Those who are familiar with JaPo books know two things about them. First is they are superbly researched and are often the best that has been published on that particular subject. The second is that they sell out rather quickly once produced. I'm sorry to have missed the first two books in this series.

This is their fourth book on the Luftwaffe over Czech Territory in 1945 and covers  Messerschmitt Me-262 production/assembly as well as the final operations of the Ar-234. All of this covers the area known as Bohemia, an area in western Czechoslovakia that was predominately settled by folks of German origin.

Production/assembly of the Me-262 took place at two specific locations. One was the Fugzeugwerks Eger Gmbh (FWE) complex in Cheb. This was a state of the art factory that was based on all the best features of other aircraft factories in Germany. It was started in 1940 and by 1942, it was ready to go. It concentrated on the production of components for the He-111 as well as the repair and upgrading of the He-177. By late 1944 all work on bombers had been shelved with concentration on fighters so it was switched over to Me-262 assembly and repair.

By this late in the war, assembly was more of the state of the aircraft industry as components for planes were scattered all over the shrinking Reich and then transported to a final assembly location like FWE. At FWE, the main focus was on the recce 262 and most of the production of the Me-262A-3 was concentrated there.

The other place was Leichtbau Gmbh (LBB) established at Ceske Budejovice (Budweis). It initially was involved in the production and repair of the Fi-156 and FW-190, but in mid 1944 was converted to the Me-262, though no assembly/production occurred until six months after conversion was started. This facility concentrated on fighter production and like FWE, also repaired the 262.

Typical of JaPo books, the information provided is extensive and in addition to a superbly researched background to each of the facilities, contains a superb selection of data regarding just what was built and repaired at these places. We expect there to be information on specific aircraft and that is what we get. In fact, I would say that half the book is dedicated to this aspect of things. It includes large four views of various aircraft with each plane accompanies by what is probably all of the know images of the planes in question. Of course, many of these are of the aircraft in the dump at the end of the war, but not all, including several period color images.

In addition, there is information on Ar-234 final operations in this area during the last months of the war. These were mostly recce units, though there were prototypes of the Ar-234C four engine aircraft included. The photos and color views concentrate on this particular variant. Also included in the book is an errata section updating information from their previous 262 book. Included in this section are images and color views of the Me-262v11, with the clear bomber nose. Another nice addition is information and color views on a Bf-109K-4 from JG 27 that performed airfield defense for the 262s. A well done appendix focuses on the installation of the 30mm Mk108 in the recce 262. Not many were built with this single cannon installation, but it did provide some self defense other than speed.

This is a book that takes time to read. The information is quite extensive and it took me several weeks to read through it. Perhaps not for the light reader, but if you are interested in the details, then this is very much a book that you must have. I give it my highest recommendation and suggest that you get yours while the getting is good as it won't be out there for long.

October 2012

Review book courtesy of JaPo. Visit them at www.japo.eu and ask for this one at your favorite book seller

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

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