[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Larry,

While NARA II holds the USSBS files, including support material, the files are not as meticulous as one would hope for. There appeared to be both summaries of a general nature as well as focused company reports. But, from what I can tell, not every facility was written up, but rather far from it. The closest one can come to a specific facility report for those not covered in detail are the target folders, although these tended to be mainly collections of wartime intel on each target.

I made a copy of the various European USSBS indexes, as well as delved into what appeared to be the most fertile areas regarding the Me 262, and came away disappointed. For instance, I could find no postwar coverage of the Me 262 forest assembly facilities at Leipheim nor Schwäbisch Hall. It seems inconceivable to me that no one went into these facilities, camera in hand, to photograph and provide an overview, but I never found such reports, save for the Messerschmitt survey report I have already mentioned.

USSBS stands for United States Strategic Bombing Survey, with emphasis on the word "survey". I believe its purpose was to document the impact of strategic bombing on defeating Germany, rather than to serve as a detailed history on each and every place bombed. Perhaps one reason that the Me 262 forest facilities weren't covered in detail was that, for all its prowess, with the exception of a lucky hit on Neuburg because the forest assembly facility was too close to the airfield, the assembly facilities were never bombed. So, if they weren't targeted, then their usefulness in pushing the survey's intended purpose would have been muted.

Clearly, Eger/Cheb took a pounding. And, yes, there is a target folder on Cheb and another on Eger. They are in Section 4. European Target Intelligence:

3. a. Damage assessment photo intelligence reports of European targets filed alphabetically by target area and contain all available information on the area.

(562) Cheb, Czechoslovakia
(795) Eger, Czechoslovakia

Regards,
Richard