Request for help copying Normandy-related P-series FMS

[Simon Trew 1]

Hello, I wonder if anyone can help me with the following research request?

I’m approaching the late stages of a major self-publishing project. My aim is to produce a series of research guides about the 1944 Normandy campaign. The first volume focuses on the German perspective on the campaign, identifying primary as well as secondary sources. It’s a big piece of work (hundreds of pages and approaching 200,000 words), but with luck, it will be available in spring 2020. I have put one or two postings about aspects of this project elsewhere on the forum in the last few months.

I’m now trying to fill a few remaining gaps in my guide by acquiring copies of some of the more elusive Foreign Military Studies (FMS) manuscripts. Since my aim is to see and describe about 99% of the sources that are listed in the research guide (there are a few things that I know exist but they are either too expensive or for some other reason too difficult to acquire), it’s highly desirable that I am as comprehensive as I can be in acquiring copies of these documents. From various sources, and over about a decade, I’ve managed to get hold of the vast majority that concern the Normandy campaign. But I’m still missing some. The following (all of which I believe are only available in their original German text) are the ones I still need:

1. D-series FMS

D-331: von Schlieben, Karl Wilhelm – ‘709th Infantry Division, 6-12 June 1944’ (page length unknown)
D-382: Mauer, E. – ‘243rd Infantry Division, March – 30 June 1944’ (approx 20pp.) [Index says 253rd Division but this is an error]

P-series FMS

P-149/24 : Rehm, Hermann – ‘Delaying Battle by a threatened open flank’ [331 Infantry Division August 1944] (page length unknown)
P-149/42: Rehm, Hermann – ‘Rear guards in river crossing, August 1944’ [331 Infantry Division August 1944] (page length unknown)

[There may be other sub-documents in the P-149 series that relate to Normandy 1944. If so, I would be interested in those too. Can anybody provide me with a sub-index for what is clearly a lot of documents under a single reference number?]

P-156: unknown author – ‘III Flak Corps, Flak Assault Regiment 1, 6-30 June 1944’ (approx 30pp.)
P-158: unknown author – ‘1st SS Panzer Division, June – September 1944’ (approx 89pp.)
P-159: Stuckler, Albert – ‘2nd SS Panzer Division ‘Das Reich, June – September 1944’ (approx 158pp.)
P-164: Meyer, Hubert – ‘12th SS Panzer Division ‘Hitlerjugend’, June – September 1944’ (approx 101pp.)
P-165: Hallwachs – ‘17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division ‘Goetz von Berlichingen’, June – September 1944’ (approx 10pp.)
P-168: unknown author – ‘77th Infantry Division, June – August 1944’ (page length unknown)
P-169: Fiebig, Heinz – ‘84th Infantry Division, June – September 1944’ (page length unknown)
P-175: unknown author – ‘265th Infantry Division, June – August 1944’ (page length unknown)
P-176: unknown author – ‘266th Infantry Division, June – August 1944’ (page length unknown)
P-177: Danhauser, Paul – ‘271st Infantry Division (July to August 1944)’ (approx 78pp.)
P-179: Nettmann, Wilhelm – ‘326th Infantry Division, August – September 1944’ (approx 74pp.)
P-181: Schwalbe, Felix: ‘344th Infantry Division, July – October 1944’ (page length unknown)

Is there anybody who reads this forum who already has some/all of these manuscripts, or who is able to undertake the necessary copying work either in the College Park archives or the army history centre at Carlisle? I am perfectly happy to pay a reasonable fee for the work, to be agreed in advance. Or I can offer to swap copies of material I have in my own (very extensive) personal archive. Or I can undertake research on a comparable scale in the UK National Archives (I live only about five miles away) by way of a quid pro quo. In short, I am happy to discuss a mutually acceptable arrangement with whoever can help me with this request.

