Adolf Hitler considered the Mediterranean an unimportant theater of the war, leaving it to the troops of Benito Mussolini who wanted to dominate the "Mare Nostro." Nevertheless, when the Italian army was defeated on the Libyan-Egyptian border at the beginning of 1941, the Fuhrer was forced to help his ally by sending an air detachment first to Sicily, then Africa. This latest in the Casemate Illustrated series examines that tiny expeditionary force, solely devoted to protecting Italian possessions in North Africa. When General Erwin Rommel launched his Afrika Korps to the east, the Luftwaffe had to go on the offensive to cover that advance. With over 100 images, this book explores how German and British air forces were quickly reinforced and, in the following months, Germany was forced to engage more and more aerial units on what was initially considered a peripheral arena of the war for the German High Command. Losses in bombers and fighters were high on both sides and when, at the end of 1942, the Allies landed in Morocco and Algeria on the back of the Afrika Korps, the Wehrmacht's fate was sealed. The depleted Luftwaffe did its best but could not change the course of the battle. The last German units capitulated in Tunisia in May 1943.

No airforce in the Second World War would make more use of captured planes than the Luftwaffe. With this in mind, Jean-Louis Roba has undergone a considerable amount of work in tracking down hundreds of aircraft used by the Luftwaffe and illustrating their uses, careers and eventual fates. The book examines the full history of foreign planes in the Luftwaffe, from its inception in the prewar years to the end of the Second World War. More than just an account of the Luftwaffes use of captured aircraft, the book debunks myths about how prepared the Germans were for war in 1939, and shows how important even such an unreliable source of supplies as captured planes would become to the Luftwaffe. Translated into English for the first time, Robas investigative work is supported by over a hundred pictures of the planes themselves, and gives a rare opportunity to see British and American planes repainted in German colours and symbols.

Merriam Press Military Monograph MM162. Fifth Edition (January 2012). Concise history of the formation and engagements of this Belgian Waffen-SS unit, and their well-known leader, Leon Degrelle. Includes photos never before published. Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Formation and First Engagements of 5th SS-Sturmbrigade "Wallonien"; Chapter 3: The Cherkassy-Korsun Envelopment; Chapter 4: "Wallonien" in Estonia; Chapter 5: Formation and Development of the 28th Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division "Wallonien"; Chapter 6: Last Battles of the "Wallonien" Division; Chapter 7: Europe in Cherkassy; Chapter 8: Portrait of a "Wallonien" Volunteer; Chapter 9: Cherkassy Breakout Figures; Bibliography. 58 photos; 4 maps; 4 illustrations; Cover art by Ramiro Bujeiro.