Military Model Scene

Title: Luftwaffe Aces in the Battle of Britain
Author: Chris Goss
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 978-1-52675-421-9

Looking at the Luftwaffe side of the Battle of Britain story, from Air World, an imprint of Pen & Sword. A 286-page hard-cover book.
While most of us with an interest in the history of the air battles of WW2 will have heard of Luftwaffe pilots such as Adolf Galland and Werner Molders there were many others who reached the level of 'ace',, with 5 or more confirmed victories. This gives us the stories of over 200 Me 109 pilots, along with an additional 53 Me 110 pilots who achieved the same status with victories by both day and night operations. For many of them, their individual records are listed and focus on their careers during the period of the Battle of Britain. For some they fought on throughout the rest of the war, with some surviving the conflict while others died either during the battle or after. Each one has their victories listed, and in many cases the places where their victims came down. The pilots are listed in chapters devoted to individual units. These include JG (Jagdgeschwader) 2,3,26, 27, 51-54 and others, with the final chapter 11 devoted to the Day and Night Bf 110 aces in 1940. In addition to the text the book is well illustrated throughout, including portrait photos of many of the pilots, and some of them in their aircraft as well.
There is an amazing amount of detail in this one, which should be of great for anyone with an interest in the Battle of Britain, giving us more detail on the other side of the history of that important period in the history of both the RAF and Britain as a whole. Speaking personally, I wish I could have had this reference when I was much younger. I was brought up on the Kent/Sussex border, just South of Tunbridge Wells. Looking through the lists of victories, and in some cases the bringing down of some of these Luftwaffe pilots, they are listed with notes such as being lost 'South of Tunbridge Wells'. I would have loved to have found out more when I lived there.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin