We realise that it has been quite some time – almost twelve months, in fact – since the team at Air War Publications provided you with an update on our current projects. Fortunately, much has happened in the past year in our little hobby publishing company, and we hope you are excited by the news we can now share on a variety of projects.
Nachtjagd Ost
Despite hopes of releasing the book during the spring of this year, that proved wildly optimistic. The main bottleneck to such a release date, albeit a joyful one, was the birth of Morten’s second child earlier this year. Now acclimatized to the added responsibility, Morten has been able to return his focus to this project. As such, we are happy to report that work on the text is in the final stages of editing, with much of it already with Morten for layout. Indeed, since our last update, several chapters are already finalised, laid out and ready to go! The upside to the delay is that we keep finding extra bits and pieces to include in the story. For instance, many small mysteries have now been resolved, while a few months ago Morten was able to locate and connect with the son of a prominent NJG 100 pilot featured in the book. Subsequent correspondence has resulted in a mutually beneficial exchange of information and photographs.
With no further children planned for either Morten, Adam or Andrew, realistically, the title should be ready for the print shop in 2025!
No. 450 Squadron
Doug Norrie’s unit history of the Australian fighter and fighter-bomber squadron has been progressing in 2024. The last time we updated the progress of this work was last September, when Andrew and his partner, along with Adam, all met at Doug’s home for a ploughman’s lunch and a chat.
The text work for the first volume, which covers the period up to the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, is very well progressed, with the book text up to 14 February 1942 now ready for layout. Claes Sundin will handle the colour profiles, and his rendering of the fifteen Kittyhawks and three Hurricanes will be top-notch, as always. Also finalised is the Foreword, which has been provided by an Air-Vice Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force, who closes his thoughts with the line, “Their living memory continues to inspire us against odds uncounted.”
Doug’s first volume on the history of No. 450 Squadron is well on its way, and we hope to have it available in early 2026, if not sooner!
Air War Courland
This project will be our focus once Doug’s and Sven’s books are completed. Andrew has not had much time to work on this given our above commitments, plus the usual life and work duties. Despite this, Andrew continues to add to his data file that will form the basis of the book, and work is progressing on various chapters.
Henschel 123
The birth of Morten’s second child, combined with his association with the Nachtjagd Over the Eastern Front project, and editorial responsibilities for Air War Publications, have all meant progress on this title has been put on a temporary hold, but as with our other slow-moving projects, information, photographs, Flugbuch copies, documents etc. are still being collected, and many people are providing contributions to his research. This is very much appreciated! One of the biggest discoveries to announce has been original wing and tail drawings of the Henschel 123 uncovered in a German archive. Once the night fighter project is released Morten will focus on this book.
IV./Kampfgeschwader zbV 1
Adam has also been busy, and when not focused on the Nachtjagd Over the Eastern Front and No. 450 Squadron projects, he has been working away on a new title of his own. We can now reveal that his upcoming book will be a history of the IV. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader zbV 1. Leading a nomadic existence through the first few years of the war, Adam has conducted extensive research into the Gruppe, resulting in a detailed description of this unit’s activities. These activities included participation in the invasions of Poland, Scandinavia, France and the Soviet Union, with service in the Mediterranean theatre, North Africa, and the Balkans. Also part of the unit’s history were its efforts to supply beleaguered German troops in the Demyansk Pocket during 1942. Relying on a range of primary and secondary sources to reconstruct the story, Adam has also amassed a large collection of unpublished photographs to illustrate his work.
eArticles
Given the focus on our various book projects, work on the Air War Publications eArticles has slowed dramatically over the last twelve months. That is not to say that we have none in the works: David E. Brown and Morten have been working on another camouflage and markings article, about a late-war Me 262, while Adam has been looking into a Luftwaffe loss on the opening day of the war between Poland and Germany. Andrew also has a few eArticles in the pipeline.
Although it may not seem like Air War Publications has accomplished a great deal in 2024, Andrew, Morten and Adam want to assure you that, behind the scenes, there has been a lot of progress. Aside from the work on our books and eArticles, the team have also been able to interview some prominent people in the Luftwaffe research community. These interviews, set to feature as blog posts on our website, will augment what we have already published, and are scheduled for release over the coming months. We have also been working hard to expand our freely available Shipping Claims list, whilst collaborating with other researchers and writers, and have made significant inroads into some other book projects set to follow on the heels of our current working titles. Rest assured that our silence is not a lack of progress, rather, quite the opposite. We look forward to bringing you more news on our various projects in the near future.
