It has been frequently said of the Fokker D.VII that “it made the average pilot good and the good pilot great.”  In writing about the use of the airplane by Jagdgeschwaders I, II, and III and the Bavarian Jagdgeschwader IV, this fact is made very clear as one reads of German pilot after German pilot who had a moderate score before flying the D.VII, whose success skyrocketed in the desperate battles of the final four months of the First World War. 

      What particularly interested me in this book was the carefully-researched operational biographies of so many lesser-known aces I had not found good material on previously. Thus, the book had the effect of actually expanding my knowledge of the subject - something that doesn’t happen with every aviation history book I come across.

      Now that there are two very good 1/48 models of the Fokker D.VII that allow modelers to not only make the D.VIIf which was the only sub-type ever previously released, but also the early Fokker version, the Albatros versions and the two Albatros (OAW) versions, the collection of interesting color profiles of the D.VIIs flown by the aces whose biographies appear here is a good place to start in coming up with possible markings.  It is obvious that Roden has used this material, and the profiles in Part 2 of the history of the D.VII, in their choices for optional markings in their series of D.VII kits.  As I have said in other reviews, the markings options for the Fokker D.VII are only exceeded by those for the Messerschmitt Bf-109.

      As is usual with the Osprey series, there are choices in the profiles that some knowledgeable readers may disagree with, but the only one I found was the choice of black-and-white rather than red-and-white for the upper wing of Ernst Udet’s “candy-striper.”  And even there, there is no definitive choice to be made, given the fact only one photograph was ever taken of the airplane and Udet himself blocks what little detail is available; additionally, the argument is made that since Udet’s Dr.I is known to have used black-and-white stripes, it would be logical the D.VII would follow suit.  There are some controversies that will only ever be solved by the invention of inexpensive time travel, and this is one of them.

     Overall, the book is well-written and obviously well-researched with good use of quotes from original sources, two things that to me have always made the Osprey series stand out.

      For those who have finally entered the wonderful world of modeling aircraft of the Great War, this book is an excellent resource on its own and a good starting-off point for further research about the men willing to fly and fight in their primitive-yet-complicated airplanes.  Highly recommended.

October 2005

 Thanks to Osprey for the review copy - www.ospreypublishing.com

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