What is the "Holy Grail" of Luftwaffe Research

[Broncazonk]

I come to this place almost every day and I am always amazed by the incredible amount of time and energy, the knowledge, and the passion that is displayed by the members of this forum. It is amazing that when a photo of an aircraft gets posted there is usually a dozen members who recognize it instantly--down to the manufacturer and W.No.--and also have additional photos of the same plane from different angles.

I've often wondered what everyone's "Holy Grail" is. What critical photo, or important document or record, or scrap of information that the experts on this list are searching and waiting for.

Are there missing photos of Luftwaffe aircraft that people are searching for that, if they were discovered, would answer major questions? What would a "wish list" of Luftwaffe photos look like?

Are there missing documents or records that people are searching for that, if they were discovered, would answer major questions? Is there a "wish list" of missing Luftwaffe documents and records?

What are the unsolved mysteries of Luftwaffe research?

All my best,

Bronc

[Steve Coates]

Given the amount of Luftwaffe documentation which did not survive the War, estimated at over 90%, there are plenty. I have a number of items I'd just love for my own research be they individuals' Flugbuecher, KTBs, Monatsberichte, however, I guess the major missing Holy Grail is the 1944 operational losses, which people are attempting to plug as best they can.

[sirbob]

One photo that I have been hoping for has recently been found - a Ju 88G-7. Now the pessimists can see that it did exist, and the optimists will hopefully stop mis-identifying a Ju 88G-6. This illustrates that there are still gems out there to be found.
What I want to find amongst my next ebay search is a clear photo of a Bf 109G-6N(Naxos) in opperational use.

.................Oh yes, and a Bf 109H would be nice.

[gilles collaveri]

I have just received an original clear color picture of a JG400 Me163, during an operational flight, with the emblem "Wie ein Floh, aber oHo !" clearly visible;
Camouflage on the upper of the wings is neat and clear, and the pilot is waiving.







No, remember: today is April's fool !!!

GC

[Rémi Baudru]

Bonjour,

For me it would be to see a big box full of one hundred of very good quality color slides of late war 109, 190, 262, comming out of the forgotten suitcase a late GI, ... published into a well printed book

and as the dreams are open, you could add some nice shots of operational Ta 152 and also a second volume to the fabulous "LO+ST"...

RB

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Rémi, I totally follow in your steps ! Except maybe we could have 500 color slides instead of 100 ? And three more "LO+ST" sequels

As for the quality of those color shots, well, akin to the one I chanced on yesterday:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/280920...in/dateposted/

Cheers
Marc

[Nick Beale]

The 1944 loss returns, already mentioned, are the main thing. However, I would really like to find the Allied daily Mediterranean signals intelligence reports for March 1944 to help with my research on I./JG 2 in Italy. There is a file of these reports starting in June 1944 year, while the RAF 276 Wing Record Books include only the reports for the first day of earlier months including March. It is very frustrating to have the report for 1st March and to know that the other 30 once existed but be unable to find them!

Photos: I agree, more operational Ta 152s; reconnaissance Me 262s with the T9+_H marking; an TGr. 30 He 111 in one of the "Atlantic Fortresses"; a JGr. 200 photo album; NSG 2 aircraft in the west with their markings clearly visible; NSG 20 aircraft ditto.

More realistically, the Bletchley Park Museum has been engaged in a long-term project to digitise 3 million pages of documents — the sooner they complete that job, the better as far as I'm concerned.

[GrafWolf]

Dear Nick!

Here is a picture He 111 from TGr. 30!
It was taken in 1947 on Airfield Reichenbach.
Maybe someone can help me with pictures of the crew
from Ju 252 1./TGr. 30 which was lost on 04.04.1945 near
Reichenbach?
Ofw. Otto Liesche FF
Ofw. Hugo Vorwerk BM
Fw. Josef Kenzian BF
Lt. Heinrich Meininghaus BB
Ofw. Philipp Merle BF

Herzliche Grüsse aus Oberschwaben,

Wolfgang

[Larry deZeng]

N.B. wrote in part:

More realistically, the Bletchley Park Museum has been engaged in a long-term project to digitise 3 million pages of documents — the sooner they complete that job, the better as far as I'm concerned.

Does B.P. have a target date for completion? Any idea how far along they are? Will the output be viewable online or only through the purchase of DVDs/CDs?

L.

[Nick Beale]

I contacted Bletchley in 2011 about this and followed in April 2013.

Their reply the first time was: "Regarding the digitisation of the Bletchley Park Archive: HP [Hewlett Packard] very kindly donated a number of scanners and computers to Bletchley Park Trust in order for this digitisation process to occur and we are currently in the process of undertaking work on the accessioning and cataloguing backlog in order to utilise this equipment effectively and link records and images. I am not sure when the first batches will become 'live' however."

On the second occasion: "This project is still in the infancy."