La Kampfgeschwader 100. L'Escadre au Drakkar (1938-1944).
 

http://www.aircraft-navalship.com/produit/avions/2454 Usual disclaimer, Ed

KG 100 history
 

Jean-Louis Roba's French-language history of KG 100 is now available to order. A4 format: €39, 224 pages, 550 black & white photos and 25 colour profiles.

According to the ad: "A highly comprehensive book, richly illustrated with mostly unpublished documents and enhanced by numerous annexes such as a list of losses throughout the entire war."

Re: KG 100 history
 

my copy arrived - courtesy of my wallet (pocketbook) to quote a very irrating phrase..

very nice indeed. All in French, no English, some German docs reproduced as photo 'copies', lots of nice clear pics. Five or six pages of wreck recoveries in colour. The 'known losses' and 'personnel' lists amount to 28 of the 224 A-4 pages. Personal accounts from Deumling and Cescotti - among others, and in a different font colour which is a novel touch. One slight disappointment -and its not immediately clear from the ads, at least not to me - it's a soft cover book, although the paper is thick and glossy. Same for Rémy's superlative 'Morane' title (history of GC III/7)

Re: KG 100 history
 

I just received my copy and first impressions are very good. Neil has described the physical format and I concur. I can't remember enough of Ulf Balke's KG 100 book (which I briefly borrowed from a friend many years ago) to know how far this text goes beyond his. There are some decidedly odd renditions of British place names, perhaps derived from difficult German handwriting rather than a map.

The photographic content is far more extensive than Balke's, with masses of He 111 and He 177 shown, many of them after various mishaps. He also reproduces some documents such as certificates for sinking ships, maps and unit Christmas cards. What he hasn't overcome is the lack of photos of missile-carrying Do 217s (and especially the long-span version). The colour profiles reflect the photographic content, with four Do 217 (none later than 1943) but large numbers of Heinkels and a lone Ar 196.

There are appendices of losses and personnel (oddly enough Roderich Cescotti, although quoted in the book, is missing from the latter).

The list of sources is relatively brief and consists mostly of published works. Personal obsession: he doesn't seem on first reading to have used Ultra directly as a source, rather quoting R.V. Jones (whose account I've found generally very reliable) re intelligence on Knickebein and X-Gerät. Incidentally, Roba says Knickebein was named after a cocktail.

The cover says that this is the first of a series on bomber units.

Re: KG 100 history
 

Nick,


Perhaps you, or a French speaker on the board, should contact the publisher and the author. As time passes, I am still impressed, and surprised, at the amount of previously unseen, and in some cases, unknown bits of information I'm seeing.



Best,
Ed

Re: KG 100 history
 

Cocktail? Possibly:

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.co.uk...nickebein.html

Re: KG 100 history
 

Jean-Louis ROBA has a in-deep knowledge of the Luftwaffe but focusing in little known unit or topics (hydroplane in Aegean Sea, Romanian Stuka's, etc.) moreover he is a writerolic... Nearly every couple of months, he releases an article in Batailles Aériennes, Avions mag's (Lela presse edition), etc.
As I say, one day will come when young researchers will interview him as he met thousands former German airmen in the '70-'00
I owe my passion from him since a teen.

ClinA-78

Re: KG 100 history
 

You forgot to mention his huge bookseries covering all waterplanes used by the Luftwaffe: till now a three volume epos, which is announced to be extended to four.

Re: KG 100 history
 

That was the purpose of the "etc.", his beloved plane is indeed the Do 24.

ClinA-78

La Kampfgeschwader 100. L'Escadre au Drakkar (1938-1944)
 

Roba , 224 pages , 550 photos , 25 colour profiles

http://www.sound-bm.com/

Re: La Kampfgeschwader 100. L'Escadre au Drakkar (1938-1944).
 

Re: La Kampfgeschwader 100. L'Escadre au Drakkar (1938-1944).
 

I've just finished « La Kampfgeschwader 100 »: 39€ + postage well spent but it does have a few oddities. Plus-points include masses of photos, many colour profiles (an Ar 196 included) and a good overview of the unit's history, emphasising that many of the units under the KG 100 umbrella had precious little connection with one another in practice. The accounts of operations over North Africa and the USSR were almost entirely new to me. I only ever had a brief loan of Ulf Balke's book on the unit, and only used it for a specific bit of research, so I can't offer a comparison of the two.

Inevitably—and forgivably—there are some glitches in the text (1943 for 1944, Portsmouth for Plymouth) but there are two instances, in the text and a photo caption, where Fritz-X and Hs 293 are written when the other is intended. Elsewhere, Roba quotes Ulf Balke regarding an attack on London , "on the bank of the Thames between Cleslen and Vauxhall." A misreading of a Flugbuch entry for Clapham? There's a large selection of photos but the captions are a bit basic: there's no discussion of the different camouflage schemes on view, the differing Do 217 models shown or an He 177 with the unusual twin-MG 131 tail turret.

For me, book's biggest oddity is it treatment of my pet topic, Ultra intelligence. Roba doesn't see it as the patient accumulation of fragments of data; time and again, he writes of the Allies being warned of KG 100 operations and being able to inflict heavy losses on the attackers. I can't claim to have read, understood and remembered every message relating to the missions in question but at the moment I can't recall such a warning where KG 100 is concerned. There are plenty of cases where details were picked up after the operation in question but the instances where everything was known far enough beforehand to take countermeasures are few and far between, whichever units were involved. He doesn't give sources that would account for his interpretation, except for one file relating to a raid on Ajaccio in 1943, so it's hard to know what to make of his claims.

The narrative rather peters out once France is liberated, without any context (a few sentences would have sufficed) about the dissolution of much of the bomber force in the face of crew and fuel shortages and the turning over of production to fighters. Overall though, the positives well outweigh the drawbacks.

Re: La Kampfgeschwader 100. L'Escadre au Drakkar (1938-1944).
 

"Elsewhere, Roba quotes Ulf Balke regarding an attack on London , "on the bank of the Thames between Cleslen and Vauxhall." A misreading of a Flugbuch entry for Clapham? "

'Chelsea' makes more sense, being immediately west of Vauxhall and also the names of bridges across the Thames, plus having Chelsea barracks probably noted on LW maps.

Bruce

Re: La Kampfgeschwader 100. L'Escadre au Drakkar (1938-1944).
 

Good call on the bridges, Bruce. I was just thinking of areas on the same side of the river and stations on the railway.