The publisher has produced a number of series based on rare wartime images. The ‘Luftwaffe at War’ is one of these very popular series. The text is clear and concise, but the great strengths are in the aggressive pricing and the fine quality of the images, in this case including full colour images – Strongly Recommended.
NAME: Luftwaffe at War, Stukas over the Mediterranean 1940-1945 FILE: R2496 AUTHOR: Peter C Smith PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: soft back PAGES: 72 PRICE: £12.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Second World War, WWII, World War Two, World War 2, dive bombing, ground attack, anti-armour, tank killer, anti-ship bomber, Luftwaffe, Mediterranean, Balkans
ISBN: 1-84832-800-1
IMAGE: B2495.jpg6 BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/mq6we4n LINKS: DESCRIPTION: The publisher has produced a number of series based on rare wartime images. The 'Luftwaffe at War' is one of these very popular series. The text is clear and concise, but the great strengths are in the aggressive pricing and the fine quality of the images, in this case including full colour images – Strongly Recommended. The Stuka is one of the iconic aircraft of WWII, but was already approaching obsolescence in 1939. During the 1930s, the dive bomber was seen as a very practical and effective bomb delivery system. This was particularly true for the Germans because they saw it as flying artillery working closely with rapidly advancing panzer armies. The Stuka proved to be a very reliable machine that could operate from unprepared forward airstrips in unfavourable weather and withstand a great deal of battle damage. Initially, it was armed with two forward firing rifle calibre machine guns and one flexible machine gun for the radio operator, with a main armament of a single bomb on the centre line and lobbed under the propeller arc. It was intended to provide pin-point accuracy in a steep dive on the target. Later, it was equipped with cannon of 20 mm and then 37 mm anti-tank guns, drop tanks to extend range and underwing munitions including rockets. However, it depended on the Luftwaffe holding air superiority. Once it met Spitfires and Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain, it was very vulnerable and withdrawn from that battle. In the Mediterranean, and on the Eastern Front, it enjoyed a longer period with German air superiority. This book covers the use of the Stuka in the Mediterranean from 1940 to 1945. In the early years it achieved many successes but could continue on in the Balkans to the end of the war because the Allies did not dedicate the resources to obtain total air superiority. There are some fine full colour images and evocative monochrome images that depict the aircraft, their crews and the primitive conditions under which they were maintained in the field.