French Wings 4 - Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 - FRROM

[Julien]

French Wings 4 - Lioré et Olivier LeO 45

Azur FR.ROM

The Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 was a French medium bomber from WWII. The aircraft was an effective bomber however it appeared too late to have much effect on the Battle for France. Even though the first prototypes were built in 1938 the shortage of propellers and the change from the original Hispano-Suiza engines led to only 22 aircraft being delivered by the start of WWII. The aircraft were particularly distinguishable by the large 20m cannon fitted for rearwards defence. In the end over 400 aircraft were produced and these would be used by the Vichy government. The aircraft were also used by the Luftwaffe though in the transport rather than bomber role. In a strange twist some of these aircraft would then receive American markings over the German camouflage after they were again captured.

The book is softback A4 in size with 80 pages. There are a wealth of black & white photographs with 22 pages of colour profiles. The text is interspersed with technical drawings of the aircraft. The text covers Development, construction, combat use (including Vichy use in Syria), captured use, and use post WWII.

These books in the French Wings series are excellent give an insight into often forgotten but import French aircraft, and this one is no exception. Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

Available direct from MMP Bookis

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Certainly a cool subject.