Account by Heinrich Weiss of 1940 Western Campaigns

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

After careful thought, I'm going to bring this discussion about the Heinrich Weiss manuscript and his huge archive from last July to a conclusion. About three weeks ago I acquired from the Weiss family the original, typewritten copy of his 2000 plus-page manuscript on the war in the west from 1939 through mid-1941, the ownership of the copyright on this document, plus Heinrich's entire 40-years of research materials to back up his project. Heinrich died about four years ago without publishing the results of his efforts. However, his research archive provided much of the German side of the information in Chris Shore's "Fledgling Eagles" and Brian Cull's "Twelve Days in May." This massive archive includes perhaps 75,000 pages of material in German, English and French. This is by far the most comprehensive collection of materials on the period of the war in the west of which I am aware. So, this collection has not been lost, but it now will be preserved, archived and used in a major, and hopefully definitive, history of the air war in WW II from events just prior to the outbreak of WW II, through the end of 1940. This includes the participation of all sides. At present, this series, known as "Eagles Over Europe," which complements my "Eagles Over the Pacific" book series, is projected at seven primary volumes, plus at least an equal number of secondary volumes of additional photos and appendices. About 35-40 experts on the air war during this period are already cooperating with and supporting this project, for which there will likely be many authors, co-authors and associate authors. Others are joining the effort on a regular basis. I will be posting further info on the EOE book series in the future.

For now, my thanks to everyone who assisted with the acquistion of the Weiss archive for use in our EOE book series.

Regards,