1.(H)/11 (3rd)
1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 11 (3d Formation)
(Unit Code: (6M + )
also as: 1.(H)/11 (Pz)
Formation. (Nov 38)
Formed 1 November 1938 at Grossenhain (new) with He 46’s and Hs 126’s.[1]
Polish Campaign. (Sep 39)
8/39: at Grossenhain until general mobilization 25-26 August.
1.9.39: at Grünwiese with 12 Hs 126’s and He 46’s for the attack on Poland in support of XV Corps.
9/39: provided recce support to l0th Panzer Division in Central Poland.
West. (Oct 39 - Mar 41)
10/39 – 4/40: said to be training in the Koblenz area, but confirmation needed.
10.5.40: again assigned ,to l0th Panzer Div. for the attack on France and the Low Countries, following a line of advance from the Eifel area around Trier, the key breakthrough at Sedan-Charleville and then the dash to the Channel coast through Flanders in NE France.
16.5.40: (Ob.d.H.) - a Hs 126 failed to return from a mission over Stenay/SE of Charleville.
19.5.40: (Ob.d.H.) - a Hs 126 FTR over Flanders.
8.6.40: (Ob.d.H.) - a Hs 126 crashed at Hennicourt/NE France.
9.7.40: (Ob.d.H.) - a Hs 126 struck the ground and crashed at Chateaudun, 100%, crew of 2 both killed.
30.8.40: Belgium-North France area under Koluft AOK 9 in support of 7th Pz.Div.
9/40 - 3/41: as is the case for most of the tactical (H) reconnaissance Staffeln, there is little or no information concerning 1.(H)/11’s activities during the year following the armistice in France.
Central Russia. (Apr 41 - Nov 41)
2.4.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Staffel reported one man accidently thrown from a plane and killed while engaged in maneuvers at Truppenübungsplatz (troop training grounds) Köln-Wahn, which suggests the Staffel was in Germany training with Army units.
22.6.41: at a forward airstrip near Lyck in East Prussia (possibly called Maki) under Koluft Panzergruppe 3/Army Group Center for the attack on the Soviet Union and assigned to support 7th Panzer Division along a line of advance from the Bialystok – Grodno area/NE Poland, the encirclement battle around Minsk, over the Dnieper between Vitebsk and Mogilev and then the heavy fighting around Smolensk up to mid-August.
9.7.41: Staffel operating from a field strip at Beshenkovichki.
15.7.41: based at Vitebsk.
16.7.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Fw 189A-l shot up by a fighter over Yanovichi/NE of Vitebsk, 30%, Staka Oblt. Ziebel WIA.
3.9.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Fw 189 shot down by AA-fire near Yartsevo/NE of Smolensk, 100%, Staka Oblt. Ziebell again WIA.
10/41 - 12/41: still assigned to 7th Panzer Div:/Panzergruppe 3 for the drive on Moscow (Operation "Typhoon") from the beginning of October, fol1owing a line of attack from Vyazma to Klin/85 km NW of Moscow.
18.10.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Fw 189A-1 crash landed at Rzhev -ran out of fuel, 50%.
12.11.41: based at Vyazma.
West. (Dec 41 - May 42)
12/41: departed Russia to rest, refit, complete conversion to the Fw 189 and train.
29.1.42: (Ob.d.H.) - Fw 189A-1 force landed near Saarbrücken due to engine failure, 30%.
1 Mar 42: Staffel reported 9 x Fw 189A-1’s on strength.
3/42: (Ob.d.H.) - Staffel reported a ground mechanic struck by a propeller and killed at St.-Leger airfield/40 km WSW of Paris. There are also other indications that the Staffel was at St-Leger during Feb and Mar 42.
4/42 - 5/42: returned to the central sector of the Eastern Front around the end of April or beginning of May 1942.
Central Russia. (Jun 42 - Nov 43)
15.6.42: (Ost) - Fw 189 (6M+HH) FTR from recce over Belyy/96 km SW of Rzhev,.100%.
20.6.42: Staffel reported 8(5) Fw 189’s on strength.
