I did a search on the Recordsearch for No 20 Squadron Operation Orders and came up the following results:
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Operation Orders 1945 - 1945 (Barcode: 3491704)
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Operation Orders 1943 - 1943 (Barcode: 3491705)
However, there is no "Opperation Orders" document for 1944 ? - Why is this? Is there another way to find the operation orders for 1944 for 20 Squadron?
All help much appreciated!
Cheers.
Tags:
Hi Nelson
It appears that the National Archives of Australia only has six items in the series A1128. This is the series in which the two items you mention belong.
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Organisation - Change of Command Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1945 - 1945 |
3491700 |
|
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Maintenance Policy and Organisation - Squadron Maintenance Detail Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1945 - 1945 |
3491702 |
|
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Nominal Rolls - Captains and Crews Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1943 - 1944 |
3491691 |
|
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Minelaying Operations - Radar Countermeasures Support Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1943 - 1944 |
3491697 |
|
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Operation Orders Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1945 - 1945 |
3491704 |
|
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Operation Orders Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1943 - 1943 |
3491705 |
I had a look at the series notes, which provides some information on the records in the series. The note says that the two records in your posting were transferred to the National Archives by the Department of Defence without any control symbols or titles, and so the Archives gave them control symbols and titles based on what they thought were the contents of the file (Z1 and Z2). I think that the information you are after may be in the item below (which has been digitised and is on RecordSearch). The details of this item in the database are as would have been provided by the Department of Defence:
A11287 |
[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Minelaying Operations - Radar Countermeasures Support Access status: Open Location: Canberra |
1943 - 1944 |
3491697 |
I hope this helps
Tonia
(NAA staff)
Tonia,
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately the item you suggested (Barcode: 3491697) only contains one report for December 1944. Hence there are still missing operation orders for most of 1944.
Cheers,
Nelson
Hi Nelson
I looked for additional records that the Archives holds for No. 20 squadron, and found the unit history sheets for 1941-1946, which contains a record of the day to day operations. This may contain the information you are after,
Series: A9186
Control symbol: 41
Item title: RAAF Unit History sheets (Form A50) [Operations Record Book - Forms A50 and A51] Number 20 Squadron Aug 41 - Mar 46
Contents date range: 1941 - 1946
Item barcode: 1358750
Location: Canberra
Access status: Open
The item has already been digitised (over 500 pages) so you will be able to view the record online using RecordSearch.
Regards
Tonia
Hi Tonia,
Thanks for your reply. You are correct in that the Operations Record Book for No.20 squadron (Barcode: 1358750) does contain day to day operational summaries. Similar information is also available in the Operations Record Book for the North Eastern Area Headquarters:
Series: A9186
Control symbol: 169
Item title: RAAF Unit History sheets (Form A50) [Operations Record Book - Forms A50 and A51] Northern Area Headquarters May 41 - January 42 and North Eastern Area Headquarters January 42 - Dec 45
Item barcode: 1359521
However, the information in these "operational record books" is brief when compared to the "operational orders" information in the two "[No 20 Squadron - General Reconnaissance/Flying Boat Squadron] - Operation Orders" documents.
The fact still remains there is a missing Operation Orders document(s) for No. 20 Squadron for 1944.
Another thing to consider is that from 27 Aug 1944 to 14 Nov 1945 the No.20's superior agency was "RAAF Headquarters No 76 (GR/FB) Wing" (series A11240). Searching on this series yields the following 8 results:
Series no. | Control symbol | Item title | Date range | Digitised item | Item barcode | |
A11240 | 3/2/AIR | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Reports on Courting Operations Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1944 - 1945 | 3084904 | ||
A11240 | 3/3/AIR | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Monthly mine laying record Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1944 - 1945 | 3084905 | ||
A11240 | 3/4/AIR | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Jettison - Mines Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1944 - 1945 | 3084906 | ||
A11240 | 7/19/AIR | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Courting Operations Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1944 - 1945 | 3084907 | ||
A11240 | 7/52/AIR | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Operations instructions Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1944 - 1945 | 3084908 | ||
A11240 | 7/65/AIR | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Timforce - Operations Access status: Not yet examined
Location: Canberra
|
1945 - 1945 | 3084910 | ||
A11240 | 908/3/P1 | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Recommendations for honours and awards - all personnel [130pp] Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1944 - 1945 | 3045144 | ||
A11240 | Z1 | [Headquarters No 76 Wing] - Record of operations - Ordered and completed Access status: Open
Location: Canberra
|
1945 - 1945 | 3084911 |
So perhaps the missing "operational order" information is these documents? I can't tell because none of them have been digitised.
Regards,
Nelson
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