ISBN: 978-85780-279-5
Pages: 208

Preface; Conventions; Abbreviations and Translations; Introduction; photos; color emblems

   We've bitched and moaned about this kind of book, or the lack thereof, in the past. For example, here's an excerpt from our whining in the "Wish List" we composed in 1999:

Luftwaffe Units and Order of Battle

For the USAAF we have a pair of comprehensive OB/unit history volumes from Maurer Maurer. For the RAF we have many similar volumes from the likes of Rawlings, Moyes, Jefford, Sturtivant, and Lewis.... Even the units and OBs of the Regia Aeronautica are nicely covered in Chris Dunning's recent Courage Alone. But where is such an English-language book on the Luftwaffe? Many titles offer a few partial orders of battle for selected dates, and Barry Rosch provides a useful listing of units and dates in his Luftwaffe Codes, Markings, and Units, but his information and layout don't do for the Luftwaffe what others have done for the USAAF and RAF.

   In the past we've even gone so far as to recommend to some of our contacts in the publishing industry that they could make a fortune (we've been known to exaggerate) by filling the gap with a comprehensive volume covering Luftwaffe unit histories and OBs.
   Well, the bitching and moaning is over.
   After all these years, a couple of intrepid researchers (ably assisted by Eddie Creek, who surely must win the award for most co-author credits without having a book of his very own) named Henry L. de Zeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey (neither previously known to us) have compiled exactly the kind of tome for which we have been wishing. If you want to know where any Kampfgeschwader (or any of its gruppen) happened to be on a given date, or what aircraft they were flying and what they were doing, or who commanded the unit, Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe is the book for you.
   Although the authors illustrate their material with a selection of photographs, this is not another in a long, long line of Luftwaffe photo albums or excruciating treatments of aircraft camouflage, markings, and paint samples. De Zeng and Stankey (and Creek) concentrate almost exclusively on the units themselves, putting this volume in the same league with the important work of Maurer, Rawlings, Moyes, Jefford, Sturtivant, Dunning, and so forth.
   The approach the authors take to Luftwaffe units for the most part resembles the same basic formula used by researchers who have compiled similar data for squadrons of the Royal Air Force. (See, for example, our survey of books about RAF squadrons, written in 1996.) To begin with, their presentation of Luftwaffe bomber units is divided into two volumes. (We have the first volume on hand for this review; the second volume has been published in the UK but has not yet reached our distant shore.) Each volume treats a number of Kampfgeschwader in numerical order. This one covers the twenty-one units beginning with KG 1 and ending with KG 60. Each is presented in numerical order in its own chapter.
   For each individual Geschwader, the pattern works like this.
   The chapter begins with the number and name of the formation, its emblem, and unit code. For example (but emblem not show here):

K.G. 1 'Hindenburg'
Kampfgeschwader 1 'Hindenburg'
(Unit code: V4+)

   The authors then deal with each component of the Geschwader, one at a time. Typically this runs in the order Stab, I. Gruppe (sometimes—for each gruppe—including first formation, second formation, etc if the unit was disbanded and reformed), II. Gruppe, III. Gruppe, and IV. (Ergangzungs) Gruppe. Of course, plenty of exceptions and oddball gruppen exist within various Geschwaders.
   For each component, the entry begins with "Formation" which describes, naturally enough, where and when the unit originated (sometimes from scratch, sometimes by redesignation/transfer from another unit). This part of the entry also usually notes the model of aircraft with which the unit was initially equipped.
   Here's an example of "Formation and Training."

Formation; training (May 1939 - August 1939) Formed on 1 May 1939 at Erfurt-Bindersleben/Thuringia from II./K.G. 253 with He 111. Trained over summer of 1939.

   Following that data, the entry for each component of the Geschwader includes a sequence of headings that break down that gruppe's (or stab's) service throughout its entire existence. Those headings generally look something like this:

Polish campaign; training. (September 1939 - March 1940)

Invasion of Scandinavia. (April 1940)

Invasion of the West. (May 1940 - July 1940)

Battle of Britain; Blitz raids; Sicilian diversion. (August 1940 - June 1941)

Moscow raids; Northern Russia; supply missions (July 1941 - May 1942)

Central Russia; rest and re-equipment on He 177; redesignation (June 192 - October 1943)

