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Hikoki Publications |
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Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope The Attack on Allied Airfields, New Year's Day 1945 by John Manrho and Ron Putz |
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Reviewed By Floyd S. Werner, Jr., #26266 |
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ISBN 1-902109-40-6 MSRP: $49.95 USD Desperate times call for desperate measures seams to be the mantra for the Luftwaffe’s New Year’s Day attack on the Allied airfields. Imagine the shock of suddenly waking up to more enemy aircraft than had been seen in a long time and they are all trying to kill you and you have a hangover. That is the position many of the Allied soldiers and airmen found themselves in on 1 January 1945. It sounded like a good plan but by 1945 Allied air superiority and American resources had made such a plan futile and costly in experienced pilots. Carefully husbanded aircraft that Galland would use for his big blow were squandered on this ill-fated ground attack. In what amounted to nothing more than the final death throes, the Luftwaffe took its remaining fighters and hurled them at the air bases on the continent of Europe. What resulted was 200 Allied aircraft destroyed, 150 damaged, for the loss of 271 German fighters and 213 pilots. Of the 213, many were highly experienced leaders. These were losses that the Luftwaffe would never recover from. Bodenplatte is a hardbound book, published by renowned Hikoki Publications, on high quality paper. It is well written, being logically broken down into each Jagdgruppe that took part. Some highlights included are the ineffective use of the Ar-234 and Me-262 to the overwhelming success of JG3 at Eindhoven. It seems to have depended on how experienced the Gruppe or Staffeln leaders were as to how effective the attack was. At this point in the war, experience was something that was lacking in the Luftwaffe. It was interesting to note that there is mention of a JG2 FW-190D-9 with 21cm rockets under the wing, something I had not heard of before. “Bodenplatte” contains many unique first person accounts from both sides of the engagement, not just from an aerial perspective but from a ground one as well. It is well written and a very easy read. One thing that I found interesting is the sheer quantity of Luftwaffe pilots that were listed as missing from this one mission alone who still haven’t been found. One such pilot was Major Günter Specht from JG11, but there were many more. The authors extensively researched this new book, and because of this, many families found out where their relatives are buried or remains were discovered. Bodenplatte has over 350 photos that range from shot-down fighters to pilot profiles. Many of these photographs are previously unpublished. All are of good quality. If I had to find a drawback of the book it would be the lack of color plates for the aircraft. The front cover has the only rendering in the book. With the beautiful work of this machine I was anticipating seeing more inside, but there just aren’t any. This is a very good book for the modeler and historian. I enjoyed the read and the photos. The first person accounts add immense insight to the turmoil of battle. This is the best book written to date on this historic event. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the Luftwaffe or the air war in Europe. As a side note, Ron Putz died prior to the publication of this book; however, he leaves a wonderful book as a legacy. “Bodenplatte” is something he would have been proud of. I would like to thank Specialty Press for the review copy. The book can be ordered by calling Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or by visiting www.specialtypress.com . A $4.95 shipping and handling fee is added to each order. |
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