It Must Be True

IT MUST BE TRUE
(It's in an official document)

A problem facing historians and authors when delving into the history of a war-time squadron like 198 is how much reliance can be placed on what is often referred to as "official documentation". It was not unusual for some of these documents to be written up at a later date by someone who never served with the Squadron, or wasn't present at the time.

In several instances it has been found that items officially recorded as being part of 198 Squadron RAF history do not agree with Squadron veteran recollections or the entries they made at the time in their flying log books.

This raises some concerns. In the past it has always been possible to refer back to Squadron veterans for some clarification but how will anyone tell what is correct in the future when only the official documents, or books based on them, survive and there is nothing else to test their accuracy against.