   This part of each entry contains the real meat of the book, with the information under each heading ranging in length from a few lines to a full page or more. The data under each heading (whatever the length, the authors refer to it as a "paragraph") lists in chronological order the key activities of the gruppe (or Geschwader stab). These activities generally include movement from one front to another, transfer from one base to another, redesignations, and so forth.
   That approach proves fairly similar to the path taken by Jefford (probably the single best volume on RAF squadrons), but with considerably more facts. While Jefford generally lists only date of formation, date moved to new base, date re-equipped, and date disbanded, de Zeng and Stankey include all that information plus much more. In addition to notes about operations in general, here it's not unusual to find specifics of some daily missions, strength returns for some dates, overall losses for some dates, identities of individual lost aircraft, etc. Consequently, these entries provide significantly more particulars for each unit.
   For one gruppe of a Geschwader, here are a few of the headings, along with their "paragraphs," that chart the history of the gruppe during those periods. (But keep in mind that each gruppe and stab typically has many of these blocks of information, and these examples are fairly short.)

Invasion of West; first raids on England; training (May 1940 -July 1940) Had 35(18) He 111 P and 1(0) He 111 D at Fassberg under Fl.Korps z.b.V. 2 (10 May 1940); bombed Rotterdam-Waalhaven airfield (10 May); ground support across Holland (11-16 May); to Kirchhellen (latter part of May); supported advance of 18. Armee into Belgium, hit troops and ships vic Calais-Dunkirk-Ostende (17-31? May); attacked Dunkirk pocket (27 May); in Operation Paula, attacked air facilities in Paris area (3 June); moved to Merville, near Lille (5 June); attacked rail and shipping targets vic Dieppe, then columns vic Tours in Loire valley (6-19 June): began attacks on England (no later than 19 June); night raids on RAF airfields (20-22 June); to Varel (near Wilhelmshaven)/Germany to rest and re-equip for mine laying (23 June); trained in mine laying (all July); to Eindhoven/Holland (end of July 1940).

Battle of Britain; Blitz raids (August 1940 - March 1941) Had 31(25) He 111 P at Eindhoven/Holland under 9.Fl.Div. / Lfl. 2 (13 August 1940); unspecified raids on England; had 37(30) He 111 at Eindhoven/Holland under IX.Fl.Korps (4 September); had low losses mainly due to flying at night (August - October); to Soesterberg (end of September or early October 1940); Coventry raid (14/15 November 1940); raided industrial cities, with low losses (January - March 1941); positioned to Wien-Aspern/Austria for Balkans campaign (29 March 1941).

Belgrade raid; mine laying in Mediterranean; Iraqi interlude; to Romania (April 1941 - June 1941) Had 28(25) He 111 P at Wien-Aspern/Austria under Lfl. 4 (5 April 1941); raided Belgrade with 1000 kg mines (6 April); other Balkan operations are unknown (April); 4. Staffel began mining Greek waters (April); to Zilistea/Romania (21 April); part of Gruppe? in Sicily (22 April); raided Valetta/Malta (22 April); most of Gruppe began mining Alexandria and Suez Canal based at or staging through Gadurra/Rhodes (1 May - 7 June); 4. Staffel to Rhodes then Athens-Tatoi for repainting in Iraqi markings; to Iraq (11 May); 4. Staffel under Hptm. Schwanhauser detached and sent to support Iraqi uprising, under Fl.Fu.Irak (Sd.Kdo. Junck) (11 May - 11 June 1941); 4. Staffel at Palmyra/Iraq (14 May); 4. Staffel left Iraq (31 May); Gruppe in Rumania preparing for invasion of Soviet Union (11 June); 4. Staffel rejoined Gruppe in Zilistea (11 June 1941).

Southern Russia; Central Russia; Northern Russia; resting (June 1941 - November 1941) Had 24(8) He 111 H at Zilistea/Romania under IV.Fl.Korps / Lfl. 4 (22 June 1941); laid 170 mines in harbours of Sevastopol and Nikolayev (22 June - 2 July); ordered to join rest of Geschwader in France (5 July); to France (ca 7 July); shortly after arriving in France, ordered to Prowehren/East Prussia for East front operations (ca 10 July); made 4 raids on Moscow, and several mine laying missions off Estonian coast (23-31 July); had 23(17) He 111 H under IX.Fl.Korps (26 July); may have mined Oesel and Dago (after mid-July); to Korovye Selo (22 km south of Pskov) in northern sector (ca 6 August); supported advance toward Leningrad, did mine laying in Gulf of Finland, attacked shipping on Lake Ladoga (from 8 August); to Prowehren/East Prussia to rest and re-equip (beginning of October 1941); rebuilding (October - late December 1941); at Prowehren (21 December 1941).

