Product Description

The four-year long Eastern Front campaign fought between Germany and the Soviet Union produced not only the greatest number of aces, but also the highest individual and unit scores ever recorded in the history of aerial warfare. An ideal complement to its bestselling predecessor, this fully illustrated volume covers the Luftwaffe fighter pilots credited with scores of between 50 and 100; every single one of them amassing a greater number of victories than the highest and most celebrated of any British or American World War II ace. Despite these huge personal totals, the names of these pilots who fought against the Red Air Force remain almost unknown to many English speaking readers. "More Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front" rectifies that omission, providing first-hand accounts from the combat veterans themselves, as well as never-before published photographs, vividly conveying the terrible experiences of the protagonists in this difficult theatre of war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #563310 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

another Osprey Aces 'potboiler'
This latest volume is a little bit more interesting & detailed than some of John Weal's recent aces titles - if you can call his Osprey Aces volumes "detailed" at all. If you've got a decent library proceed with caution - Mr Weal himself (yes, I do know him) readily admits that these slim volumes are 'potboilers'. One thing I will say though - John Weal makes good use of German language sources and he writes very fluently and with a certain flair.
Where this work falls down somewhat is in the range of sources used - the author relies on rather older works as references, and his views seem a little out of touch with the latest research - he still labels VVS equipment in 1941 as outdated and obsolete, while Christer Bergstrom's latest works for Eagle Editions and Ian Allan draw new conclusions.
..Elsewhere it is also strange to note that Weal's account of the shootdown of Heinz Ewald by his own flak differs somewhat from what Ewald has to say about this episode himself. In fact I have just been reading the account of Gustav Denk's loss (II./JG52) as provided by the unnamed 'fledgling wingman'....bizarrely I had to go to another book to find out that his wingman was Helmut Lipfert and that this account was lifted direct from Lipfert's book published by Schiffer, uncredited in Weal's text - no footnote, nothing..
I'd also say that in this age of superlative computer artwork renderings, say the latest works by Tom Tullis or Claes Sundin, Weal's profiles look rather amateurish and outdated and I thought the book was a little slimmer than the usual Osprey aces titles...only 86 pages of text & profiles...(not the 96 indicated above)
a good basic reference work to get the names and some info about the service life of the pilots, but only a taster for more detailed research