advice needed: NA documents pls

[big tyke]

I have found reference to the "interception & Tactics reports" on this forum as a possible aid to tracking and documenting a particular raid but cannot get around the NA website to find the documents I would need to access. I have now found some records (went the long way round) can anyone tell me what BMP reports are? would they be useful?

THe raid is Hanover 22 Sept 1943. The Squadron is 428 RCAF from Middleton St George.

I am in possession of a run of the ORB's for the dates I am looking at but wondered if any other documents would help in tracking or tracing the squadron in more depth during this operation.

I also understand that a/c were required to stay on their bombing run course after the bombs were dropped in order for the camera to get a good shot of the effects of their bomb run. Now as my a/c was lost, this does not exist but other a/c on the raid would have brought back the camera film to be analysed by bomber command. would these be still kept?

I am trying to locate possible reports to see if my a/c is mentioned in any of them. any help in pinpointing the maze of records would be of great assistance.

regards

Nick

[big tyke]

I have a list below of records that I have found in Air 14. could any of the more experienced researchers aid me in deciding which ones would possibly help in my research?

May be all are of use but I am not familiar with this type of records so could end up reading for hours and coming away with nothing of any use.

AIR14/

3375: Interception & tactics reports jun-dec 1943
3411: Operational research section final reports on operations night raids
3432: casualties & claims
3419: intelligence narratives of Ops
3433: monthly supplementary narrative of Ops
3442: reports on operational sorties
3473: K reports - loss of a/c on ops
3483: BMP reports

kindest regards

Nick

[RodM]

Hi Nick,



Of the AIR 14 documents you have mentioned:

AIR 14/3375 - this is a general "must-have" along with the final night raid report (AIR 14/3411), as it will provide an invaluable overview of a night's operations, including stats on the performance of each Group, and a description of the routes flown.

AIR 14/3411 see above

AIR 14/3432 & 3419 - don't bother with these as they will provide very little useful detailed information on individual raids.

AIR 14/3433 - the narrative for 9/43 will provide a list of BC air combat claims for the particular night you are researching.

AIR 14/3442 - sorry, 'not familar with this file.

AIR 14/3473 - contains reports on individual losses in the form of debriefs of surviving crew members. These only cover a small number of a/c losses, so unless you're looking for a specific aircraft then the file won't help you. I think that these are mostly duplicates of reports found in AIR 14/1442. A list of the reports in the latter file can be found at: http://www.rafcommands.com/AIR14_1442.html

AIR 14/3483 - see above, bound sets of reports are also preserved in HW 13/76. the British prepared a number of reports looking at German defensive reaction to Allied raids. The Pearl/Zip/BMP/N reports were an early attempt by the Air Section at Bletchley Park to meld together information gathered primarily from radio intercepts the "Y" service, combined with long-term knowledge gained from other radio intercepts, ULTRA, and sources of intelligence, in order to recreate the airborne German reaction to raids on a nightly basis. Using the BMP reports and other sources, including the Forms Y and Z prepared by the BC Groups, BC Intelligence prepared the Interception Tactics reports.



Cheers

Rod

[big tyke]

Many thanks RodM

I will check out the records you suggested are the most likely to yeald information.

The records at the NA are a minefield. So many to check.

Fingers crossed they may hold, even if it is only a snippet, vital info for me.

Thanks again

regards

Nick