The Luftwaffe in the North African Campaign 1941-1943

by Werner Held, Ernst Obermaier

This classic photo volume on the North African campaign is a gripping study of one of the major campaigns of the Second World War. From the point-of-view of Luftwaffe pilots and crews the reader is shown the campaign from its outset - from the initial victories, to the final battles in Tunisia. Each arm of the Luftwaffe is presented - from the Stuka and "Zerstorer" units to the fighter units JG 27 and JG 53 "Pik As." The various Fallschirmjager (Paratrooper) units are also covered, as is the "Hermann Goring" Division which was totally destroyed in the final battles in Tunisia. This volume includes many action and up-close photographs of all of the aircraft used by the Luftwaffe - from the Messerschmitt Bf 109's and Junkers Ju 87's, to the Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant" transport planes - and also covers the many personalities, includding Hans-Joachim Marseille whose 151 aerial victories over the desert are legendary. Werner Held is the author of many books on the Luftwaffe including German Fighter Units Over Russia, The Messerschmitt Bf 110 (with Holger Nauroth), and German Fighters in World War II - The Day Fighters & The Night Fighters (with Holger Nauroth), all from Schiffer Military History. Ernst Obermaier is the author with Karl Ries of Luftwaffe Rudder Markings 1936-1945, available from Schiffer Military History.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[André · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed this for research. The pictures are fine - of course taking into account that they were taken almost 80 years ago. Also it seems to me as if the editor added contrast which isn't really helpful since the harsh sunlight already does its part - but this is just my impression after seeing other books with much better photographs.
So why only three stars? The author's short introduction on the North African Campaign is biased beyond belief.
Also with the book being about the Luftwaffe I would have expected the intro to be about that. Sadly no. It's mainly about the ground war. Thank goodness the book only has 5 pages of this.
There are however additional 1 page intros per chapter: Fighters, Bombers, Paratroopers, etc. and captions.
Intro text: 1 star, additional information: 3 stars, photographs: 4 stars