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When the Berlin Wall was demolished a new mine of information became available to historians, allowing them access to previously closed archives. Germany was the first nation to take war into the air with a dedicated force of aviators. It realised the need for specialization before Britain, France, the USA or Italy. This study of the formative years of German aviation describes how Germany's air force was created, how it developed, its airfleets and its personnel, and how quickly the battlefield advantage provided by military aviation was grasped by German authorities. The study makes use of many hitherto untapped archives from East Germany, and rare and unpublished photographs, letters, diaries and reports.