Captured Me 109s

Jacek Jackiewicz & Miroslaw Wawrzynski
Atelier Kecay, ©2008
ISBN 978-83-914914-0-8
Softbound, 176 Pages

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

A new name in the publishing realm, Atelier Kecay has started off with an impressive book. Of course, with a subject of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, it is guaranteed to be a good seller, but it is challenging to find a niche that has not already been done. This book on captured Bf 109s does just that, though, and presents a common aircraft in some uncommon markings.

The presentation in this book examines the captured aircraft in a roughly chronological manner, beginning with the Spanish Civil War. For each captured example, there are photos and illustrations showing the aircraft at various points in its life. The illustrations deserve special mention, as many of them display the aircraft as seen at the point of capture. This means that some are missing wings or cowlings, or are in various states of disarray. This is a nice touch and shows good attention to detail.

Accompanying the photos and illustrations is the text, both the main text and the caption text. Between these, a very complete story about captured Bf 109s comes about. The level of research is extensive, and this comes across as well as you read through the pages. Given that the Bf 109 flew (and was captured) on all fronts, this must have taken considerable amount of time to track down all of the references, and the authors are to be commended for their persistence and research.

To provide a complete list of the aircraft covered would take far too much time, but I can list the countries that had captured examples. These include France, Spain, England, Russia, United States, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland. Some were left in Luftwaffe colors, others were repainted, with a few in some rather impressive schemes. Flipping through these pages, it will not take long before the desire to build a captured Bf 109 rises up.

My sincere thanks to Atelier Kecay for the review copy. If you are interested in Luftwaffe or the Bf 109, this is a book you cannot pass up. The quality of information as well as the quantity is simply superb, and worth every effort to add it to your library.