MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modelling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly”, a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999 with Stratus, and since then they have built up a list of hard cover and soft cover titles on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. Stratus / MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications. One can find additional information available on their Facebook page.

Alan Ranger has authored several Stratus / MMP books in the Camera ON series, including: Staff Cars in Germany WW2: Volume 3 – Mercedes (2024); Luftwaffe Search Lights and Range Finding Equipment, Vol. 1 (2023); Sd.Kfz. 8 & Sd.Kfz. 9 Schwerer Zugkraftwagen (12t & 18t) (2019); Sd.Kfz. 10/4 & 10/5 Selbstfahrlafette (2019); Sd.Kfz. 6 Mittlerer Zugkfraftwagen 5t (2018); Sd.Kfz. 7 Mittlerer Zugkfraftwagen 8t (2018)

This English language book, Luftwaffe Search Lights and Range Finding Equipment, Vol. 2, is authored by Alan Ranger and was published on December 5, 2024. This is a follow up to Alan Ranger’s Volume 1 on Luftwaffe Search Lights and Range Finding Equipment which Dave Morrissette reviewed. This 84-page booklet is the 33^rd in this series, On Camera, and are typically photo albums with descriptive captions. Each chapter leads off with an introduction of the black and white photographs to follow. Most of these photographs are not from professional photographers but from everday soldiers. This is A4 [8.25” x 11.75” and is a square bound soft cover. I counted 142 black and white photographs.

Alan Ranger leads off with the Kommandohilfsgerät 35 [command aid device], a compact mechanical computer that performed as a rangefinder and fire director, usually in support of the Em 4m R(H) rangefinder. These calculations provided firing solutions, fuse timing, and target lead. The Kdo.Hi.Ger. 35 was normally set up in the center of a Flak battery. The top of Page 8 shows off a Kommandohilfsgerät 35 in the center of a concrete emplacement on high ground above Boulogne in northern France. The black and white photograph at the bottom of the page depicts a Frankfurt Luftwaffe training facility. The Kdo.Hi.Ger. 35 is to the left with its carrying bars extended. A 20mm Flak 38 is nearby as well as two 88mm Flak 36 guns in the background.

The chapter on the Em 4m R(H) 34 or 36 & Em 4m R(H) 40 rangefinders follows. Externally, the Em 4m R(H) 34 was indistinguishable from the Em 4m R(H) 36. An Em 4m R(H) 34 or 36 is shown at the top of Page 22 in front of its towing vehicle, a Krupp L3H 163 3.5 ton truck. A black and white photographs of an Em 4m R(H) 34 or 36 at Peenemünde is at the bottom of the page. This picture is soon after the RAF bombed the island on August 18, 1943 in Operation Hydra. Operation Hydra was the first attack of Operation Crossbow and featured 324 Avro Lancasters, 218 Handley Page Hallifaxes, and 54 Short Starlings that delayed the V-2 prototype rocket launch by about two months. An 88mm Flak 37 anti-aircraft gun can be seen in the background.

The Zeiss Kommandogerät 36 was a 4-meter-long stereoscopic rangefinder and fire director for Luftwaffe anti-aircraft guns. A 4-wheeled carriage was used to travel. Two black and white photographs of the Kdo.Ger. 36 can be found on Page 45. The top photograph finds the Kommandogerät 36 placed in a Flak gun revetment. The photograph at the bottom of the page is from a training exercise in Lüneburg Heath, Germany, on July 5, 1943. Almost two years later on May 4, 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of all German forces at Lüneburg Heath. The Kdo.Ger. 36 was largely replaced by the Kommandogerät 40 by 1945.

The Zeiss Kommandogerät 40 was an advancement over the Kommandogerät 36, having a faster setup time. A smaller crew could operate it as some functions became automated providing a faster firing solution. The downside was the additional functionality brought additional weight, now up to 1,595 kg. A pre-production Kommandogerät 40 can be seen at the top of Page 71 while it was being tested in Nuremburg in September, 1939. Alan Ranger’s friend Jürgen Hass is in the bottom photograph when he was a training tech in Frankfurt, May 28, 1942. The Kdo.Ger. 40 in the picture is an early production model.

The final chapter is on Quadruple 150cm Flak Searchlight system that follows up a mention in Volume 1 of Luftwaffe Search Lights and Range Finding Equipment. The Flakscheinwerfer was developed in the 1930s using a 150 cm diameter parabolic glass reflectors. A single 150cm searchlight produced 990 million candelas with a range up to 5,000 meters (16,000 feet). Extending the range saw the placing of an order of 100 Quadruple 150cm Flak Searchlights, but apparently only 61 are known to have been manufactured. The photograph at the bottom of Page 78 shows off two of the four searchlights in the system, here, adorned with three female searchlight operators. The facing page has a photograph of all four of the searchlights, but to see that, you will want to get a copy of this book.

The sections include:

• Forward
• Introduction
• Kommandohilfsgerät 35 (Kdo.Hi.Ger. 35) [Page 08]
• Em 4m R(H) 34 or 36 & Em 4m R(H) 40 [Page 22]
• Kommandogerät 36 (Kdo.Ger. 36) [Page 45]
• Kommandogerät 40 (Kdo.Ger. 40) [Page 71]
• Quadruple 150cm Searchlight [Page 78]

A few model kits are available, although you may need to do some digging. A 1/35 scale kit from DES Kit of the Kommandohilfsgerät 35 with its Sd.Anh 53 trailer [DES35051] has been produced. The Em 4m R(H) 36 [DES35092] is also available from DES Kit in 1/35 scale. Revell released a 1/72 kit of the 88mm Flak 36 that comes with a Kommandogerät 40 and Sd.Ah. 52 transporter. JMP Productions released a 1/35 resin kit of the Kommandogerät 40 bunker diorama [35044]. Bronco released a 1/35 kit of the Kommandogerät 40 with Sd/Anh 52 trailer in 2011 [CB35103]. I’ve found no kits of the Quadruple 150cm Searchlight system, but there are kits of the single 150cm Searchlight mounted on a Sd.Anh 104 4-wheel trailer. Precision Models released a 1/35 kit of a 150cm Scheinwerfer Sw.37 searchlight with Protze [35.057] in the nineties with DES Kit [35063] releasing one in the 2000s.

This Stratus / MMPBooks’ volume provides a quick reference for historians and modelers. This photo essay is essential if you're considering building any of the Luftwaffe range finder and fire director kits. Now I need to get my hands on Volume 1.

My thanks to Casemate Publications, Stratus / Mushroom Model Publications and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!