Introduction

The following introduction is as supplied by Casemate Publishing:
Eighty years after its creation, the Luftwaffe is still one of the most fascinating forces in the history of aviation. A companion to Luftwaffe in Colour Volume 1, which covered the victory years from 1939 up to spring 1942, this volume with nearly 400 images, contains even more fascinating material on the machines of the Luftwaffe and the men who flew them, as their fate took an increasingly grim path. Initially the Luftwaffe ruled the skies but thereafter fought an increasingly futile war of attrition which when combined with vital strategic mistakes in aircraft production, was its death knell. Despite this the Luftwaffe produced the most successful air aces of all time who feature in this volume. Among many remarkable images we see one of the last Junkers 87 B-2 operational on the front line on the Eastern Front during the winter of 1942-1943, the huge BV 222 V-5 of Lufttransportstaffel in the port of Heraklion in late 1942, pilots in Tunisia in 1943, the aces Hans Philipp, Wolfgang Spate and Heinz Schnaufer and a vivid demonstration of the reversal in fortunes in 1944 as Allied bombers destroy 106 places, engulfing them in fire at Schwabisch-Hall on German soil. In this painstakingly pieced together collection, originally published in France, the full detail behind the propaganda is once more revealed, in rare colour photographs.

Review

This offering is one of Casemate Publishing’s own print works and is the second offering in Luftwaffe in Colour. The authors of this offerings are Christophe Cony and Jean-Louis Roba. This book looks at the second half of World War Two and the turn from conquerors to desperate defenders. The book is printed in a landscape format and contains 160 pages. The paper inside is a semi gloss stock that shows off the period colour photographs very well, the pages are protected by a card cover that is very nearly double thickness and so should do a very good job of protection.

The book starts with an introduction and then moves onto part X where the previous release finished. The sections here are:
Part X – Face to Face with the Soviet Steamroller
Part XI – The Mediterranean Front
Part XII – The West from One Landing to the Next
Part XIII – Second Line and Training Units
Part XIV – The Eagle Falls

This title is not for the person who wants to read about the above listed parts as to be blunt there is no text beyond the introduction. With that out of the way the photographs chosen for this publication have excellent extended captions and that in most cases provides a wealth of information. The men who flew for the Luftwaffe and excelled at their craft also get a covering in this title that I like.

Germany excelled in the field of optics during World War Two, and as such German cameras were highly prized spoils of war. Looking through this book I found myself wondering how many of the images came from war trophies, but regardless, the quality of these photographs make a stunning colour photographic presentation of the men and machines used by Germany. The accuracy of the colours represented here will never satisfy the modeller from an accuracy stand point, but they do add a different dimension to the scenes.

Conclusion

This new release from Casemate Publishing brings together a very good number of colour photographs and presents then with very good captions. Colour photography during World War Two means that the colours presented cannot be relied upon as accurate in my opinion, but it does add atmosphere to the scenes that is not so well represented in black and white film. The captions in this book are of an especially high standard and provide a lot of detail.