Alarmstart South and Final Defeat: The German Fighter Pilot's Experience in the Mediterranean Theatre 1941-44 and Normandy, Norway and Germany 1944-45

by Patrick G. Eriksson

Overview

The author utilizes extensive personal reminiscences of veterans and original documents. Veterans who flew in Me 109, Fw 190 and Me 110/410 aircraft provide their stories in their own words. They range from junior NCOs to Colonels, including a senior fighter controller and one of the Luftwaffe’s psychologists. The Mediterranean theater gave the top scoring aces on both sides for the entire war (excluding the Russian front battles): Hans-Joachim Marseille (158 victory claims) on the German side and "Pat" Pattle (an estimated 41 and possibly more claims), a South African, on the British side. In the vicious air battles over the Mediterranean region, many aircrew ended up "in the drink" with small chance of ever being found. Occasionally, a miracle would happen, as with Dr. Felix Sauer of JG 53, a pre-war high school biology teacher, who survived 8 days in a dinghy at sea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781445693330
Publisher:	Amberley Publishing
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Sold by:	INDEPENDENT PUB GROUP - EPUB - EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Patrick G. Eriksson returned to primary sources, and, as an associate member of the German Air Force Veteran's Association since 1974, interviewed and corresponded with more than 100 former members of the Luftwaffe. 

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Maps 21

1 The Balkan Campaign, April-May 1941 25

2 Western Desert, February 1941-January 1943 47

3 Malta, January 1941-October 1942 86

4 Tunisia: The End in Africa, November 1942-May 1943 107

5 Sicily and Italy, May 1943-September 1944 121

6 South-eastern Europe and the Balkans, 1943-1944 137

7 The Normandy Invasion and Subsequent Allied Re-conquest of France 155

8 Battle over Germany: The Last Twelve Months, June 1944-May 1945 176

9 The Campaign in Norway: An Oft Forgotten Theatre of the Second World War 232

10 The End of the War and Imprisonment: West and East 238

11 Conclusions 254

Notes 262

List of Illustrations 291

Bibliography 299

Acknowledgements 306

Index 314