When Germany went to war, the most potent bomber available was the He-111. The previous Do-17 bombers were ok, but carried a small bomb load. In fact, the He-111 was considered to be a heavy bomber, though it was really more in the medium range.

The aircraft partook in all of the early bombing raids as did most of the units flying the aircraft. It was present in Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and in the battle against the British. In the latter campaign, it was switched to nigh bombing as it was found to be rather underarmed and somewhat vulnerable to fighter attack. Even after the majority of units were moved to the Eastern Front in the war against the Soviets, there still remained He-111 groups in France and Germany for use against the UK. These were dispatched in small numbers and took part in Operation Steinbock during 1943, though the increasing effectiveness of RAF night fighters made even these operations dangerous. The final use of the He-111 against Britain was to air-launch the V-1 cruise missile, a requirement after the ground launch sites were overrun in late 1944. Aircraft flew to the Thames estuary to launch against London and some other targets. While these missions were generally successful, they were unable to produce any measurable effect due in part, to the small numbers.

In this book, author John Weal takes a look at the development of the He-111, its entry into service, its use in Spain, and the various updates and variants of the aircraft that were used. He then covers the combat history of the plane in various chapters covering the events mentioned in the previous paragraph. All of this is accompanied by super photos, many of which were new to me, and the usual group of full color profiles in the center of the book that is a hallmark of this series.

It makes for a most interesting read and a great research tool for modelers. I enjoyed reading this one and am sure you will as well.

February 2012

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