BATTLE OVER BAVARIA The B-26 MARAUDER versus the German Jets - April 1945
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Characteristics
| ISBN-13 | 978-0952686743 |
| ISBN-10 | 0952686740 |
| Book cover finish(es) | Hardcover ( rounded spine binding ) |
| Special Features | Dust jacket |
| Condition | LIKE NEW |
| Author(s) | Robert Forsyth, Jerry Scutts |
| Publisher | Classic Publications |
| Number of pages | 200 |
| Published date | 1999 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Collection / Series | AIR WAR CLASSICS |
| Size | 23 x 31 x 2 cm |
| Categorie(s) | • AVIATION MILITAIRE • SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE |
Description
On 16 April 1945, General Carl A. Spaatz, chief of the United States Strategic Air Forces dispatched a personal message to his senior Air Force commanders:
"The advances of our ground forces have brought to a close the strategic air war... It has been won with a decisiveness becoming increasingly evident as our armies overrun Germany. From now onward, our Strategic Air Forces must operate with our Tactical Air Forces in close co-operation with our armies..."
This was the official signal for the medium bomber forces of the USAAF to embark upon the final stages of their long and decisive campaign to attack and destroy the last remains of the Third Reich's transport system and its military and aircraft manufacturing infrastructure.
In reality, Martin B-26 Marauders had been pounding targets across occupied Europe for many months, providing a vital yet perhaps unrecognised contribution to the Allied air campaign. However, it was during the final, cataclysmic days of that campaign - when it was presumed that the skies over Germany were virtually clear of effective German defence - that the Marauders faced their most deadly and worrying threat.
Poorly advised by their intelligence, Marauder crews were to wage a short but savage battle against the pilots of Jagdverband 44 - JV 44, the unique Me 262 jet fighter unit established by the one of Luftwaffe's most potent fighter aces, Generalleutnant Adolf Galland following his dismissal from the post of commander of the German fighter force by Hermann Göring in a clumsy attempt to quash the 'mutiny' that was fermenting amongst a group of leading pilots. The reputation of this unit was elevated to almost mythical status because of the unusually high number of accomplished yet disillusioned aces who flocked to join it in an attempt to fly the revolutionary Me 262 before the end of the war.