There is some urgency in this matter. Unfortunately, after an excellent experience with a US researcher who scanned many FMS for me earlier this year, my requests to the same researcher to carry this matter forward have either been met with unfulfilled promises or silence. Sadly, I have had to withdraw my request to that person, which is why I am now looking for an alternative route to fill this particular gap in my project.

Many thanks, Simon

[Mori]

D-382 is supposed to be on fold3.com, but others are not.

The FMS searching aid lists P-154 to P-189 as work-in-progress and it may well be they were never achieved.

Besides, FMS series beyond A and B tend to have bad reputation as they ain't very "fresh" : little additional data vs. earlier series and a lot of "consistency" edits by the German staff supervising the effort.

[Tom Peters]

Some of the FMS documents you list were completed after the bulk of the FMS documents were microfilmed in bulk and sent to the M1035 series which can be accessed a NARA. The others have to be hand copied, but a few were cancelled, such as P-158 (1st SS Div.).

I have almost all of the ones you want. PM me.

Mad Dog

[Simon Trew 1]

Thanks Tom,

I sent you a PM. Please post here if for some reason it doesn't arrive.

It is interesting to know that P-158 was cancelled (presumably it doesn't even exist in draft form?). Mori, thanks for the reference to D-382 being on Fold 3. I missed that. You may well be right about the inferior quality of P-series FMS. I've got a couple of P-series FMS via other sources and would say they are no better and no worse than many of the A- and B-series ones (as you know, the great majority of Normandy-related FMS of all series were written mostly without access to primary sources, often several years after the events described). Maybe the ones I've mentioned in my request above are a bit rubbish. The problem is that as far as I can tell, in several cases they are the only FMS that describes the activities of the units concerned. There is nothing in the B-series, for example, about 77th Infantry Div or 84th Infantry Div, and only a few bits and pieces (in the appendices to FMS B-845) for 243rd Infantry Div. So it would be good to see them, if only so that in my bibliographical description, I can tell other potential users that they are nothing special.

Anyway, thanks to both of you for your help.

Simon

[Mori]

You may well be right about the inferior quality of P-series FMS. I've got a couple of P-series FMS via other sources and would say they are no better and no worse than many of the A- and B-series ones (as you know, the great majority of Normandy-related FMS of all series were written mostly without access to primary sources, often several years after the events described). Maybe the ones I've mentioned in my request above are a bit rubbish. The problem is that as far as I can tell, in several cases they are the only FMS that describes the activities of the units concerned. There is nothing in the B-series, for example, about 77th Infantry Div or 84th Infantry Div...

A couple of things about the FMS, building on your remarks.

It is _not_ true that the great majority of FMS were written without access to primary sources, even when such statement is made at the begining of the documents.

Actually, from the B series on, authors had access to Allied documents like situation reports and maps. I had the opportunity to compare both documents for some campaigns and the consistency of details in locations and dates between what the US sitrep say and what the German authors 'remember' is too high to be chance. This puts a harsh limit on FMS value for tactical developments, since they essentially repeat the US sitreps.

Then, another issue is the "consistency" check by the (German) team reviewing the documents. It is not clear what was edited really, but what seems certain is a lot of friction between German officers was just taken out of the documents.

All in all, FMS are interesting to understand what were the German intentions and to get some insights on their strength. They are also interesting when they contradict each other, or when they admit defiencies in their own performance (never when it's claimed that everyone-made-his-duty).

And, funny that you mention the 84 ID and the late FMS by his commander, Fiebig. Actually, Fiebig made an FMS about his unit in February 1945 (it's in the B series, dated April 1948), but his Normandy FMS dates from 1953, years later. The question is more why he did not write anything about Normandy early on... One reason is Fiebig was at the bottom of the barrel when it came to division commanders, so little point in interviewing him...

[Simon Trew 1]

Thanks Mori,

All very interesting. Thanks for these thoughts.

