Alexander Steenbeck KG 26 Book – BOB Coverage

[Peter Cook]

I am trying to locate an affordable copy of Alexander Steenbeck's history of KG 26 "Die Spur des Löwen: Der Weg des Löwengeschwaders durch Europa", but the only copies I am finding on Amazon and Abebooks are priced at £1,955.84 and £ 799.24 respectively, which is exorbitant! I am only interested in KG 26's Battle of Britain coverage.

Any thoughts?

Peter

[Chris Goss]

From what I am told, the book is very general around this period but there is comprehensive loss list

[igorrB]

BoB covers in book at pages 102-118 but around half of every page are photos, leaving very little data about sorties etc.
Most detailed accounts about KG 26 (among others) actions i see contained in NARA T-321, roll 38, from page 733 on. But this is only for November 1940.

[jim norton]

hi,
the book is one of the best chronicles that exists as a single volume. of course, not every day is depicted in detail.
but interesting with the link. it's a pity that I will never understand the nara-system. the search there is outrageous...
all the best
jim

[Steve Coates]

If you are looking for a specific reel in a record group, the easiest way to go is via the Holocaust Controversies website.

https://holocaustcontroversies.blogs...urces-and.html

This contains helpful details as to which microfilms have been digitised and by clicking on the given links, you will be taken through to a numeric listing of the microfilms in that group.

Other searching through the NARA Next Gen Catalog is a bit more troublesome.

[leonventer]

Thanks for that very useful pointer, Steve!

Regards,
Leon Venter

[Peter Cook]

Tkank you all, I now have a copy of the relevant pages from another member. I am aware of the KG26 files on the BAMA, but they start after the BOB period.

Peter

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by jim norton

hi,
the book is one of the best chronicles that exists as a single volume. of course, not every day is depicted in detail.
but interesting with the link. it's a pity that I will never understand the nara-system. the search there is outrageous...
all the best
jim

Yes, the NARA online archive and search is a complete nightmare and very un-user friendly.

Each of the digitised microfilms I looked at were over 1,500 pages long, with little detail of what was in each microfilm and there were no dividers, so you did not know where each set of documents began/ended on the microfilm. Some of the microfilms were made in 1959/60 and were black like very poor photocopies, making them completely unreadable.

You cannot spool easily through each digitised microfilm and to rub salt in the wound, if you click on any page, each image can take up to 10 seconds to load.

I spent 6 hours solid one night last week - and to cap it all, came away with absolutely nothing! I also suspect some/many of the digitised documents are doubled from the Bundesarchiv too.

The Bundesarchiv online search is a bit more modern but that also is not particularly user-friendly.

Both systems are not easy to browse documents. Frustrating and time-wasting.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Bombphoon

I spent 6 hours solid one night last week - and to cap it all, came away with absolutely nothing! I also suspect some/many of the digitised documents are doubled from the Bundesarchiv too.

For Battle of Britain raids you might want to try Roll 54 in the series: Records of Headquarters of the German Air Force High Command. Starting at frame 385 there are tables detailing German bombing and mining raids although these don't seem to mention individual units.

[Steve Coates]

From a personal perspective, it can be time consuming but I have found things here I wouldn't have found otherwise. It is helpful that certain terms have been 'tagged' as part of the digitisation process as this has then helped me to find things which would not ordinarily be found in Invenio.