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    Focke-Wulf Fw 190: The Early Years—Operations Over France and Britain
    Focke-Wulf Fw 190: The Early Years—Operations Over France and Britain
    Focke-Wulf Fw 190: The Early Years—Operations Over France and Britain
    Ebook196 pages41 minutes

    Focke-Wulf Fw 190: The Early Years—Operations Over France and Britain

    By Chris Goss

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    An exploration of the early service of Germany’s Fw 190, containing a unique collection of rare photos displaying the wide use of this aircraft.
     
    Widely regarded as the Luftwaffe’s finest fighter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 first saw service in France in August 1941, immediately proving itself at least the equal of the then-latest Spitfire variant, the Mk.V. In this volume, Chris Goss takes a close look at the aircraft’s features as well as its early history.
     
    There were a number of characteristics which contributed to the Fw 190’s success. For instance, it was designed as a weapons platform and built to withstand heavy punishment. Another element in the Fw 190’s construction which added to its durability was its wide-tracked, inwards-retracting landing gear. The Fw 190’s BMW 801 D-2 radial engine also produced 1,677 horsepower, giving the early Focke-Wulf 190 A-8 a top speed of more than 400 miles per hour—which was considerably faster than the early variant Spitfires. As Goss points out, it was the Spitfires with which the Fw 190 pilots frequently had to contend when in combat over the English Channel, and particularly during the Allied raid on Dieppe in August 1942.
     
    The Fw 190’s weapons capability also saw it used as a fighter-bomber against Allied shipping in the Channel and against the southeastern coasts of England in 1942 in tip-and-runs raids. These fast, low-level attacks proved difficult for the defending RAF squadrons to counter and only one Fw 190 was lost on these operations.
     
    In this first of two volumes, Goss examines the aircraft’s features and early days, showing exactly why it was the workhorse of the Luftwaffe.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJun 30, 2019
    ISBN9781473899582
    Focke-Wulf Fw 190: The Early Years—Operations Over France and Britain
    Author

    Chris Goss

    Having retired from the RAF with the rank of Wing Commander, CHRIS GOSS is a regular and highly respected contributor to major aviation publications in the UK, France and Germany.

    Read more from Chris Goss

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    • 3/5
      This is the first of two volumes in this photo series by Chris Goss that will be devoted to the 'work-horse' of the Luftwaffe - the Fw 190. The book comprises a 12 page Preface, Introduction and Glossary and 172 pages of well-captioned photographs. Some of these are pilot portraits or group personnel images but the majority cover the aircraft. Subtitled 'The Early Years - Operations in the West' there are seven 'chapter' headings. After 'Training' chapter 2 is entitled 'The Pembrey 190' and comprises some 22 pages of images of Oblt. Faber's JG 2 machine- both inside and out. Rather curiously the author appears to assume that you know all about the circumstances surrounding this aircraft and how and why the pilot put down in south-Wales because there is no text describing the event itself. Some pages have a single image, others feature two photos - some are a little dark and blurry - while the images showing the machine being tested by the RAF over five pages are clear and sharp. Chapter 3 is simply entitled 'Jagdgeschwader 2' and obviously covers all the aces, Wurmheller, Hahn, Schnell, Mayer etc and their machines - or more especially their rudder scoreboards. There are four pages of images of Bruno Stolle Staffelkapitän 8./JG 2 preparing for a sortie in his 'white 24'. Stolle took over from Egon Mayer as Kommandeur III./JG 2 in June 1943 - at the height of what was the 'Focke Wulf summer' over the Channel Front. While the Focke Wulfs of III./JG 2 racked up large numbers of Spitfire 'kills' a new adversary was increasingly appearing in the skies of France - massed formations of heavily defended four-engine bombers that the Jagdflieger would find a much more difficult proposition. One of the 'unidentified' 8./JG 2 pilots on page 54 is Uffz. Friedrich May. May returned his first victory on 10 June 1942 when he claimed a Boston. His 6th was a B-17 on 30 December 1942 during a raid by 1st Bomb Wing B-17s on the U-boat pens at Lorient. He was KIA on 20 October 1943 in the vicinity of Rouen in combat with Spitfires (Fw 190 A-6 470047) as an Ofw. with 3./JG 2. With at least 21 victories on his scoreboard May was awarded a posthumous DKiG. On page 73 there is a nice photo of Fähnrich Heinz Liebick of 9./JG 2 who had his Fw 190 shot-up on the ground on 17 March 1944 at Chartres by marauding P-51s but recovered from his injuries and went on to make two claims on 5 and 11 July 1944. There are a mere 25 pages in Chapter 4 devoted to 'Other Jagdgeschwader in north-west Europe' which is mostly JG 26 and JG 5. This chapter also includes views of the Melsbroeck 'blue 6' over a number of pages from 1944. Chapter 5 entitled 'Jabo' features around fifty pages devoted to the Jabo Staffeln of JG 2 and JG 26. Content here is heavily weighted towards the Schnellkampfgeschwader and includes the well-known West Malling and Manston machines in detail. These units featured heavily in the Luftwaffe's so-called 'tip and run' campaign against southern England and London during 1942-43. On 20 January 1943 during a massed daylight raid on London Lt. Hermann Hoch flying Fw 190 A-4 WNr. 2409 'black 2 +' was hit by anti-aircraft fire as he approached the south coast and brought down near Capel. As he crash-landed he hit the top of a hill, somersaulted some 200 yards ploughing through a coppice before coming to rest. Although injured (!) the pilot was able to evacuate the aircraft and set off the demolition charge. Unfortunately the author does not tell us what became of the pilot - but there is not much left of his aircraft ! The last two chapters cover over thirty pages those Fw 190 units performing short-range recce, with good coverage of Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13, while there is a small section on the Fw 190 in the Mediterranean. As the author explains in his Foreword many of these images come from Alfred Price's archive and have been specially scanned for this series. However it does not appear that they have been 'tidied-up' in any way and some are reproduced a little too large and might be a little indistinct as a consequence. But if you are looking to add a good quality and inexpensive Fw 190 title to your library then this is it. Volume 2 should be equally as good.

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