the Word

I/JG 26 and III/JG 54 Attack Grimbergen

II/JG 26 Attacks Brussels-Evere

III/JG 26 Attacks Brussels-Evere

The Balance

14. THE FINAL BATTLES (January–May 1945)

Attrition Continues

The Spirit of the Geschwader

Breakup and Consolidation

The Defenses Break

Himmelfahrtskommandos—Missions to Heaven

The Lines Close In

SOURCES

TABLE OF EQUIVALENT RANKS—GERMAN AIR FORCE, U.S. ARMY AIR FORCE, AND ROYAL AIR FORCE

GLOSSARIES:

1. Abbreviations (non-German)

2. Aviation Terms

3. Aircraft Types

4. German Terms

JG 26 Tables of Organization

JG 26 Victory Claims—A Statistical Summary

JG 26 Casualties—A Statistical Summary

INDEX

FOREWORD

Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, Ret.

I AM PLEASED TO COMPLY WITH THE AUTHOR’S REQUEST TO WRITE A foreword to this book, the first detailed history of a Luftwaffe combat unit to be written by an American in the English language. This unit, Jagdgeschwader 26 “Schlageter,” JG 26, was one with which I had a long and close relationship. In my travels I am frequently reminded of the English-speaking world’s continued fascination with World War II fighter combat. It is therefore surprising that only a few balanced portrayals of the German side of the air war have appeared in English. Many authors have stressed the exploits of the Experten, or aces, while paying little attention to the day-to-day activities of the fighter units and their average pilots. Before you can claim a true understanding of the air war, you must know something of the accomplishments and sacrifices of the individual combat units. This book thus attempts to fill a real gap.

After the loss of World War I, Germany could only manage to train a few dozen fighter pilots and some reconnaissance crews, contrary to the Versailles treaty. This nucleus was transferred to other assignments and used to build up the entire Luftwaffe, so that the fighter arm was understaffed and played an inferior role as a defense force from the very beginning. Fundamental mistakes were made. Great Britain was never considered as a potential adversary; later, the performance of the young Luftwaffe, which had expanded too rapidly, was totally overestimated.

After using many tricks, I was able to join the Luftwaffe fighter force, and in June 1940 I was transferred to JG 26 to take over its Third Gruppe. From that time on, JG 26 was always my favorite fighter unit in the Luftwaffe. Since my two brothers Paul and Wilhelm, both successful fighter pilots, were killed in JG 26—the former as a Staffelkapitaen (Squadron Leader) and the latter as a Gruppenkommandeur (Group Commander)—this has indeed been “my wing.”

You might well wonder, as I did, why the author, who is an American and a member of the postwar generation, selected JG 26 as the subject of his book. He has told me that he originally planned to write a history of the Jagdwaffe, the Luftwaffe’s fighter arm. A desire to stress the human side of Luftwaffe service forced him to narrow his scope, and his attention was ultimately drawn to JG 26, one of the best German fighter units for much of the war, and the one most respected by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The history of this one unit encompasses in microcosm the rise and fall of the entire German fighter arm, and it remains the Luftwaffe unit best known in the English-speaking world—although as the “Abbeville Kids” rather than by its correct designation. The author interviewed fifty former members of JG 26, from Kommodore to enlisted pilot, plus many members of the ground staff. To ensure the impartiality and completeness of the book, the official records of both sides were searched, and the true course of events in a number of air battles was reestablished for the first time. In its quest for historical objectivity, the book does not gloss over unpleasant facts, especially those concerning conditions in the late 1944–1945 Luftwaffe, after the course of the war had turned irrevocably against Germany. It is almost a miracle that the complete breakdown of pilot morale did not occur prior to D-Day in 1944, when the total collapse was more than obvious.

Even though there is an excellent German history of JG 26 in existence, written by Josef Priller and Otto Boehm, the present work is the best fulfillment that we could wish for. The book inevitably contains errors—the Luftwaffe destroyed most of its records at war’s end, and men’s memories of events fifty years ago must be considered fallible. Nevertheless, I feel that this book, with its unique perspective on the air war, is a suitable memorial to the fallen men of Jagdgeschwader 26 “Schlageter.”

Thanks to Donald L. Caldwell, and success to his profound book, written in full fairness.

