THE FAMOUS FIVE

摘要

Jagdflieger (fighter pilots) of the Luftwaffe were always held in greater esteem by the German public than their bomber counterparts. The cult of the Jager or hunter had always appealed to Germans and the exploits of World War One aces, or Experten, such as Manfred von Richthofen, Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann were still fresh in people's minds. Many successful pilots of 1940 had joined the military in the early to mid-19305 and had undertaken comprehensive pilot (and then fighter) training before the outbreak of hostilities. A number had then flown in the Spanish Civil War, so by September 1939 they had considerable combat experience, some already having achieved victories. Air superiority over Poland allowed many to hone their warfighting skills and during the Phoney War or Sitzkrieg, those rare aerial encounters helped ahead of the Battle of France. However, the Battle of Britain (BoB) was their first real test, especially for those who joined frontline units straight from training. It is therefore no surprise that of the 204 pilots that secured five victories or more by October 31,1940,25 would be killed in action and another 21 captured during the BoB. Even in the ranks of the top 20 fighter pilots, four were killed and one captured by the end of 1940; their combined victories stood at 122. Here, we present the five most successful Luftwaffe BoB Experten...