2.(F)/Ob.d.L.
2.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. Ob.d.L.
(Unit Code T5 + )
Formation. (1939)
Formed 10 October 1939, probably at Prenzlau/Brandenburg (ex-2.(F)/Aufkl.Gr.121), and equipped with Dornier 17Fs and Ps, these being replaced with Dornier Do 215s during late 1939 and the beginning of 1940.[1]
Attack on France and the Low Countries and the Air Offensive Against England
Information concerning the Staffel’s activities prior to May 1940 has not come to light, but it was probably busy converting to the Do 215 and training. One source states that it transferred to Fritzlar on 10 February 1940, while another source claims it moved to Berlin-Staaken in February 1940. Based at Berlin-Staaken on 10 May 1940, the start date for the attack in the West, with 12 Do 215Bs and 1 Do 17R. Took part in the campaign, losing a Do 215B on 10 May after it failed to return from a reconnaissance mission. Moved forward to Charleville-Mézières by 25 May and then to Paris-Orly by late June after the armistice had been signed. Reported 8 Do 215s and 1 Heinkel He 111P on strength on 13 August. Flew strategic reconnaissance during and after the Battle of Britain, staging many of the approximately 10 flights a week from Caen, and sent a detachment to Insterburg/East Prussia around November 1940 for photo reconnaissance missions over the Baltic States and North Russia. The main effort was again from Paris-Orly beginning in early March 1941, losing a Do 215B over the British Isles on 15 April and Ju 88A (VB+KM) on 28 May, the latter being shot down by a RAF Hurricane over Scotland while on a photo recce sortie to Glasgow. By this date, the Staffel had partially re-equipped with Junkers Ju 88s.
North Russia
Transferred to Norkitten, near Insterburg/East Prussia (other sources give Moritzfelde/East Prussia), in June 1941 for assignment to Luftflotte 1 for the attack on the Soviet Union. In a strength return for 21 June, the day before the attack, the Staffel reported 8 Ju 88s and 5 Do 215s on hand. Operating from Insterburg, lost a Ju 88 A-5 on 29 June for the first loss of the campaign. On 4 July, the crew of Oblt. Dietrich was cited in the Ob.d.L. daily report for shooting down 3 of 4 Russian fighters that attacked their aircraft while flying a photo recce mission over Leningrad. All three fighters were seen to crash into the water in the Bay of Kronstadt. Two days later, Ju 88 D-2 (VB+KM) failed to return from a sortie to Leningrad. Moved forward to Ostrov in early August and then to Rozhkopol’ye/ 29 km south of Pskov by 13 August. In addition to missions over the Leningrad area and to the east thereof, several aircraft were sent to Helsinki/Finland to keep watch over the canal connecting the White Sea with Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga. Returned to Germany at the end of September to rest and refit.
South Russia
Reassigned to Luftflotte 4 in mid-December 1941, with station at Nikolayev-East. On 8 January 1942, Ju 8 8D-1 (T5+FM) failed to return from a mission to Saratov on the Volga, and Ju 88 D-1 (T5+AM) was reported missing in the Stalingrad area on 22 February. On 1 March the Staffel reported 8 x Ju 88 D-1s on strength. In mid-March, the Staffel completed its 1,000th operational sortie since its formation. Two Ju 88 D-1s were lost on 26 March: (T5+HM) near Stalingrad and (T5+DM) in the vicinity of Rostov. Moved forward to Poltava on 13 May 1942 with 10 Ju 88D-5s to support the drive toward Stalingrad under Fernaufklärungsgruppe 4. It was over Stalingrad on 11 July that Do 215 (T5+NM) was reported missing, the only aircraft of this type lost by 2.(F)/Ob.d.L. in Russia. The mission priority was shifted to North Caucasia and the Caspian Sea area in the second half of July, with transfers to Mariupol-West on 19 July and then to Mineralnyye Vody in North Caucasia in late August or early September. On 14 August, Ju 88 D-5 (T5+FK) with Oblt. Martin Baumgartner and crew was lost in the Baku area, Ju 88 D-l (T5+DK) on 27 September in the vicinity of Baku followed by Ju 88 D-5 “Trop” (T5+LK) on 29 September. Transferred north from Caucasia shortly after the beginning of the Soviet winter offensive along the Don to the north and west of Stalingrad on 19 November, with station possibly at Rostov. On 1 December the Staffel reported 6 x Ju 88 D-1s and 3 Ju 88 D-5s on strength. Two Ju 88s were lost on operations in the Stalingrad area at the end of December, D-5 (T5+AK) on 27 December and D-l (T5+FK) on 30 December. Ordered to Mariupol-West on 22 January 1943 as Russian spearheads approached to Rostov area. In operations over South Russia from December 1941 to the end of November 1942, 2.(F)/Ob.d.L. claimed 28 enemy planes shot down by its gunners. Renamed Aufklärungsstaffel 2.(F)/100 on 27 January 1943.
FpNs:L 35469 and L 14354
Staffelkapitän:
Maj. Alfred Wenz (c.10 Oct 39 - ? )
Oblt. Kleine-Rüschkamp (acting?) ( ? - ? ) 5/40
Maj. Friedrich-Karl Prager (c.Aug 40 – 1941)
Hptm. Hans(?) Dietrich ( ? - ? ) 6/41
Hptm./Maj. Klaus Pritzel (Oct 42 - Jan 43)
Hptm. Hans-Dietrich Klette (?) (Jan 43 - 27 Jan 43)
Also see:
ALBRECHT, Dietrich, Lt.
BAUMGARTNER, Martin, Oblt.
BEGER, Willy, Lt.
BELZER, Peter, Lt.
BRUNNERS, Johannes, Lt.
BURGSCHAT, Albert, Oblt.
DIERKS, Hans, Lt.
ERTEL, Johann, Oblt.
FROSCHAUER, Walter, Oblt.
GORTAN-GREIFENSTEIN, Fritz Edler von, Lt.
GROSSE, Helmut, Lt.
HEID (HELD?), Ferdinand, Lt.
HEYDT, Hans, Oblt.
KAUN, Helmut, Oblt. (Kr.O.)
NEBEL, Wolfgang, Oblt.
NEELMEIER (NOELMEIER?), Karl Heinrich ("Karl-Heinz"), Lt.
PELZER, Peter, Lt. (Kr.O.)
REICHMANN, Hans, Lt.
SANDER, Wilhelm, Oblt.
SCHLUFTER, Artur, Oblt.
STEINHOFF, Walter, Lt.
THOMAS, Fritz, Lt.
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2022
References
- ↑ T.Rowehl-Chronik; G.Thomas and B.Ketley – KG 200: The Luftwaffe’s Most Secret Unit (Hikoki Pub. Ltd, 2003); F.K.Mason - Battle Over Britain; W.G.Ramsey (ed.) - The Blitz, Then And Now, 3 volumes; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); NARA WashDC: RG 242 (various rolls from T-312, T-313, T-321 and T-971); W.Horst (president of the Aufklärungsflieger veterans association in Germany) – personal correspondence with the author, 1994-96); web site ww2.dk.