Fokker D.XXI Aces of World War 2
Featuring stunning illustrations, this compact volume explores the early successes of the aircraft model and its aces.
Although only built in modest numbers principally for the Dutch Air Force, the low-cost monoplane D.XXI fighter enjoyed its greatest success in combat with the Finnish Air Force. The Dutch D.XXIs saw less than a week of action following the German invasion of the west on 10 May 1940, with many of the country’s 28 fighters being destroyed on the ground. However, those that survived the initial onslaught inflicted losses on the Luftwaffe. By then, however, the D.XXI had found everlasting fame in Finland during the Winter War of 1939-40.
Proving itself a real thorn in the side of the Soviets, the fighter, operating in primitive conditions and against vastly superior numbers, Finnish D.XXIs racked up an incredible score against the Red Air Force. The D.XXI also has the distinction of producing the first ‘ace in a single mission’ in World War 2, when then 1Lt Jorma Sarvanto shot down six Ilyushin DB-3 bombers on 6 January 1940.
Kari Stenman and Peter de Jong chart the history of the planes and their aces. After spending a year providing home defence and flying coastal patrols during the early stages of the Continuation War in 1941, all surviving Finnish Fokker D.XXIs were relegated to the reconnaissance role, which they performed through to the end of hostilities in September 1944.
Kari Stenman is the world’s leading authority on the Finnish Air Force during World War 2, and has written or co-authored many books on the units and aircraft of this most interesting service. Peter de Jong is a professional editor and translator, and has collaborated on numerous modern history and aviation history books, as well as having written numerous magazine articles since 1995. His comprehensive work on the most historically significant Fokker aircraft of World War 2, the D.XXI, was published in French in 2005, and is soon to be followed by a revised volume in his native Dutch.
Chris Davey has illustrated more than 30 titles for Osprey’s Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Elite Units series since 1994. Based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and one of the last traditional airbrush artists in the business, he has become the artist of choice for both World War 2 fighter types.