[Nick Beale]

HW5 disappointing? More like a revelation. I spent about 15 years accumulating DEFE3 material and always with the sense that they knew more than they were telling - but fearing that the fuller versions no longer survived. The frustration is that I probably worked about three years with that material before I realised HW5 was now available (although, as it transpires, it would have made almost no difference to the content of my NSG 9 book).

The big differences are (as Rod said) in the seemingly trivial material not passed to commands but that complements other information one has; that individual aircraft can often be identified; and perhaps most importantly that people are named (rather than DEFE 3's "an officer previously with SG 4"). Of course, as with any research it's how all the different sources add up that matters but HW5 makes a huge contribution.