This story is a short but devastating episode from the turbulent history of Central Europe in the 20th Century, one that is hardly known outside the countries concerned. This short conflict was hushed up even in the German media in 1939, because the Third Reich tried to avoid clashes between their potential allies, and were especially angry because of the independent Hungarian military action against Slovakia, with at least one ethnic German Slovak civilian killed as a result of the fighting. Sub-Carpathia was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary for a thousand years, but Hungary lost it after World War I, and it became part of Czechoslovakia until March 1939. Between 1939 and 1944 it was a part of Hungary again, but the Soviet Red Army captured it in the late autumn of 1944. After World War II, in June 1945, a treaty was signed between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, ceding Sub-Carpathia to the Soviet Union. In 1939, Hungary occupied its former territory, Sub-Carpathia, supported by its reconnaissance and bomber forces. When the Hungarian troops entered what Slovakia regarded as its territory, a short but fierce clash started between the contending air forces. Slovak planes strafed and bombed Hungarian ground troops on 23 March 1939, but the heaviest clashes happened on the very next day, when extensive air-to-air combat occurred. The text contains details of the historical background to the conflict, a full account of the combat, notes on Hungarian aviators decorated for their performance, short biographies of Hungarian aviators credited with aerial victories, and a list of Hungarian aerial victories. Besides this, the book contains over 100 rare and mostly previously-unpublished images, as well as a selection of superb colour profiles showing camouflage and markings for the aircraft of both air forces. About the Author Csaba Becze was born in 1975. He is a historian, his PhD describing the history of the Royal Hungarian Air Force in WWII. The focus of his research is aviation and military history, especially of the Hungarian armed forces and air force in WWII. He has spent the last two decades conducting intensive research both in archives and with veterans and their families, looking for surviving wartime materials relating to the Royal Hungarian Air Force. He has authored 6 books and dozens of scholarly articles in the Hungarian, English, German and French languages.

Prior to the beginning of the Second World War, the Royal Hungarian Armed Forces - including the Air Force - prepared to engage the Little Entente forces; however, after a short skirmish prior to the war with the Slovaks, during the war, their opponents became the Soviet and American aviators. The Hungarian aces fought gallantly against such heavy odds and, after the war's end, the new Hungarian communist regime turned against them as well; this book is the unique story of the 38 Hungarian air aces of the Second World War. The overwhelming majority of the related materials have been lost or destroyed, so the author has demonstrated truly Herculean efforts during his 23-year-long extensive research to write this monumental work. The book is based mostly on previously unpublished primary sources from Hungarian, German, Russian and American Archives, and also on the preserved documents of the aces and their families. The text is not limited to the highly detailed biographies of the 38 Hungarian aces; it also covers some important and related aspects such as air victory confirmation systems, air combat tactics and obtained awards. Besides this, the book contains more than 350 rare images - many of them are previously unpublished - and a selection of superb colour profiles, which show camouflage and markings for the aircraft of the aces.