In the hot summer of 1943 the air war over Western Europe was heating up. Up until that period the Luftwaffe had pretty much held its own in the fighting against the Allies, but then the weight of the US Air Force was beginning to be felt. It was a pivotal phase of the air war in the West. And I have made a campaign trying to portray it, from the Luftwaffe point of view. It is called "The Abbeville Boys":



It is a semi-historical, 16-mission static campaign, set during this time. You are a Fw 190 pilot in the Second Gruppe of the famous Jagdgeschwader 26, based in France, the unit that since 1941 bore the brunt of the fighting on the “Kanal Front”. Wilhelm-Ferdinand "Wutz" Galland (younger brother of the famous Adolf Galland) was the charismatic and highly successful commander of this unit.

You can download the campaign here: http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads3&file=details&id=945



I think it's a great subject for a campaign, because it was the last period when the Luftwaffe, the RAF and the USAAF fought on reasonably even terms, a period when the outcome was in no way given. It was also a period that saw a great variety of aerial fighting. The RAF were trying to wear the German defenders down with their Circuses, Ramrod's, Rodeo's and Rhubarbs. The Mustang had yet to enter the fray, and some of the USAAF top brass still clung on the the idea of the "self-defending bomber", meaning that the Luftwaffe still had opportunities to pound un-escorted formations of heavy bombers. And yes, the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission can be found here. So if you like to go after "Viermots" and "Dicke Autos", this should be right up your alley!



When the campaign starts the airfields closest to the Channel has been abandoned (including Abbeville, that gave the JG26 its nickname), due to the constant air raids, and much of the force has been pulled inland, not least to be better positioned to help halt the ever more frequent USAAF daylight bombing raids. But a strong spirit of optimism still reigns among the Luftwaffe fighter pilots.



Despite that the pilots of JG 26 (and JG 2) were at the peak of their skills, they were more and more frequently engaging a new adversary: the 8th Air Force of the USAAF. So far, the two German fighter Geschwader had been fully capables to keep the Axis' air superiority over Northern France and to beat up the RAF, but the massive arrival of this new contendor threatened to neutralize the German advantage. It was at the outset of this period the P-47 Thunderbolt became a real factor over the "Kanal Front", and it was also in the later parts of this period that the usage of drop tanks enabled them to extend their protection of the bombers in a suddenly very troublesome way for the Luftwaffe.



About "Wutz" Galland. ("Wutz" was his radio handle) He was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 26 in January 1943, and was awarded the Ritterkreuz in May that year for 35 victories. He soon became well known for his skill, bravery and aggressive tactics. On 17 August 1943 three Staffeln from II./JG 26 took off under his command to intercept a formation of USAAF four-engine bombers on their return course from a bombing raid on Schweinfurt. Over Lutych, the unit encountered a formation of 150 to 200 bombers, escorted by nearly 200 escort fighters. II./JG 26 bounced the bombers but were, in turn, attacked by a unit of P-47 fighters from the 56th Fighter Group. In the ensuing melee his FW 190 A-5 was shot down, and he crashed at high speed near Liegne, 5 km west of Maastricht.



All missions are in some way based on history, that is on actual combat that took place in the summer of 1943, within the confines of the game system, although dates have (for the most time) been altered. The campaign is very "light" when it comes to downloading, as it contains only one skin. (In most cases it relies on default skins.) In order to play this campaign you will need one of these mod packs: DBW, HSFX or Ultrapack. I myself use DBW (Dark Blue World), which can be found here: http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,16539.0.html



My main sources have been two books by Donald Caldwell: “JG 26 – Top Guns of the Luftwaffe” and volume two of his “The JG 26 War Diary”. These books are not only a must if you are interested in that famous Jagdgeschwader, they are also among my favourite books when it comes to the Luftwaffe in general. Especially the War Diary (it comes in two volumes) is very fascinating, as it gives you not only an opportunity to follow the war in a WW2 fighter unit from day to day, but also to get a sense of the everyday routines.



A special thanks must be adressed to GilB57, for his great map "West Front 1944". Without alll his work this campaign would of course never have been possible.

Looking forward to this. I like the FW ,and your campaigns.