Jagdverband 44 was formed in February 1945 on Hitler's orders, to fly the Me 262 "Stormbird", the world's first operational jet fighter, and demonstrate its superiority. The unit was led by the legendary Adolf Galland, who recruited some of Germany's leading aces into it, to the extent that it was said that the Knight's Cross was its unofficial badge. JV 44 engaged the US Ninth Army Air Force over Bavaria and, with its significant speed advantage and powerful armament of cannon and rockets, the Me 262 proved a formidable interceptor in the hands of its expert pilots. In its brief operational existence, never able to get more than six jets in the air at any one time, this small unit achieved approximately 50 kills in less than a month. Unfortunately for the German defensive effort (though Galland himself was glad not to have prolonged the war) there were not enough Me 262s to have any overall effect on the Allied air campaign. This book is a dramatic record of a highly individual unit and an exciting early chapter in the history of the jet fighter. Four of the world's ten surviving Me 262s are major attractions at flight museums in the USA and recently constructed replicas will soon be a feature of air shows around the nation and the "experten" aces of the Luftwaffe have an enduring fascination.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Revisiting the Galland Circus in Action!:
In 1996 Classic Publications published Robert Forsyth's excellent - near definitive - history of Adolf Galland's Me 262-equipped JV 44. In 2008 Osprey Publishing lured Forsyth back to take another crack at Galland's Circus. The result is JAGDVERBAND 44, a comprehensive, well-illustrated unit history that supplements Forsyth's original book while standing on its own as an excellent overview of the Luftwaffe's most illustrious squadron. The details of JV 44's life and death, as detailed in JAGDVERBAND... more info
Best of the series:
having never got hold of the hardback original (and probably never will :( )
This was an excellent surprise after the rather average efforts from some previous luftwaffe centered titles.
Though a light coverage its a fantastic read and easily enjoyable while still getting all the details and numbers out. Also the profiles paintings are the finest I've seen in any osprey Luftwaffe title,
including the most accurate versions of the 4 known protection flight Doras I know of. If... more info
Classic Luftwaffe unit history revisited:
It has been 12 years since the inaugural Classic hard back on JV 44 was published and 14 years since author Robert Forsyth wrote it, so as the author himself said to me recently - over a pint - " it was nice to 'revisit' the unit..". This new Osprey book is a slimmed-down version of that original work, containing the essential 'hardcore' information, and should hold appeal to those who don't have/can't get the original. That said the author was fortunate enough to be put into contact with a previously... more info
