Book Review: Dornier Do 217 - From Bomber to Night Fighter by Chris Goss

Dornier Do 217 – From Bomber to Night Fighter

By Chris Goss

Air World 2024

ISBN: 9781473883093

256 pages, Hardback, Illustrated

When I pick up a book by Chris Goss on a Luftwaffe subject I know that I am going to learn much. The retired RAF Wing Commander clearly has a fascination with the subject and, as far as I can tell without having observed him at work, goes to a great deal of trouble to get things right. The last statement ought to be a truism but there are plenty of authors in the military history field these days who ensure it is not.

Now Goss has turned his attention to the Dornier Do 217 and I have come away from reading his book with the unjustified feeling that I am almost an expert on the subject.

The Do 217 was a conventional bomber, used also on anti-shipping strikes. It was prominent in the attacks on British provincial cities in 1942. As time went on there were plenty of variants and the type flew as a night fighter, though not always with the approbation of its crews.

The 217 claimed a particular place in the history books through the delay in the Heinkel He 177 entering service. It therefore fell to the Do 217 to be the first aircraft to deliver precision-guided weapons in combat. This event occurred on 21 July 1943, when Do 217s of KG 100 attacked Allied shipping in Augusta harbour, Sicily, using Fritz X radio-guided glide bombs.

We are presented with a complicated story requiring the reader to pay attention, but the author explains it well. He has also assembled a remarkable collection of relevant photographs, which he has captioned in detail. It is claimed that many of them are appearing in print for the first time.

A firm “buy” recommendation for anyone studying the wartime Luftwaffe.