D DAY Through German Eyes 2

by Holger Eckhertz

The simple fact was that we in the fighter groups could not live up to the expectations that people had for us. We could not live up to the image or the legend of the Luftwaffe as it had been from 1939 to about 1942, which was when the very large bombing raids started over the Reich. Let me explain the problems for you, as you are evidently interested. The basic issue was that the command echelons of the Luftwaffe could not supply us with enough aircraft, spares, fuel and fresh pilots to be an effective force, compared to the colossal resources of the Allied air fleets. To keep a fighter aircraft in service, you need a great deal of spare parts, oil, coolant, lubricants and so on, and all of these were in short supply in 1944. It was quite common for a fighter to be waiting in its hangar, fully armed, pilot ready, fuelled, but unable to take off because coolant could not be found for the engine. Or, when the coolant arrived, the special air filters could not be replaced, and so on, with endless combinations of things that were missing or could not be repaired. This meant that units took off below strength, meaning that yet more planes were lost when they ran up against the big Allied formations.