Account by Heinrich Weiss of 1940 Western Campaigns

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Does anyone have a copy of the manuscript or manuscripts compiled by Heinrich Weiss of the Western Campaigns of 1940? I have seen the one for the Dutch Campaign, and presume that the same thing exists for the air-war over Belgium in May, 1940, and the French Campaign of 1940. Others have told me that they have seen one, probably incomplete, on the Battle of Britain. Weiss is deceased, and was a co-author with Christopher Shores et.al. of the book "Fledgling Eagles."

Does anyone know about these, and/or have copies of any of these unpublished, and now somewhat dated, manuscripts? If you'd rather contact me off-board, please respond to my private message board.

Thanx,

[Brian]

Hi Larry

Heinrich was one of my co-authors when I wrote Twelve Days in May and I had access to the relevant pages of his vast manuscript. He/we had plans to develop this for possible publication but he sadly died before anything had been decided.

I believe that his manuscript has been sold by his family, possibly in parts to various historians, but unfortunately not to me! I was not made aware of its availabilty/disposal until after the event.

Cheers
Brian

[Larry Hickey]

Brian,

Brian, thanks for your reply. It is too bad that this material never got to formal publication. The whole Western Campaign air war, as we all know, has never had a full-blown and comprehensive historical treatment of the air operations of all sides, something that my research team is working to accomplish.

According to Brian Cull's info, additional private message board posts and direct e-mails as a result of this post, it is now evident that the huge Weiss archive was sold off by his family after Heinrich's death. But no one seems to know to whom. Does anyone know where this material ended up? It did not go to a public archive such as the BA. Possibly it was broken up and parts sold to more than one person. The Dutch Campaign part of the manuscript has been made available to some researchers who work with me in Holland. Did Heinrich also provide copies of the Belgian and French parts to various researchers in those countries before he died? Does anyone know where either the master archive, or a copy of the various parts of his manuscript on those countries may have landed? Heinrich's manuscript is now considerably dated, and there are numerous errors in the part that I've had the opportunity to work with, but it is still a very important and useful reseach tool on the subjects that he covered.

Regards,

[Jim Oxley]

This is probably a silly question...... but cannot the Weiss family members tell you who they sold his work to?

[Larry Hickey]

Jim,

Logical and reasonable question. Unfortunately, I'm not in touch with them, nor do I know how to do so. I've asked several people who've know about this material this same question, and no one seems to have contact info. Like Brian Cull, some who knew Heinrich would have been interested in obtaining some of this material, but it "disappeared" before anyone even knew that it might potentially be available.

Regards,

[Brian]

Hi Larry

I do have Heinrich's widow's address but I don't think she will be able to help. She did not respond to my request for information on his work - and she doesn't read or write English.

I believe Peter Cornwall is in possession of part of the manuscript.

Cheers
Brian

[Larry Hickey]

Brian,

Thanks for your comments. I'm not optimisic that the widow will be able to help much--and I'm not fluent in German. Off board, I've now received the names and addresses of two female family members, one of whom is probably the widow, although I'm not sure which one she is.

I'm aware of Peter's holdings on this in detail, and he has always been most helpful. I'm still hoping that there is a Belgian air-war manuscript, and perhaps an overall one on all or part of the French Campaign, that may have been shared with some of the primary researchers in those areas, similar to what I was able to acquire in Holland on the Dutch Campaign. Maybe these don't exist, but I'm still looking. Maybe what you and Peter have is the majority or even all of what does exist of the manuscript. I just don't know to what state of completeness Heinrich had brought his research at the time of his death. Do you know the answer to this? Are there separate, complete, or relatively complete manuscripts in existence on the Belgian and French parts of the Western Campaign, similar to what he produced on Holland? And then there is still the question of the vast research archive behind the manuscripts.

From off board communications it appears that the Battle of Britain material was nowhere near a complete manuscript on the subject, although Heinrich had acquired a lot of data in a rough form.

I want to thank everyone who has responded to my requests for information on this, both on and off board. Your info is much appreciated.

Regards

[Brian]

Hi Larry

When compiling Twelve Days in May, I would send Heinrich my draft chapters and he would add/amend - so I didn't have actual access to his work. As far as I recall, he tentatively referred to his m/s as an account of the 'Coastal War', whatever that may imply. Whether it was in-depth or not, I cannot answer. I was at the time being specific to Hurricane operations. I know it ran to at least 700 typed pages but not necessarily in narrative format but rather a series of reports pertaining to each day. Very impressive research but in need of a writer's touch!

One who met him on occasion is Jack (John) Foreman but he seems reticent to respond to enquiries these days, even from me, one who has know him for many years!

Not sure this helps.
Cheers
Brian

[Larry Hickey]

Brian,

This definitely helps me understand the form that his research had taken. I've seen his day to day format in the Dutch Campaign history, so I presume that he expanded this to the entire Western Campaign.

I've sent you a private message.

Thanks

[Peter T]

Hello Larry,

I visited Heinrich several times. We spent hours discussing. His main interest was the operations against ships; as Brian wrote ‘Coastal war’. During the meetings, we exchanged information and Heinrich helped me with the queries I had. To do so he had to fall back on his documentation. One day his wife was not at home and the whole room has full with binders and books. I do not think there was a real manuscript on the Belgian or French campaign, like the one we all know on the Dutch part. I never saw one, and I think Heinrich would have shown it to me, as I could copy everything I needed. Heinrich mainly used two thick binders with day-by-day missions and losses. Some parts were far more detailed (like Dunkerque = raids against ships) and included info on allied fighters etc. Other part contained only info from German sources.

Peter