Messerschmitts Over Sicily: Diary of a Luftwaffe Fighter Commander

by Johannes Steinhoff

Overview

A German air force officer’s first person account of aerial battle during the invasion of Sicily in WWII.
 
In an account of unusual power, Luftwaffe ace Johannes Steinhoff draws from his personal World War II diary to recount the final days of the German air force on Sicily in June and July 1943. Facing crushing odds—including a commander, Hermann Goring, who contemptuously treated his pilots as cowards—Steinhoff and his fellow Messerschmitt 109 pilots took to the skies day after day to meet waves of dreaded Flying Fortresses and swarms of Allied fighters, all bent on driving the Germans from the island. A captivating narrative and a piercing analysis, this book is a classic of aerial combat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811741507
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/14/2023
Series:	Stackpole Military History Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	292
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Johannes Steinhoff shot down 176 Allied aircraft during World War II. After the war, he served as Chief of Staff of the West German Air Force and later as Chairman of NATO's Military Committee. He wrote several books on his war experiences before his death in 1994.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	vii
Chapter 1	Trapani, June 21, 1943	1
Chapter 2	Trapani, June 25, 1943	19
Chapter 3	Trapani, June 27, 1943	59
Chapter 4	Gerbini/Trapani, July 5, 1943	93
Chapter 5	Trapani, July 10, 1943	127
Chapter 6	July 11, 1943	159
Chapter 7	Trapani/Gerbini, July 12, 1943	181
Chapter 8	July 13, 1943	227
	Epilogue	251
	Bibliography	263
	Index	265