Customer Reviews

German Aces of the Russian Front (General Aviation)

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This book is broken into two parts, one covering Messerschmitt BF109 aces and the second Focke Wulf 190 aces, both of the Russian Front. The author does an excellent job of summarising the overall strategic situation and conditions faced by the German forces, the Luftwaffe and the Luftwaffe fighter pilots throughout the war on the Eastern front. Interwoven within this the author talks of the acheivements of various Fighter Gruppes and individual fighter pilots. What I especially like is that lessor known names are given the same care and attention as the greater, well known aces by the author. John Weal unconsciously seems to make the point that some of the great German aces had to fly many missions before claiming their first kills whereas less famous aces of the comparable or better ability were perhaps cut-off before their prime (either killed or captured) before amassing mammouth kill tallies.

There are many excellent photos throughout the book as well as colour plate profiles of the machines flown by the German aces. If anything is lacking in the book, it is perhaps the wealth of expected statistical data in table format. However, the appendices briefly summarise the German aces with 100+ kills as well as orders of battle. This is recommended reading as it provides a good summary of the air war on the Russian Front.

I can get enthusiastic about a lot of books, but this volume about the German ME-109 and FW-190 aces on the Russian Front is absolutely one of my favorite books.

It is filled with outstanding and interesting photographs. The text is complete, engaging and extremely informative. And the icing on the cake are the two excellent color plate series about each aircraft model. A modeller's dream.

I find some thing new each time I open this book. It never ceases to inform me. I can't say that about many books, but John Weal's is one of those.

If you are looking for a single volume about the Russo-German Airwar...then look no further...you have found the book.

This book is a keeper. From cover to cover, this is a very well laid-out and illustrated book. This a book you can just skim through and enjoy, looking at the first-class photos or immaculate color plates. Or you can decide to read the picture captions, which are pertinent, well-written, and above all interesting. To top it all off, John Weal excels both as a historian and as a writer, so the book, fact-filled as it is, is quite an enjoyable read.

However, this book is actually a combination of 2 previous titles from Osprey, so the narratives are witten in two different perspectives. The first part of the book covers Bf-109 aces, and here Weal is primarily converned with scoring and award histories of the top 109-aces. Unit histories and the course of the (Eastern Front) war are also described, but they play a background role here. Combat tactics and first-hand accounts of the aces are for the most part not covered here. The second part of the book deals with Fw-190 aces, and here we find a more even distribution of the above-mentioned areas. I enjoyed the Fw-190 section more than the Bf-109 section, since I am more interested in finding out about how it was to fly on the Eastern Front and how the German aircraft against their Russian counterparts than when a given ace received his Knight's Cross.

At the back, you'll find a number of tables, such as a table of Eastern Front fighter units, what they were equipped with and where they operated from, and when. Also an ace table, as expected. The index is good, with references to color plates distinguished from text references by heavier type. Color plate quality and accompanying narratives are excellent.