Blog - Air War Publications

2015 London meeting

by Andrew Arthy | Sep 15, 2015 | A Little Bit of Everything

Andrew is currently in London on the first stage of his Europe trip, and organized a little get-together of some friends and colleagues on the evening of Saturday 5 September. Most of the attendees had spent the day researching at the National Archives, and then...

Erprobungskommando 26

by Morten Jessen | Sep 7, 2015 | Research

The creation of Test Unit 26 - Erprobungskommando 26 - was long overdue when it was established in December 1943. It was created as the direct result of the severe pressure the Wehrmacht was under on the Eastern Front because of massive Russian tank formations. Tasked...

Mustang P-51B entry into service

by Morten Jessen | Aug 15, 2015 | A Little Bit of Everything, P-51 Mustang, USAAF

While searching for something else in the ULTRA files, Andrew stumbled upon another fascinating signal, and this time it is a German report on the entry into service of the P-51B Mustang, re-engined with the much more powerful Merlin power-plant. The signal is from 29...

East Prussia veteran interview

by Andrew Arthy | Jul 8, 2015 | A Little Bit of Everything

The Air War Publications team continues to have success in contacting and interviewing Second World War veterans, even though these men and women (all now at least 90 years old) are sadly leaving us at a rapid rate. We feel that it is very important to record their...

Christmas in June

by Morten Jessen | Jun 21, 2015 | A Little Bit of Everything, Hs 123, Research

Yesterday Morten received an envelop in the mail - a heavy and voluminous envelop relevant for the Henschel Hs 123 project! It was one of those days where it felt like Christmas. The letter contained an original Henschel Flugzeug-Werke report about handling and...

Do 335, Ar 234, and Me 262 Pilots Wanted!

by Andrew Arthy | Jun 8, 2015 | A Little Bit of Everything, Ar 234, Me 262

While browsing some British National Archives files Andrew came across another interesting German signal decrypted by the Western Allies. This one is from February 1944, and is a call for Luftwaffe “pilots with highest qualifications” to fly the advanced aircraft...

Fritz Schröter: A Remarkable Career

by Andrew Arthy | May 22, 2015 | Publications

Morten and Andrew’s trip to a small village in the hills of southern Germany in the spring of 2009 resulted in contact with the family of a man who is very important to several of our research projects: Fritz Schröter (1916-2007). We were able to talk with Fritz’s...

Tony Gaze – Fighter Ace

by Andrew Arthy | Apr 29, 2015 | A Little Bit of Everything, Aces, Research

Although we never had the opportunity to meet him in person, Air War Publications was fortunate to correspond with Australian Second World War ace Squadron Leader F.A.O. 'Tony' Gaze. For several years he exchanged letters with Andrew, answering many questions about...

Luftflotte 4 in 1944

by Andrew Arthy | Apr 15, 2015 | Eastern Front, Jagdgeschwader 52, Luftwaffe, Research, Schlachtgeschwader 10, Schlachtgeschwader 2

Introduction This is a follow-up to a previous Air War Publications blog post regarding 20 May 1944 Luftwaffe operations over the southern sector of the Eastern Front. The German command responsible for that region, Luftflotte 4, was kept very busy in 1944, as the...

A Luftwaffe Camouflage Snippet

by Andrew Arthy | Apr 2, 2015 | Research

Whilst researching other subjects, Andrew stumbled across an interesting German wartime signal about Luftwaffe camouflage, dated February 1944. The signal was intercepted and translated by the British during the war, and Morten photographed it at the National Archives...