Does anyone know where these keep surfacing from? I'm given to believe that the US National Archives hold an extensive collection of captured German intelligence files. Despite numerous attempts to contact the department which holds these files, I have not received any kind of a reply from them to date.
I am currently researching the history of No 238 Squadron and I am keen to track down any of these intelligence photos which might relate to the unit's Battle of Britain period bases; Middle Wallop, Chilbolton, St Eval and Warmswell.
The US Archives do seem to be a bit problematic on the Luftwaffe AP side. I don't think they are catalogued by location so it may be impossible for them to find anything. On the plus side a number of copies are avaialble in UK Archives and I know NCAP/RCAHMS (HES) hold copies of the ones relating to Scotland. There are a number in private collections and the only one I can recall is Nigel J Clarke publications (www.hitlersukpictures.co.uk/
)
and if you click on "Buy an Image" it takes you to a retail site where you can see what is available by typing in "Luftwaffe". It is a commercial site but very good image can be purchased for personal use for between £15 and £20. There was another site that sold copies of target folders at varying prices but I could find a link or remember the name.
Coverage is not vast and in my case I was lucky to find some of interest. There was a myth that the Luftwaffe coverage was almost nationwide but I suspect in reality only target towns or areas were covered and most of that didn't survive the war. There was an almost complete pre-blitz coverage of central London online but again I can't recall where it was although I know it was a US website.
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
Thanks OEB. I think I last looked over 10 years ago and wrote to them but couldn't be specific enough for them. I can see why now as some locations use alternative names. One I can confirm as being misleading is the the Balloon Depot listed as Birch which is in fact Bowlee.
Lets hope the accept my credit card
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
Right, time for a disappointing update on this one.
After many more attempts, I finally managed to get an actual reply from the US National Archives. They do indeed hold a significant number of these target dossiers, including 11 pages which relate to my particular areas of interest. Annoyingly, the National Archives do not undertake any kind of copying work any more, but instead point you in the direction of one of their "approved vendors" to undertake this work.
Here in lies the problem - The cost of paying these "approved vendors" to scan a document is infeasibly expensive. They have just quoted me $504.50 to scan 11 pages. That's 11 pages. Not 11 files, books, boxes or anything else. Just 11 pages. $504.50! I just looked it up and I could literally fly to Washington for less than that!
It gets even worse than though. Because they charge a flat rate of £125 to post your scans out, regardless of the number you have done; the cost of getting a single scan done would be an insane $159.50! For one page!
I'm afraid that's a little outside of my budget. Anyone got any other ideas?
See if they have a self-copy service like the PRO. Never know, you might be able to find someone in the US willing to visit and copy the document for you and email it electronically.
I don't undestand why a National Archive would stop a copying service. Most Americans would struggle to get there let alone those of us across the pond. I suspect the recession has caused a cut back. A variation of the last two suggestions would be to club together and send someone over to spend a couple of days using the self copy facility on the whole lot!
I dare say there would be no copyright issue as the original photographer was at the time an enemy combatant and the collection would be war booty. Still it would keep the lawyers in the US busy for about $3.5m
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
I used to have an excellent contact, who flew for BA on the Transatlantic routes. A few years ago, while doing some work on a US built kit-plane, I managed to save an absolute fortune by having the parts I needed posted to his US address and then having him fly them home for me. Frustratingly I lost contact with the chap after I moved house a couple of years ago. He would be the perfect guy now to pay the NA a visit.
We use cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it. Cookies used for the essential operation of this site have already been set. By continuing to use this site you are agreeing to this. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our privacy policy.