   As can be readily discerned, these "mini-histories" are condensed in format but tightly packed with huge amounts of information. We're aware of no other English-language book which can come remotely close to this level of detailed data for each stab and gruppe of every Luftwaffe Kampfgeschwader. While the authors provide stupefying quantities of pertinent material, some of the density of the pages stems from the abbreviations and specific stylistic conventions used by the authors, all of which (along with translations of some key German terms) are fully explained at the beginning of the book. Those conventions allow reams of text—nuggets that took years to unearth and assemble—to be compressed into relatively few column inches.
   The only nit to be picked here is the format chosen for presenting those chronological nuggets under each heading, which, with semicolon after semicolon and profusion of parenthetical dates, can prove to be headache-inducing. Thankfully, it's unlikely anyone will sit down to read this volume straight through from cover to cover, else it would be necessary to procure new reading glasses and prescribe stronger migraine medication. More likely, readers will be using the book to pick out information for particular units on specific dates. The data is certainly there, but it could take much patience and a magnifying glass to find it.
   It would be much easier to find and read the information if it had been presented more like this (which in fact closely resembles Jefford's approach to RAF squadron listings):

Belgrade raid; mine laying in Mediterranean; Iraqi interlude; to Romania (April 1941 - June 1941)

5 April 1941 Had 28(25) He 111 P at Wien-Aspern/Austria under Lfl. 4

6 April Raided Belgrade with 1000 kg mines

April Other Balkan operations are unknown

April 4. Staffel began mining Greek waters

21 April To Zilistea/Romania

22 April Part of Gruppe? in Sicily

22 April Raided Valetta/Malta

1 May - 7 June Most of Gruppe began mining Alexandria and Suez Canal based at or staging through Gadurra/Rhodes

4. Staffel to Rhodes then Athens-Tatoi for repainting in Iraqi markings;

11 May To Iraq

11 May - 11 June 1941 4. Staffel under Hptm. Schwanhauser detached and sent to support Iraqi uprising, under Fl.Fu.Irak (Sd.Kdo. Junck)

14 May 4. Staffel at Palmyra/Iraq

31 May 4. Staffel left Iraq

11 June Gruppe in Rumania preparing for invasion of Soviet Union

11 June 1941 4. Staffel rejoined Gruppe in Zilistea

   But that's just our opinion, and we're fully aware that spreading out the text to make it easier to read would result in more pages in the book which in turn would mean a higher price tag. Thus, we'll try to refrain from quibbling.
   In any event, after the series of headings and "paragraphs" full of operational data, the entry for each Geschwader stab or gruppe concludes with the field post number(s) for the unit and a list of commanders showing rank, full name, and dates served.
   At the end of the chapter for each Kampfgeschwader, the authors provide a list of published sources relating to that unit and suggestions for further reading. The list of references is keyed to the bibliography which appears in the second volume of the set, and consequently isn't available here.
   In sum, this is a spectacular accomplishment—the result of years and years of research and meticulous note-taking by de Zeng and Stankey—and it's difficult to imagine anyone with an interest in the Luftwaffe who won't want to acquire the book. That's not to say the information is always perfectly accurate or entirely complete. The well-known destruction of the vast majority of the Luftwaffe's records near the end of the war (partly by Allied bombing and partly by order of Hermann Goering) make the task of compiling this information far more difficult than similar work on USAAF and RAF squadrons. Likewise, the dearth of official archival records means a greater likelihood of outright mistakes.
   The authors, fully cognizant of the pitfalls of publishing so much information with the certainty of some imperfections, have this to say in the Preface:

   Lastly, we wish to state in unmistakably clear terms that our work contains mistakes—many of them. The lack of surviving Luftwaffe documentation and other constraints noted above make that a certainty. We did our best with the available resources to try and corroborate information that we questioned, and where we could not we have in most cases noted that fact. So some researchers who have deeply studied one or a few of the units in this work will undoubtedly find material to question or facts to quibble over. We apologize that this must be so, but upon reflection we believe our fellow researchers will understand and not judge us too harshly.

   Well, boys, we understand and we judge your work to be highly successful. Despite the fact that we had to schedule an emergency appointment with our optometrist, Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945 is just what we've been hoping to add to our bookshelf. Great job, guys, and we look forward to the upcoming volumes.
   Highly recommended.
   By the way, it should be noted that in addition to a pair of volumes on Luftwaffe bomber units, the authors hope to continue the series with "a volume on dive-bomber and ground-attack units, then transport, courier, and liaison units, followed by reconnaissance units, and then higher headquarters and commands." At this time they don't have plans to include fighter units, but perhaps we'll be able to convince them to change their tune. There's a fortune to be made, you know.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Midland Publishing or their US distributor, Specialty Press.
   Thanks to Specialty for providing this review copy.