1./NAGr. 12
1./NAGr. 12
(Unit Code Y9+)
Formation. (April 1943)
Ordered formed on or about 1 April 1943, probably at either Jesau/East Prussia or Herzogenaurach/Bavaria, using surviving personnel from 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 10 and perhaps a few others from 6.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41. Both Staffeln had suffered heavy losses around Stalingrad during the winter 1942-43. Equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109 single-seat reconnaissance types, but the Staffel took an unusually long time to form up and begin receiving aircraft. Only 3 machines were issued to it in June, 3 more during July and 1 in August. It was not until September until its basic allowance was received in the form of 10 Bf 109 G-6/U3 and 3 Bf 109 G-8s. The Staffel then turned in an E-7 and a G-4 that it had been using for training purposes.[1]
Germany and Albania. (April 1943 - September 1944)
13 August 1943: at Herzogenaurach/18 km north-north-west of Nürnberg.
19 August 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot down in air battle over Hohenfeld/near Kitzingen,
90%, pilot KIA.
20 August 1943: Bf 109 G-6 force landed at Herzogenaurach due to engine trouble, 15%.
7 September 1943: Bf 109 G-4 crashed at Brossbuch, 100%, pilot killed.
25 September 1943: ordered to transfer from Herzogenaurach to Albania this date.
October 1943: arrived Tirana/Albania in early October and a few days later commenced high-altitude reconnaissance of the Italian east coast from the main line of resistance south to the heel of Italy, flying two 2-plane missions a day under the tactical control of Fliegerführer Albanien.
13 October 1943: Oblt. Günther Troebs (Tröbs) WIA during Allied bombing raid on Tirana.
13 October 1943: 2 Bf 109 G-6s missing in the Podgorica/Montenegro area - no details, 100%, both pilots KIA, including Lt. Harald Arneth Podgorica and Hptm. Fritz-Otto Leuze, the latter believed to have been shot down by Allied fighters.
23 October 1943: 2 Bf 109 G-6s failed to return from a reconnaissance mission in the Cape Gargano area on the Italian coast north-east of Foggia, 100%, Staka Hptm. Otto Leuze + 1 both MIA.
31 October 1943: by the end of its first month of operations, the Staffel had lost 5 machines in action and 3 more to crashes and accidents.
1 November 1943: Staffel transferred to Berat-Devoli airfield/Albania around the end of October or beginning of November.
5 November 1943: pilot WIA during Allied bombing raid on Devoli.
26 November 1943: Bf 109 G-6 force landed south-east of Valona/Albania, 100%, pilot MIA and believed killed by partisans.
2 December 1943: Bf 109 G-6 shot down by a fighter west of Fieri/Albania, 100%, Oblt. Hans·Marquardt severely WIA with bullets in his left foot.
7 December 1943: Bf 109 G-8 damaged landing at Berat-Devoli, 20%.
15 December 1943: Bf 109 G-6 damaged 30% and Bf 109 G-8 damaged 30% during Allied bombing raid on Mostar airfield near the south-west coast of Croatia.
18(19?) December 1943: Bf 109 G-6 believe shot down by AA-fire over Taranto harbor, 100%, Staffelführer Hptm. Siegfried Gambal MIA.
January 1944: 4 more aircraft were lost in action during January, but losses of this magnitude did not occur again until September when another 4 were written off to enemy effect.
3 Jan 44: Bf 109 G-6 believed shot down by a fighter over Brindisi, 100%, pilot MIA.
28 January 44: Lt.Otto Silwester in Bf 109 G-6 KIA when shot down by a Spitfire E Bari and
Uffz. Wolfgang Ostwald in Bf.109 G-6 KIA by a Spitfire, E of Bari.
1 April 1944: at Devoli with 1 Bf 109 G-4/U3, 2 Bf 109 G-6/R3, 5 Bf 109 G-6/U3 and 2 Bf 109 G-8s.
2 April 1944: Bf 109 G-6 shot down in the vicinity of Devoli airfield, Maj.Werner Fleischmann WIA but later died of his wounds.
