An absorbing account of luftwaffe's triumph and tragedy | The Luftwaffe War Diaries: The German Air Force...

Excellent background as well as combat material | The Luftwaffe War Diaries: The German Air Force in World War II (Reprint) | Cajus Bekker

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	• The Luftwaffe War Diaries: The German Air Force in World War II (Reprint) Cajus Bekker Da Capo Press, 1994 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The missing history of the side that lost

Bekker writes accessibly and in a well thought out manner. Some histories are dry, but the format of this book in chronological fashion where some time lines overlap, he handles in a reasonable manner.

I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in history, specifically WWII aviation.

Cheers

An absorbing account of luftwaffe's triumph and tragedy

The author expatiates on operations of German air force in different theatres of war -Poland ,Norway ,France and Low countries ,Balkans ,Russia- when Hitlers's conquest was at its height .

The principal credit for making "Blitzkrieg' a success must go to Luftwaffe. Its support of ground forces -direct ,indirect -brought the Polish campaign to a swift conclusion .Later it helped the German armour to breach French defences at Sedan on May 13,1940.Allied airforces intervened ,made a desperate attempt to block Guderian's tanks from crossing river Meuse which was repulsed by the Luftwaffe fighters.Once the breakthrough was effected, panzers rattled and rumbled towards the English channel. In the process they outran infantry cover, consequently the Luftwaffe was assigned the task of protecting vulnerable flanks of armoured thrust which it did brilliantly.

On May 21-22 ,1941 ,Royal Navy in Cretan waters was exposed to the full fury of German airforce.This led to the first air-sea battle in the history of war .After suffering crippling losses the English fleet had to retreat having paid the penalty of operating without aircover.

Luftwaffe was largely responsible for the triumphant German advance upto the gates of Moscow.

The book has exploded a few myths. The strength of German airforce during the beginning of hostilities was grossly exaggerated by Anglo-American historians of the war.During German invasion of Poland, Luftwaffe had at its disposal only 1302 first-line aircraft. Anglo-Saxon media has reviled the German bombing of Warsaw,Rotterdam. The author ,however, has given different interpretation on what caused this unfortunate bombing,.Both cities were barricaded and bitterly defended. Repeated attempts to make them surrender through negotiations failed.

The book has a few drawbacks. The section dealing with ' Battle of Britain ' appears outdated. Ever since the publication of Group Captain F.W.Winterbotham's book 'Ultra Secret" officially-recognized version on History of World War sorely needed re-interpretation . But the author can be absolved of this lapse since he wrote the book at a time when Ultra was still a top secret.Author never had the privilege to know that Luffwaffe ciphers had been broken and its operational orders read by the British intelligence.

Also ignored are developments in the field of electronics .Just as the Battle of Atlantic, technical progress made a deep impact on the fortunes of airwar.Germans had radars like Freya, Wurzburg to detect the approach of Allied bomber formations.British countered by deploying jammers (Mandrel,Carpet) on fighter planes escorting bomber formations helping them to penetrate German airspace, Then there were devices like Liechtenstein SN2,RWR(radar warning receiver) called Naxos, The former was an airborne interception radar, Latter a passive device capable of sensing radar emisssions from Allied bombers which were picked up at double the distance at which bombers radars were able to detect German fighters. This gave fighters ample time to plan manoeuvres . Naxos picked up emisssions from H2's radar installed on RAF pathfinder force ( PFF) which were assigned the task of marking targets to be bombed by dropping phosphorous flares.Naxos guided the fighters directly to this aircraft.The second German RWR was Flensburg which received emissions from British airborne radar Monica fitted on to the tail of RAF bombers.Thanks to progress in the field of electronics total destruction of Berlin in the spring of 1944 was averted.

Upon reading the book I had a feeling that Herr Bekker wrote it with the intention of extolling the achievments of Luftwaffe. No doubt Germans had superior planes at their disposal. Till the advent of American P-51 Mustang fighters Luftwaffe's FW-190 was the best air superiority fighter.This was amply demonstrated during the dog fights with the British Spitfires in 1941,42,43 above the English channel. Much before the outbreak of war Germans had experimented rocket,turbo-jet powered planes (HE-176,HE-178) However the lead was not exploited and the advantage squandered due to myopia of Luftwaffe General Staff.

Reason for the decline of Luftwaffe is not difficult to seek. Being predominantly tactical airforce whose mission was to support the army in its blitz campaigns, it lacked strategic offensive and operational level defensive capabilities. Conceived for short-term campaigns the changing nature of war forced Luftwaffe to embark on number of tasks and its weakness was soon exposed .The belief that Germany had won the war led to curtailment in long-term planning and development.As a result the airforce was saddled with obsolete aircraft.

Finally, Hitler's insistence on offensive air operation meant that the potentialities of Germany's first operational jet fighter (ME-262) could not be fully exploited.

