Osprey futur title Jagdverband 44: The Luftwaffe’s Mavericks

[messcaster]

Among the works announced by Osprey, one title caught my attention:

Jagdverband 44: The Luftwaffe’s Mavericks

Robert Forsyth

05/11/2026

Unique among Luftwaffe fighter units, Jagdverband (JV) 44 was formed as a result of conflict and dissent within the Luftwaffe’s high command. Following disagreement with Reichsmarschall Herman Göring, who was desperate to recover the Luftwaffe’s failing prestige with Hitler and the German people who were enduring daily bombing raids on their homeland, the commander of the fighter arm, Adolf Galland, was dismissed from his post and ‘exiled’. He was – purportedly – ‘given permission’ to set up a small fighter unit with which to ‘prove’ that the revolutionary Me 262 was the war-winning jet fighter he believed it to be.

Assembling a small group of disillusioned and weary Luftwaffe fighter aces and flying instructors, Galland – arguably the most famous German fighter ace of World War 2 – moved his unit, JV 44, to Munich, from where it operated the Me 262 against USAAF aircraft bombing targets in Austria and southern Germany. At one time or other, some 17 of the Luftwaffe’s most renowned and combat-seasoned aces and holders of the coveted Knight’s Cross served with JV 44. Their ranks were stiffened by a cadre of experienced fighter instructors.

In this reappraisal of JV 44, published 30 years after his acclaimed and bestselling first study of the unit (JV 44 – The Galland Circus), leading Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth assesses Galland’s motives for forming the unit and whether it can be regarded more accurately as a ‘Squadron of Aces’ or a ‘Squadron of Outcasts and Exiles’. He also compares the level of tactical success of JV 44 against the operations conducted by the other Luftwaffe Me 262-equipped fighter unit, Jagdgeschwader 7. The book will also contain numerous first-hand accounts sourced by the the author during his research in the 1990s when he met with several former pilots from JV 44.

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/o...wFYnA7IQcFLaCw

[edwest2]

The description is disappointing.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by edwest2

The description is disappointing.

Could you elaborate on that a little, Ed?

[edwest2]

We are far removed from those events. Also, we do not have the original participants to consult with and clarify or dispute any points. I think it is odd to see "disillusioned" or "war weary." I recall reading Adolf Galland's first impression of flying the Me 262: "It felt like angels were pushing me."

Whether or not the men involved felt like "outcasts" or "exiles," they acquitted themselves well. American G.I.s thought they would be home by Christmas, 1944. I am wary of books that look at the mental state of people whose legacy lies in their accomplishments, which occurred as recorded and regardless of their emotional state or official or unofficial status. Like all good soldiers, they fought for their country.

As an aside, I've grown tired of seeing "war-winning" applied to the V-2 or Me 262 and other German developments from the war. Pilots were fighting in the heimat. A photo was published in Luftwaffe im Focus that showed an Me 262 pilot standing next to his mother. He had baled out near his house. Good soldiers fight till the end, even when all appears lost.

[Orwell1984]

Originally Posted by edwest2

Good soldiers fight till the end, even when all appears lost.

So according to your logic, any one who surrenders is not a good soldier? The soldiers who surrendered in the Philippines? Not good soldiers. The soldiers who surrendered at Dunkirk? Not good soldiers. The Canadians captured in Hong Kong and Dieppe, not good soldiers? Countless other examples throughout history.

To clarify is this what you meant? Because it certainly reads like this is what you meant.

[edwest2]

My comment was specific to the Luftwaffe in this case.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by edwest2

We are far removed from those events. Also, we do not have the original participants to consult with and clarify or dispute any points.

I don't want to get into the TOCH habit of reviewing books we haven't yet seen. I'll just confirm that for his 1996 JV 44 book (to which, full disclosure, I contributed material) Robert did interview a number of JV 44 veterans, Galland included.

Originally Posted by edwest2

I think it is odd to see "disillusioned" or "war weary." I recall reading Adolf Galland's first impression of flying the Me 262: "It felt like angels were pushing me."

The angels did their pushing in (IIRC) early 1943. Germany's situation in April 1945 was radically different.

Originally Posted by edwest2

Whether or not the men involved felt like "outcasts" or "exiles," they acquitted themselves well. American G.I.s thought they would be home by Christmas, 1944.

Agreed that there was a lot of wishful thinking about when it would all end, but JV 44 only deployed to Riem on 1 April 1945 and it's worth considering where the front lines were by then.

Originally Posted by edwest2

Like all good soldiers, they fought for their country.

As I've said here before, it's very hard to fight for your country without fighting for the people in charge of it.

Originally Posted by edwest2

As an aside, I've grown tired of seeing "war-winning" applied to the V-2 or Me 262 and other German developments from the war.

I agree absolutely. The more German documents I read, the better I grasp that so many of the "advanced" aircraft that interest postwar readers were seen at the time as disappointments, although the Me 262 is perhaps an exception. The Ar 234 B was seen as deficient in speed and range, and it was hoped the C-series would fix that; the Do 335, with no rear view, was only seen to have any future in reconnaissance and (maybe) night-fighting; the Ta 152's pressure-cabin wouldn't work reliably; the Me 163 produced "meagre success"; and so on.

[edwest2]

Thank you Nick. I was quite specific. This was no attempt at a book review, just commentary about the book's description.