Probably one of the most renowned publishers of Luftwaffe books is Eagle Editions. Their latest volume is on one of the Luftwaffe's more interesting units, JG 300.

JG 300 is a unit that was the result of bomber pilot 'Hajo' Hermann, a man of ideas who came up with the idea of using non-radar equipped single seat fighters to help stem the growing tide of Allied night bombing during 1943.

His plan was to coordinate his fighters with the flak and searchlight units, keeping the air above a certain altitude free of flak so that this pilots would be able to operate against invading bomber streams. This was not easy work as the Bf-109s and FW-190s used were not night fighters and had to be equipped with some additional navigation aids. After a bit of a rough start, it seems that his ideas were finally beginning to work, enough so that an entire Jagdgeschwader (or Group) was formed.

These units would share most of their aircraft with existing fighter units, mostly from JG 1, though there were a few aircraft that were assigned to JG 300 as the unit numbered. They took on the name Wilde Sau or Wild Boar to describe their attack methods. After finally gaining some success, they were pulled from night fighting and used to help against the USAAF's daylight bombing raids, an environment that the pilots were not used to, with the results as one would expect.

This is the first work in English that goes in depth into the operations, equipment and men of JG 300. Searching through archival records from all the combatants, the authors have, with the help of surviving veterans and their families, been able to piece together what is undoubtedly the most comprehensive history of this unit ever published. This is not a quick weekend read but an in-depth historical document that took your editor well over a month to completely read. The experience was well worth the time as the I found the book to be not only a fascinating read, but one in which I learned a great deal that will directly impact how I model these aircraft.

Filled with hundreds of  period photographs, the color profiles of Thomas A. Tullis and Richard Goyat, and a comprehensive set of appendices listing losses and victories, this is undoubtedly going to be THE reference on this unit as I can see no one surpassing it in terms of detail and completeness.

It is one that is well worth the cover price and one that I give my highest recommendation; it is that good.

November 2005

Review book courtesy of  Eagle Editions

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