Roba, Jean-Louis La Luftwaffe en France 1939-1945. Volume 1: De la Drôle de guerre à l'invasion de la zone libre

In 1939, barely five years after its formation, the German Air Force was drawn into the Second World War. Thanks to motivated and competent personnel, solid leadership and good aircraft, this still young branch of the armed forces was able to hold its own in the first two years of the war. After the British government rejected a separate peace, it was forced to establish itself largely in France in July 1940 in order to fight against England. It fought day and night over Great Britain before suffering heavy personnel losses shortly before the invasion of the USSR in June 1941. Although now reduced to a minimum in France, the Luftwaffe was able to continue to hold its own with the help of some RAF shock units during both the Non-Stop Offensive at the end of 1941 and the Canadian landing attempt at Dieppe in August 1942. In November 1942, the Allied landings in North Africa forced the Wehrmacht to occupy the free zone of France while at the same time ensuring the air defence of southern France. At this point, the shortage of units and soldiers became clearly apparent, and from then on, the Luftwaffe command stationed in France had to juggle the few units at its disposal. The Luftwaffe was not limited to air units. Units of anti-aircraft artillery, paratroopers, airfield personnel, telecommunications troops, etc. were also present in France. Their story is told in this work, illustrated with almost 600 photographs, most of which have never been published before.