Using Y-Intercepts to research the Luftwaffe

[RodM]

Thanks Nick, Steve, Ed and Adam for the information.

Ed, the sample Air Activity Report is for the 24-hour period ending 0700 B.D.S.T. on 8 April 1945, so the daylight sorties were on the 7th. Times are also in B.D.S.T. which during this period was the same as M.E.S.Z. then in use by Germany.

Adam, thanks for the additional info.

It is a real shame that more of the raw intercepts have not survived (outside of the microfilmed AIR 51 files), as with knowledge of the callsigns and codes in use at the time, many very useful fragments of information could be gained. The various periodical internal reports used by the Y-organisation to update the monitoring stations on changes of LW signals procedure and the introduction of new codes and callsigns often contain snippets of raw intercepts, but they mainly serve to illustrate the richness of the information that has been lost. Many of the reports, however, do provide useful insight into the operational workings of the Luftwaffe.

Cheers

Rod

I've attached a page from a log found in AIR 51/292, concerning intercepts of Luftwaffe activity on 24 January 1945 in relation to the Allied landings at Anzio. It also has callsigns written in. I guess it serves to illustrate the sort of operational info that has been 'lost' with the destruction of the majority of the intercept logs...