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Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich: A Way Diary, 1942–45 Kindle Edition

by Donald Caldwell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 93 ratings
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A day-by-day account of Nazi air operations in WWII by the coauthor of The Luftwaffe over Germany, winner of an Air Force Historical Foundation Award.
 
Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich is a detailed, comprehensive daily reference to the air operations flown by the Luftwaffe. During the Second World War, German air defenses struggled to cope with the threat posed by the American 8th and 15th Air Forces, which were charged with destroying Germany’s critical war industries and wresting control of the air over the Reich from the Luftwaffe.

This unique volume includes a brief narrative and a table of statistics detailing every mission of every Luftwaffe unit defending the Greater German Reich or the western occupied zone against strategic raids by the USAAF; tables of monthly sorties, losses and victory claims by the USAAF and the Luftwaffe over the Reich and the western occupied zone; and combat accounts by Luftwaffe pilots.
 
This “tremendous piece of work,” is based on documents in the German, American and British government archives and German pilot logbooks and interviews from the author’s extensive collection (Aeroplane Magazine). Caldwell is well known for his balanced presentations and the clarity of his writing. This book is a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in World War II aviation history.
 
“Highly recommended, and quite likely to be remembered as one of the most important new books of the year.”—Stone & Stone
 
“Such a staggering quantity of information would be overwhelming in less capable hands. But Caldwell spices up his tight narrative with excellent photos and informative captions.”—Aviation History
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  1. Print length
    886 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Frontline Books
  5. Publication date
    February 27, 2012
  6. File size
    105661 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“…the first serious effort to compile such a mass of statistical evidence about fighter operations… authoritative quantitative accounting…. Anyone with any serious interest in the subject will need to have this book on hand to accompany and complement all those more general histories that have been accumulating over the years. Put it on the shelf right next to the meticulous, scholarly work done by Freeman, Middlebrook, Boiten, and other aviation historians. Highly recommended and quite likely to be remembered as one of the most important new books of the year”
Stone & Stone Second World War Books

“Such a staggering quantity of information would be overwhelming in less capable hands. But Caldwell spices up his tight narrative with excellent photos and informative captions. Combat reports, obviously written immediately after encounters and often relayed in an engaging, informal style, reveal the true nature of fighter versus bomber combat. ..Caldwell gives a generous tribute to Roger Freeman’s work on the Eighth Air Force. In the future, Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich is likely to be honored by other historians in a similar way.
Aviation History

About the Author

Donald Caldwell is a retired research chemist. For the past 25 years he has researched archival sources and interviewed veterans, primarily from the Luftwaffe. His first book, JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, has been followed by four others on the Luftw

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00LWF5T3U
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Frontline Books (February 27, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 27, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 105661 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 886 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 93 ratings

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  1. Donald L. Caldwell

    Donald L. Caldwell

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    Donald L. Caldwell has been researching World War II for more than thirty years. His latest book, Thunder on Bataan: The First American Tank Battles of World War II (Stackpole, 2019) is the story of a little-known armor unit that was surrendered on Bataan in the early days of World War II. He has written widely on the German Luftwaffe. His first book, JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe (Crown, 1991) sold 70,000 copies across all editions, and the two volumes of his JG 26 War Diary (Grub Street, 1996, 1998) are considered the best English-language history of a German fighter unit. The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich (Greenhill, 2007) (co-authored with Richard Muller) was given the Best Air Power History Book Award for 2008 by the Air Force Historical Foundation. A retired research chemist, Caldwell lives near Houston, Texas.

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    Donald L. Caldwell

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
93 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Writing Historian
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference Source for the Luftwaffe Fighter Arm versus Allied Daylight Bombing
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2012
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I received this book the other day and I must state up front that the amount of research that Mr. Caldwell has put into this book is truly impressive. This penultimate account should serve as the standard reference for other historians when they write about the Luftwaffe fighter arm's response to the Allied daylight bombing campaign.

From the beginning, Caldwell's narrative brings to life the fact that leadership and discipline was the key to success in aerial combat as much as the technical/aerodynamic component. He adroitly points out when Allied or German planners made a mistake and what effect that had on the respective aerial forces involved in combat on a particular day.

That said, Caldwell is at his best when highlighting unique or noteworthy accomplishments by both sides, such as when an experienced US Bombardment Group's gunners successfully fend off German fighters or when the Luftwaffe fighters are able to break up the Allied fighter escort formation (a rare event) and get through to the bombers. I cannot emphasize too much, however, that it covers the campaign from the perspective of the Luftwaffe fighter arm. For example, all the "in cockpit" accounts are by German pilots.

