NEW BOOK - LUFTWAFFE & THE WAR AT SEA

[SES]

Hi all,

I bought "Fighting the Bombers" with great expectations. And how should I put it - it was a surprise. It is a collection of interrogation reports of Luftwaffe personnel ranging from supreme commanders to nightfighter pilots.

It is thus an account of their recollections from their point of vantage. And some of them did in the nature of things not have the full picture. The Need-to-Know principle applied also in the Wehrmacht. So albeit the interrogated personnel might have been cooperative, there are countless mistakes in their accounts, far too lengthy to quote here. But it is very interesting to see how little some generals knew or understood about their own organization, that assuming that they gave correct and honest answers.

The interrogations seem to have been conducted in German by interrogators, who did not have a good understanding of many of the subjects they asked questions about. Bluntly put: They asked stupid questions and got silly answers.

Subsequently the reports were translated to English by translators, who did not have a good grasp of operational notions or German military terminology.

If you have a good understanding of the subject and can transliterate to German as you read, there is much valuable information in the book, but also there are serious, incorrect accounts.

These interrogation reports CANNOT be used as prime sources, but sadly they have been by authors, who jumped the gun and in good faith believed these reports.

Kind regards

SES

www.gyges.dk