22 Aug 44 P-47 near Tours sur Marne (nr Athis)

[Larry deZeng]

Yes, very thorough, Chris. I would definitely say that puts a wrap on it. I was very surprised to see the AIR 40/2915 Supplement of 19 August 1944. I did not find that among the A.I.2.(b) copies held by our AFHRA (Air Force Historical Research Agency) at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. From the supplement, it appears Air Ministry Intelligence was just coming to grips with the several hundred satellites the Germans set up beginning in February 1944. For a while there, I suspect they were as confused as we have been!

The book by Mattiello that you referred to, Fliegerhorstkommandanturen und Flugplätze der deutschen Luftwaffe 1935-1945, was one of the last titles published by the highly acclaimed Biblio Verlag in Osnabrück. Maybe a year later, in 2001 or 2002, they went belly up and were acquired by Zeller Verlag. Zeller acquired Biblio's inventory but chose not to continue their publishing program, since it was not profitable. So the book's contents cannot be updated because there will be no future editions.

Your project concerning the Chalons area sounds exciting and worthwhile. If I could turn the clock back 50 years, I would grab a backpack, hop a plane and tromp around the French countryside with you in a nano second. But I will be available to provide you with any information I have on the airfields you explore. I am in the middle of documenting all of the airfields used by the Luftwaffe 1933-45 and I am just finishing up with the Reich. Next up will be France.

Go ahead and delete the images, Chris. I am through with them and I sure don't want to see you get into any hot water!

Cheers,

Larry