Junkers Ju 188

Black Cross Volume 1
By Helmut Erfurth
Midland Publishing, ©2004
ISBN 1-85780-172-5
Softbound, 64 Pages
Available from Specialty Press for $14.95

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

This new series from Midland Publishing imitates their well-established Red Star line, but rather than focus on Russian aircraft, these books will be looking at the aircraft of the Luftwaffe. The first title covers the Junkers Ju 188, which hopefully will set a precedent for this series in covering some of the lesser-known Luftwaffe types.

After a short overview of the bomber failures during the Battle of Britain, this book jumps right into the development phase of the Ju 188. Built off of the existing Ju 88 bomber, the Ju 188 came about from extensive wind tunnel testing. Every aspect of the original Ju 88 design was evaluated and design changes implemented, which ultimately led to the distinct shape of the Ju 188. Following the chapter on the development of the plane comes a detailed breakdown of the construction of the plane.

No book on the Ju 188 would be complete without at least some mention of its operational record, so there is a chapter on Ju 188 operations. This is by no means a comprehensive history, though, but rather a general overview that covers the highlights. Hopefully someone will come out with a detailed history of Ju 188 operations in the future to complement what is presented here.

Throughout the book are plenty of photos as well as lots of drawings and reproductions of original German documents. The latter include many detail drawings that will be of particular interest to modelers. Finally, at the end of the book is a section on models, with several different built-up examples of the various available Ju 188 kits. Overall, this is a great start to the Black Cross series and I look forward to future titles.

My thanks to Specialty Press for the review copy. Visit their website for the entire Black Cross series of books.