Customer Reviews

Focke-Wulf FW 190 Aces of the Western Front (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 9)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must admit to enjoying all of John Weal's Osprey titles. He writes well if not always entirely accurately. However this particular volume is perhaps his worst in terms of factual errors. In particular his knowledge of the Reichs defence Geschwader, especially JG 300, seems inadequate here..no, that is not Bretschneider on P.80 and no, the unit was not permanently based at Loebnitz during the winter of 1944. There is nothing either on the last major air battle over Berlin (14 January 1945) and again nothing on the German fighter opposition to Operation Varsity (the Rhine crossings of March 24 1945). During this latter battle, II./JG 300, a powerful Fw 190 equipped Sturmgruppe, specialising in mounting high altitude attacks in massed formation against 8th AF bombers was caught at low level by packs of P-51s and virtually decimated. There are plenty of other minor errors in the text; an incorrect WerkNr. given for Mueller's Green 3 to listing Wilhelm Dormann as having flown with JG 300. The profiles are not that much better, most of the late war Fw 190s being portrayed here with yellow undercowls, where they were simply unpainted. The "black 13" of IV./JG 3 was not flown by Walther Dahl either, since he was Kommodore of JG 300 by July 1944 ! The last short chapter devoted to the ultimate 190 variant, the Ta 152, is translated directly from Willi Reschke's JG 301/302 history but not acknowledged as such... Although it pains me to say it, I think my own article in Scale Aircraft Modelling Nov 2002 has better coverage and better drawn profiles...

This book does a good job of describing the FW-190 service in the Western Front in terms of the units and pilots who flew them. A comprehensive history is provided of the FW-190 from its design stages up until the last days of the war. The highlight of the book is the superb color plates of more than a dozen FW-190 variants clearly showing color schemes and unit markings at various times in the war that make this book perfect for any scale modeller.

The only thing that prevented me from giving this book a 5-star was twofold. There are no interviews from ex-pilots (some of whom are still with us). Also there is a glaring lack of basic technical information (speed, dimensions, armament) on the FW-190 and its variants. Some technical information can be gleaned from the text but it is incomplete. In short, if you are a scale modeller keen on FW-190 markings, you will be overjoyed with this book. Otherwise it is still a good read, just not great.

Interesting book with some amusing stories among the day to day operations of the Luftwaffe. Covers the introduction into service of the FW-190 "Butcherbird" by JG26. Great pictures and color plates.

I found it kind of hard to rate only because of how to categorize. If you like indepth novels then this isn't it. I would say it's more like the cliff notes. However, it still is a good read. I like the actual photos of the aircraft and hearing about the aces that flew them.

The 'Butcher Bird' as it was known by it's pilots. The Fw-190 was a hard hitting plane, but in the late months of the war, more and more were being shot down by overwhelming odds of Allied fighters. Read as Fw-190 pilots battle the British and Americans from bombing the 'Fatherland'. From the Channel to the Defence of the Reich, these pilots fought bravely against overwhelming odds, but many times lost.
Read as German pilots' down viermots and become experten. First hand accounts that bring battles to life.
I spent 2 or 3 days reading this book and loved every minute of it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about brave Germans who went from ruling the skies to defending the Reich. This book is a keeper in my library.

The book was for a Christmas gift. It came promtly and was in very good
condition. Just what I wanted!