An aircraft that was bordering on obsolescence at the start of WWII was the M.S. 406. It was a capable flyer, easy to handle and with virtually no vices, yet it was superceded by the newest fighters of the Luftwaffe, the Bf-109E and Bf-110C. One of its few faults, aside from the lack of armor plating and self sealing fuel tanks, was the propensity of the guns to freeze at the altitude where most combat took place. This was not good. It also had no landing gear locking mechanism, so hard turns often caused the gear to deploy.

Developed from the MS 405 of 1935 the French had a modern fighter that was equal to the Hurrican and Jumo powered 109s. However, the Hispano-Suiza engine was not capable of the sort of power that was provided by the Spitfires and later 109s. The MS 406 was also time consuming to build and rather expensive. However, one fights with what one has at the time and so it was that most French fighter units went into combat with the MS 406.

Thanks to its rifle caliber main guns, bringing down enemy planes was not all that easy. Frequently several fighters had to combine their firepower to bring down a German bomber. Sure, it had a central 'motor canon', but apparently this gun was not that effective or jammed rather easily. Still, there were pilots who were able to either reach ace status or started on their careers to acedom flying the 406.

After the armistice, no French fighter units in Metropolitan France or in Algeria flew the MS 406. It had pretty well been relegated to the training role, though Vichy forces did send some to Syria, Madagascar and to French Indo-China where they were used against the British, Japanese and Thai air forces, albeit somewhat briefly. Some success was obtained in those theaters, though more often the 406 was the victim.

An area where the MS 406 saw a lot of success was in the hands of the Finnish Air Force. When the Soviets invaded during the Winter War, the need for fighter planes was great. France promised well over a hundred MS 406s and other types, but only actually delivered 30 planes, which were used during the closing days of that conflict. After France surrendered, many more planes were purchased from the war booty captured by the Germans in exchange for access to northern Norway by the German Army through Finnish territory. These extra aircraft were quite welcome and allowed the Finns to add to their defenses during the Continuation War. Though obsolescent, they proved to be quite rugged and were often more than a match for Soviet aircraft. Always low on power, the type was re-engined by the Finns with captured Soviet M-105 engines gleaned from the many shot down Soviet aircraft. This resulted in the much improved (performance-wise) Moko Moraine, which saw service until the end of hostilities.

In line with other books in this series, there are a ton of well done period photographs as well as the usual large center section of full color profiles of the planes that were flown by units during the war. We also get the usual mission stories to spice things up, one of the major attractions of this series. In the appendices is a listing of aces and their scores. An excellent read and a great reference book for the fan of this French fighter.

May 2014

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