Reviewed June 2017
by Dan Kaplan
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| Lela Press, the publisher of Navires & Histoires magazine,
has a new magazine devoted to famous aerial battles and campaigns, titled,
Batailles Aeriennes (Aerial Battles). Like the highly regarded naval magazine,
it is a large format magazine with exceptionally high quality photographs
and text in French. Each issue runs over 100 pages. While the language
barrier can leave one deprived of some information, I find that the text
and captioning well matched to the placement of the photographs, so it’s
not particularly difficult to get the gist of the article. |
| This particular issue (120 pages) covers the Kamikaze (Divine Wind)
campaign of late 1944-1945, in which Imperial Japanese military aviators
devoted themselves (though not always voluntarily) to suicide attacks upon
US and allied warships using all manner of aircraft with a maximum or specially
designed weapons load. It was a campaign borne of desperation, to
allow for more effective attacks than those conducted by conventional attack,
so as to turn back the tide of war in favor of the Japanese. This
issue was written by Michel Ledet, a noted French military aviation author. |
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| After the introduction covers the origins and rationale
for these tactics, the events are laid out in chronological order, on an
attack by attack basis. The attacks, participants, and equipment are particularly
well documented with Japanese and American photographs. There are
also a great many color plates of various Japanese aircraft used in the
attacks. Plus, several tables denoting the different Kamikaze units
involved in various actions.
There are also three appendices devoted to a few select Kamikaze weapons:
the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka rocket powered, human guided missile, the Yokosuka
D4YA Model 43 Susei dive bomber as modified for Kamikaze use, and other
Kamikaze weapons, such as the Shinyo suicide speedboat, Kaiten manned torpedo,
the Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi aircraft specifically designed for Kamikaze
attack, and the Aichi M6A1 Seiran, a submarine based floatplane designed
for attacks against targets in the Western hemisphere, notably the Panama
Canal. |
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Conclusions:
 It
appears to be highly comprehensive volume. While the use of the Kamikaze
at war’s end is well known, and many instances and individual events well
documented, I’m not aware of that many history or reference books that
approach their use from an overall campaign viewpoint. Highly recommended
to those interested in this campaign.
I would encourage you to go to their website LELA
Presse and peruse their many publications, as well as this magazine.. |
