Update Nachtjagd Combat Archive series 1944, Vol. 1

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Frank Olynyk

Theo,
I wonder if you can answer a question I have? When were the German archives from World war 1, in Potsdam as I understand it, destroyed? These in particular covered the Luftstreitkräfte records from WW1. I have never seen a date given, but only vague references to 1943 or 1944, with nothing more substantial. Perhaps a note in a future issue of NJCA?

Enjoy!

Frank.

Hi Frank,

It was the big RAF Bomber Command raid on Potsdam on 14/15 April 1945 that destroyed the Prussian Military Archives and much of the town — very attractively restored now in the centre. I think I read this in a book on WW1 German tanks — the author had to work from the copies of the material that Prussia supplied to the other German kingdoms.

[Theo Boiten]

Hello Frank and Nick,

Thanks Nick for answering Frank's question. When it comes to German Luftwaffe records of WWII, we have written the following in the Introduction to the Nachtjagd Combat Archive series:

Unfortunately, very few Luftwaffe records survived the war, for several reasons. Firstly, most of the Luftwaffe documentation pertaining to victory claims in the 1940-43 period was destroyed in an RAF Bomber Command raid on Berlin in November 1943. Following the loss of these records, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe/Reichs Luftfahrt Ministerium (OKL/RLM) requested that all Luftwaffe units re-send a list summarising all victory claims made before 25 November 1943. Thus, the extensive but incomplete fighter and Flak claims records for 1940-1944, which were compiled by the OKL/RLM at the end of 1944, are a reconstruction of original documentation. Secondly, other documents (some 15,000 files) of the RLM that were stored in Berlin were lost in an American bombing raid on 3 February 1945. Thirdly, on orders from the German Air Force High Command, the vast preponderance of Luftwaffe unit War Diaries and Luftgaukommando (Air Force District Command) War Diaries were put to the torch in April 1945, in operation Feuertod (‘Death by fire’). One of the primary sources which disappeared at the end of the conflict were the archives of the Aussenstelle Wiesbaden (Abschuss Kommission), the official inquiring body of the RLM and OKL that was responsible for the examination and confirmation of claims submitted for aircraft shot down by the Luftwaffe during WWII. Thus, only an estimated 2 to 3% of the Luftwaffe’s original mass of files survived the war.

Cheers, Theo

[Frank Olynyk]

Thanks, Nick and Theo.

So the Luftstreitkräfte records of WW1 survived until almost the end of WW2. And if they had survived to the end of WW2, and been captured by the Russians, we might now be able to read them on Russian websites, as is happening with captured Luftwaffe records.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[TigerTimon]

Originally Posted by Theo Boiten

Thanks for your comments Timon. I'm afraid that there will be no German-language separate volume(s) in the NCA series, although I can quite understand your desire to read the original German-language first-person accounts.

Dear Dr. Boiten,

that's alright. I can understand that. Still, would it be possible to get my hands on them? If you have the original German readily available in some kind of text editor, could you send that to me? I am willing to pay for it.

Kind regards,

Timon

[Theo Boiten]

Hello Timon,

I'm sorry to tell you that I cannot share the original German-language texts with you; many of them stem from my own interviews with vets, others from private collections with exclusive publication rights for the NCA series, etc.

Cheers, Theo