The German Air Force General Staff

The German Air Force General Staff, first published in 1959, written by Generalleutnant a. D. Andreas Nielsen, is one of a series of historical studies written for the United States Air Force Historical Division by former key officers of the German Air Force for the United States Air Force Historical Division.

The overall purpose of the series is threefold: 1) To provide the United States Air Force with a comprehensive and, insofar as possible, authoritative history of a major air force which suffered defeat in World War II; 2) to provide a history of that air force as prepared by many of its principal and responsible leaders; 3) to provide a firsthand account of that air force’s unique combat in a major war with the forces of the Soviet Union. This series of studies therefore covers in large part virtually all phases of the Luftwaffe’s operations and organization, from its camouflaged origin in the Reichswehr, during the period of secret German rearmament following World War I, through its participation in the Spanish Civil War and its massive operations and final defeat in World War II.

These studies find their principal authority in their authors’ personal knowledge and experience. Thus, these studies are neither unbiased nor are they “histories” in the ordinary sense of that word. Instead, they constitute a vital part of the story without which the final history of Germany’s role in World War II cannot be written.