The Junkers Ju 88 was probably the finest bomber to serve in the Luftwaffe. In this second volume of his major work, described by Aeroplane magazine as a ’tour de force’, and with the benefit of forty years [...]

The Junkers Ju 88 was probably the finest bomber to serve in the Luftwaffe. This high-performance aeroplane - planned and viewed as a ’Schnellbomber’ (fast-bomber) by the wartime German political and military hierarchy - entered service in limited numbers during the campaign over Poland in 1939, but subsequently flew with distinction on every battlefront on which the Luftwaffe operated throughout World War Two, from the early Blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939/40, through to the Mediterranean and the vast theatre that was Russia. Indeed, it was the very spearhead of Luftwaffe offensive operations for much of the Second World War. 

 

In this second volume of his major work, described by Aeroplane magazine as a ’tour de force’, and with the benefit of forty years of study and archival research into the Junkers Ju 88, William A. Medcalf relates the story of the Ju 88 bomber at war, both at day and at night. The operational analysis of the individual Kampfgeschwader is supplemented by detailed orders of battle, and strength and loss data, and the book covers the deployment of the Ju 88 from its combat debut in 1939 through to final operations in 1945 with the Ju 88 and Ju 188. Supplementing the text are facsimiles of Junkers and official German aircraft handbooks, and specially commissioned colour profiles and maps. 

 

As an engineer and pilot, Art Medcalf shows why the Ju 88 became a project and product of national significance to Nazi Germany, and why, despite some inevitable weaknesses, the aircraft can be viewed justifiably as a ’state of the art’ warplane with a enviable and proven operational record based on functionally elegant design and superior performance.

 

 

Author :

 

William A. Medcalf was born in Monmouth, Illinois. His interest in aviation began when he was a a pilot at the age of 16. He has continued flying for almost 60 years (propeller-driven aircraft, jets and gliders). 

 

His interest in aviation technical history started while attending the University of Louisville. After graduating with a degree in Physics, he served as an officer in the US Navy with assignments including navigator, electronics officer, air officer, CIC officer, and air defense officer. After completing Navy service, he returned to the University of Louisville and completed studies leading to a Master’s degree in History (his thesis being ’An Attempt to Gain Technical Superiority (Technical and Scientific Development of the Equipment for Air Warfare in Germany, World War II)’. 

 

After working and teaching at the University, he was employed for 30 years as an engineer, as project engineer, project manager and chief engineer, etc. for several major corporations. During this period he became a licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer (P.E.M.E.). He is currently retired from engineering and teaching part time, including engineering, maths and English. 

 

Mr. Medcalf is the author of numerous technical documents, most unpublished as they were either classified by the US military or internal confidential documents. The subjects included air warfare simulations, Chemical and Biological warfare analysis, air cleaning and air pollution control technology. He is the author of the air cleaning section for the Encyclopaedia of Chemical Engineering Technology (published under the name of Styg Sylvan). 

 

His hobbies include flying, aviation history (Life Member AAHS), Automobile racing (former SCCA National Competition License Holder, Scrutineer -SCCA, CART, F1), (co-editor Downshift’ - 2 national SCCA awards for best regional publication) and Scale aircraft modeling-20 year member IPMS USA).