Casemate UK Luftwaffe In Colour From Glory to Defeat 1942-1945

[Mike]

Luftwaffe In Colour

From Glory to Defeat 1942-1945

Casemate UK

 

 

After their initial successes dominating Europe, the Third Reich looked invincible for a while, until things stopped going their way quite so easily following their defeat (or stalemate if you like) in the Battle of Britain brought the juggernaut to a halt at the Channel.   The later joining of America sealed their fate as their massive industrial complex wound up to full speed.  The propaganda arms of the Nazi Party never stopped working until the very late stages of the war, so the photographs and film were still being produced in all the major theatres of operation.

 

They were still using colour photography to a surprising extent, which has resulted in some really useful colour evidence that was gathered incidentally to the real subject matter of friends and colleagues as they documented their experiences in the war.

 

 

Colour developing wasn't as exact a science as it is today, so we have to make some allowances for this, and for the possibility that some prints have been reprocessed over the years, but it is still impressive to see, gathered together in one volume.  Compiled and written again by Christophe Cony and Jean-Louis Roba, the book extends to 160 pages in a portrait A4 format, with a perfect bound cover and quality glossy stock, which is unsurprisingly printed entirely in colour.  There are almost 400 photos within the book, and they are of a wide variety of subjects, varying from candid snaps to posed publicity and unit archive style photos.  The book is broken down into sections based upon location and campaigns, as follows:

 

Introduction

Part X Face-to-Face with the Soviet Steamroller

Part XI The Mediterranean Front

Part XII The West: From One Landing to the Next

Part XIII Second Line and Training Units

Part XIV The Eagle Falls

 

Photography throughout is marvellous, subject to the limitations of the source material of course, and it is good to see so many of them printed large enough to see the details without squinting again.  There are all manner of aircraft types within the pages, as per the first volume from the Go.242 (the what?), through Tante Ju (Ju-52), the Gigant, the later types such as the Ju.188, B&V 222, Arado 234, Me.262 and even a captured Spitfire.  The last chapter shows the devastation wrought as the Allies as they advanced toward final victory.

 

 

Together they make an excellent pair, with plenty of reference material, plus a good read to be had in-between.  The quality of the pictures in some cases gives the impression that they could have been taken yesterday.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of