Knell - To destroy a city: strategic bombing and its human consequences in World War II

The writing of this book would not have been possible without the generous and intensive assistance of many people and institutions. It is my pleasure and duty to thank them here.

The collection of information and data started in libraries. The West Vancouver Library with its excellent computer system and its supportive staff was the beginning. In particular I want to thank Mr. Steven Williams who performed miracles in obtaining relevant titles through inter-library loans. From West Vancouver, I moved on to the libraries of Vancouver, the Royal Roads Military College, the University of British Columbia, the New York Public Library, the Bundeswehr Library at Dresden, the Wrzburg University Library, and the Air University Library on Maxwell Air Force Base at Montgomery, Alabama. A special thanks goes to Mrs. Silvia Geissler at Dresden who dug up many publications of great value. The staffs of all the libraries supported me and my work and helped me to find my way through the reference and computer systems. My sincere thanks go to them.

Simultaneously, I visited archives, where again the staffs and the reference systems offered enormous help. It started at the Bundes Militar Archiv at Freiburg, Germany, where Mrs. Scholl and Mr. Moritz steered me onto the most efficient path for archival research. There followed many visits and weeks of studies at the Stadtarchiv and Staatsarchiv at Wrzburg, the Public Record Office in London, the Bundes Archiv at Koblenz, the Humboldt University Archiv in Berlin, Stadt and Technische Hochschule Archives at Darmstadt, the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, and the Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Centre on Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Of particular help was Mrs. Ann Webb at the AFSHRC. My thanks to her and the staffs of all the archives.

In collecting information I enjoyed the help of relatives and friends as my daughter Eva, my brother Dieter, and Messrs. Klaus Voss and Bruno Walther and Mrs. Helmes and Mrs. Siebert.

Once I had produced the manuscript I had friends review and edit it. I am grateful for the improvments made by Messrs. George Sharp, William McCorquodale, Philip Pinkus, and Patrick Taylor.

Mr. Leon Krawczyk helped me in recording the illustrations.

At times it was hard work but the help of all the people mentioned above made it possible.

Hermann Knell
October 2002