Jagdwaffe - Luftwaffe Colours Vol. 3 Sec. 4

The War in Russia January - October 1942

by Christer Bergstrom with Martin Pegg

a Classic Aviation Classic Colours Book

Reviewed by Steve Jantscher  

This volume of of the Luftwaffe Colours series of books continues with the meat grinder of the Russian Front started in Section 3 of Vol. 4. Included in the little under 100 pages of section 4 is a brief history of Luftwaffe fighter operations on the Russian front, numerous pilot stories and profiles. But as with the past volumes in this series the strength of these books lay in their extensive collection of seldom before seen photographs of Luftwaffe fighters in action. There are literally hundreds of black and white, and a handful of color shots as well. Every one is supplied with a detailed caption, often pointing out especially interesting details from the photo, or telling how the photo relates to the historical story in the text. Along with the photos are over twenty full color side profiles by Thomas Tullis of significant and representative aircraft of the period on the front. While most are '109s, near the end of the book the Fw-190 makes a showing, and one of the profiles includes a Butcher Bird from JG 51. There are also a few scrap drawings of different tails and their kill markings.

I especially liked the more numerous attention given in this book over the previous ones to JG 54, and their wild and unorthodox '109 F paint schemes. These will make the modeler very happy. I also enjoyed reading about some of the Jagdwaffe pilot personalities, in both the text and the photo captions. My favorites are always Heinz Bar, Hermann Graf, and a young Nowotny (of course they were all young back then). The stories and photos really bring the men and machines to life.

I like this series of books, and this volume only adds to the series by continuing the excellent quality and content. The purchase of this book is a "no-brainer" for any fan of the Jagdwaffe. For modelers looking to start a reasonably priced library of photographs and a potted history of the Luftwaffe fighter arm in combat, this is the single best source I know of.