Authors: Samuel W. Mitcham
Eagles of the Third Reich: Men of the Luftwaffe in WWII (Stackpole Military History Series)
EAGLES OF THE
THIRD REICH
Other titles in the Stackpole Military History Series
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Cavalry Raids of the Civil War
Pickett’s Charge
Witness to Gettysburg
WORLD WAR II
Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 1943–45
Army of the West
Australian Commandos
The B-24 in China
Backwater War
The Battle of Sicily
Beyond the Beachhead
The Brandenburger Commandos
The Brigade
Bringing the Thunder
Coast Watching in World War II
Colossal Cracks
D-Day to Berlin
Exit Rommel
Flying American Combat Aircraft of World War II
Fist from the Sky
Forging the Thunderbolt
Fortress France
The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45
German Order of Battle, Vols. 1, 2, and 3
Germany’s Panzer Arm in World War II
Grenadiers
Infantry Aces
Iron Arm
Luftwaffe Aces
Messerschmitts over Sicily
Michael Wittmann, Vols. 1 and 2
The Nazi Rocketeers
On the Canal
Packs On!
Panzer Aces
Panzer Aces II
The Panzer Legions
Retreat to the Reich
Rommel’s Desert War
The Savage Sky
A Soldier in the Cockpit
Stalin’s Keys to Victory
Surviving Bataan and Beyond
Tigers in the Mud
The 12th SS, Vols. 1 and 2
THE COLD WAR / VIETNAM
Flying American Combat Aircraft: The Cold War
Land with No Sun
Street without Joy
WARS OF THE MIDDLE EAST
Never-Ending Conflict
GENERAL MILITARY HISTORY
Carriers in Combat
Desert Battles
EAGLES OF THE
THIRD REICH
Men of the Luftwaffe in World War II
Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr.
STACKPOLE
BOOKS
This book is dedicated to my lovely wife, Donna P. Mitcham
Copyright © 1988 by Samuel W. Mitcham
Published in paperback in 2007 by
STACKPOLE BOOKS
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
www.stackpolebooks.com
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Cover design by Tracy Patterson
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mitcham, Samuel W.
[Men of the Luftwaffe]
Eagles of the Third Reich: men of the Luftwaffe in World War II / Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr.
p. cm.—(Stackpole military history series)
Originally published under the title: Men of the Luftwaffe. 1988.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8117-3405-9
ISBN-10: 0-8117-3405-6
1. Germany. Luftwaffe—History—World War, 1939–1945. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Aerial operations, German. I. Title.
D787.M56 2007
940.54'4943—dc22
2007003011
eISBN: 9780811744515
Table of Contents
Introduction | vi | |
Acknowledgments | vii | |
| Chapter 1. | The Secret Air Force | 1 |
| Chapter 2. | Command Fragmentation | 14 |
| Chapter 3. | Spain: The First Battle | 31 |
| Chapter 4. | The Buildup and the Outbreak of the War | 51 |
| Chapter 5. | Blitzkrieg | 80 |
| Chapter 6. | The Air War Against Britain, 1939-42 | 95 |
| Chapter 7. | The Balkans Campaign | 114 |
| Chapter 8. | Russia, 1941: The Last Blitzkrieg | 127 |
| Chapter 9. | The Fall of Ernst Udet | 149 |
| Chapter 10. | The Russian Front, 1942-43 | 173 |
| Chapter 11. | The Bombings Begin, 1942 | 200 |
| Chapter 12. | The Tide Turns, 1943 | 207 |
| Chapter 13. | Defeat on All Fronts | 236 |
| Chapter 14. | Rittervon Greim: The Last Field Marshal | 266 |
| Appendix 1: | Table of Equivalent Ranks | 279 |
| Appendix 2: | Chain of Command of Luftwaffe Aviation Units | 281 |
| Appendix 3: | Strength of Luftwaffe Units | 282 |
| Appendix 4: | Glossary of Luftwaffe Terms | 283 |
| Appendix 5: | Other Leading Luftwaffe Personalities | 286 |
| Appendix 6: | The Principal German Aircraft, 1935-45 | 293 |
Notes | 301 | |
Bibliography | 325 | |
Index | 335 |
Introduction