Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry deZeng
ULTRA fills in many of the numerous gaps that were created by Göring's vengeful order to destroy the remaining Luftwaffe records which was carried out the first five days of May 1945 by Oberst Mittmann, Kdr. Teilkommando Süd/8. Abteilung Genst.d.Lw.
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Hi Larry, I think that it is purely in relation to the destruction of the preponderance of Luftwaffe records that makes ULTRA seem like a 'holy grail'. While it does fill in many gaps, it obviously has severe limitations when one starts to look for either an all-encompassing view of a particular campaign or command, or for details of very specific actions. Then it becomes pot-luck whether there is much of use. I find that ULTRA is most rewarding when it is combined with information from other surviving documentary sources. Also, to put it bluntly, one must shift through a lot of crap to find the odd nugget, if researching a specific area of interest.
Although I expect that the years 1943-44 are probably more fruitful in terms of decrypts in my area of interest, for the 1945 period most of the unit-level Nachtjagd decrypts relate to NJG4 (predominantly I. and III. Gruppe), with a small number of decrypts from other Gruppen, so that out of NJGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc, there is little information (other than the odd strength return or loss report) on the majority of the Nachtjagdgeschwader. I also find it amusing that a run of decrypts for some units occur when they are having little operational success (like not flying on operations or not meeting the enemy), but abruptly end, sometimes on the very day, when they see major combat!
Cheers
Rod