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Excellent background as well as combat material

Like the title explains, this book offers commentary from various echelons in the German Air Force on the planning and production of fighters and bombers, the deployment and assignments, the policy, the conflicts and the strategic misuse of this vital branch of the military. As well, the author gives a great deal of background on the manufacturers, the competition for the new air speed record, the celebrated pilots who tested the new marvels, the hardships of restricted supply, the motives and explanations of the awarding of production contracts, and many more insights into the German Luftwaffe from its inception, and from the ground up. While a little too technical in naming every formation and an insistence on listing every make and model of plane for every sortie, this book has a lot of valuable information on the German military apparatus, specifically the air arm.

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German Author Debunks the "Polish Air Force Destroyed on the Ground in the First Days" Myth

Other reviewers have covered the various Luftwaffe campaigns discussed in this book, and I will instead limit my review to the German blitzkrieg against Poland in 1939. This review is based on the original (1968) edition.

What has found its way into innumerable books and encyclopedias is a canard. Bekker comments: "Despite all assertions to the contrary, the Polish Air Force was not destroyed on the ground in the first two days of fighting. The bomber brigade in particular continued to make determined attacks on the German forces up to September 16th. However, the Polish aircraft, inferior both in numbers and in design, could hardly contest the supremacy of the Luftwaffe in the air." (p. 59).

The Polish aircraft had previously been scattered to secret airfields and camouflaged (there are photos--not in this book--of the planes covered with sod or branches). So what did the Luftwaffe's first-day hoped-for knockout blow against the Polish Air Force actually accomplish? Not much, according to a secret report cited by Bekker: "All the aircraft destroyed on the ground were old training machines...As for the attacks on the aircraft industry, they had done more harm than good, for now the Germans could not use it themselves. The report, of course, remained top secret. The public was kept in complete ignorance. They were told only of the non-stop bombing raids, the peerless power of the Luftwaffe, and above all the morale-shattering effect of the dive bomber." (p. 38)

Despite the extreme asymmetry favoring the Germans (using modern terms), the conquest of Poland was no cakewalk. Bekker continues: "The `lightning campaign' against Poland was no easy undertaking. The Poles put up stubborn resistance, and although the campaign lasted only four weeks in all [actually five--not counting subsequent large-scale guerilla warfare], the Luftwaffe lost during this time no less than 743 men and 285 aircraft, including 109 bombers and Stukas...(p. 59). An additional 279 German aircraft were damaged enough to be reckoned lost (p. 364). It is sobering to realize that the German enemy had a greater respect for the Polish fighting forces than did the English and American Allies!

Although communications had been paralyzed by relentless German bombing (part of the "shock" in the modern phrase "shock and awe"), the Polish Air Force nevertheless managed to deliver some militarily-significant blows against the invading German land forces. Bekker writes: "But now, having overcome its first bewilderment, the Polish bomber brigade also made itself felt. Taking the defenses unawares, the squadrons launched a number of attacks on the spearhead of the German armored forces...The following day the 1st and 4th Panzer Divisions, pushing ahead of the 10th Army suffered heavy losses from the air on reaching Radomsko, and likewise called for help from the Luftwaffe." (p. 37)

What if France and England had actually fulfilled their treaty obligations to Poland and attacked western Germany in September 1939? It would have made for a more interesting war, to say the least, because the Luftwaffe was unprepared for such a development. Bekker admits: "...at this early stage of its build-up, when Hitler chose to go to war, it was fit for a short blitzkrieg on ONE front." (p. 24; emphasis is Bekker's)

Unfortunately, Bekker would have us believe that the Luftwaffe attacked only military targets in Poland, and that civilian casualties were solely the result of collateral damage (p. 57). The truth is entirely different. The Luftwaffe in fact systematically bombed civilian targets (including national shrines) that had no military significance of any kind (see the Szymon Datner study summarized in the Peczkis review of HANS FRANK, by Martyn Housden).

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The Luftwaffe War Diaries is the definitive history of the German air force in World War II, from the blitzkrieg on Poland to the last desperate stand over Germany?the only account ever to come from a German source. Its masterfully organized chapters detail, summarize, and evaluate every important strategy and campaign. Cajus Bekker has drawn on official German archives and collections, the combat journals and personal papers of leading officers, and the collated Luftwaffe war diaries, none of which have been published outside Germany, as well as interviews with hundreds of former German airmen.The result is a critical examination of the Luftwaffe?s development and command against the vivid background of World War II?s greatest air battles. While the author does full justice to the performance of German airmen, he does not embellish it. Thus his chronicle of the deadly struggle of these men is anything but a heroic saga; the exploits of the other side are treated with equal justice. Heroes and villains are not described or eulogized here?only men fighting a war that most of them did not want. With over 100 photographs, numerous maps, and a complete index of personalities, The Luftwaffe War Diaries brings into stunning focus for now and all time the ironic triumph and inevitable tragedy of war.

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