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Originally Posted by sveahk
First of all, Christer, there's no need to get mad.
I'm just honestly interested in how you and other authors deal with finding out about the truth about those times , confusing times as war is. With facts that sometimes are not so easy to verify, with participants who are now old, sometimes very old, where memories of these participants perhaps conflict with time gone by. My understanding is that when we're getting older the view of our past change as well. I imagine you can agree with that statement.
See, those are things that interests me, not only from a readers point of view.
Nothing else.
And by the way, Herr Schuck actually said what he said (see above). Why would his companions otherwise have to interfer and set things straight??
And by the way, your "Black Cross/Red Star" and "Jagdwaffe, War in the east 1944-45", the two books I've read up till now with you as an author, I think are both well researched and well written!
Take care
Hans
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Hans,
You make a good point about first-hand accounts, because after 60 years people's memories naturally fade.
That is why first-hand accounts should mainly be used to complement other primary sources, especially reliable contemporary documents like logbooks, KTBs, loss material, ULTRA etc. etc. etc. I realise that nearly all primary sources have some flaws, but the author has to judge which sources are of more value than others.
While I can't speak for Christer, myself and my research partner, Morten Jessen, don't base our work on the first-hand accounts from veteran pilots. We base it on the other primary sources, which are generally more reliable*, and we use the first-hand accounts to complement these other primary sources. For example, in our forthcoming book on the
FW 190 in the Mediterranean we list the exact details of the loss of a pilot or aircraft from the German loss report, ULTRA and/or KTBs, and then include comments from a veteran about that particular incident. The contemporary reports establish the 'facts', the exact date, time, location, etc. while the veteran might be able to add some more interesting information, like the pilot's nickname etc.
* I'm not implying that veterans falsify their memories, I just mean that documents provide more accurate dates, times etc.
That's just my humble opinion. I don't claim to be an expert author or historian.
Cheers,
Andrew Arthy
"You'll never silence the voice of the voiceless" - Rage Against the Machine