Recent issues of Yannis Khadari's bi-monthly magazine under the direction of Yann Mahé continue to evoke the spirit of CJE with plenty of good Luftwaffe content as ever; the Richthofen over Dieppe, I./NJG 2 over Britain (by J-L Roba), little-known Luftwaffe aces in the Battle of Britain (by Philippe Saintes).
Just published in the latest Aérojournal (issue 91) ..twenty pages of rare accounts and images compiled by this blog writer devoted to the Fw 190 D-9/11 and Ta 152 in combat, including newly translated diary/logbook entries from JG 51, JG 301 and JG 6. I've also managed to incorporate some of Werner Molge's lengthy contributions in Jägerblatt during the 1980s which don't appear in D.Caldwell's various JG 26 texts. French text.
"....If the Focke Wulf 190 A (Anton) was – to coin a phrase – the ugly duckling, then the Fw 190 D (Dora) was the graceful swan. The re-designed nose – to accommodate a Jumo in-line engine – and the lengthened rear fuselage gave the Dora an elegance that was far removed from the pugnacious, snub-nosed Anton. Built in large numbers from late August 1944 the Dora was one of the best fighters of the war – on paper. The fact that the type accounted for less than one hundred Allied aircraft shot down in its entire career is indicative of the overwhelming aerial supremacy of the Allies by late 1944. It also highlights the evolving role of what was initially conceived as a stop-gap high altitude fighter to combat the Allied bomber fleets but was increasingly deployed as a fast ground strafing light bomber – another ‘miracle’ weapon that contributed little more than the virtually obsolescent Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs it was designed to supercede..."
The superlative cover artwork is by Antonis Karidis and depicts Fw. Wolfgang Polster at the controls of his 11./JG 26 'yellow 10' (WNr. 500603) being caught landing at Plantlünne on 24 February 1945 by Fl. Lt. David Fairbanks in his 274 Sqd Tempest V coded JJ-F. Polster was Fairbanks 11th victim but survived this downing and the war.
" On or around April 20, 1945 the Dora-9s of II./JG 6 flew into Kummer am See in northern Bohemia, Czechoslovakia – part of the so-called and hastily thrown-together ‘Gefechtsverband Rudel’. Rudel, the ‘famous’ Stuka ace recalled his return to a front command and a sortie in the new Dora following his leg amputation...."
Having used the service a number of times now I can confirm that back issues of Aérojournal are speedily and professionally shipped via http://caraktere.com (cost 8 euros). Stocked in the UK by the Aviation and Military book Centre