1.(F)/126
1./Aufkl.Gr. 126
(Unit Code D1+)
Formation. (April 1941)
Formed 1 April 1941 at Travemünde/Schleswig-Holstein with Heinkel He 60 floatplanes.[1]
Greece and the Aegean Sea. (May 1941 - May 1943)
9 May 1941: transferred from Travemünde via Varna/Bulgaria to Athens~Phaleron, and then shortly after arrival moved to Skaramanga (Salamis) near Athens.
September 1941: began re-equipping with Dutch Fokker T-VIII-W twin-engine seaplanes and Arado Ar 196 floatplanes at Skaramanga. However, it is said that the Fokkers were turned in some 11 months later and the Staffel was then equipped exclusively with the Ar 196. For example, the Staffel had 11(3) Fokkers on 20 June 1942.
11 January 1942: Fokker T-VIII-W (D1+MH) damaged its fuselage while attempting to take off from Skaramanga, 30%, no casualties.
September 1941 – September 1942: remained at Skaramanga flying convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols over the Aegean and Ionian Seas, although detachments of Fokkers frequently operated from Kavala in north-east Greece. Strangely, the Staffel reported no losses, crashes or accidents during all of 1941 and 1942, or at least there is no mention of any in the Generalquartiermeister loss returns, the fact of which is difficult to accept. By September 1942, Ar 196s replaced the Fokkers.
20 September 1942: Staffel renamed 7./KG 100 - see Stab/126 for details.
20 January 1943: redesignation cancelled and once again as 1./Aufkl.Gr. 126.
21 April 1943: Ar 196 struck an obstacle on landing and sank at Volos, 100%.
May 1943: renamed 1./Seeaufklärungsgruppe 126 at Skaramanga, however the order formalizing this change in designation (Gen.St.d.Lw.-Gen.Qu.2.Abt.Nr.9281/43g.Kdos.) was not issued until 13 July 1943.
FpN:1.(F)/126 (L 07753, L 55018).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Heinz Seebens (1 April 1941 - ? )
Hptm. Johannes (Hans) Polzin ( ? - ? ) 25.3.43
Also see:
ASTHEIMER, Dietrich, Lt.
BAHE, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Oblt.
MÜLLER, ? , Lt.
RÖMER, Franz, Lt.
SCHUBERT, Fritz, Lt.
SCHUBERT, Heinz, Hptm.
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ J.-P.Défieux - Répertoire des Unités Aériennes de la Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Reconnaissance Aéronavale (Nanterre, privately published, n.d. (c 1988-90?); W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945. 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); F.Kurowski - Seekrieg aus der Luft: Die deutsche Seeluftwaffe im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Herford, 1979), pp.91, 93, 249, 261, 298; K.Gundelach - Die deutsche Luftwaffe im Mittelmeer 1940-1945, 2 Bde (Frankfurt/M., 1981), p.269; U.Balke - Kampfgeschwader 100 “Wiking”: Eine Geschichte aus Kriegstagebüchern, Dokumenten und Berichten 1934-1945 (Stuttgart, 1981), pp.230-35; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-501 - KTB Befehlshaber Südgreichenland); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection; Jet & Prop magazine, Heft 2/1992; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.