Introductory Information
An insignificant number of file fragments from individual service and command centres as well as formations and units of the former German Air Force have survived. Regrettably, the bulk of written material produced at the time was destroyed. Thus, it is often no longer possible to use our sources to clarify facts.
Since very few documents, and sometimes none at all, from an identified organisational unit have survived the war, it is highly likely that the research paths explained below will lead to a dead end.
More information on the availability of preserved documents relating to the former German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS can be found on our subpage regarding military documents in the Federal Archives.
What information do I need to use the documents?
At the very least, you must know:
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The location and date of the crash
and
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the exact name of the Wehrmacht unit that shot down the aircraft you are looking for.
Although a search may be possible without at least one of these pieces of information, it would be very time-consuming.
What if don’t have this information?
Location and date of crash
Without knowing the location and date of the crash (for example, if only the name of the pilot who was shot down is known), it is impossible to access the sources in the Federal Archives. In this case, it would entail going through a large amount of the surviving Luftwaffe records file by file.
If you can narrow down the location, we recommend enquiring at the relevant municipal archives first.
Since Germany’s war opponents also kept records of their own losses, enquiring with their national archives may also yield information that could be helpful for research in the holdings of the Federal Archives:
Frankreich
Service historique de la Défense
Château de Vincennes
Avenue de Paris
94306 VINCENNES Cedex
Großbritannien
The National Archives
Kew
Richmond, Surrey
TW9 4DU
Kanada
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Russland
Russisches Staatliches Militärarchiv
Российский государственный военный архив
125212, Москва, ул. Адмирала Макарова, 29 (м. Водный стадион)
USA
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park
MD 20740-6001
Attacking unit
In most cases, you will not know which unit shot down the aircraft you are looking for. However, this information is important for a successful search since archival records are organised according to their place of origin and not by topic.
Therefore, to find documents, you will need to determine the exact name of the German unit that shot down the Allied aircraft. To do this, you must know whether it was German anti-aircraft artillery or a flying unit (for example a fighter squadron) that shot down the aircraft. It must then be determined which German anti-aircraft artillery or aviation unit was stationed at that site at that time.
To do this, you can use the situation maps that were created by the Luftwaffe Command Staff in the General Staff of the Luftwaffe for the deployment of flying units and anti-aircraft guns. These are stored in the Federal Archives in fond RL 2-II (Luftwaffe General Staff / Luftwaffe Command Staff).
Links to the indexing information:
Disposition of flying units (Some material can be viewed online)
Disposition of anti-aircraft guns (Some material can be viewed online)
The German units must be identified before we can check whether any documents from these units have been preserved.
Sources in the Federal Archives
Holdings of the attacking unit
If the German flying unit or the German anti-aircraft artillery unit are known, documents relating to the specific confrontation can be searched in the following fonds:
This archival material can only be viewed in the Reading Room:
RL 12 (Luftwaffe anti-aircraft artillery formations and units)
RL 11 (Luftwaffe anti-aircraft artillery command staffs)
Some of the archive records can be viewed online:
RL 10 (formations and units of the Luftwaffe air force)
RL 8 (command staffs of the Luftwaffe air force)
RL 7 (air fleet commands)
Reports of downed aircraft in RL 5
The RL 5 fonds (Luftwaffe Personnel Office / Chief of Personnel Armament and Nazi Leadership) contain reports of Allied aircraft being shot down that were recorded by the unit that shot them down. The reports were made to the Luftwaffe Personnel Office so that their successes could be acknowledged. In general, however, the reports from the anti-aircraft artillery are the only ones that survived the war. Some archive records can be viewed online.
The RL 5 fonds also contain reports of Allied aircraft shot down by German flying units and anti-aircraft guns which were recorded by date. These are only available on microfilm. They were acquired by the National Archives in the United States. No paper record exists. The originals are believed to be lost. The microfilms were probably produced by the Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM). The archive material can be viewed entirely online.
Airfield Organisation
When a plane crashed – regardless of whether it was a German or an Allied aircraft – the nearest airbase commandant’s office was notified and responsible for its recovery. Hence these offices may also have surviving documents containing information about a crash.
Further Information
We recommend taking a look at the regularly updated holdings information on research presented under ‘Literature’ on invenio.
