Yet another new series, albeit a shorter one, begins with this first volume on the heavy fighters, or zerstörers (destroyers). This initial volume covers the period of their inception in 1936 until it was discovered that they weren't really capable of doing their job, that of protecting bombers, in 1940, during the Battle of Britain.

Initially several aircraft companies put forth projects for the heavy fighter (which originally was to be a high-speed bomber), but the requirements were basically written around Messerschmitt's 110 aircraft. The initial Jumo powered Bf-110A/Bs were in service from 1938 until phased out to training units in the summer of 1939, when the more powerful Daimler Benz powered C model came into being. It was mostly with this variant that the Luftwaffe went to war.

Against the Polish Air Force, the Bf-110 was effective, though not invincible as several fell to Polish PZL fighters. However, they seemed to work as advertised; able to escort bombers to and back from targets. The next campaign in Norway seemed to work well, despite problems with weather. Again, the range of the 110 and its ability to handle most of what was tossed against it by the Norwegians and the British, left the crews with a feeling that this was a plane capable of defending itself and their bomber charges.

Once again, into battle against the Dutch, Belgians, and later the French, the 110 units were able to hold their own, but not quite as well as earlier. More aircraft were shot down or damaged and more crews didn't return or were killed. Production was not able to fully keep up with the losses, though things were not that bad.

It was the fight against the British that proved once and for all that unless the Luftwaffe had air superiority from standard fighters, the heavies were hard pressed to even defend themselves. The ultimate outrage for crews was when they needed escorting themselves! Like the Ju-87 Stuka, the realization had come that either one had to operate these types where the Germans had total superiority of the air, or they were to have huge losses. And that is where this volume stops.

As with all books in this series, it is crammed with period photos of the pilots and their aircraft. One has the usual 'I was there' stories to spice things up as well as a diary format that gives the general feel of daily operations. Ably illustrated by Fernando Estanislau, the profiles are taken directly from images that appear in the book. This is a real boon to modelers who always like to see the inspirations for artwork.

Classic Books is renown for their Luftwaffe histories and this book just adds to that list of accomplishments. It is a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading and can highly recommend it to you.

January 2006

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