Quote:
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
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Regards,
Andrei
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Thank you very much for the comprehensive reply, Andrei. It looks like we had a bit of a misunderstanding because I failed to make myself as clear as I should have.
You indirectly answered my first question, I think. Your 2 samples pages came from the records that are already available in f.500. There are no separate Fonds of Luftwaffes. There are no inventory lists of all Luftwaffe documents captured by Soviet forces during and right after the war. One of the earlier contributors to this thread, possibly Jörn Junker, seemed to list a large number of Luftwaffe documents in Russian hands that have not yet been digitized. Naturally, I assumed he got these from some sort of an inventory list produced by the German Documents in Russia Project people.
To be clear, the samples you provided are just exactly what I and many others are looking for: the daily reports of the Luftflotten, Fliegerkorps and Fliegerdivisionen that detail combat operations would be of great interest, to most of us. As inted out, there are only a few of these that survived the war and these are scattered about in various files that would take years to examine. I have examined most of the T-311, T-312 and T-13 microfilms
beginning in 1982 so I know that there isn't much for the 1941-45 period in the East. There were a few exceptions of course, such as the IV. Fliegerkorps daily reports from September 1941 through February 1942, Fliegerführer Süd reports for the first half of 1942, and a few scattered daily reports from 1. and 4. Fliegerdivisionen from May/June 1942 to spring 1943. However, those daily reports specifically produced by the Luftflotten for distribnution to the Heeresgruppen and Armeeoberkommandos were generalized and void of details. See the Anlagen Bände of AOK 18 in T-312 for examples.
Thanks again, Andrei.
L.