Luftwaffe Emblems 1939-1945  [9780955426834]

There is a continuing interest in Second World War German aircraft, so the updated and enlarged version of this title will be welcomed by enthusiasts. What are the differences? The 1998 edition was co-authored with Mark Rolfe, but he is not mentioned here. The number if emblems covered, all in colour, has increased from 864 to 1,017 and instead of a mixed coverage straight through the new volume lists by units – fighters, night-fighters, bombers, transport, ground-attack, reconnaissance, training, air-sea rescue and miscellaneous, the emblems being shown alongside each unit.

The new layout has advantages and disadvantages. It is fine is you are looking for a specific unit, but if you know the emblem and not the unit the earlier version is easier to check through as the emblems appear on a colour section of consecutive pages with 48 per page plus inside covers.

It is surprising that so much material can be unearthed, much of it by contact with former Luftwaffe crew members. Ground crew must have been busy with paintbrushes and there appear to have been plenty of quite talented artists among the units.

This is an interesting compilation and even if you have the original version the new one adds more information and is a snip at the price.

Mike Hooks
Aeroplane – August 2012