From Barbarossa to Odessa: The Luftwaffe and Axis Allies Strike South-East: June-October 1941 Vol 2

Written by acknowledged experts on this important, but often overlooked theatre of operations, the two volumes of From Barbarossa to Odessa: The Luftwaffe Strikes South East, represent a major contribution to the available literature on the subject. The books will be essential reading for historians of the air war in the east and of the Luftwaffe and its allied air forces and aviation modellers.

New, and often unexpected and controversial information continues to emerge on the massive air campaign fought over the Russian Front during World War 2. This book is the second of two volumes, the result of lengthy and meticulous study, on the air combat that took place on the southern flank of the Eastern Front following Operation Barbarossa. The period covered in these volumes saw the occupation of Bessarabia and southwest Ukraine and concluded when the area's regional capital, Odessa, was captured by the Germans on 16 October 1941. This was one of the most bitter and intensive air campaigns fought in the east due to the fact that local Soviet commanders dispersed most of their air assets in time, preventing their destruction on the ground. Thus, in this little-studied campaign, the Soviet Air Force was able to respond effectively to the Axis onslaught and achieved some of its greatest successes of 1941.

The often overlooked involvement of aircraft from Axis states other than Germany, such as the Romanians who claimed a total of over 600 air victories, the Hungarians, the Slovaks and even the Bulgarians, is covered in the book. Their involvement makes this campaign of great interest because of the large variety of aircraft types employed by both sides. Aided by a large number of previously unpublished photographs, the book tells the story of the campaign from both sides and provides detailed eyewitness accounts from individual pilots who were involved in the fighting. Besides day-to-day operations, appendices contain comprehensive victory and loss lists.