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Re: RAF Non-operational loss 21 March 1944
Further to my post about the Halifax being with the MAAF on the day of the crash. The files of the MAAF, TNA, Kew, AIR 51 gives the following:-
Many of the records of the Allied Command were deposited, after microfilming, with the United States' Department of the Army. The records of Headquarters Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF) were originally microfilmed by the MAAF Historical Section but inspection of these films by the Allied Forces Records Administration (AFRA) resulted in a decision to re-film the records to the technical standards prescribed by a Combined Chiefs of Staff's directive. Both sets of film eventually came into the hands of the Ministry of Defence, Air Department who were then able to make a direct comparison and, having established that there was complete duplication between them, they elected to destroy the AFRA microfilm in February 1973.
The joint Allied air command was established on 17 February 1943 under the name "Mediterranean Air Command", but was re-named "Mediterranean Allied Air Forces" with effect from 10 December 1943. Mediterranean Allied Air Forces was dissolved into its constituent parts: US Army Air Forces, Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and Royal Air Force, Mediterranean and Middle East on 31 July 1945.
A comment about the above, rather than destroy the so called "duplication" film set (of the MAAF files), they could have offered the set of filmed records to other Archives, Universities, or provincial main Libraries in the UK.
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