23.6.42: ordered to operate from the field airstrips at Sychevka/60 km S of Rzhev and Lipovka/W of Rzhev under NAGr. 5 for Operation "Seydlitz" (the planned destruction of Russian 39th Army and XI Cavalry Corps) in direct support of 1st and 5th Panzer Divisions.
2.7.42: (Ost) - Fw 189 crashed at Fp. Lipovka to the west of Rzhev after being shot up by AA-fire, 100%.
29.7.42: Staffel claimed a MiG-3 west of Staika at 1855 hours.
29.8.42: based at Vyazma-Dugino under NAGr.5.
4.9.42: (Ost) - Fw 189 returned to Fp.Vyazma-Dugino shot up by AA-fire, 50%.
26.9.42: (Ost) - Fw 189 hit by ground- or AA-fire and crash landed in Pl.Qu. 4755, 70%, Staka Hptm. Schulte (pilot) KIA, forcing the observer to fly the plane back to the airfield.
30.10.42: (Ost) - Oblt. Erich Ludzmann KIA by fire from a Russian fighter in Pl.Qu. 2633.
23.11.42: Staffel under NAGr. 5 in support of XXXIX Panzer Corps.
4.12.42: (Ost) - Fw 189A-2 shot up by AA-fire in Pl.Qu. 3778, 15%, Oblt. Bruno v. Malottki (Observer) WIA.
9.12.42: (Ost) - Fw 189A-1 shot up by a fighter in Pl.Qu. 3767, 25%, Oblt. Heinz Stanjeck WIA.
12/42 - 2/43: an absence of entries in the loss reports and other documentation for two and a half months suggests the Staffel may have been withdrawn from operations for an extended rest and refit.
23.2.43: (Ost) - Fw 189A-1 with reported fuselage damage at Fp. Smolensk, 10%.
24.2.43: (Ost) - Fw 189A-2 crashed E of Yartsevo due to icing, 100%, 3 killed.
1 Mar 43: Staffel reported 8 x Fw 189A-1’s, A-2’s and A-3’s on strength.
6.3.43: Staffel reassigned from NAGr. 5 to NAGr. 15 this date to reinforce recce support in the Orel area. All of the German-occupied airfields in the Vyazma area were lost to advancing Soviet forces 8-12 March 1943.
26.4.43: (Ost) - Fw 189 force landed W of Ruzhnoye due to technical problems, 30%.
8.5.43: (Lfl.6) - 2 Fw 189A’s damaged by bombs during raid on Fp.Ozerskaya/50 km NE of Bryansk, 40% and 10%.
17.5.43: still under NAGr.15.
28.5.43: (Lfl.6) - Fw 189 hit by ground fire over Seresovka, 10%, Oblt. Karl Findeisen (observer) + 1 WIA.
6/43 - 10/43: the Staffel’s activities became consolidated with those of NAGr.15 from June 1943 on, and it is not possible to identify them separately. (see NAGr.15).
15.7.43: still under NAGr.15.
11/43: renamed Nahaufklärungsstaffel 11./11.
FpN: (L 28033)
Staffelkapitäne:
Hptm. Haufer ( ? - ? ) 9/39
Oblt. Jobst Ziebell ( ? - ? ) 7/41, 9/41
Hptm. Paul Schulte ( ? - 26 Sep 42) KIA
Hptm. Klaus Ringe ( ? - ? ) 5/43
Oblt. Günther Schultze-Quentell? (?? - Nov 43)
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2021
References
- ↑ W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; J.-P.Défieux - Répertoire des Unités Aériennes de la Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Reconnaissance Aéronavale (Nanterre, privately published, n.d. (c 1988-90?); G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der Deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945. Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945. 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); U.Balke - Der Luftkrieg in Europa: Die Operativen Einsätze des Kampfgeschwader 2 im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Teil I, p.399; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Luftwaffen-Personalamt L.P.(A)5(V) (OKL Chef für Ausz. und Disziplin) (“Claims Reports”);. NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-312 roll 296/603; roll 305/792); (T-313 roll 174/754 and 839; roll 187; roll 258/215); (T-501 roll 51); AFHRA Maxwell: Karlsruhe Collection decimal KC-K113.309-3/v.1.