Military Model Scene

Title: Fw 190 Sturmjager
Author: Robert Forsyth
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-5746-0

Defence of the Reich 1943-45, number 11 in the Dogfight series from Osprey. An 80-page soft-cover book, with artwork from Gareth Hector, Tim Brown and Jim Laurier.
Spread across 6 chapters, this sets out the background, as from 1943 the daylight raids by USAAF heavy bombers posed a major threat not only to German civilians, but particularly their vital war industries. The bomber formations are explained and the adapting tactics that the Luftwaffe employed to try and combat their raids. The Fw 190 was already a successful fight design, but this explains the alterations made to variants of the Fw 190 from the A6 through to the A8 variants. There were still problems, particularly fuel shortages that meant training was increasingly cut back. These Sturnjager variants had increased armour protection for the pilots, to protect them from the heavy defensive fire from the bomber formations, as well as their P-51 and P-47 fighter escorts which were able to extend their range as the war progressed. Along with explanations of the Luftwaffe tactics employed by the Sturmjager against the large bomber formations, their armament was developed as well. From the early use of 20mm canon, later increased to include 30mm weapons, they also used heavy calibre forward firing mortars, there was also the detail of the less successful rearward facing version, the Krebsgerat. In addition to all the detail, including some specific combat encounters, there are plenty of personal accounts from Luftwaffe aircrew who took part in these battles over Germany. In addition to the archive photos, with captions giving extra detail in many cases, there are also a number of ribbon diagram artworks, explaining how the fights unfolded.
The Luftwaffe aircrew suffered heavy casualties, but the US bomber formations also lost many aircraft and aircrew. Bearing in mind the loss of an Fw 190 could mean the loss of a single pilot, the loss of a B-17 also meant losing the 10-man crew. The changes made to the Fw 190 for this specific mission make for interesting reading, while their pilots faced ever growing problems in undertaking their mission. The images and artwork are all helpful, adding to the personal accounts and the technical details/tactics described in the book. Another interesting read from author Robert Forsyth and Osprey.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin