1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 506 (2nd)

1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 506 (Second Formation)

Formation. (Oct 39)

Formed 25 October 1939 at List on the island of Sylt (ex-1.(M)/Kü.Fl.Gr. 406) with Heinkel He 115 twin-engine floatplanes.

North Sea and Occupation of Denmark and Norway. (Oct 39 - Sep 41)

Oct 39 – Mar 40: from List, flew routine reconnaissance patrols over the North Sea, virtually without incident except for crashes on 25 Nov and 28 Mar 1940, the latter killing the crew. Some of the missions were flown from Norderney (8-20 Nov) under the control of Stab./Kü.Fl.Gr. 106 during this period. All of part of the Staffel was also reported at Grossenbrode from 14 Dec to sometime in January 1940.

9 Apr 40: transferred from List to Trondheim/C Norway on the opening day of the attack on Denmark and Norway. On attempting to land at Trondheim, Staffelkapitän Hptm. Wiesand's He 115 crashed and he was killed.

25 Apr 40: 2 He 115s destroyed during a raid on Trondheim harbor by carrier aircraft from HMS Ark Royal, one by strafing and the other by bombs.

28 Apr 40: 2 more Heinkels destroyed during a follow-up attack by the Ark Royal’s planes. There is some confusion here, as the German loss reports only show a total of two losses, both on 28 April.

10 May 40: Staffel reported 8 He 115Cs on strength, all at Trondheim.

20 Jun 40: He 115D failed to return from an operational sortie near Trondheim, 3 MIA.

Jul 40 – Aug 40: transferred from Trondheim to Stavanger-Sola/SW Norway during the latter part of July or early August to take part in offensive operations in the waters off Scotland and northeast England in conjunction with the Battle of Britain.

15 Aug 40: He 115C crashed near Montrose/E Scotland due to the pilot probably being blinded by searchlights, 100%, 3 MIA.

26 Aug 40: 2 He 115Cs destroyed by bombs at their moorings in Tromsø harbor during an attack by British aircraft.

25 Sep 40: He 115 (S4+AH) crashed due to engine failure, 100%, Maj. Wilhelm Rentzsch and 2 others reported MIA. Maj. Rentzsch may have been the Staka.

2 Oct 40: He 115 (S4+BH) shot down by a RAF Hurricane south of Kinnaird's Head/NE Scotland, Oblt.z.S. Gottfried Lenz + 2 MIA.

6 Oct 40: 3 He 115s transferred to Norderney off the northwest coast of Germany and from then on the Staffel's operations were divided between there and Stavanger-Sola.

24 Oct 40: claimed a 5,000-ton freighter damaged during a He 115 torpedo attack in the North Sea.

26 Oct 40: He 115B (S4+AH) failed to return from operations over the North Sea, 3 MIA.

9 Nov 40: He 115 (S4+IH) FTR from operations off the English east coast, 3 MIA.

1 Dec 40: from Stavanger-Sola, flew cover for heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper as it passed along the Norwegian coast headed north for a raiding sortie in the North Atlantic.

31 Dec 40: entire Staffel assembled at Norderney and then flew to Brest in western France on 3 Jan 1941 where all of the Staffel's He 115s were turned over to 1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 106.

31 Jan 41: transferred from Brest to Kamp/Pomerania to begin conversion to the Junkers Ju 88.

20 Feb 41: moved from Kamp to Perleberg in Brandenburg for work-up with 11 assigned Ju 88s.

16 Apr 41: transferred from Perleberg to Westerland/Sylt and commenced torpedo attacks on convoys along the English east coast, flying a total of 160 operational sorties to the end of June.

28 Apr 41: 2 Ju 88s from Westerland attacked a convoy claiming a 5,000 ton freighter sunk and another of 3,000 tons damaged, but only a single 2,157 ton freighter (Marie Dawn) was damaged. A similar attack was flown the next day, but one of the Ju 88s failed to return from this mission.

30 Apr 41: Ju 88 A-1 (S4+JH) shot down by Spitfires or AA fire during a sortie over Whitley Bay off the Yorkshire coast, 4 KIA.

2 May 41: Ju 88 (S4+FH) FTR from a mission along the English east coast, Oblt. Werner Beck + 3 MIA.

26 May 41: Ju 88 A-4 crashed into the sea off the coast of Norfolk for causes unknown, 1 KIA, Oblt. Jakob Löhr, Oblt. Friedrich Pehl and another all MIA.

2 Jun 41: flew a torpedo attack on a convoy claiming a 10,000 ton freighter sunk and another damaged, but in reality the 2,477 ton Beaumanoir was sunk and a small trawler damaged.

13 Jun 41: Ju 88 FTR from operations over the North Sea, crew MIA.

14 Jul 41: Ju 88 A-1 (S4+HH) shot down by AA fire near Montrose/E Scotland, 4 KIA.

2 Aug 41: Ju 88 FTR from a sortie over the North Sea.

Eastern Baltic. (Sep 41 - Oct 41)

21 Sep 41: transferred from Westerland to Pärnu/Estonia to support operations against Saaremaa (Ösel) Is. off the Estonian coast, and then moved to Riga/Latvia during the first half of October. However, missions continued to be staged through Pärnu.

19 Oct 41: officially re-designated 1./Kampfgruppe 506.

FpNs:(L 20107, L 36735)

Staffelkapitän:

Hptm. Lienhart Wiesand (Oct 39 - 9 Apr 40) KIA

Oblt. Eberhardt Peukert, acting? (Apr 40 - ? ) 5/40

Maj. Wilhelm Rentzsch? ( ? - 25 Sep 40)

© H.L. deZeng IV, 2023

References

For references see Kü.Fl.Gr. 506

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