24th February 1944 Sign of Life - Leipzig 24th February 1944 Sign of Life - Leipzig 1/0 See 24.02.1944 - 26/14 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

23rd February 1944 Arado G.m.b.H., Paris 23rd February 1944 Arado G.m.b.H., Paris 23.02.1944 Arado reverse.jpeg 23.02.1944 Arado reverse.jpeg 1/1 Cover via feldpost from Arado Flugzeugwerke G.m.b.H. (possible liaison office to the Société Industrielle Pour l'Aéronautique, Paris) to a manufacturer in Rackwitz. Featuring the Paris 'A.x' pass-through censor (HL:XD1.1/326). Ref: 23.02.1944 ARADO AND SIPA SIPA (Société Industrielle Pour l'Aéronautique). This company was founded in Neuilly in 1938 as a subcontractor to the French aviation industry. The SIPA workshops were located on the Ile de Jatte which is a large two kilometre long island in the Seine river between Neuilly-sur-Seine and Levallois-Perret on one side and Courbevoie on the other (north-western suburbs of Paris). SIPA produced (and delivered ?) at least 20 Ar 199A models and was later also involved in production work on the Arado 234 jet. SIPA's relationship with Arado apparently pre-dated the outbreak of war. The subject of French production of Luftwaffe aircraft is a fascinating one and as we know, for example from the history of the Fw 190 and the Ju 88, the French were very good at building German aircraft. It wasn't a question either of the French having to 'cooperate' - the Vichy French authorities had very quickly opened negociations with their new German masters in an attempt to preserve employment and some of their manufacturing base in France by offering to produce spares and even complete airframes for German aircraft manufacturers. SIPA evidently continued to work with the Germans and liaise with Arado in particular. In 1942 Arado specifically assigned SIPA the task of development work on an advanced training aircraft which led to the post-war French training type, the SIPA S-10 which first flew in 1944. https://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2010/12/arado-ar-199-seaplane-rainer-kockers.html Contact Brief History to inform us of additonal information regarding this page

3rd March 1944 Income tax return 3rd March 1944 Income tax return 03.03.1944 Income Tax form cover reverse.jpeg 03.03.1944 Income Tax form cover reverse.jpeg 1/1 Wrapper posted from the tax office in Wittmund to a watchmaker in Esens. The wrapper contains the 'Instructions for completing the income tax return' with the command to 'read carefully' and 'keep' printed at the head! Ref: 03.03.1944 Instructions for completing the income tax return (1943) (Imprint: 'Dr 1016 LgNr WE 10b (1943) F0945' ) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

1st April 1944 1st April 1944 1/0 A lebenszeichen (signs of life) air raid survivors card. Sent following the R.A.F. raid on Nuremberg on the 30th/31st March 1944. This would normally have been the moon stand-down period for the Main Force, but a raid to the distant target of Nuremberg was planned on the basis of an early forecast that there would be protective high cloud on the outward route, when the moon would be up, but that the target area would be clear for ground-marked bombing. A Meteorological Flight Mosquito carried out a reconnaissance and reported that the protective cloud was unlikely to be present and that there could be cloud over the target, but the raid was not cancelled. 795 aircraft were dispatched - 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos. The German controller ignored all the diversions and assembled his fighters at 2 radio beacons which happened to be astride the route to Nuremberg. The first fighters appeared just before the bombers reached the Belgian border and a fierce battle in the moonlight lasted for the next hour. 82 bombers were lost on the outward route and near the target (note: the POW mail from Stalag Luft 1 - shown above - is sent by a crewman shot down during this outward engagement). The action was much reduced on the return flight, when most of the German fighters had to land, but 95 bombers were lost in all - 64 Lancasters and 31 Halifaxes, 11.9% of the force dispatched. It was the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war. Most of the returning crews reported that they had bombed Nuremberg but subsequent research showed that approximately 120 aircraft had bombed Schweinfurt, 50 miles north-west of Nuremberg. This mistake was a result of badly forecast winds causing navigational difficulties. 2 Pathfinder aircraft dropped markers at Schweinfurt. Much of the bombing in the Schweinfurt area fell outside the town and only 2 people were killed in that area. The main raid at Nuremberg was a failure. The city was covered by thick cloud and a fierce cross-wind which developed on the final approach to the target caused many of the Pathfinder aircraft to mark too far to the east. A 10-mile-long creepback also developed into the countryside north of Nuremberg. Both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft were under heavy fighter attack throughout the raid. Little damage was caused in Nuremberg. 69 people were killed in the city and surrounding villages. Note: Pilot Officer C.J. Barton, a Halifax pilot of 578 Squadron, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for carrying on to the target in the Nuremberg operation after his bomber was badly damaged in a fighter attack and 3 members of his crew baled out through a communication misunderstanding. Although the navigator and wireless operator were among the men who had parachuted, Barton decided to attempt the return flight to England in spite of the fact that only 3 engines were running. An unexpected wind took the Halifax steadily up the North Sea and it was short on fuel when the English coast was reached near Sunderland. Barton had to make a hurried forced landing when his engines failed through lack of fuel and he died in the crash, but his 3 remaining crew members were only slightly hurt. Pilot Officer Barton's Victoria Cross was the only one awarded during the Battle of Berlin, which had now officially ended. Extract from Middlebrook and Everitt, 1985

