Being there . . . . by 10 May of 1940 when the Allied bombing of Germany began. One worry
after another began piling up for the German people who kept asking why the Fuehrer was not
visiting the bombed cities, railroad yards, and armament industries. “Why”, they asked, “is
Goering nowhere to be seen?”, “Why doesn’t our beloved Hitler come before us and explain
the present situation? We hardly know how to save human beings, let alone our own families
and neighbors, who, because of the daily bombings, are being thrown on the ground burning to
death, or flung into the flames by 150 mile per hour bomb concussion winds.” By 1945, most of
Germany was aflame. And, of course, the German people were right. None had ever been so
shocked before. Not even in World War I had the citizens witnessed fire typhoons. They soon
realized that resistance to systematic day and night bombing was impossible. Furthermore, the
resolute night-flying RAF and daytime USAAF fliers had a ton of bitter lessons to pile on the
defenseless, overwhelmed German population.
GERMANY’S AIR STRATEGY TO WIN WORLD WAR II, OFFENSE IN LIEU OF DEFENSE OF
DEUTSCHLAND, HAD FAILED MISERABLY, MEANING THE FATE OF THE NAZI NATION WAS NOW
SEALED. YES, AIR CHIEF HERMANN GOERING ADMITTED TO HITLER THAT ALLIED BOMBERS
WERE GETTING THROUGH BECAUSE ACTIVE FIGHTERS AND ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY WERE
INSUFFICIENT. BUT THE FUEHRER BELIEVED THE DAY AND NIGHT BOMBING WOULD
HARDENED THE GERMAN PEOPLE TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST, THE ALLIES INVADING FROM
THE WEST AND THE SOVIETS FROM THE EAST. SINCE HITLER’S PASSIVE AERIAL DEFENSES
RANKED TENTH AMONG THE NATIONAL PRIORITIES, ONLY 2,046 AIR RAID SHELTERS HAD BEEN
BUILT FOR THE SEVERAL MILLION BERLINERS BY SEPTEMBER 1940. BY 4 JULY 1945, THE DAY
THE FOUR-POWER OCCUPATION OF BERLIN, AND ALL OF GERMANY, TOOK EFFECT, LESS THAN
2% OF THE CAPITAL’S POPULATION, AND 1% OF THE REST OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE, HAD BEEN
PROTECTED AGAINST THE DEVASTATING AIR ATTACKS. THE AIR BATTLES OVER THE COUNTRY
WERE CERTAIN TO BE LOST. NOW, WITHIN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, THREE STARTLING NEW
OSPREY PUBLISHING TITLES TELL WHY THE LUFTWAFFE FAILED SO MISERABLY TO PROTECT THE
GERMAN PEOPLE.
All three highly recommended by Don DeNevi
“HAMBURG 1940–45 – – The long war against Germany’s great port city”, by Richard Worrall,
Illustrated by Mads Bangso. OSPREY PUBLISHING/Bloomsbury Publishing Plc; 2024, Air
Campaign Series, 96 pages, 9 ¾” x 7 ¼”, $25. Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com;
“Me 163 vs ALLIED HEAVY BOMBERS – – Northern Europe 1944 – 1945”, by Robert Forsyth.
OSPREY PUBLISHING/Bloomsbury Publishing Plc; 2024, Osprey DUEL Engage the Enemy Series,
80 pages, 9 ¾”x 7 ¼”, $23. Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com;
“Fw 190 STURMJAGER – – Defense of the Reich 1943-45”, by Robert Forsyth. OSPREY
PUBLISHING/Bloomsbury Publishing Plc; 2024, Dogfight Series, 80 pages, 9 ¾”x 7 ¼”, $23. Visit,
www.ospreypublishing.com.
A little after midnight on 25 July 1943, the low, dull, monotonous, murmuring sounds of
enemy aircraft approaching could be heard throughout the port city. Air raid alerts were
already sounding. Local radio warnings told Hamburg’s 1.5 million+ to rush into basements and
the city’s few shelters. The Royal Air Force would be unloading their own British-made heavy
bombs all over the area. Seconds mattered. THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. Suddenly, eight
firestorms were consuming the metropolis with 1,500 citizens dead or dying. But the death and
destruction were far from over. By noon that day, the U.S. Eight Army Air Force would be
dropping its own load, American made, turning the entire port and its cargo ship into a huge
inferno. A once beautiful city and proud port were gone, and no one could say with certainty
how many more Germans perished since uncounted eastern refugees fleeing the advancing
Russians had flooded the Hamburg vicinities for months. Drawing on a wide range of primary
and secondary sources, and packed with photos, artwork, maps, and 3D diagrams, this is an
important new history of the air campaign against Nazi Germany’s industrial and naval heart,
Hamburg.
Of course, WWII aviation buffs know all about the small, fast, “bat-like” looking aircraft flying
close and past the USAAF and RAF formations. It indeed resembled a bat. It was the Luftwaffe’s
extraordinary Messerschmitt Me 163 interceptor – – which used volatile rocket fuel to reach
high altitudes at unprecedented speed – – while at the same time making its operational debut.
Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth draws upon rare, first-hand accounts, archive photography,
and newly commissioned artwork to chronicle the development and deployment of what was
then the world’s fastest aircraft. In short, this intriguing study documents the birth of a new
form of aerial warfare, one contrasting sheer mass production against cutting-edge
aeronautical technology.
The “Dogfight Series” is unequivocally the leader among the multiply-series Osprey initiated
and, today, constantly enriching for reader collection, personal library building, nightly reading
satisfaction. “Fw 190 Sturmjager – – Defense of the Reich 1943 – 45” explores the highly
dangerous close-range missions carried out by the men who flew it. Some were skilled aces;
others were fresh from training schools; and a number were volunteers willing to sign an oath
vowing to bring down a Fw 190 bomber, single-handed, at all costs – – even if it meant ramming
the enemy aircraft. Robert Forsyth puts us readers in the cockpit of a Sturmjager while
defending the Fatherland from RAF and USAAF bombers protected by powerful Allied escort
fighters.
To learn more of the endless titles Osprey offers via its multiple series, visit
www.ospreypublishing.com. Then, sign up to receive free-of-charge information about past,
present, and future all things Osprey. Note: other than Schiffer, Naval Institute Press, Pen &
Sword, and McFarland, look no farther than Osprey for the best military books being published
today.
