Customer Reviews

Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete 1940-41

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Air War for Yugoslavia,Greece and Crete is a very accurate record of the the air operations over the Balkans from the initial attack of Italy against Greece until the fall of Crete to the German Fallschirmjaeger.It covers all the actions of the RAF and the Hellenic Air Force against the Regia Aeronautica and the later operations of the Luftwaffe and the Yugoslavian Air Force.After research of the records of all the combattants the writers were able to present a complete picture of their subject.Even though I managed to find some errors(for example,the second line figthers of the Hellenic Air Force were actually 2 Gladiators,2 Avia B-534s and some left over Avia BH33s and not the number of B-534s claimed by the writers)I think that this book is very accurate and an excellent choise to whomever wants to study this front of WWII(altough fairly expensive)

If you require a definitive account of the air campaign in Balkans in 1940-41 then you don't need to look any further.The amount of research required into a book such as this can hardly be imagined. Every air combat claim is looked at from the records of all sides to match the claim to fact. The operations of each unit are dealt with on a day to day basis with the results analysed. The bombing and strafing prowess of the Luftwaffe shines through together with the fight against overwhelming odds of the British,Commonwealth & Greek air forces. Even the Yugoslav Air force receives due attention. The variety of aircraft types is staggering! I was really impressed by the various story told here and of the way that an initial confrotation between Greek and Italian biplanes turned gradually into a massive air-naval battle in the Eastern Mediterranean and Crete. The various accidents are also tremendously interesting. After reading this book I realised that the RAF did a lot more to defend Greece than is commonly known and also that the reasons behind the British difficulties to cover Crete from the air were really awesome and beyond the technical capabilities of the era. I fully recommend this book, not only for its attention to detail, but also the fact that it covers the campaign in full, leaving not a single stone unturned.