I don't know the entire FMS series - my focus is entirely on Normandy and anything I might say about FMS (as indicated in my post) is simply about the Normandy ones. But I should have been more specific in saying that I meant that authors did not often have access to German primary sources (I understand what you say about US sources being made available to some authors, though I'm not convinced this was the case when it came to British and Canadian primary sources being made widely available to commanders who spent most of their time fighting these forces). What I am referring to, of course, is the almost wholesale extinction (or at least in some cases, disappearance into private hands) of German war diaries from the Normandy campaign at divisional or lower level (SS units are a partial exception, but Army and parachute unit ones seem to have suffered greatly). So what I meant was that German division commanders and staff officers, and regimental commanders (i.e. those who wrote most of the Normandy division-level FMS) simply didn't have their own unit records to consult. The Ziegelmann series about 352 ID might be an exception - but the odd thing is that US sources sometimes do not align with Ziegelmann's remarks and I don't know of anybody who has tracked down the documents on which Ziegelmann might have relied. It is an intriguing subject.

From what I have seen in the Duxford archives and know about from good friends who have worked a lot in the German archives (and also from the guides to German records copied at Alexandria), the records of OB West and Army Group B are fairly well preserved - I have thousands of copies of those ones. Seventh Army has a reasonable amount of good stuff, and Fifteenth Army records are helpful for the first fortnight of action at the eastern end of the beachhead. Then there are quite good LXXXI Corps records both for June and August, and some material for LVIII Pz Corps and bits and pieces for other corps-level formations. But I don't get the impression that very much of this stuff was made available to most of the FMS authors, at least those who were writing divisional studies. I would love it if you could give me some clear examples of where I might be wrong - I would amend some of my bibliographical entries accordingly and be delighted to give you credit for this insight!

One thing that I only discovered this year, to my considerable embarrassment, are the Hodgson manuscripts - i.e. the preliminary studies based on German documents that were written to help Blumenson write 'Breakout and Purusit'. When I got copies of these my jaw dropped a small distance. I thought some of them were excellent, and all ought to be quite high on the list of things to see for people who are interested in the German perspective on the Normandy campaign. Steve Zaloga put me on to those, for which I was most grateful.

I like the FMS, partly (as you indicate above) as much for the things they don't say as the things they do, and for the contradictions between them. They are an important source, which is why I want to give them as comprehensive attention as I can.

Best,

Simon

[Simon Trew 1]

Should have added Fifth Panzer Army records also quite good (and downloadable from internet sources which makes it even better!). Also that von Schlieben on 709 ID is an interesting example of somebody who clearly did have access - his FMS manuscript is liberally sprinkled with stuff from Army Group B and Seventh Army war diaries.

[Mori]

Hello Simon,

You have a point: it seems FMS, at least A- and B- series, were by and large written without access to German primary sources. I don't have data points to confirm this, because I turned to FMS precisely because there weren't any other German document on the actions I was investigating. I wouldn't be so sure about later series, but that's just intuition.

However, another thing should be mentioned: many times authors could read previous FMS. This is occasionaly stated in the comments or the correspondence on how the manuscripts were made. This creates quite a confirmation biais.

You do well to underline that US sources were made available rather than UK/Canadian. I also saw that, for example on the Fiebig FMS mentioned earlier: this FMS was about his 84th division being crushed by 1st Can Army during operation Veritable in February 1945. Some errors in telling the action showed it was written without the Allied records, and these errors were really interesting insights: years later, Fiebig still hadn't understood what happened on his front. However, there are proportionaly fewer FMS from Germans facing UK/Canadian/French than from Germans facing US (just think of the Ardennes).

And another benefit of FMS is they sometimes focus on small or unusual units, depending on what PoW happened to be available. I remember an FMS about an ad-hoc unit put together after the March 1945 Rhine crossing. It showed how the commanding officer lost all liaisons to his superiors, pretended to put up a fight for a day only, and hid his units in forests until he could surrender. It wasn't said that plainly - rather a story of "more effective defensive line in forests" which happened to be a distance from the roads jammed with US tanks - but quite transparent anyway. Since the unit really existed for less than a week, there is certainly no other source than this FMS.

[Mori]

One thing that I only discovered this year, to my considerable embarrassment, are the Hodgson manuscripts - i.e. the preliminary studies based on German documents that were written to help Blumenson write 'Breakout and Purusit'. When I got copies of these my jaw dropped a small distance. I thought some of them were excellent, and all ought to be quite high on the list of things to see for people who are interested in the German perspective on the Normandy campaign. Steve Zaloga put me on to those, for which I was most grateful.

These are kept with the OCMH manuscripts at NARA? They are of high value, no doubt. I read some from other fronts than Normandy and they can save the researcher quite a lot of time.

You and I should pool resources. Looks like we would both find gems (email me if you're interested).

[Simon Trew 1]

Will do that tomorrow, Mori. Always happy to share.

[jpz4]

Interesting thread and good to know more about the Hodgson manuscripts. I've seen references to them before and considering the quality of Breakout and Pursuit some good research must have been done. It's good to know that the manuscripts still exist. I'd be interested in learning how much new information they contain for those of us who already have worked their way through the FMS and German records. Either way, think Breakout and Pursuit is underappreciated (although my main interest runs to mid July 1944 so I'm don't consider myself fully qualified to commend on later periods)

I find the access to records of FMS authors a bit of a mixed blessing. Occasionally it has helped them get things right, in other instances it has influenced them negatively or simply distracted them. Von Schlieben's account, for instance, is too much him commenting on the AOK 7 war journal, rather than giving his own perspective. It think it is surprisingly poor. On the other hand Keil, one of his regimental commanders, had access to Von Schlieben's writings but largely seems to have focussed on his own experiences. He however could have benefited from some allied records to get his timeline correct. It is a bit of a mess. In my study of the German of the German troops on the Cotentin (volume 1 almost finished) I'm trying to correct his account using additional information from German and allied sources. It's been a puzzle but most events can now (probably) be linked to the correct date.

[Simon Trew 1]

jpz4 - your work sounds very much like something I should include in my source guide. I hope it's OK if I PM you about that.

Here are the descriptors from my guide for the Hodgson m/s I have seen. There are at least two others that are about the Germans in Normandy. I need to find somebody willing to copy them in NARA II. I know the reference numbers but missed them first time around.

Hodgson, James: ‘The German Defense of Normandy: The Situation at the Beginning of July 1944 and its Background (Chapter II)’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1953; iii + 131pp., maps). This is manuscript R-24 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. Based mainly on German primary sources, it was written as a background brief to assist Martin Blumenson, author of ‘Breakout and Pursuit’, a volume in the U.S. Army’s official history of the Second World War (QV). The content includes a review of events in Normandy during June 1944 as seen from the German perspective. Close attention is paid to their counter-attack plans, the Margival conference (17 June) and the replacement of several senior German commanders at the start of July (pp.1-34). Pages 35-51 describe the situation in early July outside western Normandy. Pages 51-78 do the same for Seventh Army’s sector from Caumont to the Cotentin peninsula, with emphasis on German orders of battle, their personnel and logistics situation, and operational plans. The manuscript contains seven appendices which provide further information about German unit strengths, lists of commanders and staff officers, and other material. There are also four maps to illustrate aspects of the report.

Hodgson, James: ‘Command and Staff Roster Western Command, June to September 1944’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1953; 22pp.). This is manuscript R-24a in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. The contents include a revised list of senior German commanders and staff officers, which was originally produced as Appendix B (pp.84-103) to manuscript R-24 (QV above).

Hodgson, James: ‘The Effect of the COBRA Bombardment on Panzer Lehr Division, 24 and 25 July 1944’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1953; 8pp.). This is manuscript R-31 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. Based on German primary sources, it was written to assist Martin Blumenson when he was writing ‘Breakout and Pursuit’, a volume in the U.S. official history of the Second World War (QV). As the title indicates, the content describes the effects of U.S. air and artillery bombardments at the start of Operation ‘Cobra’ in terms of their impact upon the Panzer Lehr Division (and attached units).