ADOLF GALLAND
January 1991

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MY GREATEST DEBT OF GRATITUDE IS OWED TO THE VETERANS OF THE Geschwader whose enthusiastic cooperation made this book possible. I shall never cease to be amazed that my written appeals for assistance—which came from a stranger, a novice author, and a former enemy—were answered with such an outpouring of documents, photographs, and amazingly frank first-person accounts. I am proud that I can now call many of these men my friends. They are: Hermann Ayerle, Ernst Battmer, F. W. Bauerhenne, Guenther Bloemertz, Karl Boehm-Tettelbach, Matthias Buchmann, Joseph Buerschgens, Peter Crump, Heinz Ebeling (deceased), Georg Eder (deceased), Guenther Egli, Xaver Ellenrieder, Adolf Galland, Heinz Gehrke, Georg Genth, Adolf Glunz, Alfred Heckmann, Walter Horten, Erich Jauer, Gerhard Kemen, Gerhard Kroll, Walter Krupinski, Ottomar Kruse, Hans Kukla, Erwin Leykauf, Willi Luerding, Werner Molge, Johannes Naumann, Edu Neumann, Josef Niesmak, Wolfgang Pils, Rolf Pingel, Wolfgang Polster, Hans Prager, Hans-Werner Regenauer, Heinrich Schild, Gottfried Schmidt, Walter Schmidt, Friedrich Schneider, Gerhard Schoepfel, Rolf Schroedter (deceased), Otto Stammberger, Walter Stumpf, Siegfried Sy (deceased), Erhard Tippe, Fritz Ungar, and Gerd Wiegand. Special thanks are owed to Adolf Galland for the foreword and to Joseph Buerschgens for hand-carrying it and the manuscript across two continents.

My search for participants from the “other side,” while neces sarily less exhaustive, was equally rewarding. My thanks go to the following USAAF and RCAF veterans: William Beyer, William Binnebose, George Brooks, William Capron, George Carpenter, H. H. Christensen, Elmer Clarey, McCauley Clark, Darrell Cramer, Jack Curtis, Bernard Dennehy, James Doyle, Walker Mahurin, Merle Olmsted, Chet Patterson, Herman Schonenberg, Robert Seelos, Luther Smith, Rod Smith, John Truluck, George van den Heuvel, Chuck Yeager, and Hubert Zemke.

I must next acknowledge the air war historians and archivists who welcomed me into their fraternity with generous gifts of time, leads, photographs, and information. These men are: Arno Abendroth, Bernd Barbas, Steve Blake, Winfried Bock, Walt Boyne, James Crow, Joachim Eickhoff, Pat Eriksson, Vanackere Etienne, John Foreman, Werner Girbig, Steve Gotts, Peter Grimm, Ian Hawkins, Carl Hildebrandt, Jim Kitchens, Dave McFarland, Michael Meyer, Eric Mombeek, Werner Oeltjebruns, Michael Payne, Gert Poelchau, W. G. Ramsey, Jean-Louis Roba, Chris Shores, Guenter Sundermann, Helmut Terbeck, Lothair Vanoverbeke, and Tony Wood.

Thanks also go to Horst Amberg, Dagmar Herzog, Steve Jobs, Bob Jones, R. J. Lissner, Laura Muskopf, Josef Priller (fils), Bill Saunders, John Smith III, Karl-Heinz Winkler, and Steve Wozniak for their invaluable assistance.

Motorbuch Verlag has granted me permission to quote translated passages from Josef Priller’s JG 26: Geschichte eines Jagdgeschwaders. The Bundesarchiv Bildarchiv (Koblenz) and the Imperial War Museum (London) have granted permission to reprint photographs from their collections.

I wish to acknowledge the help given me by the professional staffs of the British Public Records Office, the Bundesarchiv-Militaerarchiv (Freiburg), the Lake Jackson Public Library, the Military Archives Division of the National Archives, the United States Air Force Historical Research Center, and the United States Air Force Museum.

I further wish to thank the USAF Historical Research Center for their tangible support of this work in the form of a USAF-HRC Research Grant.

Last but by no means least, my thanks go to my wife, Jackie, for her unwavering patience and support.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents