The origin of Pen & Sword Books is closely linked with its sister company, the Barnsley Chronicle; one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers, established in 1858, and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. The first books published by the company were in response to public demand following a series of articles published in the newspaper: Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the "Barnsley Pals", aroused a thirst for more information. Following on from the success of those books, several local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guidebooks. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful, and the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group. Pen and Sword specialize in all areas of military history, naval and maritime, aviation, local history, genealogy, social history, transport, discovery and exploration, archeology, nostalgia and true crime. With over 350 books published every year, Pen & Sword has established itself as a specialist book publisher.

Jean Paul Pallud was born in France in 1949 and lives with his wife Marie Francoise in the picturesque Alps. He studied physics at Grenoble University, graduating as a physicist. As an author, he has specialized in World War Two history and has been involved with the After The Battle series for over 43 years, with his first submission in 1979. His After The Battle: Then and Now books include: Battle of the Bulge (1985); Blitzkrieg In The West (1996); German Coastal Radar Stations (2021); Operation ‘Dragoon’ and Beyond (2023); Operation “Torch”; (2019); The Desert War (2022); and Vergeltungswaffen: The Third Reich’s V-Missiles (2024);

This 96 page English language book was published on December 19, 2024. This is a 6.75” x 9.75” hard cover book with a separate glossy paper jacket. The text and photographs are printed on glossy paper. The upper black and white photograph on the front cover depicts one of the four Natters that were abandoned in May 1945. A patrol from Company L of the 324 Regiment found the Natters in the Pitz valley at Sankt Leonhard im Pitzal, Austria. The white-shirted civilian talking to the soldier is believed to be Dr. Heinrich Riech of DFS. The color photograph at the bottom was taken by Jean Paul Pallud in 2009. The black and white photograph on the rear cover is of the M22 prototype in final preparation for take-off. I counted 144 black and white photographs and 15 color pictures.

Jean Paul Pallud leads off with the events that led to the RLM issuing requirements for a rocket propelled, point defense interceptor in the spring of 1944. Messerschmitt responded with the Me P 1104, Junkers with the EF 127 “Walli”, Heinkel with the P 1077 “Julia”, and Bachem with the “Natter” [Colubrid, the largest non-venomous snake family]. All were to use the Walter 109-509 rocket engine that propelled the Messerschmidt Me 163B “Komet”. Bachem’s proposal was not as well-developed or presented as the other three proposals and was rejected by the RLM. The RLM did select the Heinkel P 1077 “Julia” to go forward. Bachem was not deterred and continued to seek support for his “Natter” design. Erich Bachem can be seen post-war in front of a large model of his “Natter” design on Page 15. Bachem was successful in getting an interview with Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler that resulted in the Waffen-SS issuing an order for the development of the “Natter”.

The initial production order was for 150 for service with the SS and 50 with the Luftwaffe, but none would be delivered before the end of the war. Development work by Bachem Werke GmbH was accelerated towards 50 experimental airframes with a monthly output of 3,000 to 5,000 projected. Reichsführer-SS Himmler assigned the SS to the development workforce that consisted mainly of German women, prisoners of war, and deportees. December 1944 saw 600 workers on site at Bachem-Werk in Bad Waldsee [Upper Swabia]. A 1:2.5 scale wood wind-tunnel model was tested at speeds up to 1,100 km/h [680 mph] with completion of the first prototype achieved on October 4, 1944. The “Natter” honeycomb nose section can be seen on Page 29 along with the 24 spin stabilized Föhn rockets. All 24 of the Henschel Hs 297 Föhn rockets would be fired in a ripple within 0.3 seconds. Each rocket carried a warhead of 280 g (9.9 ounces) of explosives with both a contact fuse and a time-delayed fuse.

The Bachem BP-20 “Natter” rockets were flight tested as gliders at first, with the first to fly coded M1. Subsequent prototypes would be sequentially numbered. The M1 glider was towed by a Heinkel He 111 for its first flight on November 3, 1944. Testing evaluation interference with the tow cable led to the first free flight taking place on the M8 on February 14, 1945, which demonstrated good flying characteristics. The first vertical testing was conducted with the M16 powered by four Schmidding solid boosters. M16 was painted in RLM 05 ivory with the boosters in RLM 23 red as seen on Page 42. The M22 became the first prototype to launch with both the four boosters and the Walter HWK 109-509 A1 rocket engine. A dummy pilot was used for the launch on February 25, 1945, and most everything went as planned. The exception was when the rear fuselage parachuted to the ground, and residual rocket propellant exploded. The front section and the dummy pilot both landed separately as expected.

The first manned flight of the “Natter” was in M23 as shown on Page 55 where the test pilot is swinging from the leading edge of the wing into the cockpit. Lothar Sieber became the first man to take off vertically from the ground under rocket power on March 1, 1945. The launch started out well until about 15 seconds into the flight, when the cockpit canopy flew off. M23 continued to accelerate into the clouds until at 55 seconds an explosion was heard. The exact reason for the failure was never determined, but several theories were presented. Oberleutnant Lothar Sieber was buried with full military honors on March 3, 1945.

Adjustments were made to the pilot’s seat and the cockpit canopy, but only seven or eight additional test flights were performed before the end of the war. These were all unmanned and used to evaluate simplification of the launch mounting and the automatic guidance system. M52, seen on Page 66, was successfully launched from a pole launcher and recovered in April 1945. Operation “Krokus” was to establish an operational unit of the “Natter” south of Stuttgart led by Major Edmund Gartenfeld. Three launch pads were constructed but were not completed before the tenth Armored Division rumbled into the area.

Only one original Bachem Ba 349A-1 “Natter” survives at the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland. This example was captured at Sankt Leonhard im Pitzal (see the book cover). The wings were sawed off for transportation, and they are in poor condition [Page 95]. The black and white photograph at the top of the page is thought to be a Ba 349A-1 that was displayed at Wright Field and is speculated to have ended its time flying at Muroc Flight Test Base in 1946. The Duetsches Museum has a “Natter” painted as M17 made from sub-assemblies in 1971-72 that survived the war. There are a few other replicas that can be found. One is in the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, with the other at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida. An M23 replica can be found at the Militärgeschichtliche Sammlung at Lager Heuberg in Stetten am kalten Markt; Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It includes two full-sized figures talking to each other: Lothar Sieber and Erich Bachem. The sections include:

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• First Manned Rocket Launch [Page 15]
• Mission Profile
• Development [Page 29, 42]
• First Manned Flight [Page 55]
• Operation ‘Krokus‘ – Towards Operational Launches [Page 66]
• Final Production and Capture [Page 95]

There is no shortage of Bachem Ba 349 “Natter” kits available in injected plastic. Fly has released three boxings in 1/32 scale. Dragon/DML has released several boxings in 1/48-scale with a launch stand or with a detailed rocket engine. Brengun and Heller have nice kits in 1/72-scale. Brengun has released several variants in 1/144-scale, including two different launch towers. This Pen & Sword Books’ volume provides a quick reference for historians and modelers. There are plenty of reference photographs and they are printed on glossy paper. If you are going to build any of the different prototype "Natters", this is your book.

My thanks to Casemate Publications, Pen & Sword Books and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!