New book: 'From Barbarossa to Odessa' (vol. 1, 22 June - 31 July 1941), By Dénes Bernád, Dmitriy Karlenko & Jean-Louis Roba

Well, C-2 doesn't really count here, as he just dropped by, but didn't honour us with his prolonged presence. And Mytzu, Toppy, Korn and Tomcat actually play in both camps (of course, not sexually speaking - at least I hope so).

Gen. Dénes

To t3h gay-bar !

I just received my copy today!!!!!! Only by mail, not in a glamourous way like you in Bucarest... I would have loved to be there!!!!!!!!! I already saw a couple of pictures that will make great modelling ideas...........

So,Denes,did you talked with your father-in-law?

'Messer', I will contact you privately when the time is right.

Gen. Dénes

I finished reading through last week. Being used to Osprey Military style publishings, technical literature (about ww1 naval vessels mainly) and publications presenting a military or political standpoint, i was pleasantly surprised by the in depth level of a publication which tracks down every single aircraft operation.
One could use this book as reference on statistical or other military publications on "Barbarossa" or components as subject.
Being a layman on the subject of aviation in general, and ww2 aviation in particular, this book restarted my interest in aviation, which was awaken briefly by Constable&Toliver's "Horrido" a few years ago and maybe will push me towards aircraft modelling, something which i stood away from so far.

Some parts were, for me, sometimes cumbersome to read, as i was not familiar with many of the abbreviations, so it took me a bit to adjust, as this is not the style of book one would sit down and read for entrtainment on a rainy afternoon. I also realized that a set of good maps of the region, especially Bessarabia, are a must. However, Encarta Worldatlas did do a good job in providing me with a measuremen tool for aircraft ranges.

I do have an affinity for statistics, as one can construct lies an darned lies from them. (hehehe)
This brings me to something that i would have found a very nice-to-have: statistical breakdowns at the end of each day. they were provided for the buildup and day 1. of course i can go ahead and make the math myself but a daily (or even weekly) overview of aircraft available, types and losses would help grasping the overall development of the attrition that was the eastern front for all sides.

To sum it up, I want to congratulate Denes, Dimitry Karlenko and Jean-Louis Roba for the outstanding research work made available to us readers, for an often overlooked part of the war. It is a must-to-have work for any ww2 aviation enthusiast with an interest in the eastern front and especially for an ARR fan. Keep 'em comming gents! Now if just Gary Staff would finish his "Eagles over the Baltic" for which I'm waiting since 2000 too...

A closing word about the publisher: i have yet to see an english language publisher who would get the casus of substantives right in german.

Thank you, Dead-cat, for the review. Indeed, our book is not a casual reading in a rainy afternoon - it was never intended to as such - but rather a detailed, day-by-day description of the events. Indeed again, more maps could have helped; however, my hands were tied by the Publisher, who clearly stated the number of pages, maps and colour profiles. The lack of enough printing space didn't allow me either to include a day's end statistics for both sides, which I originally intended to (I am also a fan of statistics). All these are now left to the reader. However, you will find at the end of vol. 2 - we are currently working on with full steam - a brief analysis of the air war on the southern flank of the Eastern front, which hopefully will help grasp the general picture.

Gen. Dénes

By the way, Claudiu`s back home .... PM him for details.

This post has been edited by Messerschmitt on August 30, 2007 06:26 am

Please contact me directly if you need further details, not here on the foum.

Gen. Dénes

P.S. BTW, I did PM him yesterday. You should PM him, too...

Here is a short review posted on the prestigious web site, Stone & Stone:
http://sonic.net/~bstone/archives/080302.shtml

"Compared to books about RAF and USAAF operations—think about Bomber Command War Diaries and Fighter Command War Diaries and Air War Europa and the USAAF Combat Chronology—far less information has been published about day-to-day aerial ops on the Russian Front. Despite some efforts to more thoroughly document the daily air action (see, for example, Christer Bergstrom's new book, below), the same level of detail simply hasn't been available to historians. It comes as a pleasant surprise, then, to open this book by Bernad, Karlenko, and Roba, especially when it's touted as the first of a series.

The authors open with twelve pages that recap the events leading up to Operation Barbarossa, survey the opposing air forces, and provide OBs for the Luftwaffe, Soviets, Royal Rumanian Air Force, Hungarian Air Force, and Slovak expeditionary air units. These orders of battle (and the ensuing text) don't cover the entire front, just the southern flank of Barbarossa, essentially the frontage of German Army Group South.

