Mombeeck

Storming the Bombers- A Chronicle of JG 4 - The Luftwaffe's 4th Fighter Wing Volume 1: 1942-1944

by  Eric Mombeeck

Reviewed By  Floyd S. Werner, Jr., IPMS# 26266

MSRP: $69.00 ISBN: 978-2-930546-01-8 Website: www.luftwaffe.be Some of you know Eric Mombeeck from his titles in the Jadgwaffe series. He is a noted aviation historian and has released a new book which is translated to English by Neil Page on JG4. He has two photo books from Classic Publications on JG4, but this is a unit history and includes lots of new material. Typical of all Mombeeck's work it is written in an easy to read style, but more importantly are the excellent photographs which cover JG4 from its conception with Bf-109Gs to the FW-190s, especially the Sturmbocks. This hardback book is printed on 242 pages of high quality paper. This allows you to glean a lot of information from the over 300 photos. JG4 was formed in 1942 in Rumania and fought for a specific reason; protect the oil fields of Ploesti. Probably because it was formed after the start of the war and fought mainly in the soft underbelly of the war JG4s history seems to have eluded historians. Mombeeck has partially remedied this with this book. These pilots flew against the bombers and had the distinction of being formed into the first Sturmgruppen. The text is well written and translates well for an easy read. The things I like about Mombeeck's books are the human elements. The unit history stuff, the day to day events, are very interesting but the anecdotes from the veterans make these books a great insight into what it was like to be there. For the modeler, the pictures are great, most are previously unpublished. This adds to the value of the book for me. The aircraft of JG4 are quite colorful and sport lots of personal emblems. For example, the Bf-109G-6 at the National Air and Space Museum is from JG4. When captured or handed over it was not in the boring greys, but sported a beautiful Italian green and brown camouflage. I still have to model this 109. Of course, JG4 is best known for their FW-190 Sturmbockes with their RVD bands of black/white/black. These create a very beautiful model and add a lot of flair. There is an appendix of eight Thierry Dekker color profiles of Bf-109G-2s, G-4s and G-6s. There are also FW-190s including the A-7/R2 and A-8/R2. These are beautifully rendered and a real inspiration for the model builder. Easy to read, excellent photos, personal accounts and first rate drawings, what more can you ask for? All these make for a great book for the modeler and historian. I personally can not wait for Volume 2. Highly recommended Thanks to my wallet for the review copy. You can get your copy through the author's website at http://www.luftwaffe.be/ . Make sure you tell him you heard about it from IPMS/USA. Don't forget to check out all his other titles.