ISBN 1-903223-45-8
176 pages

The Authors; Introduction; Foreword by Roy Russell; Foreword by Nikolaus Klutke; Glossary; Tunisian and Algerian place names; List of German Airfields in Tunisia; Table of Comparative Ranks; photos; color profiles; maps; diagrams; Sources; Index

Appendices: Aircraft and Personnel Casualties; Aerial Victories; Jabo Escort; Camouflage and Markings; Fw 190s Captured in Tunisia

   Authors Andrew Arthy and Morten Jessen take a narrow approach to a very specific topic with their recent book from Classic. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in North Africa is not really about the aircraft, nor is it about the wider air war in North Africa. Instead, Arthy and Jessen limit themselves to the operations of Luftwaffe air units equipped with the Fw 190, and only while those units were in North Africa, meaning almost exclusively Tunisia. Information about other air units, about other aspects of the war in the air in Africa, and about the North African campaign as a whole is presented only where needed to occasionally fill in some background.
   These units comprise the subject matter of the book:

Erprobungskommando 19

III./Zerstorergeschwader 2

II./Jagdgeschwader 2

III./Snellkampfgeschwader 10

II./Schlachtgeschwader 2

   Following a brief opening chapter on "The Early Desert War," the authors approach their topic in a unit-by-unit and chronological manner. The second chapter, of only one page, disposes of EKdo 19 and its loss of a single Fw 190 during what seems to have been a test flight. The next chapter looks at III./ZG 2. As with all the remaining chapters, the bulk of chapter three comprises daily "Combat Diary" entries, each ranging from one sentence up to several paragraphs, all thoroughly footnoted. In this case the entries run from 3 November 1942 through 19 December 1942. Chapter four takes exactly the same approach, covering II./JG 2 from 25 November 1942 through 31 December of the same year.
   In December 1942 III./ZG 2 was redesignated III./SKG 10, and Chapter Five continues the unit's story from 20 December through 13 February 1943. Likewise, the next chapter continues the piecemeal chronology of II./JG 2 through 13 February. Chapter Seven takes a slightly different approach, dealing with all Fw 190 operations during the Battle of Kasserine Pass between 14 and 24 February. Afterwards, a short chapter completes the story of II./JG 2 until it handed over its remaining aircraft and departed North Africa in March. Chapter Nine introduces II./Schlachtgeschwader 2 and follows its operations, along with III./SKG 10, through the end of March. The concluding chapter, "The Final Days," deals with the last month and a half of Focke-Wulf missions in Africa.
   While some chronological entries are as brief as "No entries" or "Very poor weather," others prove considerably juicier. Here's a typical selection.

Friday 19 February 1943
   On Friday morning Feldmarschall Rommel attacked Sbiba and Kasserine, but neither III./SKG 10 nor II./JG 2 flew any missions in support because of bad weather. Defensive preparations at Kasserine had been carried out on 16 February, where approximately 3,000 mines had been laid out around the roads entering the Kasserine village. During the night of 19/20 February, the Germans kept the Americans defending the road to Thala under pressure by encircling the pockets of resistance, and by launching multiple successful infiltration missions. By midnight the defensive line was completely dissolved, as no one knew precisely what the situation was and what was going on. This broke up the American fighting spirit and some groups fled in panic, while others continued fighting.

Saturday 20 February 1943
   Again bad weather prevented II./JG 2 and III./SKG 10 from carrying out operations. Feldmarschall Rommel took the Kasserine village and pass on this day.

Sunday 21 February 1943
   Rommel was stopped just south of Thala by American and British defensive positions. Early in the evening, Thala received reinforcement from the 9th Artillery Division that had travelled from Morocco in four days. Despite the exhausting travel, the 48 artillery pieces were set up and prepared for firing by daylight the next day.
   The day was uneventful for II./JG 2 and III./SKG 10, except for an unfortunate incident that occurred over Kairouan airfield. Ofw. Ludwig Jacobs, a 5./JG 2 pilot, was hit and wounded by anti-aircraft fire (possibly friendly) during a ground-attack mission, and he had to bail out near Kairouan airfield. Another source states that the crash occurred because of a broken fuel feed.
   III./SKG 10 and all serviceable II./JG 2 fighters still in northern Tunisia transferred to Kairouan airfield together during the day. Two Ju 52s were flown to Bizerta before 08:00 to provide transport for the most essential ground personnel.

