1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 906
1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 906
Formation. (Oct 39)
Formed 25 October 1939 at Nest on the Baltic coast of Pomerania by renaming 1.(M)/Kü.Fl.Gr. 706. Equipped with He 60 and He 114 floatplanes.[1]
North Germany and Denmark. (Oct 39 - Oct 40)
1 Nov 39: transferred from Nest to Pillau in East Prussia to fly patrols along the Baltic coast; still based there on 30 November with at least 8 He 60s.
Dec 39: ordered to Bug auf Rügen to convert to the twin-engine He 115.
10 Jan 40: transferred from Bug auf Rügen to Kiel-Holtenau.
9 Apr 40: Kiel-Holtenau for the occupation of Denmark and Norway (Operation “Weserübung”).
12 Apr 40: He 115B (8L+GH) crashed into the Baltic while flying a reconnaissance patrol over the cruiser Lützow killing the crew.
17 Apr 40: elements temporarily based at Horten on Oslo Fjord.
22 Apr 40: Staffel ordered to Aalborg (Ålborg) in N Denmark.
10 May 40: Aalborg with 9 x He 115B operating under Stab/Kü.Fl.Gr. 906.
4 Jun 40: elements operating from Copenhagen.
13 Jun 40: He 115 destroyed in a crash landing at Amsterdam, 100%.
Jul 40: Staffel began shifting He 115s from Aalborg to Brest-South (a.k.a. Brest-Poulmic) in Brittany/France and Hourtin/55 km NW of Bordeaux to begin flying intermediate range reconnaissance missions over the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic. However, its home station remained at Aalborg so this did not yet constitute a transfer of the entire Staffel.
17 Aug 40: Staffel officially listed at Aalborg-See with He 115s under Fliegerführer Ost (Stab/Kü.Fl.Gr. 906).
3 Sep 40: 1./906 ordered to move to Norderney in the East Frisian Islands to fly reconnaissance east of the English Channel under Stab/Kü.Fl.Gr. 406.
17 Sep 40: He 115 (8L+GH) failed to return from a mine-laying sortie off the east coast of England, 100%, Hptm. Heinrich Kothe + 2 MIA.
6 Oct 40: entire Staffel now transferred from Norderney to Brest-South and Hourtin from where it operated under Stab/Kü.Fl.Gr. 406 which had made the move with it.
West France. (Oct 40 - Jan 42)
12 Oct 40: Junkers W 34 hack belonging to the Staffel force landed between Dinan and Brest, 100%.
23 Nov 40: 4 He 115s that had remained behind, probably due to extended maintenance or additional training for the crews, transferred from Aalborg to Stavanger-Sola See and then moved north to Trondheim on 29 November.
Dec 40: it has been persistently reported in the postwar literature that the Staffel took delivery of some Ju 88s during the winter 1940/41, but absolutely no evidence can be found to support this contention. They are not listed in any of the Staffel’s strength returns nor do they appear in any of its loss reports.
23 Jan 41: He 115 flew into the ground near Brest, 100%.
14 Apr 41: He 115 (BL+CH) shot up by AA fire while on a reconnaissance flight off the south coast of Ireland and forced to ditch in the sea. After taking the crew prisoner, the British were able to tow the aircraft into port.
4 Jan 42: Staffel ordered to transfer from Brest and Hourtin to Stavanger-Sola See with its He 115 LTs for reassignment to Fliegerführer Nord/Luftflotte 5.
Norway and Germany. (Jan 42 - Aug 43)
10 Feb 42: 3 He 115s crash landed at Brest-South due to bad weather, all 100%, 1 KIA and 8 WIA.
1 Mar 42: Staffel reported 7 x He 115 on strength.
May 42: transferred from Stavanger-Sola to Billefjord in northern Norway to stand by for operations again the Allied Murmansk convoys.
28 May 42: He 115 crashed and burned while taking off from Billefjord, 100%, Hptm. Walter Staak + 2 KIA.
2 Jul 42: in the first of two torpedo attacks on Convoy PQ 17, the Staffel dispatched 7 He 115s from Billefjord but no hits were scored. This was followed by the second attack on 4 July and one vessel was claimed as hit and disabled.
18 Aug 42: 1./906 reported 4 He 115s at Billefjord and 3 at Stavanger-Sola.
1 Sep 42: Staffel reported 10 x He 115 LT on strength.
13 Sep 42: He 115 (8L+FH) reported missing while attacking a convoy to the west of Spitzbergen and believed shot down by naval AA fire, 100%, 3 MIA.
