# 4FG WWII Operational Diaries - interest in copies??



## chicoartist (Sep 2, 2006)

Hi guys,

I have copies of the Operational Record Books for all three 4FG squadrons from the beginning to the end. 336's even dips back into their Eagle Squadron days as 133 Sqdn. These diaries are day by day listings of flight lineups, aircraft used, mission times, aborts, victory confirmations, combat encounter reports, personnel strength reports, notes on what happened, personal narratives by pilots, award citations, etc, etc, etc. They vary [by squadron] as to the "depth" of the material and daily 'narratives' quality, as much was dependent on the eagerness of the person detailed to do the work, but overall there's a lot of 'meat' which makes for very interesting reading and primary-source historical reference.

Basically, each squadron produced a Form 34 or similar for each 'show'. This form detailed line ups by flight 'color' and position, with up and down times for each individual pilot, and the aircraft he used. This was the basis for the daily 'diaries', to which was added the above mentioned documentation, paperwork, etc, etc. 

This is remarkable material which I've used over and over again to document mission pilots and 'which airplane he flew' each day. It's also simply fascinating reading since the person writing the daily "summary" or "diary" as I call it, the real heart of these books, was there on site, knew the people involved, and added his summation at the end of each day, often with personal comments tacked on.

What I have are nice copies of the original books; mine are second generation, I believe, and the quality ranges from excellent (10) to almost unreadable (1), with the overwhelming majority of the pages falling into the 6 to 8+ quality category (easily read). 

*Each* squadron's book is approximately 900-1000 pages long in total. I've been thinking about doing this for years, and if I get enough interest, I'll go ahead with the project. I plan to offer sections of each squadron in three-ring binders in approximately 200-page date ranges. Actually, what I'll be doing is 'sectioning' each squadron exactly the way the original books are sectioned today (at Maxwell, I believe) in terms of date range. I will also copy the pages 'darker' than my copies to enable maximum clarity, though as I said most of the pages don't really require this. Those of you who have my Descriptive Geometry Manual for Artists will be familiar with the format (high-quality copied pages in a 3-ring binder).

I'm not asking for any money now - what I want is to get a feel for the interest level and I'll do a few "date sections" of each squadron, figure out my total costs, and then offer them for sale. This stuff is just too good to keep to myself (and the very few others who have copies), and I think many of you will be very interested to add these to your shelves, especially from a unit that 'saw it all' 8AF-wise.

Please email me at [email protected] if you may be interested, and I'll let you know when the first ones are done (if I indeed proceed).

Thanks,

Wade


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## syscom3 (Sep 2, 2006)

This sounds mighty interesting.


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