The latest in Kagero's 'Units' series is this one on JG 53 'Pik As' (ace of spades). Formed prior to the start of hostilities as I./ and II./JG 133, flying the Bf-109E-1 and E-3, they were redesignated in May of 1939 as I./ and II./ JG 53. The unit spent the 'Phoney War' on the western front and managed to build up a small score of French and British types. When the shooting started in earnest, JG.53's tally really started to climb with the star pilot being Werner Molders. He was shot down in the last days of the campaign and taken prisoner but soon released.

During the opening phases of the Battle of Britian the unit was stationed in Brittany and missed out on the heavier action, but they were soon in the mix of things, raising the unit's score quite a bit. They were then pulled from the fighting to re-equip with the Bf-109F and were sent to the east where they partook in Operation Barbarossa. There they ran into a target rich environment and the scores soared. As is typical of fighter wings, the unit rarely fought at the same general place at the same time. There were portions in the north, taking care of British bombers as they came in over the north sea and participating in fighter bomber sorties. Portions were also sent to North Africa and later to Sicily and to Italy.

As the war progressed, JG 26's fortunes started to turn and while they still racked up the scores, as Allied air power grew, there were more and more pilots and planes lost. Through all this the unit stuck with the Bf-109 and all its variants, finally ending the war flying the G-10, G-14 and K-4. They ended the war with 4,100 victories for the loss of about 1,000 either killed, wounded or missing. In addition to the short history of the unit, there are lots of great period photos as well as a full listing of commanders.

Typical of the series, Kagero provides decals and profiles for four aircraft flown by the unit during their existence. These are just the unique markings and cover a variety of Bf-109s. This includes an E-1 during the 'red nose stripe' period based in France in 1940, an F-4 based in Sicily during 1942 during the Malta campaign, a desert painted G-4/trop also in Sicily but a year later, and finally an F-2 in Russia during mid 1941. These decals are provided in the three major scales and are very nicely printed.

In all, it is an excellent book and having the decals only increases its value to the buyer.

March 2014

You can find this book at www.casematepublishing.com  Thanks to Casemate for the review book.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.