Now for the second volume on Luftwaffe transport units. This covers from 1943 until the end of the war and while it is still pretty much a Ju-52 story, there are also quite a few other types in there like the Ju-352, Ar-232, SM.81, Me-323, and even a helicopter.

As the war started to go badly for the Germans, there was even more need for air supply. However, the increasing Allied air presence made these air shipments not only costly in terms of aircraft, but dangerous as well.  This aspect of the mission was clearly shown during the resupply missions to North Africa in 1943. Flying just meters off the water, Ju-52 flights of up to 60 aircraft ran the gauntlet to Tunisia to bring material to the Africa Corps. Often, these were discovered by Allied aircraft and the outcome was never in doubt. At times half of the aircraft would not make it. With attrition like this, it doesn't take a crystal ball to see that things were only going to get more desperate.

One thing the Luftwaffe did to try to overcome some of these shortages was to use cargo glides like the Go -242 and Me-321. Eventually these gliders were powered, becoming the Go-244 and the more successful but huge six engined Me-323. Later in the war, bombers were converted to transports, the most successful of these conversions were older He-111s which had a large enough fuselage to allow a reasonable amount of cargo to be carried.

Eventually, all was for naught and near the end it was a lack of fuel as much as anything that put a halt to the whole deal.

Martin Pegg continues in the standard vein of Classic Books by having an excellent historical section followed by some stories of the men who flew the planes. There are a huge number of period photos and many of those are the subjects of the excellent profiles. The somewhat confusing tail codes carried on Ju-52s is also cleared up, making this a most useful reference as well as a great read.

If you have enjoyed previous volumes in this series, then this is one that you really must have in your library.

October 2006

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