Luftwaffe units in Scandinavia get very little press and so it was with much interest that I started reading this volume on JG 5. It was formed in 1942 after the invasion of the Soviet Union and was mostly based in northern Norway and Finland. Yes, cold and snow. It's main area of interest was the Russian port of Murmansk and protecting Axis coastal traffic. The book is set up very much like the other Kagero unit histories. However, unlike the other books, this one seems to have more stories of particular events as told by the participants.

Unlike some other Jagdgeschwader, JG 5 has several staffel that were outfitted with the Bf-110 of various versions. Of course, JG 5 started out with Bf-109s and eventually had a number of staffel equipped with the FW-190 by war's end. Because of the turning of the tides of war, it was also attacked by the same units that it fought alongside for much of the war when Finland went over to the Allies in late 1944!

As with other Kagero books, this one has a freebie. This one is in the form of a sheet of 1/48 insignia by Techmod (no swastikas). It also has the usual color profiles and the fold out center page and end page. Since they did fight in the very north there are some most interesting snow camouflage schemes shown in the book. JG 5 was also a unit that was not afraid to experiment with different camo schemes. I've seen several of the profiles used in various new decal sheets, and they look as if they were scanned directly from the book!

Overall, this is a very interesting book. The English write-up is quite good and contains few 'unusual' word usages that are in some of the other books. It is one that I can recommend.

Review book courtesy of my library.

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