12th June 1944 Stalag 398 12th June 1944 Stalag 398 Screenshot 2021-11-27 at 09.29.50.png Screenshot 2021-11-27 at 09.29.50.png 1/1 Stalag 398 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

13th April 1944 'Feldpost' labels 13th April 1944 'Feldpost' labels 1/1 Feldpost Label (Red block: 18.5 x 37.5mm) Feldpost label variations Red block: 42 x 7mm. Ref: 24.04.1941 Red block: 40 x 9.5mm. Note 'e' and 'l'. Ref: 02.12.1940 - 30/89 Red print: 36.5 x 7mm. Ref: 25.01.1943 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

2nd July 1944 Stalag IV-D 2nd July 1944 Stalag IV-D 02.07.1944 Stalag IV-D reverse.jpeg 02.07.1944 Stalag IV-D reverse.jpeg 1/1 Kriegsgefangenenpost reply postcard sent to a POW at Stalag IV-D at Torgau from Italy. Featuring various Italian and German censor cachets. Ref: 02.07.1944 Stalag IV-D Torgau Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

6th January 1944 Stalag III-C 6th January 1944 Stalag III-C 06.01.1944 Stalag IIIC Alt Drewitz reverse.jpeg 06.01.1944 Stalag IIIC Alt Drewitz reverse.jpeg 1/1 Italian POW postcard sent from Stalag III-C at Alt Drewitz to an address in Italy. Ref: 06.01.1944 Stalag III-C Contact Brief History to inform us of additonal information regarding this page

28th February 1944 Oflag 77 28th February 1944 Oflag 77 28.02.1944 Oflag 77 reverse.jpeg 28.02.1944 Oflag 77 reverse.jpeg 1/1 Kriegsgefangenenpost. A reply card sent to an Italian prisoner/internee at Oflag 77 situated at Deblin-Irena (in occupied Poland). Notes: In January 1944 there were 47 Italian inmates reported at Stalag 325 (Lemberg). The present postcard in its complete form may well have been sent from Stalag 325 (as indicated on the address panel). During February 1944 there were no reported Italian inmates at Stalag 325. In January 1944 Stalag 307 contained 7,765 Italian inmates. At some point in January the stalag was renamed Oflag 77. By February 1944 Oflag 77 reportedly held 7,477 Italian officers along with 847 batmen. Ref: 28.02.1944 Oflag 77 (Stalag 307) The first POW camp was established in Dęblin by the German occupiers in 1939 for Polish troops of the Independent Operational Group Polesie taken prisoner during the German invasion of Poland that began World War II. Following the Battle of France, French, Dutch, Belgian and Senegalese POWs were brought to the camp. It was located in the Dęblin Fortress. In April 1941, the Stalag 307 camp was established in Moosburg, then relocated to Kaliłów in May 1941, and finally to Dęblin in October 1941. While still in Kaliłów, abysmal living conditions and feeding rations caused widespread malnutrition and diseases, and there were also mass executions of POWs, including those attempting to escape. Some 13,000 POWs died there. In Dęblin, Stalag 307 housed French, Soviet and Italian prisoners. Overcrowding, poor food rations and sanitary conditions caused starvation and epidemics, resulting in a high mortality rate. The camp had two subcamps, located in Zarzecze and Poniatowa. In January 1944 Stalag 307 was reorganised into Oflag 77, and on 19th August 1944 it was dissolved. Around 100,000 POWs died in the camp. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

17th March 1944 Feldpost 'd' designation 17th March 1944 Feldpost 'd' designation 17.03.1944 'd' designation reverse.jpeg 17.03.1944 'd' designation reverse.jpeg 1/1 Feldpost cover featuring a clear 'd' designation cancel (level position). Ref : 17.03.1944 'FELDPOST ' designation letters: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o , a1etc. , Aa etc. , Misc. See 02.07.1940 - 23/98 ('d'? with broken circle) Feldpost designation letter 'd' variations Shortened ascender. Level position. Dashes AFTER the date. Ref: 09.01.1944 Elongated bowel. Level position. Ref: 23.02.1944 Lower position. Ref: 30.10.1943 Condensed typeface. Level position. Ref: 08.06.1941 - 1/57 Condensed. Lower position. '000' before date. See 25.04.1940 Square bowl. Level position. Ref: 23.01.1944 Condensed typeface. Lower position. Ref: 02.11.1942 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

9th November 1944 9th November 1944 1/1 Feldpost (using address label 'N/0220') sent from FPN 27451 to 'Straub & Flach' in Munich. Ref: 09.11.1944 FPN 27451 (OT - OBL Weingut I). From the 9th November 1944 this FPN was used by the Oragnisation Todt (OT), Oberbauleitung (OBL), the Supervisory Construction Administration. More research is required on the recipient fo the letter, Straub & Flach, but they appear to be involved in the paper industry. Weingut I The story of Weingut I

Mi.899 (23.07.1944) Brown Ribbon of Germany Mi.899 (23.07.1944) Brown Ribbon of Germany 06.08.1944 Brown Ribbon reverse.jpeg 06.08.1944 Brown Ribbon reverse.jpeg 1/1 Registered cover sent from Munich, featuring Mi.899, issued for the horse racing event, 'The Brown Ribbon of Germany'. Also featuring a special commemorative cancel for the event (JB:Munich191/562). Ref: 06.08.1944 Mi.899 'Brown Ribbon of Germany' Mi.899. Ref: 31.08.1944 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page