Hi, My name is Mark and I am from the Netherlands. I study the war in my hometown, but mostly the German occupation side. Recently I started organizing the air-war above the region. I believe I already found two new crashes which don't appear in any (semi-)official lists. One British fighter in May 1940 and one German fighter in 1945. But still its difficult to confirm these crashes without hard archival data. I believe 658 AOP went on recce missions above this region from about 1 november 1944 untill VE-day in 1945. The local civilians regularly speak of these "debris-watchers" as they would call them. I am looking for the war diary of this unit from inbetween these dates. I hope to learn some new information on the general situation in this area, as most of my sources are German and Dutch archival papers. Also I am looking on info on a crash from this unit on 17 march 1945. Supposedly an Auster went down near the city. I have lots of material for trade (but unfortunaly no information from the Allied side) and offcourse also willing to pay for any inconveniences. Maybe someone has this part of the WD and is willing to tell if this place even is mentioned? Best regards,
Hi Mark Welcome 658 A.O.P. Sqn. | The National Archives Reference: WO 171/1225 Description: 658 A.O.P. Sqn. Date: 1944 Apr.- Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description 658 Sqn. | The National Archives Reference: WO 171/4751 Description: 658 Sqn. Date: 1945 Jan.- Aug. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description There are several members here who provide a copying service of files from The National Archives at very good rates TD
Mark, you may also want to contact the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop as they hold a large amount of information (not just the War Diaries) for the AOP Sqns.
