At the start of the war the German fighter force was the only one of the major combatants that had taken to heart Trenchard’s demands from the Great War: ‘Use scouts offensively.’ Because of the lessons of Spain, and the fact that the German Army was committed to fighting on other countries’ territory, the German fighter force had retained an offensive orientation while the bomber-destroying interceptor mission had shaped the other major combatants’ tactics.
The chapters in this section form three pairs, dealing with three of the key German fighter missions during the years in which they were on the offensive: the fighter sweep, escort missions, and naval cover. Each of these three topics is covered by Galland’s interrogations, supported by those of many of the other contributors. The specifics of each mission are shown in a follow-on chapter. Bär shows how typical escort missions would have been carried out during the Battle of Britain and a free hunt mission later in the war. The naval cooperation chapter is followed by Galland’s 1942 directive for such operations. Of his operational successes, Galland was most proud of his organizing and then directing the fighter cover for the ‘Channel Dash’ of three major German warships to Germany from Brest in 1942. This document was drafted for that operation. Joint war-fighting is a difficult task at the best of times, and in the Second World War the Germans often found themselves unable to coordinate the different services, so Galland’s success is particularly significant.