Air Battles over Hungary 1944-45 Volume 1: Debrecen to Budapest

When Soviet forces first advanced across the border onto Hungarian territory, the German position in Europe, and that of its allies, had collapsed. By September 1944, the line on all fronts had disintegrated or was crumbling under the weight of inexorable Allied and Soviet advances. After the destruction of German Army Group South Ukraine and Romania's dramatic change of sides, Hungary was now the last major Axis stronghold in south-eastern Europe, and the Red Army was surging towards its frontier. There followed one of the largest and least understood aerial campaigns of the Second World War, as Soviet, German, Hungarian, Romanian and Allied air forces converged over the battlefields of Hungary in a struggle that would determine the fate of Budapest and open the road to Vienna.

This first volume of Air Battles Over Hungary traces the air war from the opening of the Debrecen Offensive in October 1944 through the fierce fighting around the approaches to Budapest. The campaign witnessed vast Soviet air operations supporting Marshal Malinovsky's advancing armies, desperate Luftwaffe and Royal Hungarian Air Force counterattacks, the continuing air campaign of the US Fifteenth Air Force, and, with the realisation of the strategic and symbolic significance of Hungary, the emergence of this theatre as one of the principal air battlefields of the collapsing Third Reich.

This expanded volume explores Soviet air doctrine and the contrasting tactical philosophies of the VVS and the Luftwaffe; the activities of celebrated aces; the operations of the Royal Hungarian Air Force, and the actions of Romanian aviation following its defection to the Allied cause. The logistical and technical challenges of operating from improvised forward airfields in appalling autumn weather are also examined, revealing the enormous effort required to sustain continuous combat operations whether in pursuit of victory or desperately attempting to stave off defeat.

Drawing extensively upon Russian, German and Hungarian archival sources, Dmitriy Khazanov examines the campaign from all sides. The comprehensive narrative describes not only the fighter aces actions and aircraft types involved but also places aviation firmly within the wider context of the operational battle, demonstrating how air power influenced the movement of armies, the defence of key communications, and the ultimately unsuccessful attempts to halt the Soviet advance. The story is enriched by combat reports, memoirs, operational analyses and eyewitness accounts from pilots and commanders on every side.

Illustrated throughout with a wealth of previously unpublished or rarely seen photographs, supplementary information on the development of Soviet aviation doctrine and Hungarian fighter aces, detailed maps and specially commissioned full-colour aircraft profiles with revised captions, Air Battles Over Hungary Volume 1 presents the most comprehensive English-language study yet published of this overlooked but decisive campaign. It is an essential reference for anyone interested in the air forces and the final air battles fought over Central Europe during the Second World War.