The First and the Last

The First And The Last THE FIRST AND THE LAST is the most complete, the most accurate and the most vivid book about Germany's fighter forces in World War II. Adolf Galland is superbly qualified to tell the story of the rise and fall of German air power. As a pilot he conveys vividly the speed and excitement of aerial combat. As Germany's commander of fighter forces he describes clearly the development of new planes, his arguments with Goring and Hitler over the vital issues of German air plans and production—and the consequences of Hitler's fatal decisions. THE FIRST AND THE LAST is the full story of what the Luftwaffe achieved in the air war, their successes and their mistakes. Here too is the complete and graphic account of the effect of American daylight bombing raids on Germany—and the overwhelming problems these raids posed for the leaders responsible for Germany's air defense. THE FIRST AND THE LAST The Rise and Fall of the German Fighter Forces, 1938-1945 by Adolf Galland Translated by Mervyn Savill Ballantine Books • New York Other Ballantine Books on War #120 U-BOATS AT WAR by Harald Busch German submarines in action 1939-1945 #168 THE ROAD TO STALINGRAD by Benno Zieser The war's biggest battle—told by a Nazi survivor file:///E|/%DE%CB%DF/2009-01-15/The%20First...e%20Last/The%20First%20and%20The%20Last.htm (3 из 200) [15.01.2009 16:04:50] The First And The Last #F169 THE SCOURGE OF THE SWASTIKA by Lord Russell The shocking history of Nazi war crimes #183 DEFEAT AT SEA by C. D. Bekker The struggle and eventual destruction of the German navy in World War II #184 THE GERMAN RAIDER ATLANTIS by Wolfgang Frank and Capt. Bernhard Rogge War-time record of Germany's deadliest raider —as told by her captain #190 THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE ("Dark December") by Robert E. Merriam Full story of the dramatic battle based on German and Allied sources From the German DIE ERSTEN UND DIE LETZTEN A BALLANTINE REPRINT PAPERBOUND EDITION FIRST PRINTING: FEBRUARY, 1957 Published: MARCH, 1957 SECOND PRINTING: APRIL, 1957 Copyright, 1954, by Henry Holt and Company, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. The photograph used in the cover illustration is a U. S. Navy photograph. The publishers wish to express their gratitude to Mr. Martin Caidin for his assistance in gathering the photographs for the picture section of this book. BALLANTINE BOOKS, INC., 101 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, N. Y. Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS file:///E|/%DE%CB%DF/2009-01-15/The%20First...e%20Last/The%20First%20and%20The%20Last.htm (4 из 200) [15.01.2009 16:04:50] The First And The Last Publisher's Note 1 The First 2 The Battle of Britain Starts 3 A Battle for Life and Death 4 "Bombs on England" 5 Between "Sea Lion" and "Barbarossa" 6 New Strategic Ground 7 A Nightmare Becomes a Reality 8 The Eastern Front 9 "War Is No Game of Cricket" 10 A Somber Chapter 11 Forward or Backward? 12 Operation Thunderbolt Begins 13 The Channel Dash 14 Between Norway and Africa 15 A Glance at the Other Side 16 The Hour Has Struck 17 Following the Latest Bomb Crater 18 The House Without a Roof 19 The Fateful Hour for the Luftwaffe 20 From One Crisis to Another 21 The Struggle with the Enemy—and Our Leaders 22 In Between Lay Germany 23 Chastisement 24 The Beginning of the End 25 "Where Is the Luftwaffe?" 26 The "Great Blow" 27 What Possibilities Did We Have? 28 The Jet-fighter Tragedy 29 The Last Publisher's Note Adolf Galland was born in Westerholt, Westphalia. His father was bailiff to the Graf von Westerholt, a post that successive heads of his family had held since 1742 when the first Galland, a Huguenot, had emigrated to Westphalia from France. Galland began his aeronautical career at 17, flying gliders on the Borkenberge, a heath near Westerholt. In 1932, after a successful tour of gliding, Galland was admitted to an airline pilot training school in Brunswick. Joining the then-unofficial Luftwaffe, he was secretly trained in Italy in 1933. Although a crash during a training flight in Germany severely injured one eye, Galland managed to memorize an eye chart, pass a physical examination, and continue flying. In 1937 Galland volunteered for service in the Condor Legion, the name for the German Volunteer file:///E|/%DE%CB%DF/2009-01-15/The%20First...e%20Last/The%20First%20and%20The%20Last.htm (5 из 200) [15.01.2009 16:04:50] The First And The Last Corps serving with Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish civil war. He sailed from Hamburg with 370 other German soldiers, garbed in civilian