This is another fine book in the MMP Blue series. It covers the life of Battle of Britain ace Josef Frantisek from his birth in Czechoslovakia and his time in the Czech Air Force through his service in a Polish Squadron in the RAF up till his untimely death on a routine mission.

The book begins with what little is known of Frantisek’s early life and his induction into the Czech Air Force. This section also contains a number of good photographs of the various aircraft used by the Czech Air Force during his service until the surrender to German forces in March of 1939.

The next chapters covers his escape to Poland and eventual travel to France with other Czech and Polish pilots where he planned to continue the fight against the Nazis. He remained in the Polish Air Force which fought alongside the Armee d’e l’Air Four day after the French surrender, Frantisek and other Polish pilots had completed their escape to Britain.

After being let go from Focke-Wulf in 1936, Heinrich Focke went on to form the Focke-Achgelis company with Gerd Achgelis. The goal was to focus on the development of helicopters for Germany. The Fa-330 Bachstelze, or “wagtail” in English, was actually a rotary-wing kite that was typically towed behind Type IX U-boats via a 500 foot tow line. The aircraft could be deployed by only two crewmembers, and could be launched and attain full altitude in about seven minutes, providing about twenty-five miles of visibility while searching for targets for the U-boat. The U-boat moving forward at around 18 knots was sufficient to keep the aircraft flying. Unfortunately, the process for reeling the aircraft back in took considerably longer, so if under attack, the best option was to cut loose the aircraft (although this was probably not looked at as the best option for the pilot).

Kagero has come up with another winner if you’re a Panzer IV nut, like I am. The book is soft cover with heavy stock and full color art on the front and back covers. This book covers the Panzer IV J. The strength of the book isn’t the text, unless you read Polish. The 1/35 scale drawings are beautiful, showing all the angles of the tank, in all twenty seven pages. The drawings do have some text in English, so you know what variant you’re looking at. The reader does know which production version is being represented. Included are exploded drawings of the different muffler systems, return rollers, idler wheels, road wheel assemblies, treads, muzzle brakes, cupolas, and armor skirts. There are also four pages of 1/48 and 1/72 scale drawings. Thirty one pages in all. Add to this four pages of full color prints, with two tanks on each page.