About 10 years or so ago, the author produced a single book on JG 1. Since then, there has been much to come to light in terms of photos and information. This is mostly due to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany. What was inaccessible to researchers in the east was now easily available. As a result, a new series of  three books on JG 1 is being released by Classic (and if they combine these in hard back I'll be mightily upset!)

As is typical of Classic/Mombeek books, this one is relatively light on the historical verbiage and strong on photos and profiles (by Creek and Tullis who get no front cover credit). Fine by me as it is the photos and profiles that attracted me to the book in the first place. JG 1 was basically used for defending Germany from enemy aircraft incursion. As a result they did not spend time moving about the steppes of Russia or the North African desert as did many other German fighter groups. 

Interestingly, the Gruppe wasn't really fully formed until the war was well underway. There were several fits and starts, but most of those early bits of JG 1 eventually became absorbed into other jagdgruppe.  It wasn't until 1942 that things really got underway with the formation of II, III and IV /JG 1. During these times, the Allied bombing campaign was just a ghost of what it was to become, so being an air defense gruppe was really a bit of a picnic with few air combats and so few kills made by the pilots.

The book gives a good presentation of the various incarnations of JG 1, covering aircraft, pilots and the various unit relocations. Though war stories are always interesting, I found I was drawn into the story of the gruppe. The experiences with the early FW-190A are most telling, as the plane still had a number of problems to overcome. One of them being the BMW 801s propensity to catch fire at almost any time! Not exactly the type of behavior that instills confidence in the plane! I also found it interesting that there were staffel that were still flying the Bf-109E operationally as late as early 1942!

In terms of the drawings and photos, they are all excellent. Most of the photographs were new to me and the artwork of Creek and Tullis makes the book well worth the money. It is interesting to note that all the aircraft in the first 2/3rds of the book are 109s while the rest is almost entirely FW-190s! I look forward to volume 2 when it is released.

Review copy courtesy of me and my credit card!

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has over 3,000 visits a day, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.