Following that introductory material, the book begins day-by-day coverage of action in the air on that part of the front. This runs from 22 June through 31 July. Each daily entry averages a page or more in length, but considerably longer for the opening days of the campaign. The daily material proves in many ways comparable to the depth of coverage Chris Shores has provided in books like Fighters over the Desert and Malta: The Hurricane Years.
Here's an extract from one of the daily entries in From Barbarossa to Odessa:

<<At 0705, four Soviet aircraft bombed the railway station and barracks at Ramnicul-Sarat. An intruder, shot down by anti-aircraft fire, crashed near Vulturul, the crew escaping by parachute. Buzau airfield and railway station also suffered an attack by four bombers, dropping 22 large calibre bombs of which two did not explode, but only little damage was recorded, along with two wounded civilians. At 0735, bombs were dropped by four Soviet bombers near Bivolari, without result. At 0820, nine Soviet bombers attacked Jassy, their bombs falling on a field near Probota, without causing damage. At 0920, while returning from a patrol over the front line, a Schwarm from II./JG 77 met four DB-3s engaged probably in one of the many Soviet intrusions of the day over Rumania. All were reportedly shot down.
Contrary to the previous days, Axis aircraft did not target the airfield of 67 IAP this day. Alongside the bomber crews of 299 BBAP, pilots of 67 IAP strafed a large concentration of enemy vehicles at Oancea. Lt. Butsenko and Ml. Lt. Shlyachov each set on fire a fuel tanker. At 0740, nine SBs of 45 SBAP carried out a bombing attack on the river crossing over the Pruth, 3-4 km south of Tover. One of the SBs was shot down by enemy fighters near Chistelnita, all crewmembers being killed.
At 0750, pilots of 69 IAP on readiness, sitting strapped into their fighters, were alerted by forward ground observers of the PVO that an enemy bomber formation was approaching. They quickly took oft and attacked the bombers, not realising that they were SBs. As a result of 'friendly fire', one of the three SBs was shot down. The engine of Major Shestakov's fighter was also hit eleven times, thus the pilot had to make an emergency landing. Another Soviet bomber was also lost in error, most probably to pilots of 69 IAP. The SB of 317 RAP was shot down by MiG-3s during a reconnaissance flight.
At 0925, eight I-153s and three MiG-3s of 4 IAP flew to the Kuhnesti-Sculeni area, where they were attacked by four [Rumanian] Hurricanes. In the ensuing dogfight, Kpt. Tereshkin claimed to have shot down one Hurricane, but in turn one MiG-3, flown by St. Lt. Gridnev, was lost. No Rumanian fighter is recorded as being lost this day. Later in the day, pilots of 4 IAP attacked Bacau airfield, where they claimed two Blenheims destroyed by Lt. Nosov, Ml. Lt. Baydov and Ml. Lt. Avdeyev. No Rumanian Blenheim, or any other two-engine aircraft, is recorded as being destroyed on ground this day.
Six Ar-2s of 132 SBAP dive-bombed the river crossing near Sculeni. Enemy fighters identified as 'SET-15s' attempted to attack them, but their efforts were unsuccessful. However, one Soviet gunner was killed during combat. Later in the day, seven Ar-2s and 25 SBs of this regiment transferred to Tsebrikovo. At 1005, seven Ar-2s bombed the same river crossing for a second time. Over the target area, the bombers were surprised by a summer downpour. While leaving the storm clouds, the Soviet formation was suddenly attacked by six Bf 109s east of Jassy (lasi). They pursued the retreating Soviets over the border, eventually shooting down two Ar-2s. Only one pilot survived, the rest of the crew being killed.
In the morning, probably during a strafing attack, the Bf 109 E-4, W.Nr. 5365, flown by Fw. Rudolf Schmidt of 5./JG 77 was hit by Flak and had to make an emergency landing. The fighter was destroyed but, after a few hours, the future Ritterkreuztrager returned back unhurt. A few hours later, he is reported to have shot down two DB-3s.>>

The authors round out the book with ample photos and a few color aircraft profiles, but this is a solid, serious, text-heavy approach despite the glossy, oversized format. The volume lacks indication of sources for the material (despite footnotes, which mostly add more to the descriptions) and does not include a bibliography (although that's promised for the second volume).

Bernad and his colleagues have performed admirable work, and their detailed chronological account deserves wide recognition by everyone with an interest in the air war on the Russian Front."

Gen. Dénes

Good work! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

Volume 2 is now reportedly out (I haven't seen it myself yet).

The first review has already been posted on my aviation forum:
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi...History%20Forum

Gen. Dénes

Congrats, Denes!

By any chance, can you help us with a batch(of course we will pay ) here to romania for our guys? (Mytzu, Electric, Toppy and the others?)

Of course, I will help you purchase vol. 2, no problem. However, this time I will not have the chance to hand deliver the books, so they will have to be sent in a large parcel, to a middleman located in Bucharest, who will then distribute them and collect the money (who is volunteering?).

So, please, all of you from Rumania who are interested in a copy, make a note here, so I can see how many copies to order. Anyone how missed vol. 1 can add himself to the list, and I will order as many first volumes as needed.

The price for either volume is the same, 16,99 GBP, which is 81,55 RON (add a bit of postage). So the expected final price will be about 85 RON (higher to addresses located outside Bucharest).

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on March 26, 2008 07:54 pm

Please add me for both volumes, as some pbs occured with the hotmail/aol programs....

BM

PS I just saw last summer pictures. Such a pity, i was in Romania at that period, but further north.

This post has been edited by Bernard Miclescu on March 29, 2008 04:51 pm