Soviet Aces of World War 2 (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 15)

by Hugh Morgan

Release Date: November, 1997

Edition: Paperback

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Unsatisfactory and unreliable study

I found this book unsatisfactory in several respects. To start with, it failed to leave me with more than a supeficial impression of what it meant to be a Soviet pilot in WW2 - I found the book dry and impersonal. Secondly, it left unanswered many of the questions I had before I read it, like why soviet pilots were able to score so many victories with the P39, which was neglected by US pilots. Finally, there is one damning aspect: the book is inconsistent, contradicting itself often. For instance, it will say that a given version of a Yak fighter was introduced in combat, say, in february 1943; a few pages later, a caption will say that pilot XYZ scored a kill on that fighter version in november 1942... There is plenty of similar mistakes. If you are looking for reliable references, look elsewhere. The only positive thing I can say is that there are very few studies of Soviet pilots in WW2, so this book somehow fills a gap.

Superb

Expect excellence from Osprey's "Aircraft of the ACEs" series. This one, #15, is no exception. A brief history of the V-VS preceeds the chronicle of its record, from battle to battle, during the War. After the massive losses of Barbarossa, the Red air force very gradually, and at great cost, achieved air superiority. The progression of improvements in tactics is covered quite nicely in the text. The book contains many rare action photos from Soviet and German military archive, descriptions of all the fighter aircraft in the Soviet inventory, bios of the ACEs, color plates of uniforms and individual pilots' aircraft, reproductions of propaganda posters, and plenty of lists and stats. In addition is information about the famous "Free French" Normandie Niemen regiment and Polish, Czech, Romanian and Yugoslav divisions; female regiments and women ACEs; "suicide" (taran) rammers; and "legless wonders" -- amputees who returned to the front and flew with artificial limbs. Readers of this book will also appreciate Osprey #6,"Fw 190 ACEs of the Russian Front" and Time-Life's out-of-print (Epic of Flight) "The Soviet Air Force at War".