The Eagles Over Europe (EOE) Project

[Del Davis]

Larry
Sounds like the dam has finally burst. It has been a long wait but it is good hear that it was worth it

[Stig Jarlevik]

Larry

Since everyone is rather talking about your latest book than EOE may I just say this

I am VERY, VERY happy to say I have managed to get your new book from Christian Schmid in Germany. Got it yesterday and it truly matches up with the previous two I already have.

Thanks again for doing this outstanding job with the bomber units in the Pacific. Otherwise it is all fighters, fighters and guess what even more fighters....

I join the rest of the choir who is looking out for your "block buster".

Take Care
Stig

[Larry Hickey]

Stig,

Thanks for your comments. They are appreciated. If you liked, "Rampage of the Roarin' 20's." Wait until you see our forthcoming "Saga of the Sun Setters" It will blow your mind.

Regards,

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

To update you on where we are, when we complete our translation of the Weiss "Coastal War" manuscript, this will provide an extremely detailed new resource document, compiled over many decades of work in the German archives, and from Allied sources as well, on the Battle of Britain period. Weiss makes his own errors, but this will provide another very useful perspective on the period. However, we have some 6000 pages to translate, and we've only completed his "Coastal War" manuscript (one of two) from 10.5.40 through 10.7.40, the first "official day" of the BoB. Now we're back to the WC, and have translated the first six days of his "Original" manuscript beginning on 10.5.40. We've also translated as a "test case" the manuscript for 16.8.40 (my apologies to Robert Dixon for not doing 15.8.40), for use in a very detailed mapping project that the EOE team is working on. IIRC, just August 16th alone ran something like 40-50 single-spaced typewritten pages in the original German text, and this was with no personal accounts.

We’re focusing on translating the WC material from May-June, 1940, because, despite a huge amount of reporting by Weiss, we feel that this part of our history needs the greatest amount of work to achieve a high degree of accuracy and completeness. We are attempting to supplement this material by French reporting (including translating the Gillet books), photography, German Flugbuchs, KTBs, unit histories, interviews and any other sources that we can lay our hands on.

Since it will obviously take a great deal of time and effort to translate the entire manuscript from 1.9.39 through 31.12.40 (it continues through 6.41) and get our massive EOE project published, I will entertain serious, specific inquiries relating to the information in the two manuscripts so as not deny this material to other worthy research projects that may be underway by other researchers. This cannot, however, seriously distract us from our overall goal of getting this project completed and published. Other postings to recent Andy Saunders TOCH question threads today by both Peter and Robert give some indication of the value and detail of the Weiss materials. As key members of the EOE WG (Working Group), both Peter and Robert have access to the original Weiss manuscripts, but cannot release materials from them without my approval. So don't approach them with your requests, but post them on TOCH, send me a personal message or contact me directly by email. Please note that I'm about to start a couple of months of intensive chemo and radiation therapy for cancer, so don't overwhelm me.

Keep in mind, our objective is not just to translate and publish the Weiss material, but to use it as one source for an overall, massive effort to produce, in English, the definitive historical texts on the air war from all sides from 1.9.39 through 31.12.40. This will include a great deal of the "human" aspect of the air campaigns, both on the ground and in the air, that sources like Weiss really don't deal with in any detail.

Regards,

[Dean M. Wick]

Hi Larry: I'm one of those looking forward to the release of this massive project that your undertaking. With all due respect to your personal health, I wish you well. Regards. Dean

[FalkeEins]

Larry, you obviously have a track record when it comes to publishing blockbusting unit histories, but are you seriously contemplating having 6,000 pages of text translated before actually producing anything ..? The scope of the project seems frankly mind-boggling

[avoigt]

I have my father's own account of his invovement in the first day over Poland (Luftwaffe - bomber) - includes some info on airbase and targets.

[Larry Hickey]

Dear FalkeEins,

Valid question. We're not waiting to translate all of the materials from the Weiss manuscripts to use as reference materials before starting the series. We're working systematically where we know that research will be the most difficult and is less well covered previously in the literature, so we know what we've got to deal with in terms of German reference material. We've already translated about 2000-pages of material from German and Polish into English for Volume I of the Polish Campagn. If you'll go to our website (www.airwar-worldwar2.com/) you'll see that that volume is already announced. We're working on the cover painting for it right now. This will be the first volume in the EOE series to be followed regularly by massives volumes in each of the following campaigns. This could be a 10 year project before we finish to December, 1940, but we've already achieved huge advances.

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,

[ChrisS]

Hi Larry

Please forgive my curiosity, but if you have the time could you give us an update on your project?

Many thanks!

Chris

[crolick]

Larry - how many volumes on Polish Campaign you are going to publish?


All the best,
Andrzej