Specialty Press

Aufklarer Volume 1: Luftwaffe Reconnaissance Aircraft and Units 1935-1941

by  David Wadman

Reviewed By  Dennis Tennant, IPMS# 41582

MSRP: $29.95 ISBN: 1-85780-268-3 Softbound, 96 pages. Available from Specialty Press: www.specialtypress.com, 800-895-4585. Specialty Press adds another fine effort to its Luftwaffe colours/classic colours series with the first volume of what will be, if they continue the two-volume approach taken with earlier titles, a fine pair of reference books for those interested in building or learning more about German reconnaissance units operating during WWII. In less than one hundred pages, David Wadham covers the early years of German aerial reconnaissance in WWI and follows the Aufklarung through the 'tween-war formative years and eventual incorporation into Goering's Luftwaffe. This book charts the Aufklarung's transition from biplanes to the single and multi-engine airplanes that had one mission in common: to provide visual intelligence for every branch of the Third Reich's war machine. Wadham's writing style is easy to read and, in relatively few pages, he sheds some light on recon units who, judging from the photos, were exposed to the same dangers as their fighter pilot brethren. No matter how good the writing, modelers tend to be more interested in the quality and number of photos in their reference material. They won't be disappointed here as the book is filled with over 250 black and white photos and color profile drawings featuring a wide variety of recon aircraft in operation over Spain, Poland and Russia between 1935-41. Printed on bright white smooth stock paper for maximum quality, Heinkel, Junkers, Fieseler, Dornier, Arado, Henschel and Messerschmitt aircraft are illustrated with wartime photos and very informative captions. I particularly liked the way the author included comments about marking and camouflage details visible only by a person with access to the original photos or negatives. This will be especially helpful to the modeler as the photos aren't always printed large enough to show every detail. Also included in the book are drawings and detail photos of the aerial cameras the planes carried and some examples of the wartime recon photos made with them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to modelers looking for quality reference material documenting Aufklarung operations in WWII. Thanks to Marie Norton at Specialty Press for providing a copy of this book to the IPMS Reviewers' Corps.

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