16.04.2010, 08:10
Germany never had a couple of hundred jets in operation at one time. The number was was more likely in the dozens, due to constant engine breakdowns and wearout, as well as lack of spare parts, not to mention constantly getting strafed on the ground by USAAF fighters. Due to constant cutbacks in training programs during the war they also lacked pilots who were well enough trained to fly them.
By the spring of 1945, the number of "experten" pilots who were not dead, too badly wounded to fly, otherwise injured from having been repeatedly shot down, grounded by lack of fuel or for other reasons was quite small. There were many occasions where the Luftwaffe was unable to put up ANY fighter opposition to bombing raids. Some bomber pilots such as George McGovern, flew entire tours without ever seeing a German fighter.
By the spring of 1945, the number of "experten" pilots who were not dead, too badly wounded to fly, otherwise injured from having been repeatedly shot down, grounded by lack of fuel or for other reasons was quite small. There were many occasions where the Luftwaffe was unable to put up ANY fighter opposition to bombing raids. Some bomber pilots such as George McGovern, flew entire tours without ever seeing a German fighter.