Nachtjagd

Of the 7,953 Bomber Command aircraft lost on night operations during the Second World War, an estimated 5,833 fell victim to Luftwaffe night fighters, and a further 200 American heavy bombers were destroyed by Nachtjagd aircraft in daylight during 1943-4. This book traces the parallel developments in RAF night bombing and night fighting in the Luftwaffe, from the pioneering efforts on both sides in this new form of airway up to the climax of the strategic bombing offensive in the final year of the war and the simultaneous introduction of the Me 262 jet in the German night fighter arm.
Theo Boiten has spent the best part of seven years extensively researching new and previously unavailable archive material from both the United Kingdom and the USA, which sheds new light on many aspects of the giant and deadly nocturnal battle over northwestern Europe. He has also traced surviving aircrew from both sides, and has succeeded in matching many Bomber Command losses to German night fighter claims. In order to reach a better understanding of the personal experiences of the tens of thousands of young men who flew, fought and often died a violent death in the fierce battle for air supremacy in the night skies over Hitler's Third Reich, the author has contacted over a hundred surviving Commonwealth and German aircrew. Their personal tales of those far-off nights, together with a selection of many unusual and previously unpublished photographs from their wartime albums, vividly and grippingly illustrate the strategic and tactical developments in this most deadly struggle.

by Theo Boiten
Published by Crowood Press 1997 1st edition. 240pp profusely illustrated, index, appendix, bibliography. 20x25 previous owner's stamp, otherwise mint, including d/j.





Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.

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