Larry
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry deZeng
- Do you mean all surviving Lw. documents worldwide or just those in Russia?
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Yes, I mean all surviving LW documents worldwide
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry deZeng
- I tried the website wwiigermandocsinrussia.org but I could not access in. ... there is no way to go from there to the listings you spoke of. What am I doing wrong?
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The path to the document in attachment is watermarked at the bottom of it:
CAMO_500_12472_345_0178 which means:
f.500 Findbuch 12472 Akte 345 Blatt 178. The number of scanned frames is not necessarily the same as the number of pages, so the actual page number had been watermarked to allow one to make correct reference.
As you can see this document is in the folder containing Heer documents. Exactly like LW documents which could be found in T311 - T315 document series at NARA.
You have previously wrote in post #64 that "They were so generalized and redacted by the Luftwaffe before being distributed to the Army that they are today of little value or interest to air war researchers and historians."
I've attached this document to show that these:
1) could be not so generalised
2) contain unique information previously unknown to LW researches
3) provide useful insights into day-to-day activity of the German air force
I would like to say a few words about the latter point. The document in the attachment shows, that in the autumn of 1944 despite shortages of fuel, tactical Luftwaffe formations could still make a high number of sorties per day (243 by I. Flg.Korps at given date) by substituting twin-engined machines with single-engined ground attack aircraft. Fw 190's acting as ground-attack aircraft did not required fighter escort, hence relatively low daily total of sorties by fighters. It shows supposed effectivenes of specialised anti-tank aircraft (six claims for eight sorties). High number of reconnaissance sorties suggests that in late 1944 Luftwaffe was still trying to monitor battlefield situation virtually in real time just as in its glory days in 1941. A few lines could tell so much!
In my opinion such information is not only of great value or interest, but it also significantly alters the popular view that by that stage of the war Luftwaffe was finished and was unable to provide effective air support of ground forces