14 Sep 42: He 115 (8L+BH) failed to return from an attack on the same convoy, 100%, Oblt. Heinz Prüfner + 2 MIA. A second He 115 was forced to ditch in the sea, but the crew was rescued. A third He 115 made a force landing in Lakselv-Fjord near Billefjord, 100%, crew rescued.
22 Oct 42: in what can only be described as a questionable entry in the Staffel’s loss reports, He 115 LT (8L+IH) was reported missing during an attack on Soviet gunboats on Lake Onega, 100%, Oblt. Kurt Helf + 3 MIA. As it turns out, this was a “cover” entry. The aircraft had been dispatched to Santahamina/6.5 km SE of Helsinki in Finland with orders to fly to Lake Jungozero in the Lake Onega area to rescue 13 Estonian volunteer agents on an Abwehr operation behind Russian lines. But by the time the Heinkel arrived, the agents had all been captured by the NKVD and the plane’s crew were all killed when it landed.
23 Nov 42: ordered to transfer to Tromsø, but this appears not to have been carried out or only a Kette of 3 planes made the move. The Staffel continued to be identified mainly at Billefjord with He 115 LTs until Jan 43 under Fliegerführer Lofoten/Luftflotte 5, with occasional operations staged from or through Banak and Bodo (Bodø).
15 Dec 42: He 115 damaged by a storm at Trondheim, 70%.
1 Jan 43: Staffel reported 7 x He 115 LT on strength.
22 Jan 43: elements reported at Stavanger-Sola See with He 115 LTs (possibly just passing through?).
1 Feb 43: He 115B damaged by a storm at Trondheim-Hommelvik, 70%.
Feb 43: from this date forward it becomes increasingly difficult to track the location and activity of 1./906. It appears that it began a slow withdrawal from Billefjord to undergo conversion to the He 111 in Germany, but exactly where this took place has not come to light. In any event, one or more of its aircraft were still reported at Billefjord as late as April or early May 1943.
20 Feb 43: He 115 ditched in the sea in bad weather near Svaerholt, a tiny fishing village at the tip of a peninsula in far northern Norway, 100%, crew safe.
25 Mar 43: He 115 damaged in a storm at Billefjord, 35%.
10 Sep 43: conversion completed in Germany, but evidently to the Ju 88 instead of the He 111 as originally intended, and renamed 8./KG 26.
FpNs:(L 20804, L 35998)
Staffelkapitän:
Maj. Hermann? Kaiser (25 Oct 39 - c. Jul 40)
Hptm. Otto-Friedrich Werner (c. Jul 40 - c. Jun 42)
Hptm. Eberhard Peukert (c. Jun 42 - 9 Sep 43)
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2024
References
- ↑ Dierich-VdL; Tessin-Tes; N.Kannapin-FpÜ; J-P.Défieux-Répertoire des Unités Aériennes de la Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Reconnaissance Aéronavale; M.Holm-website ww2.dk; F.Kurowski-Seekrieg aus der Luft: Die deutsche Seeluftwaffe im Zweiten Weltkrieg:31, 32, 60, 122, 158, 167, 243, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298; C.Shores-Fledgling Eagles: The Complete Account of Air Operations During the ‘Phony War’ and Norwegian Campaign, 1940:260; U.Balke-KG 2/Bd. I:407, 413; W.Ramsey-The Blitz Then and Now/v.2:528; Rohwer/Hummelchen-Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945:147; W.Green-Warplanes:323; R.Schmidt-KG 26:251; G.Thomas and B.Ketley – KG 200: The Luftwaffe’s Most Secret Unit (Hikoki Pub. Ltd, 2003), p.83; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Flugzeug-Bereitstellungen (Aircraft Availability Status Reports – FzB) in: M.Holm-website (ww2.dk); PRO London: ADM 223/OIC-SI (Operational Intelligence Centre - Special Intelligence), a daily intelligence report based on ULTRA and other signals intelligence that began about January 1942, and AIR/40 AirMin intelligence documents; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart (“Aufmarsch die fliegende Verbände” order of battle map for 17 Aug 40); K.Maesel correspondence with H.L.deZeng; Jet & Prop magazine, Heft (issue) 2/92:18.
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