German Fighters in the West
from Poland to the Defence of the Reich
A comprehensive pictorial volume on the day fighters of the Luftwaffe units deployed in the West and the later Defence of the Reich. The volume is organised chronologically beginning with the establishment of those fighter formations set up in the period from 1935 to 1939 and the first offensive campaign over Poland. At first glance, it may not seem logical to also deal with the war in Poland. But that is where the Second World War began. At the end of hostilities, many of the units deployed over Poland moved to the West as a result of the declaration of war by England and France on Germany on 3rd September 1939. This was followed by the offensive against Germany’s western neighbors, by operations against the UK through 1940–41 and then the need to organise defences against the Allied units operating from the UK over the Continent, so-called Reichsverteidigung (Defence of the Reich).