Combat Reports & War Diaries - A Question

[ICM - RAF Retd]

I accept that this must sound a naive question - but am I correct in assuming that squadron War Diaries and Combat Reports are not the same thing?

The question arises because, after doing what the NA advice suggests to locate whatever 10 Squadron War Diaries are held, I keep being led to a file (AIR1/1218/204/5/2634) entitled "Combat Reports: 10 RFC Squadron and 10 Naval Squadron." For now, I've asked for a quotation on digitising the RFC/RAF pages and await being shocked by the answer.

[Simon Birch]

Hi.

As you suspected they are not the same thing. The Squadron war diary is a list of each flight undertaken, who flew it and where they went. These include training flights picking up new aircraft etc. Combat reports do what they say on the tin. If you what to see a sample of each PM me & I will fire them across.

Simon

[ICM - RAF Retd]

Simon: Many thanks. I had expected the War Diaries to be precursors of the later RAF Forms 540/541, on the lines you suggest. I'll take up your offer, thanks, so PM on the way, and then it's back to the delights of the NA's "Discovery."

[nieuport11]

Try AIR 1/1361/204/22/1 through to AIR 1/1373/204/22/36 for 10Sq RFC

The 'Record Book' is the term normally used for what later became the detailed record part of the ORB, although Discovery sometimes uses the term for other records

[john-g]

10 Squadron records commence at AIR1/1361/204/22/1 to AIR1/1373/204/22/36.

The Record books start from Feb 1916 through to January 1919. If you want a copy of the 10 Sqn RFC/RAF records contact me through www.66squadron.co.uk and I will scan them for you.

John-G

[ICM - RAF Retd]

John: That's a remarkably generous offer, and I'll be in touch.

[dfuller52]

Hello John,

I have just e-mailed you about 10 Sqn, which I am also researching. My interest is Lt. Malcolm Millard 'Max' Sisley.

[ICM - RAF Retd]

I have recently acquired copies of most of the 10 Squadron records and, as mentioned at 5, above, the Record Books start from February 1916 in Army Form W 3343 format, despite the Squadron's having been in-theatre since late July 1915. However, for October and November 1915 there is a handwritten record in an Army Book 129. This looks like a local unit initiative using a straightforward notebook with lined pages; the format used is not constant; and, on the many pages where light pencil has been used, it's often now illegible. So, out of interest, did the formal, typed records not start till 1916?

I must also confess to being taken aback at the sheer volume of paper included in some of these files - April plus May 1917 comes in at over 500 pages, including records of bombs dropped. If all RFC units were producing paper at that rate, the admin staff needed at St Omer by 1918 must have been rather large.

[quemerford]

I've come across the 'lined paper' records in both RFC and regular army war diaries and I assume it's because they'd simply run out of blank forms!

In many cases it looks like the notes were written in haste, and for those relating to action in or near the trenches, one can only imagine what the adj was having to contend with.

For pencil-written War Diaries, I've often found that the legibility is dependent on the type of scan. I photographed pencilled notes in a war diary, only to find it illegible once I viewed the photos. In the end, the good old 'stone age' photocopier at the National Archives rendered a far more legible version.