Missing Coastal Command Weekly Intelligence Summaries

[phasselgren]

Hi,

The Coastal Command Weekly Intelligence Summaries for WW2 can be found in different files but many of these summaries are missing or at least difficult to find.


The firsthand sources for these weekly summaries are the following files:

• AIR 15/255 Weekly intelligence summaries 146 – 191, 1942 13 Apr - 1943 28 Feb: Missing 147, 148 and 150
• AIR 15/256 Weekly intelligence summaries 192 – 234, 1943 28 Feb.-25 Dec: Missing 209, 211, 213, 215 and 217
• AIR 15/257 Weekly intelligence summaries 273 – 287, 1944 16 Sept - 30 Dec: Complete
• AIR 15/258 Weekly intelligence summaries 1 – 22, 1945 Jan – June
• There are also Weekly intelligence summaries available in the National Archives in both Australia (Jan 1944 to June 1945, complete) and Canada (at least 2 files with summaries from 1942 and 1943).

Others can be found in the Coastal Command Appendices (H.Q. Coastal Command Narrative). I have little experience of these files but based on what I have seen and information from another researcher I expect to find Weekly intelligence summaries in the following files:

• AIR 24/382 1941 Oct. to AIR 24/390 1942 June. Starting with Weekly Intelligence Summary 117.
• AIR 24/393 1942 July to AIR 24/398 1942 Dec
• AIR 24/409 1944 Jan to AIR 24/426 1945 May

AIR 15 and AIR 24 are partially overlapping but there are 2 groups of summaries I cannot find.

• Weekly intelligence summaries from September 1939 to Summary 116 in October 1941. I have been in contact with a Dutch researcher and he confirmed that none of the files AIR24/368 H.Q. Coastal Command Narrative 1939 Sept-Oct to AIR 24/380 1941 Aug.-Sept. includes these weekly intelligence summaries. Is there anyone who can guide me in the right direction to find these missing summaries. The book A forgotten Offensive by Christina J.M. Goulter make references to Weekly Intelligence Summaries from both 1939 and 1940 which makes it certain that these documents were available at least before these documents were transferred to the National Archives.
  
• Weekly intelligence summaries 209, 211, 213, 215 and 217 from July to August 1943 plus 235 the last week of December 1943. I hope these can be found in one of the Coastal Command Appendices AIR 24/399 to 402. All four cover the period 1943 Jan-Dec but there is no information about the content on the National Archives website. Is there anyone which can confirm if the missing summaries can be found in any of these four files?

Thanks in advance
Peter

[Chris Goss]

The AHB has all hence Christina Goulter used them

[rafcommands]

As Chris says - RAFAHB

They have made the Monthly Summaries free download.
https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/ou...s-and-reports/

May go some way to fill your gap for July 1943

Ross

[FrankieS]

@rafcommands:


super !
thank You.

[phasselgren]

Thanks for the information Chris and Ross, much appreciated. I thought all these summaries were moved to the National Archives. The link is also very valuable.

Peter