Hodgson, James: ‘German troops withdrawn from Brittany between 6 June and 15 July 1944’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1953; 12pp.). This is manuscript R-34 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. The report identifies elements of the German XXV and LXXIV Corps that were sent from Brittany to Normandy between D-Day and mid-July 1944. It includes a statistical summary of personnel and weapons despatched to the battle area between those dates.

Hodgson, James: ‘The Germans in Normandy, 1 July 1944: Before the Offensive (Chapter III)’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1954; 57pp.). This is manuscript R-49 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. Based on German primary sources, it was written as a background brief to assist Martin Blumenson when he was writing a volume in the U.S. Army’s official history of the Second World War. The report identifies German units across the entire Normandy battle front (not just the U.S. sector) on 1 July 1944. Detailed information is included about the numbers of ‘combat effectives’ and weapons. German defensive tactics, and their plans and intentions, are also discussed.

Hodgson, James: ‘The Battle of the Hedgerows (Chapter IV)’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1954; ii + 85pp. + 11pp.). This is manuscript R-54 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. The contents describe the fighting that took place in western Normandy from 3-18 July, as seen from the German perspective. The document begins by discussing problems faced by the Germans in replacing casualties in Normandy and elsewhere (pp.1-11). This is followed by a section on the German chain of command and their defensive tactics and plans during July (pp.12-28). Pages 29-69 cover events from 7-18 July (there is almost nothing about 3-6 July), mostly with reference to Seventh Army’s sector, but also by describing events happening simultaneously near Caen. The report also contains information about Hitler’s plans for future offensive operations in Normandy (pp.70-84), and why they proved impossible to implement. There is one appendix and eleven pages of attachments, which reproduce translations of German documents from the period covered by the manuscript.

Hodgson, James: ‘The Eve of Defeat (Chapter V)’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1954; i + 46pp., maps). This is manuscript R-57 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. This report describes the German perspective on events in Normandy from 18-24 July 1944. The first third focuses on Operation ‘Goodwood’, which took place east of Caen. This is followed by a section on the assassination attempt against Hitler (pp.18-23). Finally, the document covers the situation on Seventh Army’s front west of Saint-Lô. There are two appendices, one of which reproduces a LXXXIV Corps strength report for 23 July 1944. The other is an alphabetical list of commanders and staff officers mentioned in the manuscript.

Hodgson, James: ‘Thrust – Counterthrust: The Battle of France: (Chapter VI)’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1955; 221pp., map). This is manuscript R-58 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. It was written as a background brief to assist Martin Blumenson, author of ‘Breakout and Pursuit’, a volume in the U.S. Army’s official history of the Second World War (QV). The report covers operations in Normandy from 25 July to 30 August 1944, as seen from the German perspective. Like other reports in the series, Hodgson’s manuscript is based on a close study of German war diaries and other primary sources (several of which are quoted at length). It demonstrates a depth of understanding matched by only a few post-war publications. In addition to describing the German reaction to Operation ‘Cobra’, events within the ‘Falaise Pocket’ during August and the liberation of Paris, the manuscript contains an interesting conclusion that provides a surprisingly positive interpretation of Hitler’s role during the later stages of the Normandy campaign. The report includes seven appendices, which provide additional information about German orders of battle and casualties, and names of senior commanders. Appendix E is a detailed critical bibliography of German sources used by the author during his research. There is one map, which shows the German response to Operation ‘Cobra’ from 25-8 July 1944.

Hodgson, James: ‘German Order of Battle, OB West, 24 July – 31 August 1944’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., undated; 7pp.). This is manuscript R-83 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319. The report contains tables to illustrate the German order of battle in the West on 24 July, 2 August, 7 August and 31 August 1944.