Monday 22 February 1943
   Due to developments in the ground battle, Feldmarschall Rommel desperately needed air support, and all missions flown by III./SKG 10 on this day targeted Allied troops and vehicles in the Thala area. The Americans defending Thala had received reinforcements from the 9th Artillery Division, which blocked the German advance. III./SKG 10 flew five missions despite low-level clouds over most target areas. Most of the remaining personnel and equipment of III./SKG 10 transferred to Kairouan airfield during the day.
   The first mission was flown at 09:20 with eight aircraft loaded with SD 250 bombs. The orders were to attack the columns of vehicles on the road between Kasserine and Tebessa, where American forces were trying to reinforce their front line. The secondary target was the railway station and village of Morsott. The flight reached the village and dropped their bombs near a house and the railway track. No opposition was encountered, and all the Fw 190s returned to base at 10:22.
   The second III./SKG 10 flight took off at 9:40 with the same orders as the previous mission. The flight arrived over the target area, but had to abandon the primary target because of the weather situation. The clouds were hanging down to 50-100 m, making it too dangerous to attack the primary target. The same weather conditions were seen to the north and north-east, and the mission was aborted. All the aircraft returned at 10:30 with their bombs still attached to the aircraft.
   At 12:40 the third mission was flown with seven aircraft, and this time the target was the town of Thala. The weather conditions were still bad, and the target was abandoned. The aircraft dropped their SD 500 bombs on a column of vehicles on the road leading to Le Kef, and afterwards attacked with machine-guns. Several hits were registered and one fuel truck exploded. On the way back to base, the pilots spotted 60-80 vehicles heading south towards Thala. The aircraft landed at 13:40.
   The next III./SKG 10 mission was also flown against Thala, but this time with six aircraft. Lt. Doring suffered engine problems and had to turn back. He landed safely 15 minutes after take-off. Once again the weather prevented the pilots from attacking the primary target. The Fw 190s attacked a column of parked vehicles on the Le Kef-Thala road. They encountered light anti-aircraft fire north of Sbiba during their attack run, but none of the aircraft were hit, and the SD 500 bombs were dropped close to the vehicles. Four bombs hit their target and caused damage to many trucks, and the flight followed up with six or seven strafing runs which left six vehicles on fire and ten to 15 badly damaged. At 14:00 the aircraft returned to Kairouan.
   The last mission of the day was led by Oblt. Schroter, and consisted of 12 aircraft. The flight took off at 15:47 and headed west toward Thala, but Lt. Schreck suffered engine problems and returned to base. After 20 minutes flight they reached the target area and found multiple trucks, tanks and anti-aircraft positions on the road north of Thala. They all dropped their SD 500 bombs among the targets and scored hits. The Fw 190s then carried out 12 to 15 strafing runs, and their damage estimate when leaving the target area was 18-20 vehicles destroyed (approximately ten set on fire), and at least one anti-aircraft position destroyed from a direct bomb hit. Some of the Fw 190s also got a chance to fire at an A-20 north of Thala, but no one followed it or saw it crash. The 47th BG lost one A-20 to German fighters in the Kasserine region, and it would seem that this was III./SKG 10's victim. During the mission, pilots observed strong enemy forces on the road from Le Kef heading towards Thala. At 16:45 the 11 aircraft returned to base to conclude a successful day of operations.

Tuesday 23 February 1943
   At 07:20 an Allied air raid by 301st BG B-17s attacked Kairouan airfield, and Oblt. Wolf von Bulow of 5./JC 2 was killed, and Hptm. Hauenschild of 10./SKG 10 was wounded. These were serious blows to the Fw 190 units, because both men were experienced Staffel leaders. Hptm. Hauenschild was evacuated from Tunisia, and did not return to action for several months. He flew 92 missions in his three months in Tunisia, and was killed in September 1943 in Italy as Gruppenkommandeur of II./SKG 10. Aside from personnel losses, two II./JG 2 aircraft were 60 per cent damaged, and these losses left the unit at Kairouan with only four or five serviceable aircraft, because replacement aircraft and spare parts rarely reached the unit from this point in time until it left Tunisia. The II./JG 2 detachment in northern Tunisia also had few aircraft available for operations.
   III./SKG 10 suffered no aircraft losses in the bombing raid, and flew two missions on this day. Twelve Fw 190s took off from Kairouan at 10:40 with orders to bomb and strafe everything they encountered on the road between Sbiba and Le Kef. The mission was an attempt to stop, or at least slow down, the supplies coming to the front line from the north. Le Kef was the secondary target, and when no targets presented themselves on the road, the Fw 190 pilots continued to Le Kef, where some barracks and vehicles north-west of the town were bombed. The pilots also destroyed or damaged several vehicles with their guns. Over Le Kef, four Spitfires were chased at low-altitude, but none were shot down. The flight landed at Sidi Ahmed airfield instead of Kairouan, because of the bombing raid earlier in the morning.
   The second mission began with four aircraft at 14:00 from Sidi Ahmed. The target was vehicles on the roads near Souk el Arba. After 35 minutes flight the pilots dropped their SD 500 bombs from between 1,000 to 1,200 m, and two bombs hit barracks north of Le Kef. The other two detonated on the road intersection connecting Souk el Arba, Le Kef and Teboursouk. The Fw 190 formation returned to base at 15:05.
   Feldmarschall Rommel started his withdrawal in the Kasserine area and was appointed commander of Army Group Africa, with General Armin and General Messe as his subordinates. The Allied ground forces had not noticed the German withdrawal, so Rommel was able to retreat without losses and harassment from enemy artillery and aircraft.

