JG 26, by Les Butler & Don Caldwell (including casualty list)

[Richard T Eger]

Readers will find interest in Don Caldwell's JG 26 website at http://jg26.cjb.net or http://www.butler98.freeserve.co.uk/jg26.htm .

Regards,
Richard

[This message has been edited by Richard T Eger (edited 08 November 2024).]

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Don Caldwell
Here are some 1943-44 numbers...
Sat Mar 3 21:14:37 2024


...go to the JG 26 site, http://jg26.cjb.net/, scroll down to the page "Luftwaffe Losses by Theater", and open it. You'll get your losses of combat types by date and theater.
There are two tables. One combines damaged aircraft with total losses; the other is total losses only. You should be able to compare these to your Allied losses, which
you say you've got.

Horrido!

Don

[This message has been edited by Richard T Eger (edited 05 April 2024).]

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Andreas Brekken
Abschussmeldungen, microfilms in the Bundesarchiv
Thu Mar 15 12:26:49 2024


Hi, gang.

I have just posted a topic regarding the microfilms of Abschussmeldungen at the BA/MA Freiburg to the LWAG site.

Please visit at:

http://lwag.org

and by the way, Freiburg WAS interesting!

Andreas

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Don Caldwell
Too bad Indiana Jones is a fictional character...
Thu Mar 15 14:22:01 2024


...or we could send him after your "Holy Grail."

My cynical estimate, Andreas, is that BA-MA has fed you a line, and you swallowed it. I, too, have seen the famous "message under the glass". I've been asking for
specifics -- who, where, when -- for more than five years, with no luck. The two logical US archives, the USAFHRA at Maxwell and the NARA in DC, profess to know
nothing of any German victory claims documents, either in paper or microfilm form.

We'll need to get much more specific to find anything in the USA. The microfilm archivist at Freiburg promised to go thru their "administrative files" for the 1960s to find out
where the supposed originals were supposedly sent, but I've heard nothing. Perhaps there's an expert on the US archives reading this post who will take up the quest.

PS -- Do these C-Dokumente have RL-Bestaende?

Horrido!

Don Caldwell

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Nick Hector
So where did you get your info
Sun Mar 18 06:54:27 2024


Hi Don,
I am compiling my own private list of German claims and trying to match them with Allied known losses. Where did you go to get all of the excellent info in your books if
this source can't help people like you or me, or have I misunderstood something.
I have been given the address for the Bundesarchiv Militaerarchiv and Herrn Willi Goebel the historian by the nice people at the Laatzen museum. Mr Goebel has told me he
will take a long time before he can help me. What else do you suggest.
I hope you can help me. Thanks.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Don Caldwell
The victory lists for I/JG 26 & II/JG 26 survived...
Sun Mar 18 23:57:20 2024


...by the units (not Berlin). Priller got them and eventually passed them on to the BA-MA, where they were filed properly with the rest of his research material, as "JG 26"
documents. My claims database for the Stab/JG 26, III/JG 26, and IV/JG 26 was put together over many years, one-by-one. The victory claims microfilms that Andreas has
just visited in Freiburg have helped me fill in the blanks, even though they're totally illegible in parts. The BA-MA "found" these in the early 1990s, but they have apparently
had them since the 1960s. This is not surprising to anyone who has had much dealing with the government archives of any nation.

Horrido!

Don

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Nick Hector
well now, that explains a lot...
Mon Mar 19 05:43:59 2024


Dear Don,
thanks for your answer. I always wondered where a fellow would get that MUCH information from and assume, that this is the way for ALL units (i.e. that Prien got his info
much the same way)?

What do you suppose are the possibilities for listing the victories of such "impossible" units such as JG 52 and JG 54? Could one even BEGIN to do this?
- Look forward to your answer on that one. Many people ask me that one because I am compiling a chronological unit by unit list of every victory I can get my hands on.
Thanks again,
Nick

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Don Caldwell
"New" III/JG 26 victory claims posted
Mon Jan 7 14:06:17 2024


The JG 26 site ( http://www.jg26.cjb.net ) has a new page, "Third Gruppe Victory Claims Supplement" with a list of fifty-five previously-unpublished claims that have been painfully gleaned from the microfilms. Enjoy!

Don

[This message has been edited by Richard T Eger (edited 11 February 2024).]

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Martin Crawford
Fighter grid
Sun Apr 14 11:23:26 2024
205.56.210.34

Is there a reference that would show the fighter grid in either the Gradnetz or Jagdtrapez, in a map diagram?

