1. (Go) Lw.-Kdo. Don
1 (Go) /Luftwaffenkommando Don
Code: ?
FpN:
L 49 505 (*Aug 1942 by renaming 10. DFS 230-Staffel. 11 Mar 1944 renamed 4./Schleppgruppe 2).
History
Formed April 1942 at Hildesheim as a DFS 230 glider Staffel, it converted to the Go 242 glider at Poznan (Posen) in August 1942. In September, it was ordered to Konotop in N Ukraine for assignment to Luftwaffenkommando Don. Until the Russians opened their Stalingrad offensive in the second half of November, the Staffel hauled engines, parts and supplies to forward fighter and Stuka units along the Don Front. Another account of the September to January period claims that it had brought 15 Go 242s with it by train from Posen, but no operations were flown because no tow aircraft were available.
On 20 January, it was alerted for operations, assigned one He 111 tow aircraft from Lufttransportgruppe Don, and began moving an operations detachment forward to Kharkov-Voichenko with 4 Go 242 gliders while the rest of the Staffel remained at Konotop. In January and February 1943, it carried out life-saving air supply flights to troops cut off by the offensive in the sector between Voronezh and Stalingrad. An example of this is from 26 January to 11 February, the Staffel flew 17 Go 242 missions to German troops cut off in the Voronezh – Stary Oskol sector, each glider loaded with approximately 3.5 tons of fuel, ammunition, medical supplies and rations. The gliders were abandoned after landing and unloading, and the crews were left to make their way back to German lines as best they could.
Transferred to Zhitomir on 19 February, the Staffel continued its cargo hauling operations, but now directly under Luftflotte 4. In May, it was ordered to Zaporozhye, where it was incorporated into Verbindungskommando (S) 4 as its 3.(Go) Staffel. [1]
Commanding Officers
Oblt. Friedrich Braune (4/42 - 8/42)
Oblt. Wilhelm Kalthoff (8/42 - 12/42)
Lt. Kortum (12/42 - 5/43)
Hptm. Erich Bromund (5/43 - )
Stations
Hildesheim/SE Hannover (4/42 - 8/42)
Poznan (Posen)/NW Poland (8/42 - 9/42)
Konotop/N Ukraine (9/42 - 2/43)
Zhitomir/W Ukraine (2/43 - 5/43)
Zaporozhye/E Ukraine (5/43 - 5/43)
Equipment and Returns
(none found)
Representative Losses 1.(DFS)/Lw.-Kdo. Don
28.1.43: 4 x Go 242 gliders destroyed while on supply flights near Budarki (or Dudarki).
6-7.2.43: 4 x Go 242 gliders intentionally destroyed to prevent capture at Kunye and Yasterebovka/98 km ESE of Kursk.
10-11.2.43: 2 x Go 242 gliders intentionally destroyed to prevent capture at Andrayevka (Andriivka?) and Verbovka/140 km E of Gomel.
17.2.43: He 111 H-16 crash landed at Poltava airfield, 60%.
Markings
?
Distinctions and Remarks
?
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2023).
(1st Draft 2023)
References
- ↑ BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18; British National Archives ULTRA signals; KTemplate:Anchor annapin, Norbert: Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945, 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); Schlaug, Georg: Die deutschen Lastensegler-Verbände 1937-1945: Eine Chronik aus Berichten, Tagebüchern, Dokumenten. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, 1985. ISBN: 3-613-01065-8. Hb. Dj. 296p. Illus. Maps. Appendices. Glossary of abbreviations. Bibliography.
Return to Transportverbände