Comentary - Me 262 Production Log

[edwest]

This book by Dan O'Connell is a worthy addition to the four volume series previously published by Classic. Visually, this book is another fine example of Classic's high quality presentation skills, with text that is easy to read and photos well placed.

Since I am a relative newcomer to the study of such aircraft, but reasonably well acquainted, I will say this. It provides many pieces to the puzzle of what is known about each aircraft and the men who flew them. With only a tiny fraction of Luftwaffe records surviving the war, this will be a very valuable reference for current researchers and those to come. What advantages the internet has for spreading information and establishing contacts and sharing information, books still have the value of being easier to handle and requiring only a source of light to be read. The information will not crash one day and disappear.

This book also shows what a group of researchers in cooperation with one determined and committed individual can accomplish. And as something of a researcher myself, I know there is a lot of work involved in such an undertaking. To quote Phil Butler from his excellent War Prizes: "The above references are representative rather than exhaustive. They give no clues to the many unproductive files which were also checked!" It is this willingness to work and share that keeps everyone going forward. It is part of the search for the truth about what happened that will, I believe, lead to other books of this type being published in the future. The sands of Egypt are still giving up clues to the past, I think more has yet to be written about this relatively recent part of history. Bravo Dan O'Connell and to all of the Contributors for a job well done.



Ed West