Luftwaffe data from ULTRA

[SES]

Hi Jan,
Glad you are not fed-up yet, but to some this is a very special subject, which is just a very small part of a very large picture.

I'll leave it to Rod to answer your ULTRA question.
bregds
SES

[Jan Bobek]

Thanks SES, but I think that sooner or later I would need your consultation(s) as soon as I will go into ULTRA stuff ...

[SES]

Jan, you are more than welcome on or off board.

bregds
SES

[Schenck]

Jan

ULTRA files are only sorted by dates, each period being stored on one microfilm, in so covering radio traffic regarding air, ground and sea situation. The only way to get necessary data on LW is to sift through the microfilm roll that covers dates you are interested in.
Messages on LW include reports about operations for a particular day, orders of battle and a lot of miscellaneous stuff like orders from/for ARCs and so on.
A daunting, but very satisfying task with lots of up and downs considering what you are after.

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi,

The ULTRA I have is from HW 5, which is on paper at the National Archives. It seems to be the low-level material, while HW 1 is the high-level material sent to Churchill.

For those working on aircraft databases and loss databases, the ULTRA in HW 5 is an essential source. For example, from HW 5/473 is the following (undated, but approximately 20 April 1944):

Undated: Germany: FW 190 A-6 W.Nr 551 130 ‘Yellow 2 + ’ of III./J.G. 1 (Lippspringe) 65% damage, sent for repairs after forced landing.


Also in HW 5/473 is this:

16.04.44: Eastern Front: I. Fliegerkorps IA to Jafü Fliegerkorps 1 Mamaia. 7 FW 190s for I./S.G. 10 are ready for collection from Foscani North.


Daily strength returns from Luftwaffe units very often feature W.Nr and marking details, and mention losses as well.

Cheers,
Andrew A.

"You'll never silence the voice of the voiceless" - Rage Against The Machine

[Jan Bobek]

Guys,

thank you guys, would you please describe me the procedure how to pucharse ULTRA microfilms?

thanks

Jan

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Jan Bobek

would you please describe me the procedure how to pucharse ULTRA microfilms?

I think that the UK National Archives website will explain the ordering system.

If it wasn't clear from the other posts, the file series with the "Main series of reports to Allied Commands" is DEFE3. (This is the series that I have spent most time with).

Details of each file are on the NA website.

Someone mentioned that the messages are in date order but that is the date the decrypted report was issued. This could be some days after the original message was sent, so if you are interested in a particular event, you may need files for a few days later to see if there is a decrypt.

Files contain 250 signals each (usually the traffic from about 3 days) and there can be from one to four files on a single reel of microfilm.