Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 29 : Bf 109 F/G/K Aces of the Western Front

It is now generally accepted that the Battle of Britain constituted one of the first major turning points of World War 2. At its close, the hitherto seemingly invincible German Luftwaffe - victorious in Poland, Scandinavia, the Low Countries and France - had, for the first time, failed to achieve its assigned objectives: the neutralisation of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the subsequent invasion and subjugation of England. The aftermath of the Battle did not just bring welcome rest and relief for the Luftwaffe's hard pressed Jagdgruppen. It also saw the introduction of a new variant of their standard fighter, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The follow-on book to Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 11 - Bf 109D/E Aces 1939-41, this book charts the story of the myriad aces who flew the later marks of Messerschmitt fighter through to VE-Day. As good as the Emil had been during the opening 18 months of the war, the aircraft was being progressively bettered in virtually all aspects of aerial combat by the Spitfire come 1941, so Messerschmitt updated and improved the breed, firstly with the introduction of the Friedrich and then the multi-variant Gustav. Pilots of the calibre of Galland, Mölders, Oesau and Weissenberger all enjoyed great success with the later variants of the Bf 109, firstly during the Channel and anti-Circus and Ramrod operations in 1941-42 and then on Defence of the Reich duties through to the spring of 1945. Text and illustrations by John Weal.

Contents

• First Line of Defence
• Defence of the Reich
• Normandy and the Defence of the Reich
• Appendices