The final months of WWII were one of a lot of confusion on the part of the Germans. The leadership was more and more out of touch with reality, while units were doing the best they could with what they had against an overwhelming allied push into Germany. Yet, though they new the end was near, German soldiers, sailors and airmen fought on as best they could.

During all this, there was a lot of finger-pointing in high command and it often meant that men were sacked from their positions and left with little to do. One of those men was Adolf Galland, the Inspector of Fighters. After cooling his heels for a time, he was given the opportunity to form an autonomous squadron flying Me-262s. He could pick from anyone he could get to help him with this unit and so he chose some of the best remaining aces and those who had experience flying the Me-262, as it was not a plane for the uninitiated.

Despite many difficulties in getting men to the unit and getting supplied (as much due to the fragmenting war situation as anything), the unit did become operational in the last months of the war, flying from near Munich and later Salzburg. The success of the unit was pretty remarkable considering the extremely low serviceability of the aircraft and the short period of time in which they were flying. The squadron also flew some interesting 262s, including one armed with the BK 50 cannon and one with six 30mm guns.

This book by Robert Forsyth covers the full story of this remarkable unit, from the situations that led to its existence, to the last days of the war, where Galland, who at this time was wounded and unable to fly, tried to get the advancing Americans to keep the unit together to fight the Russians. The book is full of first hand accounts on the operations of JV-44 and also its special protective flight of FW-190D aircraft. In addition to a plethora of photographs from those times, there are also an excellent selection of profiles of the aircraft involved as painted by Jim Laurier.

All in all, this is a suprlative book on the subject that will be treasured by both historians and modelers alike. It is one that I can recommend to you without reservation.

May 2008

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