However, Caldwell has not neglected the contributions of the flak arm to the defense of the Reich as there is an excellent table on page 455 which gives the breakdown of flak/fighter losses for the Eighth Air Force. By comparing the narrative to the table, you gain a good sense of US and British (mostly fighters) aerial losses and German aerial losses versus flak/aerial losses and kills.

Again, I cannot stress how thorough the author has been with this book. It literally has everything. The daily accounts are not limited to Germany proper, as the book also covers events that took place when US bombers raided targets on the periphery of Germany itself. These raids are especially interesting because they often involved Croatian, Hungarian, post-Armistice Italian, and other air forces allied to the Axis powers. One final note - although the book title focuses on day fighters, Caldwell has not neglected to cover the Luftwaffe's use of night fighters to attack USAAF heavy bomber formations.

The book, as one might surmise, is organized chronologically with each chapter covering one or more months of aerial activity. One big plus is that Caldwell includes the Luftwaffe "Grid" map for Western Europe. Highly recommended!
13 people found this helpful
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Barrett Tillman
5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars are barely enough
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2023
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It's disappointing to read the 1 and 2-star reviews, apparently from readers who did not understand the purpose and format of Caldwell's encyclopedic treatment. He has assembled an absolutely incredible amount of highly detailed information and presented it in a form that is easily accessed and comprehended. The format does not lend itself to War Stories that some prefer, although many daily entries contain first-person accounts.

"Too detailed"???

THAT has to be one of the rarest criticisms ever directed at any history book.

Bound to be a standard reference for years to come.
4 people found this helpful
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David C. Isby
5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough research in a valuable reference source
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2012
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Writing my book THE DECISIVE DUEL: SPITFIRE VS. 109, a "dual biography" of the British Supermarine Spitfire and German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft of the Second World War, I became familiar with the surviving original Luftwaffe archival documents in the US, Britain and Germany that provide the best evidence of how the German fighter force operated. So I can tell, from personal experience, that Don Caldwell has made thorough and comprehensive use of these sources in this book. But the research that went into this book is not limited to documentary sources. The author carried out extensive interviews of German personnel - most now obviously unavailable for further comment - and has made a comprehensive use of first-person accounts. All of this demonstrates a formidable achievement in historical research.

I agree with the reviewers that compare this with the late Roger Freeman's reference works on the Eighth Air Force. Indeed, this is the most comprehensive work of its kind in English, with the only comparable German-language source being Prien's multi-volume (and still unfinished) history of the Luftwaffe fighter force, which is expensive and rare (I hope for a revised searchable electronic edition when it is finally finished). But it will be difficult to do better than this volume.
15 people found this helpful
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Bank Of America
3.0 out of 5 stars Good photos
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2018
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Not as good as the defense of the Reich. Too much detail of each days missions.
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Jarhead1
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015
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Drier than JG 26 history, but very complete.
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Edgardo Gil
2.0 out of 5 stars I'm disatisfied with the kindle edition of this book, ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2015
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I'm disatisfied with the kindle edition of this book, it depicts many maps but the contrast of grays are difficult to being read, it depicts many tables too, but they are too small and can't be enlarged . The people of Amazon tell me that the disabled zoom was responsibility of the publishers and I'll have to wait that they resolve the problem.
This is the main reason that I choose to give it only two stars.
3 people found this helpful
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Gary Ridgway
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2015
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Recommended
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Top reviews from other countries

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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Lecture
Reviewed in France on August 18, 2023
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Livre très bien documenté
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A really well researched work
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2019
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This book was really well researched and revealed the disparity between allied pilot training and that of the axis powers. Aircraft parity in design appears very even with outstanding advances on both sides.
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Geoff
5.0 out of 5 stars Must buy
Reviewed in Australia on July 7, 2019
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Throughly recommended. Very informative
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ernesto s. schmid rossello
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb
Reviewed in Spain on November 4, 2016
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A very well documented work on the subject. A must to everybody interested on the story of the Luftwaffe and its defeat
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Tony
5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
Reviewed in Canada on July 31, 2013
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Delicious level of detail on every day of bombing. Good monthly summaries of how the Luftwaffe tried to adjust and reorganize their response to Allied bombing. A very good read.
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