Weal, J. Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranean

This volume follows the Luftwaffe's twin-engined Wunderbomber southwards to describe its deployment in North Africa and the Mediterranean Theater during World War II (1939-1945), from the Straits of Gibraltar in the west, via the beleaguered island of Malta, to the Aegean and the Suez Canal in the east. It is a story of two distinct parts - the initial lightning successes, and then the long, slow process of retreat and defeat. It began early in 1941 with the first sporadic air raids on Malta, followed in the spring by the campaign in the Balkans which resulted in the conquests of Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. After supporting land operations in North Africa during the latter half of 1941, the Ju 88s resumed their assault on Malta. Such was their decline, however, that by the final month of the war there was just one machine left in the Mediterranean - an improved model Ju 188, which was used to drop Axis agents behind the Allied lines in Italy. Bringing the story to life are personal accounts of some of the more famous actions - the bombing of the evacuation shipping off the coast of Greece and the sinking of three Royal Navy destroyers south of Crete by the renowned 'Helbig Flyers' of LG 1, all illustrated with rare photographs and full color profiles.