Stratus has been redoing several of their earlier books into English and this one follows on to their very successful book on the Spitfire. The book offers a look into the operations of French types by Polish pilots. In some cases it was entire units, while in others it was with the pilots in French squadrons.

The real beauty of this book lies in the photographs and the profiles that it provides. We are in real luck as the book excels in both categories. When you add in that it covers three rather rare types as operated so briefly by Polish pilots, then these are well worth the price.

Three different aircraft are covers. First is the Caudron C.714. As many of you know, this aircraft was really only flown in combat by Polish pilots attached to the French Air Force in the last month or so before France surrendered in mid June of 1940. This section, as in the other two, has a complete rundown of the aircraft used and the pilots to which they were assigned. There are well over a dozen color profiles and other views of these planes as well as a number of photos of these planes that I have never seen before. I wish I had them when doing my Battle Axe kit.

Next is the MS.406. While these planes were far more common, they also had Polish units where the fuselage had the checkerboard roundel. In addition, Polish pilots flew with 'regular' French units. Again, a lot of color profiles, three-view drawings and lots of great photos.

The last type is the Bloch MB.151/152. This is the smallest section as it only covers those planes flown by Polish pilots. No separate Polish unit was set up with these aircraft.

This is an outstanding book and is well worth the investment on the strength of the photos and color profiles alone.

My thanks to Stratus for the review copy. Get yours at your local seller or ask them to order a copy for you. MMD distributes them in the US and Platypus in Australia.

December 2007

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