Galland, Adolf (foreword by Douglas Bader - trans. by Mervyn Savill) THE FIRST AND THE LAST - The German Fighter Force in World War II , Purnell Book Services, London, ND (circa 1956),

club edn., xii, 368pp, half tone photo frontis and 22pp bearing 42 half tone photo ills., maps and charts in text, light blue cloth lettered in silver at spine, coloured lettered dustwrapper, although the subtitle infers that this is a history of the Luftwaffe during WW2 it is more of an autobiography of the Luftwaffe fighter ace Adolf Galland, trained as a civilian pilot the author joined the Luftwaffe in 1934 before it offically existed and by 1937 he was flying ground support bombing missions with the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War which he did again in Poland in 1939 before being transferred to fighters in time for the offensive of May 1940, by the end of the year he was an ace with over 50 kills and a Group Commodore (and had famously replied to Goering, when asked for his squadron requirements, that he wished for a squadron of Spitfires). Fighter kills, awards and promotions continued and on the death of Ernst Molders he was appointed as General of Fighters, becoming more involved with strategy for the rest of WW2. He crossed Goering on a number of occasions who relieved him of his command in January 1945, an order personally reversed by Hitler and his final appointment was to command a squadron of jet fighters for the last few weeks of the war, lightly rubbed at tips, upper edge a little dusty, dustwrapper: a little rubbed at extrems., very good plus in a very good dustwrapper, (Book ref. 40883)  £20.00

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