Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Dear all,

I'm happy to report that we have just finished work on the Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1, which covers 1 January 1944 - 15/16 March 1944. It should be out by the end of November. Very pleased with the final results, hope you'll like it too!

Cheers, Theo

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Thanks for the update, really looking forward to it!

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Dear all,

Here's the official announcement on the Wingleader website:

https://www.wingleader.co.uk/shop/na...-1944-part-one

Cheers, Theo

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Thank you, Theo. Unfortunately, I have run across too many, for me, images of downed RAF aircraft where only pieces are visible. There are no identifying markings left and no landmarks visible. Finally, there is no writing on the back of the photos.


Kind regards,
Ed

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Thanks for your feedback Ed, but I'm a bit puzzled about the point that you are trying to make?

Cheers, Theo

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

The only point I'm making is that it is unfortunate that I see a lot of RAF photos where the remains of the aircraft cannot be identified and are therefore lost to the historical record.


Ed

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Yes, agreed Ed, as a general point -many crash photos that appear on Ebay for example regrettably cannot be tied to the loss of a particular aircraft. In the Nachtjagd Combat Archive series however we try and positively identify the wreckage photos of Bomber Command and Nachtjagd aircraft that are depicted in the volumes. A lot of time and effort has been spent in this process.

Best regards, Theo

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Pre-ordered it today! Very much looking forward to it. And the collection grows... :D

I am very content with the series, but have one remark/request.
In the series there are several interesting clauses in which aircrew recount their experiences. I presume those were originally in German and you have chosen to translate it. For me, the original German would make some things better to understand. An example is a German book translated into English where Marauder-type is translated into Marauder. In that book, Luftwaffe pilot Wolfgang Späte actually spotted B-25 bombers, which he described as Marauder-type but in the English book this was carelessly translated as Marauder.

My request is, can you publish a seperate volume at the end of the series with all the original German text as written down by the aircrew in it?

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Thanks for your comments Timon. I'm afraid that there will be no German-language separate volume(s) in the NCA series, although I can quite understand your desire to read the original German-language first-person accounts.

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Theo,
I wonder if you can answer a question I have? When were the German archives from World War 1, in Potsdam as I understand it, destroyed? These in particular covered the Luftstreitkräfte records from WW1. I have never seen a date given, but only vague references to 1943 or 1944, with nothing more substantial. Perhaps a note in a future issue of NJCA?

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Hi Frank,

It was the big RAF Bomber Command raid on Potsdam on 14/15 April 1945 that destroyed the Prussian Military Archives and much of the town — very attractively restored now in the centre. I think I read this in a book on WW1 German tanks — the author had to work from the copies of the material that Prussia supplied to the other German kingdoms.

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Hello Frank and Nick,

Thanks Nick for answering Frank's question. When it comes to German Luftwaffe records of WWII, we have written the following in the Introduction to the Nachtjagd Combat Archive series:

Unfortunately, very few Luftwaffe records survived the war, for several reasons. Firstly, most of the Luftwaffe documentation pertaining to victory claims in the 1940-43 period was destroyed in an RAF Bomber Command raid on Berlin in November 1943. Following the loss of these records, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe/Reichs Luftfahrt Ministerium (OKL/RLM) requested that all Luftwaffe units re-send a list summarising all victory claims made before 25 November 1943. Thus, the extensive but incomplete fighter and Flak claims records for 1940-1944, which were compiled by the OKL/RLM at the end of 1944, are a reconstruction of original documentation. Secondly, other documents (some 15,000 files) of the RLM that were stored in Berlin were lost in an American bombing raid on 3 February 1945. Thirdly, on orders from the German Air Force High Command, the vast preponderance of Luftwaffe unit War Diaries and Luftgaukommando (Air Force District Command) War Diaries were put to the torch in April 1945, in operation Feuertod (‘Death by fire’). One of the primary sources which disappeared at the end of the conflict were the archives of the Aussenstelle Wiesbaden (Abschuss Kommission), the official inquiring body of the RLM and OKL that was responsible for the examination and confirmation of claims submitted for aircraft shot down by the Luftwaffe during WWII. Thus, only an estimated 2 to 3% of the Luftwaffe’s original mass of files survived the war.

Cheers, Theo

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Thanks, Nick and Theo.

So the Luftstreitkräfte records of WW1 survived until almost the end of WW2. And if they had survived to the end of WW2, and been captured by the Russians, we might now be able to read them on Russian websites, as is happening with captured Luftwaffe records.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Dear Dr. Boiten,

that's alright. I can understand that. Still, would it be possible to get my hands on them? If you have the original German readily available in some kind of text editor, could you send that to me? I am willing to pay for it.

Kind regards,

Timon

Re: Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1
 

Hello Timon,

I'm sorry to tell you that I cannot share the original German-language texts with you; many of them stem from my own interviews with vets, others from private collections with exclusive publication rights for the NCA series, etc.

Cheers, Theo