The Messerschmitt Bf 109E was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force during the Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) campaigns between 1939 and 1941. This type saw combat in Spain with the Legion Condor during the Spanish Civil War, participated in the invasion of Poland in the Fall of 1939, and was successful over the French skies in the 1940 Western Europe cam­paign. During the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, the Emil (E in the German phonet­ic alphabet) clashed with the Supermarine Spitfire - the first enemy opponent that was equal or superior in performance. The Bf 109E also saw service in North Africa and the Balkans and participated in Operation BARBAROSSA, the German attack against the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Bf 109Es served in the fighter-bomber role on the Eastern Front until early 1944. The few surviving Emils assigned to training units served well into late 1944.

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