David Irving, the British historian and author, was permitted to testify as an expert in the area of the history of the Second World War. ( 33-9346 ) Irving had worked as a professional historian since 1963 and was the author of between twenty and thirty books.

These included Hess: The Missing Years, 1941 – 1945, The Service: The Memoirs of General Gehlen, Accident: The Death of General Sikorski, The Destruction of Dresden, The Secret Diaries of Hitler’s Doctor, The Trail of the Fox, The War Between the Generals: Inside the Allied High Command, The German Atomic Bomb, Convoy: The Destruction of Convoy PQ 17, The Mare’s Nest, The War Path, Hitler’s War, The Morgenthau Plan, Breach of Security, Uprising , and Churchill’s War .

April 22, 1988 As a historian, he was interested in contemporary history; that of the twentieth century. Irving himself came from an English service family. His father was a Royal Navy service officer. For twenty-five years, Irving had researched in archives around the world, including Canada, the United States, France, East and West Germany and other countries.

He had also had the co- operation of the archives in Israel and the Soviet Union. ( 33-9312 to

9325 ) He was “very familiar with the records of the German High Command and the other German wartime government agencies.” He had acquired this knowledge and expertise initially at Alexandria in Virginia, where the archives were originally stored after they were seized by the American army. The documents had been subsequently sent back to West Germany.

They were still available in Washington partly in original form and partly on microfilm. A number of records were also held by the British government. ( 33-9325 )

See Also