Help, please.

[michele-palermo]

§ I just received DIE JAGDFLIEGERVERBÄNDE DER DEUTSCHEN LUFTWAFFE 1934-1945 BAND 8 TEILBAND II: DER EINSATZ IM MITTELMEERRAUM ….. (TEILBAND I related to jg 27 has been ordered) and I was hoping to find all available details on operations related to JG 53 in that period. But I have a doubt: the other Prien’s books on the single Jagdgeschwader could be more detailed on the day by day single operations? In other words which is the difference between the two kind of books?
§ Thanks.

[Jochen Prien]

Dear Michele,

the basic difference between the unit histories - JG's 1, 11, 53 and 77 - and the JFV series is that the former are detailed accounts of the respective units whereas the latter is intended to deal with the entire fighter arm and therefore to give a rather short summary only of all units involved. Other than the unit histories each of the volumes of the JFV series covers a specific theatre of war for a specific period, such as the Vol. 8 you mentioned, which deals with the service of the fighter arm in the Mediterrannean theatre of war in the year 1942 and should cover all fighter units that were employed there during at least part of this period.

If you're looking for more detailed accounts of a unit that I / we have covered so far, then it would be in the unit histories with the illustrated Grppen histories of JG's 3 and 27 coming close.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Jochen Prien

[michele-palermo]

Dear Jochen,
I appreciate very much your kind answer, so I'll look for the books on the single Gruppen (JG 27: Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei der Stab und I../JG 27, Jochen Prien/Gerhard Stemmer
JG 27: Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei der II./JG 27, Jochen Prien/Gerhard Stemmer
JG 27: Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei der III./JG 27 und IV./JG 27, Jochen Prien/Gerhard Stemmer
.)
You're saying "JG's 3 and 27 coming close", does it means a new edition?
Thanks again.
Michele

[Jochen Prien]

Dear Michele,

no, unfortunately no new edition; what I am trying to say is that the illustrated Gruppen histories covering the JG's 3 and 27 are nearer to the unit histories as far as the detailed account of the Gruppen histories is concerned than to the JFV series which gives only a general account of the Gruppen.

I hope that makes it clear.

Regards

Jochen Prien

[michele-palermo]

Dear Jochen,
thank you again for your informations, I've ordered the three books on JG 27.
In German it will not be easy, but I need them to figure out operations of some Italian units in Africa.
Michele

[michele-palermo]

Dear Jochen,
I received all the books mentioned above; they are very good but I still need more datails on single day operations in Africa related to JG 27. Is there any other way to find them?
Thanks.
Michele

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by michele-palermo

I still need more datails on single day operations in Africa related to JG 27. Is there any other way to find them?

One way is to spend several weeks in the UK National Archives and the Imperial War Museum reading through deciphered German signals; intercepted radio traffic; prisoner of war interrogations; reports on wrecked aircraft; RAF Operations Record Books; German loss reports; intelligence files on captured documents and so on. You may also find material at the Australian War Memorial and in South Africa.

[Jim P.]

Also I would add the books by Chris Shores titled 'Fighters Over the Desert' and 'Fighters Over Tunisia' - however some patience may be in order here as rumor has it that Mr. Shores is planning to re-visit these titles sometime in the future. While the current versions of these books will likely provide more details as to JG 27's opponents on any given day, they are unlikely to give you any more detail than available from the Prien books.