Atlantic 1940–44

A fully illustrated reassessment of Germany's famous Atlantic air campaign, and how the Luftwaffe sabotaged its own chances to defeat the convoys.



To many, the Luftwaffe's Atlantic campaign is synonymous with KG 40 and its Focke-Wulf Condors, the so-called Wolf of the Atlantic. However, the real story of Germany's biggest and much-misunderstood maritime air campaign is much broader, and represents one of the great missed opportunities of the war.



In this book, Lawrence Paterson traces and reassess the whole of Germany's Atlantic air campaign. After its opening shots in the Battle of France, including the notorious sinking of the Lancastria evacuation ship, the Luftwaffe then turned to both guard their new coastline and strike out at the Allied convoys. However, despite early successes, the campaign was devoid of strategic planning and commitment, and suffered from the Luftwaffe's focus on personalities rather than military objectives, leaving the combat units often reliant on luck. By 1943, the campaign had turned to the defensive, and the end was in sight.



Illustrated throughout with archive photos, maps and original artwork, and examining the full spectrum of the campaign, from the floatplanes, fighters and minelayers that defended the ports and peripheries to the legendary long-range Condors and flying boats, this is a thorough new analysis of how Germany lost the oceanic air war.