Jerry Crandall is an aviation historian of no mean skill - he's worked pretty much his entire adult life capturing the life stories of German WW-II aces, publishing books of exceptional historical value and working with the History Channel and A&E networks. He could often be found supporting others (often financially) as they try to ply the aviation history trade, or underwriting the memoirs of surviving-but-aging Luftwaffe Experten.
Along the way, he's authored a number of books - but nothing to match what I choose to see as his life's work: "The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Dora - Volume 1." By any standard - from content to production values - this is a remarkable book, especially if you're an aviation modeler or military historian/history buff. It's got literally everything - and this is no exaggeration.
The D-9 was the first operational German fighter to really match the rugged power of the late-model American P-47 Thunderbolt or the RAF's ground-chewing Typhoon. With a massive and powerful engine (originally developed for a bomber) on a stretched fuselage with extended wings, the Dora-9 gave the impression of size and power often lacking from the Luftwaffe's more diminutive fighter aircraft. And, like the Thunderbolt, it would climb like a homesick angel and was at it's best at high altitude ... which didn't stop it from providing effective top-cover for the Me 262 jets during their high-vulnerability landings and take-offs ... or in last-gasp low-level strikes such as Operation Bodenplatte. It was maneuverable at all altitudes, with impressive acceleration and a hard-hitting cannon armament. It was also way too late - thank God!
Readers of this blog know that I try to put the subject matter into historical perspective. By September, 1944, when the D-9 began to be delivered to squadrons (and to be very poorly received, as Crandall notes, quoting skeptical Experten) only the most delusional among the Germans could honestly believe that victory could be salvaged from the debacle Hitler had created. An unstoppable Soviet army - hell-bent on revenge and conquest - was grinding up Germany's eastern front army, and the Western Allies - having come ashore in Normandy and Southern France were in Belgium and sidling up to the West Wall, Germany's version of the Maginot Line.
Yet designers and pilots alike did not let impending defeat dampen their enthusiasm or patriotism. As an aside, it always amazes me that dictatorial regimes can command such devoted patriotic loyalty - both Stalin and Hitler did - and I have to assume that the real loyalty was to the Fatherland (Vaterland) or Motherland (Rodina) rather than to the regimes themselves. This was certainly so of the designers of the Dora-9, as well as of the pilots - old hands and fresh meat alike - who were tagged to fly this potent new fighter.
Prototype design had begun in 1942, and if the Luftwaffe had gotten their thumbs out and pushed through this exceptional design, the fate of the 8th and 15th Air Force bomber fleets might have been much different. Considering that the 8th AF's bomber crews suffered more casualties than the entire US Marine Corps during the entire Pacific War, this is saying a lot. In 1942, Germany had aircraft that could have really dented the bomber streams, day and night - the Fw 190D-9 during the day and the world-beating Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Owl) at night - yet they were denied the construction priorities needed to give the Luftwaffe the best fighters in the sky. Even without the jets and rockets (which also could have been in squadron service much earlier), Hitler's Luftwaffe had - potentially - the aircraft (and certainly the skilled pilots) in 1942 and 1943 to have made the Allied bombing offensive prohibitively expensive in terms of men and equipment. But they didn't, and as the son of a veteran, I'm just as glad that Goering's Luftwaffe purchasing commission was so incredibly inept.
By September '44, the war was lost - but the bleeding had another eight months to go, and especially in the hands of a skilled warrior, the newly-arriving Fw 190D-9s helped to contribute to that bleeding. While - with it's potent cannon armament - the Dora-9 was an effective bomber-destroyer - it's forte was mixing it up with the best of the Allied long-range fighters on at least equal terms.
Back to the book.
I am both a modeler (and IPMS life member) and a military historian. I've been writing about military aviation since 1972 and talking about it on The History Channel since 2000 - which means I've read a lot of exceptional books on military aviation. I'd rank Jerry's new book (which is volume 1 - volume 2 is still in production, but looks gorgeous) at the very top of the list. This book has it all:
- Production history, from prototype to final production
- Variations - such as an analysis of the five known cowlings (vital for modelers)
- Pilot evaluations and observations on their use of the Dora in combat
- Incredible art - one sample's here in the blog, but there is far more art (72 profiles)and color photos than you'd expect
- Detailed discussion of controversial late-war colors as worn by the Dora
- Detailed drawings pointing out differences between the D, the D-9, and the D-9 with the Ta 152 tail (among many others)
- More than 400 photos - most of which you've never seen - nearly 50 of these in color
- Scale drawings by masters at their craft
- Photos to inspire hundreds of diorama ideas - like the Blue-9 with an American GI in the cockpit or sitting astride the propeller's spinner or bellied-in wrecks (that show you the D-9's wooden props don't bend, they splinter)
- Lots more in its 350 or so 9x12 pages, but you get the point
Back to the book. Jerry Crandall has found either pilots or the notes they left behind - you get a driver's eye view of the D-9; its foibles and manifest strengths. You'll even learn about the Fw-190D-9 that was "shot down" by an errant partridge during Operation Bodenplatte on January 1, 1945 - usually referred to as the Luftwaffe's last gasp (which is extensively covered as well). And you'll see remarkable photos that have the potential to inspire a thousand dioramas and vignettes. Historical aviation fan or serious modeler, this book is for you.
You can order this book from the publisher - Jerry's Eagle Editions - at: http://eagle-editions.com/dorabook.htm
