1./NAGr. 11
1./NAGr. 11
(Unit Code X9+)
Formation. (November 1943)
Formed on or about 15 November 1943, probably at Marcigliana near Rome/Italy (ex-2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14), with 9 Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 and G-6/R3 single-seat fighters outfitted for reconnaissance missions.[1]
Italy. (November 1943 - April 1945)
28 November 1943: according to a prisoner, the Staffel was either based at or operating from Rome-Centocelle, not far from the airfield at Marcigliana. Unconfirmed postwar sources place it at Fabrica di Roma airfield/50 km north-north-west of Rome from November 1943 to early March 1944 and this has subsequently been confirmed in signals intelligence intercepts.
30 November 1943: Bf 109 G-6 shot up by AA fire over Bescala, 30%.
7 December 1943: Bf 109 G-6 shot up by a fighter over Ferrafino, 80%.
23 December 1943: ordered to transfer to Jesi/c.25 km west of Ancona to rest and re-equip.
31 December 1943: still in the Rome area and departure apparently delayed.
8 March 1944: the long-delayed transfer to Jesi may have taken place on this date, according to an unconfirmed postwar source.
1 May 1944: Staffel reported 3 Bf 109 G-6, 2 Bf 109 G-6/U3 and 2 Bf 109 G-8/U3 on strength at Jesi. To this date, 1./NAGr. 11 had suffered relatively heavy losses in action: 5 in November, 3 in January, 7 in February and 2 in April. Additionally, another 5 Bf 109s were lost to non-combat causes such as crashes and accidents.
20 June 1944: transferred from Jesi to Forli.
21 July 1944: 2 Bf 109 G-6s shot down by Spitfires near Ancona, 100%, both pilots MIA.
29 July 1944: Bf 109 G-6 shot down by a Spitfire into the sea off Rimini, 100%,
pilot MIA.
21 August 1944: ordered to move from Forli to Bologna.
3 September 1944: 2 Bf 109 G-8s shot down by Spitfires over the coast between Ravenna
and Rimini, 100%, both pilots WIA.
25 September 1944: transferred from Bologna to Udine/NE Italy - after this move recce operations fell off considerably due mainly to the general fuel shortage and poor weather conditions and did not pick up again until March 1945.
22 October 1944: Bf 109 G-8 failed to return from a recce sortie over Istria, 100%, pilot MIA.
18 November 1944: 2 Bf 109s destroyed and 3 more damaged during raid by Allied bombers on Udine-Campoformido airfield.
31 December 1944: Staffel losses from 1 May to the end of 1944 amounted to 12 Bf 109s to enemy action and 8 more to other causes.
1 January 1945: 1./NAGr. 11 had 1 Bf 109 G-6, 5 Bf 109 G-6/R2 and 7 Bf 109 G-8/R5 on hand.
21 February 1945: Bf 109 G-8 crashed in Istria due to engine failure during a recce
mission over the Adriatic, 100%, pilot safe.
23 February 1945: Bf 109 G-6 shot down by P-47s about 10 km north-west of Cittadella near Vicenza, 100%, pilot KIA.
14 March 1945: Staffel ordered disbanded this date by OKL.
5 April 1945: suffered considerable losses again during a follow-up raid by 15th AAF on Udine-Campoformido with 168 B-24s.
8 April 1945: 1./NAGr. 11 disbanded this date at Udine.
FpN:1./NAGr. 11 (L 13460).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Dr. Fritz Galland[2] (?) (c.15 November 1943 - ? ) 1/44
Oblt. Karl-Heinz Licht ( ? - 8 April 1945)
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ 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); NARA WashDC: RG 242 (Microcopy T-321 roll 53/003ff); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18, interrogation CSDIC AFHQ A.290; PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA, “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signal KO277; BNA HW 5/440; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 4 II/32 (KTB General der Aufklärungsflieger); N.Beale et al - Air War Italy, 1944-45: The Axis Air Forces from the Liberation of Rome to the Surrender (Shrewsbury (Shropshire), 1996), pp.31, 49, 78, 98, 190; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.
- ↑ Fritz Galland was the older brother of Gen. Adolf Galland, General der Jagdflieger.