For French Readers: AirMag hors-serie n° 2

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I just bought it this afternoon, am I am not sure when it was edited but it's about the Kamikazes off Okinawa (especially the floatplanes) and is the best I have ever read about this subject. It relies heavily on Japanese sources.

I am not interested enough in profiles and pictures to know if they are really new or well done. There are 45 color profiles, apparently always drawn from pictures and usually the fate of the AC (to be precise: the day of its loss, very rarely the actual fate may be established) and its final crew. Pictures show 20-30% ships, 50-60% aircraft (several under AA fire) and the rest pilots or other war pics.

The cover picture is a drawing made on a computer and I was rather reluctant, thinking it will a general study. In fact there are 16 pages about the kamikaze floatplanes, a traduction of a Japanese study (with comments helping the French reader), and then a chronology of the kamikaze attacks, with the daily losses of the IJNAF (IJAAF is not detailled in the chronolgy but is present in the profile section) and the main Allied ship hit. Example:
12/May/45: 1 kankô TYpe-97 (Kate)
13/May/45: from Taiwan, 1 kankô TYpe-97 (Kate)
14/May/45: 22 Zero-sen type-52
etc...

Hope this helps. I am not linked in any way to the writer or editor.