Hodgson, James: ‘Sequence of Essential Events, Fall of St-Lô’ (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., undated; 2pp.). This is manuscript R-84 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. This short study quotes from several German documents that cast light on the sequence of events surrounding the liberation of Saint-Lô on 17-18 July 1944.

As indicated above, Hodgson mostly used records that I suspect you have seen already. It would be great to say that he had discovered a lot of German war diaries that have subsequently been lost. But he didn't. Nor did he make use of things that I have focused on in my own research (interrogation reports and other intelligence records eg. HW 5 series). But what he did do was conscientiously hack his way through the OB West, Army Group B, Seventh Army and a few other records and write it all up in a coherent narrative with plenty of analysis. The documents are also fairly thoroughly footnoted, so it is easy enough to see where he got things from.

My bibliography/source guide covers record groups according to the way they are grouped in British archives, for the simple reason that this is where I have seen most of them (i.e. Duxford Enemy Documents Section records). But I will try to provide the BA-MA and US National Archive references for those who find access to those archives easier). It also covers secondary sources in English, French and German. There are a few very hard to find unit histories that I'm yet to see, but I'm working hard to fill the gaps. For example, there is a divisional history of 116th Pz Div (author is Memminger if I remember correctly) that I haven't seen, a book by Wendt also on 116th Pz Div, and a few elusive Jagdgeschwader and Kampfgeschwader histories. But the bibliography is running at a lot of separate entries (I lost count at about 2000) and I suspect the whole thing will be about 200,000 words when it is finished - probably fairly early next year.

Anyway, good luck with your important and much-needed project.

Simon

[Jan-Hendrik]

there is a divisional history of 116th Pz Div (author is Memminger if I remember correctly)

There is an excellent unit history by Heinz-Günther Guderian....

das letzte Kriegsjahr im Westen

Jan-Hendrik

[Simon Trew 1]

Thanks Jan-Hendrik,

Yes, I have Guderian's book (in its English-language version). I agree, it is very good. Nice maps too.

There seems to be at least one good divisional history for most of the panzer divisions that fought in Normandy. The biggest exception is 9th Panzer Division. If you know of a good history of that division in any language, I'd love to know about it. Strauss on 2nd Panzer Division is also a bit misleading, as it looks like it is a divisional history but is really focused on the division's anti-tank battalion. Luckily, the fist volume of Deprun's chunky divisional history of 2nd Pz has appeared (in French) and I think the second volume is due in spring 2020 - although I'm unclear if it will appear before my source guide is finished. The problem with any source guide, of course, is that it is out-of-date the moment it appears (at least, for a subject like Normandy). New books and articles are always emerging. Since my bibliography is thematically organised, however, every entry appears in a numbered sub-section (e.g.Chapter X, section 2.2e.(i) is battle accounts for 2nd Pz Div operations near Caumont and Caen during June, July and early August). This means that I can publish regular supplements where new publications are identified under the relevant section number so readers can easily match the contents of the supplement to the contents of the original volume.

Infantry Divisions in Normandy are of course a whole different matter. Maybe seven or eight good or adequate divisional histories for the better part of thirty divisions that were in one way or another involved. Still, it is interesting that people are still working hard on this area - Didier Lodieu's three-volume account of 272nd Infantry Division in Normandy, for example, or Nauroth and Steinberg's excellent work on 91st Air-landing Division. I know somebody who is working hard on a history of 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, and a draft chapter I've seen is full of detail. So there are still reasons for optimism.

Thanks again for the suggestion - keep them coming!

Simon

[Tom Peters]

One thing to note:

"This is manuscript R-24 in the ‘Foreign Military Studies’ series. A copy can be found in the US National Archives in Record Group 319."

The R-series of documents is not part of the FMS document series. It is a separate set of files (as is the virtually unknown L-series.....). One set is available from RG319, while another is available from RG407. Neither set is complete, although collectively I think they are. Email me if you need some, I have about 40% of them, and the rest are typically easy to copy.

There are also numerous Combat Interviews in RG407 that might provide interesting information.

Mad Dog