Military Model Scene

Title: Dornier Do 217
Author: Chris Goss
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 978-1-47388-309-3

'From bomber to night fighter, rare wartime photos', a new publication from Air World, an impression of Pen & Sword. A 236-page hard-cover book from author Chris Goss.
The Dornier 217 was a Luftwaffe medium bomber in WW2 which followed on from the earlier Dornier 17, the so-called 'Flying Pencil'. The introduction has the text which gives us the basic background and design history, along with a handy glossary of terms. The bulk of the book though consists of a large number of archive photos, split across 4 chapters which tackle different time periods of the war. Chapter 1 looks at the Dornier 217 from 1940-41, followed by the Dornier in 1942, then 1943 and then in the 4th and final chapter, 1944-45. It was well known for the raids it flew over the UK, but it was used on a much wider basis, across Europe and the Mediterranean. It served as a bomber, mine layer and later on as a night fighter as well as the launch/control aircraft for the Hs293 remote control glide bomb as well as the Fritz X. Among the photos are some of their successful attack on the Italian battleship, the Roma. Variants illustrated include the original glazed nose bomber, as well as the later K & M versions which had even larger glazed crew cabins. The night fighter versions had a solid nose, and carried more fixed canon plus frequently coupled with radar aerials. Amidst these changes there are various updates, not just to the crew compartments, but also to engines and other detail fittings. One feature I hadn't been aware of before was the fitting of dive brakes in the tail, but here we have some good clear illustrations of them as fitted and deployed. All the photos have informative captions, some more extensive than others.
The Dornier was a widely used aircraft, and while production ended in 1943, they remained in service through to the end of the war. The pictures show it in a wide variety of versions and in action from Finland and the Eastern Front, to operations over the Mediterranean and the UK, operating from France/Belgium/Holland. Some show crashed wrecks, plenty show them in flight and more than enough on the ground with detail inside the cockpits, engine changes along with a wide variety of camouflage schemes. Those showing them during maintenance offer lots of potential for the modeller who want the extra level of detail for a diorama or two. For many though, it will be the pictures of the aircrew and ground staff which remind us that is was human beings who crewed these aircraft during the war. Some survived the war but many of them did not, in just the same way that the crews of Allied bombers did not survive their encounters with the night fighters, and a number of these downed bombers are featured in the book. This is another great archive collection from Chris Goss, and easy to recommend.
Thanks to Air World/Pen & Sword for the review copy.

Robin