Wednesday 24 February 1943
   The first III./SKG 10 mission of the day was flown from Sidi Ahmed. Eight Fw 190s took off at 11:30 with SD 500 bombs and climbed to 3,300 m. When reaching the target, south of Sedjenane, they descended to 500- 700 m and dropped their bombs on a camp. Two of the bombs missed the target and detonated harmlessly. Dense smoke rose from the camp, and a fuel truck and two other trucks were set on fire. The flight encountered only light anti-aircraft fire, and all returned to Sidi Ahmed at 12:09.
   Late in the afternoon the second III./SKG 10 mission of the day started, again from Sidi Ahmed. At 16:00 five aircraft took off to attack a tent camp near Beja. The mission was carried out successfully, but four 111 Sqdn Spitfires maintaining a standing patrol east of Beja attacked the Fw 190s. One Fw 190 was hit in the tail section and wing control surfaces. Lt. Doring's aircraft was hit in the engine, and he had to bail out. He landed safely near Mateur and returned to his unit a few hours later. The remaining Fw 190s escaped the Spitfires and returned to base.
   Allied forces re-entered Sbiba after Rommel's total withdrawal of the German and Italian forces. During the day III./SKG 10 was ordered to transfer to Gabes-West, and preparations for the transfer were made during the evening and night, so the departure could be made early next morning.

   Not surprisingly, the authors tend to be less convincing when they write about action on the ground, such as "the 9th Artillery Division," by which they almost certainly mean the 9th Infantry Division's artillery.
   More importantly, readers familiar with Fighters over Tunisia by Chris Shores, Hans Ring, and William Hess will recognize this sort of approach. The material from Arthy and Jessen essentially forms a subset of the Shores material, with some embellishments but inevitably much thinner. For example, where Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in North Africa might offer a paragraph about Fw 190 ops on a given day, Shores and colleagues will have a sentence or two about those missions as part of multiple pages which include all the other air operations on the same day.
   In addition to the chronological chapters, the authors include some data-intensive appendices. The first lists on over six dense pages all aircraft and personnel casualties of "North African Fw 190 Units" with date, unit, aircraft variant (such as A-3), serial number, markings, name and fate of the pilot, location, amount of damage to aircraft, combat/non-combat flight, and remarks. The second appendix lists Fw 190 aerial victories "in Tunisia and Sicily, 8 November 1942 to 13 May 1943" with date, claiming pilot, unit, type of enemy aircraft, location and altitude, time, probable victim, confirmation, and sources. Other appendices cover Fw 190s as jabos, camouflage and markings, and details of 190s captured in Tunisia. That final appendix includes a gallery of photos of captured German planes, with an especially notable one showing an Fw 190 of III./SKG 10 and a group of officers from a visiting Chinese military mission. Claes Sundin contributes about a dozen very attractive aircraft profiles in full color as well as five very nice maps.
   Despite Sundin's contributions, and unlike most earlier books from Classic, Arthy and Jessen are much more concerned about hard data and much less concerned with visual presentation of that data. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in North Africa is not an unattractive book by any means, but the emphasis is on information. That will entice many readers, but might not thrill all the Classic fans accustomed to a much more sumptuous look. In any event, the wealth of specialized material, and the appendices in particular, make this a very useful companion to the Shores book, but it can also stand on its own for those with interests limited to Fw 190s.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Classic (an imprint of Ian Allen) or its American distributor, Specialty Press.
   Thanks to Specialty for providing this review copy.