[Andrew Arthy]

Hi,

I posted this mini-review over on the Luftwaffe Research Group, but thought I'd post it here as well.


I recently received a copy of Messerschmitt Bf 109: The Yugoslav Story from one of the authors, and can highly recommend it.

The book is a fine piece of research, thoroughly illustrated, and easy to read. I began what was intended to be a cursory look last night, and before I knew it had read the first 25 pages. The story is very well told, and never gets too bogged down (for example, the long saga of the Yugoslav acquisition of Messerschmitt fighters has the potential to be a really 'dry' topic, but the authors make it very readable). There are first-hand accounts throughout, and the translations into English seem to have been very well done.

Chapter 2 covers a topic that's drawn my interest in the last couple of years: the air war over Yugoslavia in April 1941. Of course the focus is on Bf 109 operations, but in reality the chapter is a mini-history of the entire air campaign. Chapter 3 covers the remainder of the air war in Yugoslavia up to 8 May 1945. Featured are various training units that used the Bf 109, as well as N.A.G. 12, N.A.G. 2, and various elements of J.G. 27, J.G. 53 and J.G. 77. One of my 'favourites' is also included, II./J.G. 51, but I'm yet to read that part of the book. I'll be curious to see what the authors have uncovered.

To round out the book, there is an entire chapter (Chapter 4) on camouflage and markings, more than 100 endnotes, and eight appendices (a comprehensive loss list, a victory list matched with Allied losses, and much more of interest).

The authors seem to have searched as diligently as possible for sources about the subject, including documents from archives around the world, logbooks and other personal records, and numerous reliable secondary sources. They make it very clear in the foreword just how difficult this task was, especially for the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (almost none of its official wartime records exist, so they are left to rely on often inaccurate first-hand accounts from participants, with all the potential problems of such sources).

Their search for photographs seems to have been equally as thorough, and dozens of colour profiles are included showing Bf 109s from many different German and Yugoslavian units.

A couple of minor points: I liked how the dates were included in boldface in the text, making it easy to quickly establish when things were occurring. On the negative side, it would have been good to have a glossary at the beginning of the book rather than at the end, because I was a bit lost when I initially came across the Yugoslav ranks and unit abbreviations (and it took me a while to realise that the glossary was at the end).

The authors point out in their foreword that this isn't the definitive word on the subject, but I have a firm feeling that it will be! Full credit to Boris and the team, and no doubt Volume II will be equally as impressive.

Cheers,
Andrew A.