Ole Nikolajsen

This is a completely revised and updated edition of a publication that first appeared in the late 1980’s. As no commercial publisher has been willing to take a risk, the author has made it available in CD format. Thank goodness.
For your money you get a CD with the book in three different formats – reduced pdf and word versions and full size. I find the reduced pdf works best with my computer, but for better quality images use the full size version. They just take longer to down load.
The book is 269 pages, divided into fifteen chapters. The first three cover pioneering aviation and the Balkan Wars; the next ten detail the First World War; the final two chapters are really appendices: A listing of aircraft delivered 1912-1918 to both Turkish and German units, complete with service histories and colour profiles, and a listing of aircrew – Turkish and German. The text is well written in clear English, the photographs and maps are embedded in the text. Sometimes this results in captions being only partially visible, but just opening up the full size version page on your computer will sort that out. Most of the maps are better viewed in a larger scale.
The depth of research is astounding. Ole and his original colaborator, Bulent Yilmazer, have spent several decades gathering information, and photographs. There are several hundred images in the book. I had seen a handful previously, in old issues of the US Cross and Cockade Journal, and a few other publications, but almost all are new to this reviewer. As you might expect the quality of the photographs varies enormously, but where else will you find a DH4 in Turkish markings?
I have to admit to not enjoying reading books on a screen, so I had a copy printed out for my use. After just a few weeks it is already well thumbed and, because there is no index, has a lot of Post It notes sticking out!
If you have any interest in WW1 aviation beyond the Western Front this publication is essential reading and research material.… (mehr)