3 April 1944: 1./NAGr. 12 filed a claim for a Fiat Br 20 twin-engine bomber shot down north-east of Podgorica/Montenegro at 1115 hours. The plane belonged to the Italian
Air Force element that operated under the Allied Balkan Air Force from South Italy.
27 Apr 44: Staka Hptm. Schultze-Quentell shot down by Spitfires over Albania 20 km SE of Scutari while piloting a Fi 156 C-3 trop.
5 May 44: Bf 109G failed to return from a mission to the Bari area, Oblt. Rudolf Scholl MIA; a Fi 156 was dispatched to search for him.
11 May 1944: a Bf 109G piloted by Oblt. Heinrich Milke attacked by Spitfires and shot down into the sea by a Spitfire 24 km north of Bari while flying a routine reconnaissance mission along the Italian east coast and the pilot taken prisoner. At the same time, a Bf 109 G-8 was lost to a Spitfire in the same location and the pilot was KIA.
23 June 1944: Bf.109 G-6 shot down by a Spitfire NW of Vlore/Albania, pilot KIA.
2 July 1944: Staffel reported 7(3) Bf 109Gs on strength.
20 August 1944: Bf.109nG-6 failed to return from the Mostar area, pilot reported MIA
22 September 1944: transferred from Berat-Devoli to Mostar/Croatia.
Croatia. (September 1944 - May 1945)
10 October 1944: reported 7(5) Bf 109Gs on strength.
October 1944: transferred from Mostar to Sarajevo-Butmir with Stab/NAGr. 12.
1 December 1944: reported 9(6) Bf 109Gs on strength.
8 December 1944: Staffel ordered to transfer to Zagreb-Lucko this date by Fliegerführer Kroatien, leaving only a rear detachment behind at Sarajevo-Butmir.
31 December 1944: at Zagreb-Lucko.
February 1945: the detachment at Sarajevo-Butmir transferred to Zagreb-Bonongaj.
19 February 1945: Bf 109 G-8 shot up by AA-fire near Novska, 10%.
20 February 1945: Bf 109 G-8 crashed on landing at Zagreb-Pleso, 40%, pilot killed.
23 February 1945: Bf 108 Taifun mistakenly shot down by Axis Flak north-west of Zagreb, 100%, pilot killed.
25 February 1945: Bf 109 G-6(G-10?) accidently shot down by Axis Flak near Rijeka, 100%,
pilot killed.
12 March 1945: Bf.109 G-8 crashed in the vicinity of Zagreb, pilot killed.
15 March 1945: Bf 109 G-8 crashed on take-off from Zagreb-Lucko, 50%, pilot safe. April 1945: transferred from Zagreb-Borongaj to Zagreb-Lucko.
3 May 1945: at Zagreb-Lucko.
8 May 1945: after moving to Ziri, a small landing ground west of Ljubljana, a few days before, the Staffel flew its last missions which by the end of the war totaled to more than 2,000 operational sorties. On conclusion of the last sorties on 8 May, the entire Staffel took off and flew to their homes in Germany.
FpN:1./NAGr. 12 (L 11116).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Otto Leuze (May 1943 - 23 October 1943) MIA
Hptm. Siegfried Gambal, Stafü (c.23 October 1943 - 19 December 1943) MIA
Hptm. Ernst von Weyrauch (acting?) (c.19 December 1943 - 6 January 1944)
Hptm. Günther Schultze-Quentell (March 1944 - 27 April 1944) KIA
Hptm. Gerhard Wernicke, Stafü ( ? - ? ) 5/44
Oblt. Walter Schorpp ( ? - 8 May 1945) 5/44
Hptm. Peter-Eberhard Mühlensiefen (acting?) ( ? - ? ) 10/44
© 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); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation ADI(K) 235D/44; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18, several of these; PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA (HP885, HP8998, BT894 plus several others), “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; BNA HW 5/402, 5/418; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; BA-MA Freiburg: Luftwaffen-Personalamt L.P.(A)5(V) (OKL Chef für Ausz. und Disziplin), “O.K.L. Fighter Claims”; M.Rauchensteiner - Der Krieg in Österreich, 1945. (Wien, 1984), pp.355-63; Jet & Prop magazine, Heft (issue) 1/1991 and Heft 3/1995 (p.18); M.Holm-website ww2.dk.