Military Model Scene

Title: Night Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1943-45
Author: Neil Page and Jean-Louis Roba
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 978-1-63624-554-6

Another addition to the Casemate Illustrated series from Script Books. A 128-page soft-cover book.
This is a follow on book to the earlier title in the series, which covered the same subject in the earlier years, from 1940-1943. Starting with a useful timeline of key events, this new book deals with the work of the Nachtjager over the last two years of the war. The assortment of pressures on the Luftwaffe at this stage of the war were many and varied. While we may focus on their efforts against the RAF night bombers this highlights there was much more. Many pilots had previously been bomber or transport aircraft pilots, but they found success in their role with night fighters. Fighting the bomber streams, there was still more work in the East where more unlikely aircraft such as the He 111 and the Fw 189 found their uses. At the start it covers expansion of the Nachtjager units as they were needed in the East, but goes on to cover their roles in Normandy, over Berlin and again in the East. They were drawn into other missions, such as ground attack and also into daylight work such as Operation Bodenplatte. New aircraft came along, a the Me Bf110 and the Ju 88 carried airborne radar, as well as new aircraft such as the Me 262 and the Heinkel He 219, the first combat aircraft to feature an ejection seat. The loss of experienced pilots and a lack of fuel meant the force was in decline in the final stages of the war. The jets were used to counter the intruder missions of the RAF Mosquitos while the Luftwaffe also tried to restart their own intruder operations over the UK, operations named Gisela.
Throughout the book there are lots of archive photos, not only the aircraft but also the pilots, whose personal accounts features all the way through. Dotted around within the chapters are tables of units and profiles of both some pilots and the various aircraft. I found it made interesting reading. The photos to me emphasised that the pilots and aircrew were mostly young men, and similar in many ways to the photos we see of Allied aircrew, doing their best to fight for their country.
Thanks to Script Books, distributor for Casemate, for the review copy.

Robin