1./NAGr. 4
1./NAGr. 4
(Unit Code L8+)
Formation. (March 1943)
Formed March 1943 at Jesau/East Prussia using personnel from 6.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 and 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41 as cadre. Equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109G single-seat fighters outfitted for reconnaissance missions.[1]
Central Russia and Poland. (April 1943 - April 1945)
April 1943: in transfer from Jesau to the Vitebsk-Smolensk area with 13 Bf 109 G-4/U3.
11 June 1943: Bf 109 F-2 shot up by AA fire and belly landed at Trosna landing ground/49 km north-west of Bryansk, 20%.
15 June 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot up by a fighter over Fatezh between Orel and Kursk, 20%. 4 July 1943: Bf 109 G-4 crashed on take-off from Pankovo airstrip/20 km south of Orel, 60%, pilot injured.
5 July 1943: Bf 109 F-2 crashed on take-off from Pankovo, 90%, pilot injured. This was the start date for Operation “Zitadelle”, the German offensive against the Kursk salient.
9 July 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot down by AA fire north of Kursk, 100%, pilot KIA.
18 July 1943: Bf 109 F-2 damaged at Pankovo, 20%.
23 July 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot down south-east of Orel, 100%, pilot safe.
24 July 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot down south-east of Orel, 100%, pilot safe. Staffel probably now based at Ore1-West since Pankovo evacuated a few days before in the face of Soviet counterattacks toward Orel.
6 August 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot down by a fighter south-west of Orel, 100%, pilot MIA. 7 August 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot down by a fighter in the Kromy area/35 km south-west of Orel, 100%, pilot MIA.
12 August 1943: Bf 109 G-4 shot up by AA fire and crash landed at Rechitsa airstrip/40 km west-south-west of Gomel, 60%.
2 September 1943: Bf 109 G-4 damaged taxiing at Borshchevo airstrip near Konotop, 60%.
September – October 1943: the Staffe1’s loss entries for these two months were apparently reported under Stab/NAGr. 4 (see there).
12 November 1943: Bf 109 G-6 shot up by AA fire and belly landed south of Rechitsa airstrip, 25%.
5 December 1943: Bf 109 G-6 failed to return from a mission over the Zhlobin area/south
of Mogilev, 100%, pilot WIA.
11 December 1943: 2 Bf 109 G-6s collided while taxiing at Bobruisk airfield, 50% and 10%.
December 1943: Staffel at Bobruisk under NAGr. 15.
1 January 1944: 1./NAGr. 4 reported 12 Bf 109 G-4, G-6 and G-8 on strength.
2 March 1944: Bobruisk, but now under NAGr. 10.
April 1944: still under NAGr. 10, and probably still at Bobruisk. Believed to have departed Bobruisk 24-25 June, a few days after the Russians began their Belorussian summer offensive which quickly rolled forward along the front. Bobruisk was strongly defended and not retaken by the Russians until 29 June.
1 June 1944: reported 10 Bf 109 G-4, G-6 and G-8 on hand.
28 June 1944: now at Baranowicze/east Poland under NAGr. 15/1. Fliegerdivision. Unconfirmed sources state that it transferred from Baranowicze to Kobryn/east Poland on 5 July, then to Krzewica/south-west of Warsaw on 17 July, to Bielany airstrip/central Poland 24 July and then to Bielice airfield/50 km west of Warsaw in August.
7 August 1944: Warsaw area under NAGr. 8/1. Fliegerdivision.
August 1944 – January 1945: at Bielice airfield under NAGr. 8; on 29 November the Staffe1 reported 12(7) Bf 109Gs on strength.
31 December 1944: had 14 Bf 109 G-6 and G-8 on strength. In summarizing its losses from 1 January 1944 to the end of the year, 1./NAGr. 4 reported 17 Bf 109s lost to direct enemy action, 17 of these between April and September, and 31 Bf 109s to other causes.
January 1945: said to have moved to Praust airfield/14 km south of Danzig, but confirmation is lacking.
18 February 1945: Bf 109 G-6 shot down by AA fire - location not reported, 100%, pilot KIA.
23 February 1945: Bf 109 G-14 shot down by enemy planes in the Neuenburg area, 100%, pilot MIA.
1 March 1945: Staffel at Praust under NAGr. 4.
13 March 1945: Bf 109 G-6 shot down by ground fire near Dievenow/Pomerania 58 km west-south-west of Kolberg, 100%, pilot MIA.
26 March 1945: Staffel now at Danzig-Langfuhr under NAGr. 4.
No further mention of the Staffe1 found in the surviving documents and believed to have been dissolved during April.
FpN:1./NAGr. 4 (L 38116).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Herbert Findeisen (30 May 1943 - 15 July 1943)
Hptm. Günter Proll (c.15 July 1943 - ? ) 1943-44
Oblt. (Ernst?) Renz ( ? - 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-311 roll 228/491), (Microcopy T-312 roll 1319/1080); PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence documents; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; BA-MA Freiburg: Genst.d.Lw. document Ia Nr. 280/45; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.