[Christer Bergström]

The first part of Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 4 has now been sent to the graphic designer for layout.

Volume 4 contains about 200,000 words, which is about twice as much as any of the previous volumes. There will be several hundred photographs, many of which are from pilot veterans’ private albums and have never been published before, color profiles by Jim Laurier, and excellent maps by Samuel Svärd (it is my ambition that each place mentioned in the text shall be easily found in the maps in the book).

Anyone interested in pre-ordering a personally signed hard-cover copy - and get it before it has reached the book stores - is welcome to e-mail me at forlag[at]vaktelforlag.se (replace “[at]” with an @ )

If you pass by a military or aviation specialist bookstore, please ask them if they’d be interested in taking the book.

This time, the book is published by my own publishing house, Vaktel förlag/Vaktel Books.

After Volume 4, the next volume (5) will follow, about this time next year.

Here are the contents:

Author’s introduction

Glossary and Abbreviations

Table of equivalent ranks


PART I: THE TURN OF THE TIDE

Chapter 1: Into the Fog
Chapter 2: The Luftwaffe and the VVS by Late 1942

PART II: SEALING OFF STALINGRAD

Chapter 3: A Continued Airlift Operation
Chapter 4: "Winter Storm" and "Little Saturn"

PART III: WIDENING THE OFFENSIVE

Chapter 5: The Luftwaffe’s Decisive Contribution during the Retreat from the Caucasus
Chapter 6: Operation “Mars” and Velikiye Luki—the “Little Stalingrad”
Chapter 7: The Soviet relief of Leningrad
Chapter 8: The End in Stalingrad

PART IV: THE LUFTWAFFE STRIKES BACK

Chapter 9: Von Richthofen’s Decisive Intervention
Chapter 10: An Army Group Saved by the Luftwaffe
Chapter 11: Stukas and SS Against Kharkov

PART VI: OVEREXTENSION

Chapter 12: Air Battle over the Salients
Chapter 13: The Battle for the Leningrad Corridor
Chapter 14: Ace Duel over Demyansk

PART V: IN THE NORTHERN SKIES

Chapter 15: Over the Dark Sea

PART VI: PREPARING FOR THE GREAT AIR BATTLES

Chapter 16: Kuban Bridgehead February – March 1943: Build-Up for the Big Battle

PART VII: CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Air Power - The Key to Victory


Appendix I: Luftwaffe 4 Order of Battle, November 19, 1942

Appendix II: VVS KA and PVO Order of Battle in the Volga – Don Area November 19, 1942

Appendix III: The aircraft on the Eastern Front in the Winter of 1942/1943

Appendix IV: The Structure of the Luftwaffe

Appendix V: The Structure of the Soviet Air Forces in Late 1942

Appendix VI: Luftwaffe Aircraft Combat Losses on the Eastern Front November 1942 – March 1943

Appendix VII: Soviet Aircraft Combat Losses January–March 1943

Appendix VIII. Aircraft color profiles by Jim Laurier


MAPS

The Eastern Front mid-November 1942
The Southern Combat Zone November 1942
The Stalingrad Cauldron
The Stalingrad Air Blockade Zones
The Don – Donets area
The Rzhev – Velikiye Luki – Demyansk area
The Leningrad area
The Southern Combat Zone February-March 1943
The Kuban Bridgehead
The Far North


SOURCES


INDEX