clothes, masquerading as a Strength-Through-Joy tourist group. In Spain he was assigned to a fighter squadron near Vittoria, on the Northern Front. Galland wore the uniform of a Spanish Captain, customary with pilots of the Condor Legion. His baptism of fire came in June, 1937, when he engaged the Loyalist fighters in a Heinkel He-51 fighter. Although Messerschmitt Me-109 fighters had been introduced in Spain, a few flights still used the slower He-51s. These planes were no match for the Curtiss and Rata fighters of the Loyalists, and it was Galland's policy to avoid dogfights with the enemy; his activities were restricted to the strafing of ground targets. In Spain the Germans learned a good deal about ground-support operations. Galland firmly believes that the Russians, who used close support most effectively in World War II, copied the techniques first used by the Condor Legion. Galland was recalled to Germany in the summer of 1938. He had flown over 300 sorties. The command of his flight was taken over by Werner Mölders, who was destined to become one of Germany's leading aces in World War II. Shortly before the end of the Spanish civil war Mölders became the youngest Wing commander in the Luftwaffe. In Germany Galland was assigned to a desk job in the Air Ministry. His work consisted of working out directives for the organization and training of fighter pilots for ground-support operations. He detested the work and longed to return to flying. His first task was to organize and equip two new fighter groups. This was accomplished at record speed, but not without certain sacrifices in the quality of training and equipment. Many of the pilots were insufficiently instructed in the operation of their new aircraft and the planes themselves, old He-51s, Me-123s, and Me-45s, were hardly the last word in performance. These new fighter groups were created to support the imminent occupation of the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland. On September 29, 1938, however, the Munich Pact eliminated the need for their immediate use. On August 23, 1939, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact was signed. The invasion of Poland became only a matter of time. On September 1, 1939, Galland, who had joined a ground-support unit, was at an airfield at Reichenau in Silesia. In the darkness preceding dawn he took off with his squadron. World War II had begun. The collapse of the Polish armies is now history. The Polish Air Force was destroyed on the ground. Communications were bombed out of existence. Transport was halted by strafing operations and the Polish troops were demoralized by the Ju-87 Stukas. In 27 days the war was over: the Polish Army capitulated. Warsaw was in flames. The Red Army had rumbled to the Bug River. Galland, who had flown over two sorties a day during the campaign, was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class. On October 1, 1939, he was promoted to Captain. Shortly afterward he was reassigned to a fighter unit—the 27th Fighter Wing at Krefeld. The stage was set for battle in the West. file:///E|/%DE%CB%DF/2009-01-15/The%20First...e%20Last/The%20First%20and%20The%20Last.htm (6 из 200) [15.01.2009 16:04:50] The First And The Last l The First After the Blitzkrieg in the east followed the sit-down war in the west. It was a terrific nervous strain for all concerned. I commanded all three squadrons of our wing in turn for a fortnight while the respective commanders were on leave. There were continuous take-off alarms—false ones, of course, because the ominous siren wail or control tower orders that sent us zooming into the air, consuming considerable amounts of material and fuel, were usually based on errors or illusions. One radar report of a mass approach of enemy aircraft, for example, turned out to be a flight of birds. One day, however, in the lower Rhine area somebody was really shot down during one of these alarms. It was one of our planes, an FW-58 Weihe. She was piloted by the squadron leader. Nothing else happened. We were delighted when at last the war of nerves changed into a shooting war. Behind the scenes at German army H.Q. there had so far been a confusing indecision. Originally Hitler wanted to turn westward soon after the conclusion of the Polish campaign, in order to have his rear free against the archenemy, which in spite of the temporary pact was after all the Soviet Union. The elder generals, however, led by Haider, Chief of the General Staff, and von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, were violently opposed to such a step.

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