Henschel Hs 123 (Orange)

Like other books in this series, this book is a terrific reference on the Henschel Hs 123. Highly recommended.

Great little handbook with some nice profiles.

Announced all of two years ago this Mushroom Hs 123 title finally appeared in late June 2014. It is in the usual format of the Orange series: multiple small sections building up to a summary history, a brief technical description, plus 41 pages of full colour paintings and a concluding part of well reproduced drawings from the Luftwaffe Flugzeug-Handbuch. The book includes a good selection of photographs which does go well beyond the old favourites. In general, the book has been well researched adding much information that is new in English. This title is a definite must-have for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Hs 123. A very useful preview of the book contents has been posted on YouTube by the publisher.Unfortunately all of the colour paintings are printed on the usual Mushroom background of an uneven sky blue. Modern no doubt but representationally unhelpful. Hopefully Mushroom will develop a better approach in future titles. If the background cannot be white why not a plain, uniform very pale grey wash? Also where page numbers are printed on top of photos they can become very hard to read – see p.59. White page numbers would be better on dark photos. A short section on flying characteristics would also be a welcome addition in these titles. From the few snippets that have surfaced those of the Hs 123 seem to have been superlative.The book has a QR patch on p.119 which I have not used. However, a URL is also given. These allow the viewing of a drawing of the instrument panel. Personally, I was a little underwhelmed by this ‘interactivity’ but maybe this technology will take us to more interesting places in the future.Historically, the Hs 123 is a particularly significant aircraft. A miniscule 230 or so were taken into service by the Luftwaffe, a tiny investment from which the Luftwaffe squeezed an extraordinary amount of work over the front lines through the astonishingly long period (to at least the spring of 1944). Specific details are thin but the battlefield contributions of the Hs 123 seem to have been out of all proportion to the tiny numbers employed. The Hs 123 is probably the most remarkably cost-effective ground attack aircraft of all time and the story of its longevity is genuinely extraordinary.Unfortunately the early part of this story is marred here by two entirely avoidable errors: 15 not 16 Hs 123 A-0 were built, the first batch of seven machines spanning W.Nr. 0628 to 0634, and the W.Nr. of the V5 was 796 (not 769 as printed here on p.16, and in so many other places). These corrections were published in Horst Materna’s 2010 book.Thus the V5 & V6 were assigned the W.Nrn. immediately after those of the second batch of A-0s. According to this publication, this made them respectively ”the 16th production Hs 123 A-1” (p.16) and “the 17th aircraft of the A-1 production version” (p.17) respectively. In fact, they would have been the 16th and 17th Hs 123 A-0s, if they had actually been intended as A-0s. However, they weren’t, so both statements are entirely fatuous and need to be struck from the text.A few other important corrections are also necessary. Total production of the Hs 123 was 262 (not the 266 given here on p.23). This comprised: 7 Versuchs, 15 Null-Serie, and 100 Serie (including the 12 commercial exports to China) from Henschel, Berlin-Schönefeld, plus 140 Serie (not 129 as stated on p.23) from AGO at Oschersleben-Bode. These totals are definitively documented in the Technischer Bericht sections of the Henschel company’s annual reports for 1942 and 1943. Thus the 12 Hs 123 exported by Henschel to China were diverted from the production series ordered from Henschel for the Luftwaffe, whilst the 12 Hs 123 sold to Spain in 1939 were a government-to-government sale of aircraft taken directly from Luftwaffe stocks. Each export case underlines the point that the Luftwaffe by that time already considered the Hs 123 to be obsolescent and now superfluous. But then dedicated ground attack aircraft have never ever been popular with air force hierarchies, even young ones.The statement on p.79 that ten additional Hs 123 were assembled c.1942 from stocks of spares must also be struck through. Again, the Henschel company annual reports which tracked the number of Hs 123 still in use give not even a hint of any such bonus addition to the numbers recorded as remaining (109 at end 1942 and 10 at the end of 1943).Two further statements also need correction. II. (S)/LG 2 was committed to the Battle of Britain wholly equipped with the Bf 109 E-7 Jabo: it did not include a Hs 123 Staffel as stated here on p.65. It is also not true that a Hs 123 Staffel formed part of both Gruppen in the new Schlachtgeschwader 1 of 1942. 