Title:

War Prizes; The Album

Author:

Phil Butler

Publisher

Midland

Price

$34.95 from Specialty Press

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Notes: ISBN 1-85780-244-6, 128 Pages, over 350 photos

Here's an interesting book. This one is "A pictorial compedium of Axis aircraft operated by the Allies during and after the Second World War". Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say operated as I don't know of any USAAF Focke-Wulf squadrons, but these aircraft were generally at least flown to see what they were like.

This is primarily a photo book with captions for all the images telling the actual story. There is an introduction in which the compiler tells what is meant by a war prize, what was done with these aircraft and what organizations were responsible for the testing and interpretation of those results.

Then we get into the heart of the book, and that is the photographs. This includes images of the aircraft when they were captured, tested and their eventual fate, if that is known. It is arranged alphabetically, starting with Arado and ending with Yokosuka. There is a large color section of photos showing many of these planes that have survived in museums or, in a few cases, returned to flying status. This is followed by a table of serials that were applied to the aircraft by the British or Americans and their eventual fate, if known. Sadly, a majority of the serial listings end with the word 'scrapped'.

If you have ever wondered what happened to all that war material, now you have the chance. This is an excellent compilation and one in which you will not be disappointed.

March 2007

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