PublishedAir World, October 2022 |
ISBN9781526789938 |
FormatHardcover, 296 pages |
Dimensions23.4cm × 15.6cm |
Much has been written about the famous fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe which proved so successful in the invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and in the early operations in Eastern Europe. Little attention, however, has been focused on the Luftwaffe's transport aircraft which played a vital role in supplying German forces in every theatre.
In early May 1940, the battle of Norway was nearing its climax, but General Eduard Dietl's 3rd Jager division was blocked by the Allies in the Narvik area. Only the Luftwaffe could provide effective assistance to the encircled troops. The special purpose groups KGr.zbV107 and KGr.zbV108 were ordered to supply the division by air. Transports delivered ammunition, food, and even boots for German sailors who found themselves on land. This was the first of a number of occasions in which the Luftwaffe's transport Gruppen, often equipped with the slow, but reliable Junkers 52, created an 'air bridge' to supply troops cut off or surrounded by the enemy. The transport Gruppen had previously been involved in supporting the advance of German forces during the Polish campaign, this being followed by the capture of Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece. During Operation Barbarossa, German troops were dispersed over the vast expanses of Russia. It was a country without roads where the normal supply by trucks and trains to the troops was difficult and sometimes impossible. Often, it was only the Luftwaffe's transport aircraft that kept the Germans fighting. But with Hitler's insistence that there should be no retreat despite the overwhelming strength of the Soviet forces, his Germans armies found themselves surrounded and the Luftwaffe had to create air bridges to supply the beleaguered troops. Nowhere was this more evident than the Battle of Stalingrad, Goring having convinced Hitler that the Luftwaffe was capable of keeping the Sixth Army supplied. As the war increasingly turned against the Third Reich, air bridges were vital in supporting and maintaining its garrisons in places such as Demyansk, Holm, Korsun, Budapest, Breslau, and many others. Hitler's Air Bridges presents the story of the Luftwaffe's transport Gruppen more extensively and in greater detail than ever before. AUTHORS: The author of some forty-three books, Dmitry Degtev is one of the leading Russian researchers of the history of the Second World War, having studied the air battles of the conflict and the history of the Luftwaffe for more than twenty years. He has been lecturing at Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University for a long time. Dmitry Zubov is the author of thirty-two books on military history, published in Russian and English. Being a professional psychologist, Dmitry pays the most attention to the scientific analysis of the motives of key characters in the military history of the XX century. He is critical of the prevailing views regarding the most important events of the Eastern Front in the Second World War, and in his books, based on archival sources, presents alternative versions of the interpretation of these key episodes of the military confrontation between East and West. Dmitry has been teaching at Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University for more than 15 years, including 9 years as an Associate Professor, Ph.D. Now he devotes all his time to writing and translating books into English. 32 b/w illustrations