7/Sch.G.1 was the sole such Hs 123-equipped Staffel and this remained the case until the reorganization of Oct-43. (Why will Mushroom not use Gruppe and Staffel instead of mis-translating them as squadron and flight?)On the other side of the ledger, there is a photograph of truly outstanding interest at the foot of p.53. This can indeed only be a shot of the Hs 123 V1 in Spain. (The V2 had become the V8 and the V3 had been destroyed.) The much beefier fuselage struts only fitted to the first three prototypes are clearly evident here. One significant change from the original configuration of the V1 is that the clumsy, over-large boots over the main wheels have now been replaced by the neater fairing introduced on the V3 (photo at p.13 here). These fairings were fitted with black non-slip pads on the upper front portion, a solution that was not adopted for any other Hs 123. Immediately behind the V1 this shot also captures the sole example of the He 50 dive bomber trialled in Spain. Presumably Angelito 501 and 502 were never used operationally in Spain.This Mushroom title also makes one important correction to the story of the Hs 123 so far as this has been printed in English. (Although this has been available in German sources since at least 1974). The difference between the Hs 123 A-1 and B-1 sub-types was not down to whether or not a faired headrest/rollover pylon was fitted or any other such fancy, but was entirely a matter of whether fabric or duralumin was used for most of the skinning on the upper surfaces of both wings and in the internal construction details of the ailerons. As the Fz-Handbuch commented, to determine whether a particular example was an A-1 or a B-1 sub-type it was necessary to check the manufacturer’s plate of the aircraft.For the other few nit-picker specialists of my own micro-species, it will be noted that a few of the Hs 123 W.Nrn. mentioned here are clearly inaccurate.1. p.59(text), W.Nr. 816 is probably W.Nr. 819, the lowest numbered Hs 123 A-1 known to have been built by Henschel. This was preceded by a batch of Ju W34.2. p.72(painting) W.Nr. 2239 is probably 2339, W.Nr. 2247 is the lowest numbered AGO-built Hs 123.3. p.80(text), W.Nr. 0333 was a Hs 129, one of several such losses mis-reported by I./Sch.G.1 as Hs 123sThere are also a number of interesting slips in the photo captioning. So far I have found these:• p.74(top) unit is 8./Sch.G.1 (not 8.(Pz)/Sch.G.1) and was only briefly equipped with the Hs 123. The separately distinguished and designated 4.(Pz) & 8.(Pz) Staffeln did not come into existence until the Dec’42 reorganization into two Schlachtgeschwader. This photo, however, dates from the period Jan/Mar-42. Subsequently, in April-42 8./Sch.G 1 was returned to Germany and re-equipped with the Bf 109 E-7 Jabo. A newly-formed 7./Sch.G. 1 was then equipped with the Hs 123 as operational needs were pressing, pilots were available and it would be many months before sufficient Hs 129s could be produced.• P.97(upper) 24*8 never served with the Condor Legion. Codes 24*6 to 24*17 were assigned to the twelve Hs 123s acquired from Germany after the end of the Civil War. (Thus, code 24*6 was used for two completely different aircraft as the new additions were numbered sequentially from the highest number of the two survivors taken over from the Condor Legion. Unsurprisingly these additions arrived in Luftwaffe camouflage and their first marking scheme in the Spanish Air Force replicated that of the Hs 123 operated by the Legion.)• p.130 aircraft is L2+BP of 6.(S)/LG 2 (not +BH).This makes no pretence of being a comprehensive listing. Also ignored is the generous sprinkling of typos.Overall recommendation: Strong buy and hold. As with other titles in the Mushroom Orange series (Hs 126 & Hs 129 immediately come to mind) this is not the final, definitive account. It is, however, still a most useful, well-produced and very affordable addition to the literature on the Hs 123.

I have a large number of these titles and none have disappointed; this has been an eye opener for obtaining so many operators & schemes in the one place at a very reasonable price. Love it to bits.

Prompt delivery and a good book.A detailed history of an interesting aircraft used by the Luftwaffe in WW 2. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and 1/72 scale drawings.Modellers note.

Well presented and written

Great reading, great source. Beautiful book