ME 262 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units

Tony Holmes

Osprey Publishing Company, Jul 24, 2012 - History - 96 pages

When the revolutionary Messerschmitt Me 262 jet first appeared as a bomber in the skies over north-west Europe in late 1944, it represented both a new dawn in aeronautical development and a great shock to the Allied air forces and armies. The Me 262's path to deployment as a bomber aircraft was tortuous and is surrounded in controversy. In mid-1944, Adolf Hitler, having seen the impressive and formidable performance of Me 262 prototypes, stated his firm desire to see the aircraft enter service, not as an interceptor, but as a bomber. In this aircraft he believed he had the weapon which would be able to attack the Allied armies with impunity if, as predicted, they landed on the coast of France. There was nothing which the Allies had in their air forces which could touch the Me 262. Although, due mainly to problems associated with delays in engine deliveries, its debut was too late to contest the Allied landings in Normandy, when it finally did enter initial service with Kommando Schenck, under the command of Knight's Cross holder Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Schenck, in the autumn of 1944, the bomb-carrying Me 262s conducted several hit-and-run raids against RAF airfields in Belgium and Holland. From then until the end of the war the Me 262 remained one of the most feared weapons in the Axis arsenal, and it was only the overwhelming Allied air superiority and the continuous dwindling of Axis supplies that finally grounded the planes. This book covers the complete history of the Me 262 bomber and reconnaissance units during World War II.

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Review: Me 262 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units

User Review  - KOMET - Goodreads

I finished this book a few minutes ago. It read like a daily diary, detailing the combat activities of the various Luftwaffe units which flew the ME 262 jet as a bomber/ground attack aircraft and in ...

About the author

Robert Forsyth has studied the history and operations of the Luftwaffe for many years. He is the author of JV 44 - The Galland Circus (1996), Battle over Bavaria: The B-26 versus the German Jets (1998), Mistel: German Composite Aircraft and Operations 1942-1945 (2001), Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerikabomber (2006 - with Eddie J Creek), and He 162 Volksjäger (2008 - with Eddie J Creek); for Osprey Publishing, Jagdverband 44 and Jagdgeschwader 7 (Aviation Elite Units) and Fw 190 vs B-17 (Duel). Aces of the Legion Condor is due to be published in 2011 and Luftwaffe Viermot Aces is in preparation. He works in publishing.

Eddie J Creek is co-author of a number of landmark books on Luftwaffe aircraft including Jet Planes of the Third Reich (1982), Arado Ar 234 (1992), Me 262 (1997-2000 - four volumes), On Special Missions - The Luftwaffe's Research and Experimental Squadrons 1923-1945 (2003), Do 335 Pfeil (2006), He 177 Greif (2009) and He 162 Volksjäger. He has contributed to more books than he cares to remember.

Bibliographic information

• Title: ME 262 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units; Volume 83 of Combat Aircraft Series; Volume 83 of Osprey Combat Aircraft
• Editor: Tony Holmes
• Illustrated by: Jim Laurier
• Contributors: Robert Forsyth, Jim Laurier, Eddie J. Creek
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing Company, 2012
• ISBN: 1849087490, 9781849087490
• Length: 96 pages
• Subjects: History / Military / Aviation; History / Military / World War II