Today debriefing propably means a different thing-supporting the people after catastrophe psychologically. I wonder if there´s a book on the Bomber Command or the US debriefing after the missions or if anyone knows what there´s was asked or debriefed??



Mission Debriefing, 1944

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Kai :

De-breifings what few there are in print are mentioned in US bomb group histories as part of the day's action(s). Also if one were to secure the US heavy bomb group reports of an individual group on a given date then the debriefings or day's activites is what you will find through them. I have about 12-14 missions reports and am sure Stevin does as well for his research.....maybe other here as well.

~E

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Rip it up !

AFAIK The debriefing reports were all ammassed into one or several reports. I haven't found any de-briefing reports from individuals except those who witness the shoot down and/or crash of an fellow bombers; The Missing AirCrew Reports. Not that these can be considered infallable. On jan. 11, 1944, for example, all 8 B17s that were lost by the 381st BG were last seen at 11.22. Quite a coincidence! Many MACR's contain Individual Questionaires. These are standard question forms that were filled in by surviving members of crews that wer shot down. After the war these guys were sent to Camp Lucky Strike near Le Havre to be shipped back to the States. When back in the states, the were asked to fill out these forms. Some are very detailed about the shootdown and demise of crew members. Most are not, however.

During debriefings the air crews were usually asked what they had seen, anything out of the ordinary. New/awkward German planes or tactics. Did they see planes go down? Where? Did they see parachutes. What was their assesment of the damage at targets, etc.

Of course the questions would have been tailored to the specific job of the aircrew.

I have several Combat Mission reports of BG's that were on the January 11, 1944 mission. Some are sketchy to say the least. Others (usually those of the leading BG's) are pretty detailed. With all kinds of info on planes that went down or aborted and the reasons why. Also interesting are the claims made for enemy aircraft. If they actually shot down the number of planes that they claimed, the war wouyld have been over by Feb. 1944!

Will scan one and post it here, so you get an idea what theya re about. AFAIK there are no specific books that deal with this aspect of the war.

I'll ask my veterans what they were asked aftera mission.

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Bomber Command aircrew were debriefed as a crew by Station intelligence personnel immediately after each and every operation.

A copy of each report was then telexed to the relevant Bomber Group HQ for analysis. After the war, most of these original reports were destroyed. The information contained in them, though, was also used( sometimes in shortened form ) in the relevant Squadron Operational Record Book ( ORB ) and these can all be freely seen and copied at the Public Record Office in London.

Some original debriefs survived in private hands and occasionally appear at aerojumbles or on ebay - I have one for interest in my collection ( Lancaster HK684 on a raid to Wiesbaden 2-3 Feb 45 ).

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

I've been searching the 'net for any images of crews being debriefed and can't find a single one.

But I did find this and it's just too nice a pic not to post :

http://www.btinternet.com/~lee_mail/Lanc-3.html

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

wish I had something to scan from and to.....several US fighter group books and bomb group books show men waiting in line to be debriefed.......

~E~

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Rip it up !

My problem too, Erich. I have lots of very good photos of Bomber Command crews at debriefing, fatigue mixed with euphoria at having 'come through' clear on their faces.

Also, of course, the most famous debrief photo of all ; Gibson's Dams crew with Harris and Cochrane listening in. Can be seen in many books but I can't find it online....

And right here I have one of those huge white mugs marked with the RAF crest from which the crews drank tea laced with a generous measure of rum as the debriefing was in progress.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

why Martin, no Schnapps ? ...... wait that was those other guys...

~EB~

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Rip it up !

In the Vietnam Era-Mission 'debriefings' were known as interrogations...

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

Thanx for the info Guys!

[img]smile.gif[/img]

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Kai,

Found another debriefing pic for you:

http://www.angelfire.com/trek/rcaf/exair01.html

Scroll down to the 6th pic. (don't count the cartoon!)

It is the website of the Air Gunners Association. A VERY intersting site, my lads!

Stevin

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Thanks Stevin - a fascinating site & one I hadn't seen before !

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson