DEFENDERS OF THE REICH – Jagdgeschwader 1 Volume One 1939 – 1942

‘The Tommies were chased in all directions by our fighters. I attacked a British bomber. It defended itself well and hit my machine on three occasions. One of the bullets passed very close to my head. But then the bomber came into the centre of my sights. I fired at point-blank range, and continued to follow my victim. There were no more than several metres between the two of us. I had to pull away quickly. 

I was preparing for another attack after a wide turn when I saw the aircraft fall into the sea like a stone. My wingman immediately confirmed my victory. The combat had already taken us more than 30 km to the West of Heligoland Island. We chased them for some 150 km before returning.’

This is the first volume in a substantially revised three-volume study of Eric Mombeek’s classic work. The reader will find in this volume more than 280 photographs depicting JG 1’s pilots, their Messerschmitt Bf 109s and the first Focke-Wulf Fw 190s to be operated by the unit. Many of these pictures are being included for the first time and are not contained in earlier editions. They are accompanied by full-colour aircraft profiles by leading artists, Tom Tullis.

In this first instalment of the illustrated history of the Luftwaffe’s premier fighter defence unit, aviation historian Eric Mombeek tells the story of the formation of Jagdgeschwader 1 and its subsequent clashes with the RAF over the North Sea during 1941–1942.

Tasked with defending the skies over the Third Reich, JG 1 numbered among its ranks some of the Luftwaffe’s leading fighter aces including Heinz Bär, Walter Oesau and Herbert Ihlefeld.

‘It was 5:37 p.m. hours and we were 7 km to the west of Katwijk. My two wingmen were still far away from me, when I saw 100 metres above me, an Armstrong Whitley flying northwards. After changing direction, I attacked it from below and behind. The enemy was so slow compared to me that I could only fire a short burst before overtaking it. My victim then turned towards the Dutch coast, and I was able to attack again. During this attack, the enemy aircraft began to burn. It exploded and fell like a torch at an angle of 45 degrees. It crashed about 7 km to the west of Katwijk. It was 5:39 p.m. hours…’