Estate Planning for Your Research

[JDCAVE]

The passing of PeteT (Pete Tresadern), has reminded me of the need to plan for the disposition of my research upon my death. Pete has a website for 35 Squadron and presumably a considerable number of documents and written records that details all of his work. Has anyone here started estate planning for their research and if so what steps are you taking? Any guidance would be most appreciated. It would seem to me that a designated heir should be serious and enthusiastic and brought up to speed on the materials on hand.

Jim

[PeteS]

Hi Jim, I am fortunate to have an obvious place to pass my material to. My efforts centre on 630 Squadron https://630squadron.wordpress.com/
and I plan to leave my stuff to the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby - that was 630's airfield and as you will know is now home to "Just Jane". They are seriously enthusiastic about the history of the airfield, aircraft and squadrons which flew from there having preserved a chunk of it with a hangar for Just Jane, the control tower, etc. I plan to leave them my website, my research books (multiple A4 sized handwritten ledgers collating squadron activity night by night based on all available wartime document sources- all referenced) which form the source material behind the website. Also the spreadsheets tracking all aircrew who served with 630, all sorties flown by the squadron, all Lancs on strength, all combat reports, all evader/exPOW reports, all award recommendations, etc. copies of multiple published and unpublished memoirs, voice tapes of interviews, and a fair bit of ephemera which I've been given along the way. I'm pondering also scanning the documents & ledgers for IBCC.

My secondary website for 57 Squadron (630's sister squadron also based at East Kirkby) is in its infancy, framework and some material 1916-1941
https://57squadron.wordpress.com/
but whatever state of completion I manage to achieve, hopefully it will go in the same direction.

We commenced the project as a team but I am the last of us. PeteT made both sites possible and constructed the framework of both in 2018 before patiently teaching me how to load my text and photos, etc.

cheers PeteS

[PNK]

I think my wife will use the life insurance money to buy an industrial shredder!

I suppose there will be a difference between original documents and other references and the actual research work, which I assume will be in the form of notes and computer files. As my chosen subject is bombing ranges I am not sure who should be lumbered :)

[JDCAVE]

Thanks Pete. There are a lot more opportunities and resources in Blighty, with all the airfields and like-minded people. My work is pretty focused on my father’s service with 419 Squadron. It’s pretty detailed and no one outside of Bomber Command geeks get this stuff. I’ve been in contact with a military historian, professor emeritus from the University of Calgary, and he had no idea that this stuff existed. “Where did you get this stuff”? Well, from other like-inclined people. And dusty old boxes from TNA.

PNK: yes. A lot of it comes from TNA and LAC, but it’s how it’s put together that counts. I have a separate folder for each of dad’s ops with pages from various LAC and TNA files, all referenced. My essay on Chemnitz is over 10,000 words. And most of it (except for Boiten’s material) is from primary source material. I have been careful to use end notes for references.

Jim

[robstitt]

Hi Jim,

Been pondering what to do with my accumulated research material too - Coastal Command Fortresses - and have come to the conclusion that distilling it into a hard copy publication of some form has the greatest potential for longevity, even if some of the detail or unrelated but still useful information that cannot be included might eventually be lost. The pool of publications might diminish over time but would hopefully circulate for many years thanks to the internet and eBay, not to mention libraries, museums and other institutions that may acquire copies.

Another avenue might be to find a patron with a solid future as ‘our’ late Bill Walker or his estate did when the contents of his RCAF serials site was adopted by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. They will be launching a revamped site in the future - the date seems to keep slipping but am in touch with them and will advise here when it’s ready.

For me, it’s the fate of the 40 or so aircrew logbook copies in one of several totes that keeps me awake at night.

Look forward to hearing other ideas on this topic.

Robert

[Don Clark]

For my 211 Squadron project, my thinking is along these lines

Source materials
Copies
Paper or digital copies of original documents, the originals all held in Archives or others personal collections.
No need to plan preservation (having being identified and sourced as such).

Original documents
Log Books, letters, photos, medals
Donated by Squadron members/family, without restriction, or purchased.
Not a large set, but includes three photo sets, two Log Books, two Medal sets and rather a lot of ms letters from c2001 onwards.

I live in Australia and write about a war-time RAF unit. On my reading of collections policies, no Aus depository (AWM, NLA eg) would be interested.
The odds are that the medals are of little interest, the wartime original photos of some interest, and the numerous recent letters of minor interest but far too much trouble to catalogue.
While I may approach the RAF Museum in the future, first I shall ask my son for his opinion.

My website
www.211squadron.org
Collated, compiled and/or transcribed content from all the above sources, with my own original summary and analyses.
Updated at least annually since 2001.
Preservation already assured: for the Australian Web Archive via Trove, NLA takes annual copies, available to view online at no charge without restriction, at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-24825.
The NLA is "strongly committed to ensuring long-term access to all its digital collections".

Other websites
Those with their own websites, esp UK, NZ, may find these web-archiving notes & links of some interest
http://www.211squadron.org/enquiries...herWebArchives

[PeteS]

I'd say its always worth lodging a copy of any Bomber Command material with the IBCC in Lincoln.

cheers PeteS

[PNK]

I wonder if primary sources like aircrew logbooks should be digitised as I have found that those on the IBCC website have proved the only source of some units using bombing ranges. Their respective ORB's seem to ignore anything non-operational. I'd be interested to know if the Coastal Command aircrew logbooks include range information as they had the most interesting ranges and targets but records of their use is probably the worst of all commands. Army Co-op Command squadrons were the best!

Is their no similar repository for Coastal Command?

[JDCAVE]

Yes. I intend to send digital images of dad’s material to the IBCC. BTW, there are log book entries pertaining to bombing ranges and exercises pertaining to bombing at ranges, Bullseyes, etc. I found difficulty searching the IBCC website for specific information, a log book for an individual I knew was available. I hope they can improve their search engine.

Jim

[malcolm_raf]

Hi

Fortunately, my website is being archived by the British Library, but a check prompted by this thread showed that the last capture took place in 2016. However, a quick e-mail brought the reply that a new capture would take place tomorrow with regular captures being scheduled every six months.

I was approached by the BL but it might be worth contacting them to enquire into their interest.

Malcolm