The British have an official history of WWII. Does Germany have something similar? Might Germany's WWII war diaries or something similar identify which Luftwaffe pilot or pilots were responsible for (a) the bombing of the Lancastria and the Maid of Kent and (b) the machine-gunning of those persons, military and civilian, who were on the Lancastria and in the water after the bombing?
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The alleged machine-gunning, according to one author in a 2005 book.– DevSolarCommented Dec 5 at 7:19
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I guess these type of documents (if they ever existed) might be in the USA or GB or Russia now.– U. WindlCommented Dec 5 at 13:29
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Ref. Were RMS Lancastria survivors strafed?– DevSolarCommented Dec 5 at 13:57
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1Who, exactly, are the "German establishment"?– Jon CusterCommented Dec 5 at 18:05
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1@JonCuster I will do you one better. When are the German establishment? ;-)– DevSolarCommented Dec 5 at 18:35
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1 Answer
Germany has official archives like the Bundesarchiv. This does have significant surviving files of the Luftwaffe. Basic googling suggests that the Lancastria was sunk by II./KG 30. I don't know if their Kriegstagebuch is among the surviving documents.
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3The group commander of that formation was Hauptmann Claus Hinkelbein, decorated on June 19th 1940 for his engagements against the British Navy with the Knights's Cross of the Iron Cross.– ccprogCommented Dec 4 at 16:52
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@ccprog, on the one hand that sounds like a good fit, but were two days enough for the paperwork? I know that sometimes, lesser officers got lesser medals months after the fact. It he was decorated for the attack, you should write it up as an answer.– o.m.Commented Dec 4 at 18:36
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There is a semi-official German history Germany and the Second World War. Commented Dec 4 at 22:31
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@o.m.: As this sublink to your "Luftwaffe" link explains, war diaries usually don't include information on individuals or their missions.– DevSolarCommented Dec 5 at 17:03
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1@DevSolar, my answer focusses on one sub-question of the main text, the existence of archives. A better one would talk about the ships, but I cannot provide that.– o.m.Commented Dec 5 at 17:35