RAF Bomber Command 'Y' Reports

[RodM]

Hi Bruce,

firstly, thanks for the heads up on the inclusion of Forms Z with the Final Night Raid Reports (I just hope that there is a decent sample of them for Feb-Apr ;45 in AIR 14/3412).

With regard to the 'random' Forms Y that I mentioned, I should clarify that they are really random and usually consist of a single example here and there in AIR 14 and AIR 40, mostly to highlight some event or happening.

It is a real shame that the Forms Y and Z were not conscientiously preserved...

Cheers

Rod

[Bruce Dennis]

PHP Code:

[quote=RodM;90037](I just hope that there is a decent sample of them
 for Feb-Apr ;45 in AIR 14/3412).
 
[/quote] 


Sorry, Rod, I looked at that file today and there are no Z reports. The Zs I found earlier were in 1942, and I will look at 1943 when I can, and post results. It would be good to nail this down.

Regards,
Bruce

[RodM]

Hi Bruce,

thanks for the additional info. I had obtained paper copies of reports from AIR 14/3412, bbut there were, of course, no Forms Z copied (but I hadn't asked for them!).

The references for the BC ORS Night Raid Plot files that contain copies of the Forms Z are:

AIR 14/3213 Raid plots : night 1942 Apr.
AIR 14/3214 Raid plots : night 1942 July
AIR 14/3215 Raid plots : night 1942 Oct.
AIR 14/3216 Raid plots : night 1943 Mar.
AIR 14/3217 Raid plots : night 1943 Apr.
AIR 14/3218 Raid plots : night 1943 July
AIR 14/3219 Raid plots : night 1943 Aug.
AIR 14/3220 Raid plots : night 1943 Oct.
AIR 14/3221 Raid plots : night 1944 Mar.
AIR 14/3222 Raid plots : night 1944 Apr.
AIR 14/3223 Raid plots : night 1944 June
AIR 14/3224 Raid plots : night 1944 July
AIR 14/3225 Raid plots : night 1944 Sept.
AIR 14/3226 Raid plots : night 1944 Nov.
AIR 14/3227 Raid plots : night 1945 Jan.

Sadly, as can be seen, only a selection of months was analysed. I have a copy of AIR 14/3227 in it's entirety - it doesn't cover all raids; only selected major ones, and even then, a very small percentage of the Group Form Zs were missing for a couple of nights.

The references for the Group Summaries of Operations, where I found perhaps half-a-dozen Form Zs in AIR 14/3080, 3082, 3084 are:

AIR 14/3063 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 June
AIR 14/3064 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 June
AIR 14/3065 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 July
AIR 14/3066 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 July
AIR 14/3067 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 Aug.
AIR 14/3068 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 Aug.
AIR 14/3069 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 Sept.
AIR 14/3070 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 Sept.
AIR 14/3071 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 Oct.
AIR 14/3072 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 Oct.
AIR 14/3073 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 Nov.
AIR 14/3074 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 Nov.
AIR 14/3075 Group summaries of operations during day 1944 Dec.
AIR 14/3076 Group summaries of operations during night 1944 Dec.
AIR 14/3077 Group summaries of operations during day 1945 Jan.
AIR 14/3078 Group summaries of operations during night 1945 Jan.
AIR 14/3079 Group summaries of operations during day 1945 Feb.
AIR 14/3080 Group summaries of operations during night 1945 Feb.
AIR 14/3081 Group summaries of operations during day 1945 Mar.
AIR 14/3082 Group summaries of operations during night 1945 Mar.
AIR 14/3083 Group summaries of operations during day 1945 Apr.
AIR 14/3084 Group summaries of operations during night 1945 Apr.
AIR 14/3085 Group summaries of operations during day 1945 May


Among other files that I've never checked are:

AIR 14/3137 Group summaries of operations: night 1944 Apr.- May
AIR 14/3434 Summaries of operations 1944 Mar.- Aug.
AIR 14/3436 Summaries of operations 1944 Sept.-1945 Jan.
AIR 14/3437 Summaries of operations 1945 Jan.- June

It seems unlikely that they could contain a large number of Form Zs because of the simple fact that a single month worth of such forms constitutes a very thick file, and the file references given cover a number of months each.

While copies of the Forms Y would have been retained at Squadron level and probably also Group level, the Form Zs had a slightly wider distribution - Group copies, BC HQ and the BC ORS at least - which is one of the reasons why it is such a shame that at least one set of copies was not properly preserved.

Cheers

Rod

[RodM]

'just for anyone else viewing this thread who may be wondering what all the fuss is about, attached are sample images of an RAF Bomber Command Form Y and an RAF Bomber Command Form Z...

[cz_raf]

Hi Rod,

any idea how looks forms G and Q of BC? Or at least what they contained?

TIA

Pavel