The legendary World War II Luftwaffe fighter unit Jagdgeschwader 2 ?Richthofen? is the subject of this new, large-format, illustrated volume. Tracing their history back to World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen (the legendary ?Red Baron?), JG 2 was at the forefront of aerial combat. Flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters during World War II, JG 2 produced many famous aces ? among them Wilhelm Balthasar, Walter Oesau, Egon Mayer, Hans Hahn, Erich Rudorfer, and Helmut Wick. Using a day-to-day chronology, the book covers JG 2?s combat history during the early campaigns in Poland and France, through the Battle of Britain, North Africa, and in the later defense of the Reich battles. A short chapter also covers their post-World War II transformation to JG 71 ?Richtohofen? under the command of Erich Hartmann, when they flew the F-86, F-104 and F-4 Phantom. 680 b/w photographs