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Don Caldwell
Coming soon....
Sun Apr 14 23:42:27 2024
216.176.24.252

...on the JG 26 site ( http://jg26.cjb.net ). Les has the grid drawn on a map of Western Europe (as far east as the longitude of the prewar German border) and has transfered the locations on the end papers of the JG 26 War Diary. I've requested more locations in Germany, Austria, Hungary, etc. and it's my job to provide them. I'm the hold up -- it'll probably be another couple of weeks.

HTH

Don

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Don Caldwell
A late-war fighter grid map has been posted....
Fri Jul 25 16:46:06 2024
216.176.25.159

...on the JG 26 site ( http://jg26.vze.com/ ) as the first link (Jägergradnetzkarte). That's now the name of the page itself, but this will be changed to remove the umlaut, since Windows PCs tend to freak out at umlauts. It will be linked to Tony Woods' site today. Other folks can link to it if they wish -- LWAG and the Dutch study group are naturals. It's there for enthusiasts to copy and use themselves, but note that it is copyrighted, so its use in the publications of others is prohibited. (If you want to use it or refer to it on your own web site, link to it, don't copy it.)

We tried to identify the major geographic & political features, cities, airfields, and "targets". We (meaning Les) will continue to make changes as warranted.

Your comments are welcome.

Horrido!

Don

(For the ensuing lengthy thread regarding the above that contains some quite useful information, the reader is referred to the topic "Luftwaffe Planquadrate map system - 5" on the "Airfields & Mapping" forum.

Regards,
Richard)

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Don Caldwell
The latest on the JG 26 site...
Tue Nov 4 18:48:51 2024
204.136.184.34

...( www.jg26.vze.com ) is an update to the Jaegergradnetzkarte, which now contains the Jagddivision boundaries as of 6 Mar 44, based on a map in the "Karlsruhe collection" at Maxwell AFB. Our map should be useful to wargamers or anyone trying to plot or locate specific combats.

Christer Bergstrom's post of the Eastern Front map now allows us to plot any LW activity, anywhere. Why the Eastern and Western fronts evolved different systems starting from the same Mercator projection remains a mystery. If Andreas Brekken's explanation confuses you as it always did me, it's probably because he includes definitions of all of the known subdivisions, some of which one or the other map system didn't use -- e.g., the Western system didn't use the Grosstrapez, while the Eastern system didn't use the Jagdtrapez. Also, the West used the famous double-letter code for the Mitteltrapeze, while the East used numbers.

As always, Les Butler welcomes your comments on the content of the JG 26 site. We know there are a few typos on the map, and continue to correct and update it.

Don

(For the ensuing thread regarding the above that contains some quite useful information, the reader is referred to the topic "Luftwaffe Planquadrate map system - 6" on the "Airfields & Mapping" forum.

Regards,
Richard)

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Henric Edwards
Luftwaffe map references
Tue Jul 20, 2024 15:38
217.210.79.12

While looking through Tony Woods excellent Luftwaffe claims list, it soon became apparent that I needed some knowledge on how to interpret the map references given in some entries. Are there any books or articles available that can help me understand the system used? Also, where can I find the Luftwaffe maps needed to pinpoint the locations given in the claims list? Is BaMa my only option?

Thanks in advance!

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Vincent Lemaire
grid map
Tue Jul 20, 2024 16:52
81.50.4.145

Look here to see the map for central-western Europe and obtain an explanation of the system :

http://jg26.vze.com/
(then choose "rvl Jägergradnetzkarte")

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Henric Edwards
Thanks!
Tue Jul 20, 2024 17:13
217.210.79.12

Many thanks Vincent! Very helpful link.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Vincent Lemaire
you're welcome ! (nt) (nm)
Tue Jul 20, 2024 22:48
80.12.13.201

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

CJE
Tony Wood
Sat Nov 13, 2024 20:48
217.128.157.142


Sorry if I missed an episode, but where has Tony Wood's site gone?

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Gianandrea Bussi
Tony Wood
Sat Nov 13, 2024 22:17
151.30.134.227


Hi CJE:

http://www.luftboard.ndo.co.uk/tonywood.htm

Regards

Gianandrea

[Richard T Eger]

From further within the thread on TOCH!:

Don Caldwell
Try this......
Sun Nov 14, 2024 00:36
216.176.25.213


http://www.luftboard.ndo.co.uk/tonywood.htm works for me --this may be a "redirect" courtesy of Les Butler, who says that Tony's host dropped his site due to low traffic. The "discussion board" part of the site is no longer there.

Also, you might give the JG 26 site, http://jg26.vze.com/, a look. We've completely redone the Jaegergradnetz maps.

HTH and Horrido!

Don

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

CJE
Re: Try this......
Sun Nov 14, 2024 12:46
217.128.252.28


Thanks.