This book describes and illustrates all the fighter aircraft used by the Hungarian armed forces during WW2. Covering both the indigenous designs employed early on through to the German and Italian fighters flown for much of the period, the camouflage and markings of these aircraft are described and illustrated in great detail. Fully illustrated with many rare wartime photos. Full color profiles of many representative aircraft. In the volume One are described the following aircraft: Fokker D.XVI FIAT CR.20, CR.20B AVIS I-IV. FIAT CR.30, CR.30B FIAT CR.32, CR.32bis FIAT CR.42, CR.42CN Messerschmitt Bf 109D-1 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3, E-4, E-7 Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2, F-4

This book describes and illustrates all the fighter aircraft used by the Hungarian armed forces during WW2. Covering both the indigenous designs employed early on through to the German and Italian fighters flown for much of the period, the camouflage and markings of these aircraft are described and illustrated in great detail. Fully illustrated with many rare wartime photos. Full color profiles of many representative aircraft. In the volume TWO are described the following aircraft: Heinkel He 112B-1/U2 (E) Avia B.534-IV P.Z.L. P.11a Re.2000 Héjja/Héjja-O Weiss-Manfréd WM-23 "Ezüst nyíl" Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2, Ga-4, G-6, Ga-6, G-10, G-14, Ga-14 Messerschmitt Me 210Ca-1 (night fighter and heavy fighter/'bomber killer') Messerschmitt Bf 110F-4, G-4 Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-4, F-3, F-8, G-8

A detailed account of how aces of the calibre of Brumowski, Kiss and Linke-Crawford did their best in their Albatros fighters, which often sported colourful and fanciful insignias. Austro-Hungarian industry produced a series of poor fighter types such as the Phönix D I and Hansa-Brandenburg D I during the early stages of the war, and it was not until licence-built examples of the battle-proven Albatros and D II and D III began to reach Fliegerkompagnien, or Fliks, in May 1917 that the fortunes of pilots began to look up. Unlike the German-built Albatrosen, the Oeffag aircraft were far more robust than German D IIs and D IIIs. They also displayed superior speed, climb, manoeuvrability and infinitely safer flight characteristics. The careful cross-checking of Allied sources with Austrian and German records form the basis for a detailed reconstruction of the dogfights fought by the leading aces. It will also chart the careers of the Austro-Hungarian aces that flew the D II and D III, their successes and their defeats, with additional information about their personal background and their post-war lives in the nations born from the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire.

The book tells the story of the air battles over Hungary that took place from October 1944 to March 1945 between the Red Army Air Force and the Luftwaffe, in which the Air Forces of Hungary and Romania also played a part.

This conflict is just a short episode from the turbulent history of Central Europe in the 20th century, which is little known even in the countries involved, and almost totally obscure outside them. From the international point of view the most important event in the middle of March, 1939 was that the Third Reich occupied the Czech territories, which was a failure of the Western powers, since they hoped that by the Munich Agreement (29-30 September, 1938), they could avoid any future conflicts with Adolf Hitler. That is why their contemporary media and their recent history books are filled with these events, and do not mention a small parallel conflict. From the Hungarian point of view, occupying its former territory of Sub-Carpathia was very important. Hungary was surrounded on three sides by the hostile Little Entente countries (Czechoslovakia, Rumania and Yugoslavia) and on the fourth side, since the Anschluss in March, 1938, by the Third Reich. To break this encirclement, it was necessary to restore the common border with Hungary's historical ally, Poland and this was achieved by the occupation of this territory. For the Hungarian Armed Forces, the short border conflict with Slovakia was only the closing phase of the occupation of Sub-Carpathia. From the Slovakian point of view, however, this is a far more important conflict. Slovakia became independent for the first time in its history in March, 1939. Parallel to Slovak independence, the Czech territories from the former Czechoslovakia were seized by the Third Reich and Sub-Carpathia was occupied by Hungary. The invasion of a border area of Slovakia by the Hungarians was considered by the Slovaks as a direct threat to the independence of the country. During the Hungarian occupation of Sub-Carpathia, their ground troops were supported by Hungarian reconnaissance and bomber forces. During the border conflict with Slovakia, 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 the very next day, when extensive air-to-air combat occurred. Clashes saw Hungarian Fiat CR.32s come up against Slovak Avia fighters and Letov reconnaissance and light attack planes. Also on that day, Hungarian Ju 86 bombers raided the main Slovak air base. The majority of Hungarian materials relating to the combat have been lost or destroyed, so author Csaba Stenge Ph.D. has put in a Herculean effort to construct this account. The text contains details of the historical background to the conflict, a full account of the combat, as well as notes on Hungarian aviators decorated for their performance, short biographies of Hungarian aviators credited with aerial victories, and a list of Hungarian anti-aircraft claims and aerial victories. Besides this, the book contains over 100 rare and mostly previously-unpublished images, as well as a selection of superb color profiles showing camouflage and markings for the aircraft of both air forces.

Traces the development and use of Reggiane aircraft.

The first book in the comprehensive, two-volume reference covering all aspects of the Hungarian military from the interwar period through WWII. During the First World War, Hungary lost territories containing sizable Magyar ethnic populations. In the years following the war—and especially in the 1930s—the country attempted to regain portions of these territories through a series of border wars. The corresponding buildup of armed forces, with assistance from Italy and Germany, positioned Hungary as a valuable, if secondary, member of the Axis powers. This comprehensive reference provides a complete picture of the Hungarian armed forces between the years 1919–1945. It starts with a brief history of the Magyars, describes the political situation in Hungary before and during WWII, the building of the armed forces, the growth of domestic arms manufacturers, the organization of the armed forces units, and how they changed during the war. The various campaigns of the war are described in great detail, illustrated with more than 500 photographs, as well as numerous tables and maps.