This latest addition to Osprey's Duel series covers a pair of combatants that are fairly evenly matched as these things go. The Bf-109F was by many accounts the nicest of the series to fly. It had speed, handled well an was fairly well armed. Initial variants were saddled with a 15mm nose cannon, but around the time of the F-4, this was replaced by a more potent 20mm version. The Yak-1 was in many respects a Soviet Hurricane with wooden wings. Much of the structure was fabric covered, however, the plane was a huge improvement over the previous obsolete I-153 and I-16 fighters. Trouble was that the Soviets did not really have a large cadre of pilots to fly these planes.

In an effort to get bodies into the airplanes, barely trained men and women were thrown against was were, in all respects, more seasoned pilots flying for the Luftwaffe. Attempts and providing a mass of fighters against the Germans usually resulted in little more than higher victory totals for the Germans. However, the Soviets were desperate and had a lot of people they could use, especially with their vastly enlarged training system and the equally vastly truncated curriculum that actually had pilots flying the Yak-1 for the first time on their first mission. 

It does not mean that the Soviet pilots were all cannon fodder as those who survived their first few missions learned and eventually became quite skillful. Especially when the Soviet brass realized their tactics were much of what was causing their high losses.

The authors are Russian and so perhaps it is expected that that side of the story seems to be a bit more prominent. The book covers the development of the Yak-1/7 a bit more than it does the 109 as most readers are fully aware of the 109's history, thanks to literally hundreds of books on the subject.

In addition to development of the aircraft, the pilot training regime for both sides, as well as the combat tactics used by the Germans and Soviets is discussed in some detail. Then there is a section on how the aircraft fared in combat. In this part of the book, we get the combat stories told by those who were involved. For many of us, this is the neatest part of books like this as they show how well the planes can be flown by various pilots. The last part of the book is on stats and analysis. Throughout the book the authors comment on the mass over-claiming that these pilots made and one has to wonder how accurate the 'official' records might be, especially when often commander's had to worry about repercussions if things were too bleak. Still, we can get an overall feel for things and the authors have done a fine job in that regard.

It all makes for another superb edition in Osprey's Duel series. I can easily see how this has become such a popular series and this is one good reason why. Highly recommended.

May 2015

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