September 16, 2025

Das Lehrgeschwader 1 The Mediterranean Campaign 1941/1942 from Luftfahrtverlag-start

Another of the wonderful tomes from Luftfahrtverlag-start, focusing on the people & planes of the Germans' Mediterranean Campaign 1941/42. Engrossing stories, colour images not published before, profiles, maps & illustrations all in our preview...

Das Lehrgeschwader 1
The Mediterranean Campaign 1941/1942 from Luftfahrtverlag-start

Das Lehrgeschwader 1
The Mediterranean Campaign 1941/1942 in rare color slides and selected black-and-white photos
 From Luftfahrtverlag-start
Author: Axel Urbanke
Dual language – in German & English
Pages: 288
Photos: 103 colour- and 178 B/W-photos
Illustrations: 11 coloured page views
10 coloured maps
Format: 25 x 28.5 cm large-format, hardcover plus dust jacket
ISBN: 978-3-941437-59-3
This book is a unique collection of images and text. It brings together two sets of colour slides taken at Lehrgeschwader 1. One was taken by a war correspondent, the other by an observer from a particularly successful crew. Over 100 colour slides show the operations and life of the I and II Gruppe of LG 1 during deployment in the Mediterranean in 1941/42. The photos show the people & planes of the Balkan campaign, the airborne landing on Crete, missions against Malta and in North Africa, and the attacks on ship targets. 
Aircraft paint schemes and markings, which until now were only known from black-and-white photos, can be seen in colour in this book. This allows many conjectures and previous information about the colours of the LG 1 aircraft can be corrected or supplemented. 
Coloured side views show what the aircraft actually looked like. Some completely unknown “gems” provide model builders with great ideas for building Ju 88s. Who knows about Hauptmann Helbig's aircraft with its large personal lettering?
But the book does not only show the Ju 88s of LG 1. The supporting fighters and destroyer aircraft, as well as the Stukas and other units involved in the missions, are also shown in colour and, in some cases, with rare camouflage paint schemes. The book is therefore more than just a bomber unit publication; it is rather a volume about the Mediterranean theatre of war with a focus on LG 1.
The text section briefly covers the overall events, as these have already been dealt with in other LG 1 publications. Instead, new information and diary excerpts are provided that go beyond the current state of knowledge. It also includes biographies of the two colour photographers and the few war correspondents who photographed at LG 1.
If you like what you see here you can order this book from the Product Link on the Luftfahrtverlag-start Website