2./NAGr. 11
2./NAGr. 11
(Unit Code X9+)
Formation. (November 1943)
Formed o/a 15 November 1943 at an unknown airfield in North or North-Central Italy (possibly Littorio on the northern outskirts of Rome 7.3 km south of Marcigliana?) (ex-4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 12) with 13 Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 and 1 G-6/R3 single-seat fighters outfitted for reconnaissance missions.[1]
Italy. (November 1943 - April 1945)
23 December 1943: Staffel ordered to refit and re-equip and then deploy to Littorio (Urbe) airfield on the northern outskirts of Rome.
May 1944: departed the Rome area during the second half of May when the Allies broke through the German defense lines and the Anzio perimeter began advancing up the Italian boot toward Florence and Bologna. According to an unconfirmed account, the Staffel made its way north to Firenze (Florence) with stops at Trevi/40 km south-east of Perugia and Castiglione del Lago/95 km south-east of Florence for a few days each. It is said to have reached Florence on 16 June.
19 June 1944: 2 Bf 109s shot down by Spitfires north-east of Piombino/50 km north-west of Grosseto on Italy’s west coast, 100%, both pilots safe.
21 June 1944: Bf 109 G-6 shot down by fighters 10 km north of Pisa, 100%, pilot MIA.
30 June 1944: Staffel based at Florence.
20 July 1944: Bf 109 G-8 shot down over Castellarano/48 km west of Bologna - no details, 100%. pilot safe.
27 July 1944: 2 Bf 109Gs shot down by fighters in the Ancona area, 100%. both
pilots safe.
1 August 1944: now at Poggio Renatico/14 km south-west of Ferrara and may have moved there on 8 July.
21 August 1944: transferred from Poggio Renatico to Piacenza/93 km north-east of Genoa.
25 August 1944: Bf 109 shot down by Spitfires over La Spezia, a port and naval base 77 km south of Genoa, while outbound on a recce mission with another Bf 109, 100%.
28 August 1944: Bf 109 shot down by Spitfires east of La Spezia, 100%.
5 September 1944: 2 Bf 109s shot up and destroyed on the ground at Udine by RAF fighters. both 100%. Apparently an advance party from the Staffel had preceded the main body to Udine at the beginning of September.
25 September 1944: 2./NAGr. 11 transferred to Udine-Campoformido. Very limited operations after the move to Udine due to the general fuel shortage and poor weather, and the pace did not pick up again until March 1945.
18 November 1944: 2 Bf 109s destroyed and 3 more damaged during attack on Udine-Campoformido by Allied bombers.
31 December 1944: 2./NAGr. 11 had 15 Bf 109 G-5, -6 and -8s on hand. Staffel losses from formation in November 1943 to the end of 1944 amounted to 36 Bf 109s to enemy action and 13 more to other causes. These were extraordinarily high losses for a tactical reconnaissance Staffel over a 14 month period. The great preponderance of these occurred between February and August 1944.
14 March 1945: Staffel ordered disbanded this date by OKL.
4 April 1945: previous order changed, and Staffel now to be reassigned directly to Stab/Aufkl.Gr. 122.
8 April 1945: 2./NAGr. 11 reported 12 Bf 109s and 4 Fw 190s on strength this date, some of which were taken over from the disbanded Stab and 1./NAGr. 11.
22 April 1945: Udine-Campoformido with 8 Bf 109 G-10s on strength.
27 April 1945: destroyed its aircraft at Udine-Campoformido this date and many of the personnel withdrew north into Austria.
FpN:2./NAGr. 11 (L 20781).
Staffelkapitän:
Oblt. Karl-Otto Holzapfel (August 1944 - ? )
Hptm. Arno Kötzing ( ? - c.27 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.564; 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 signals BT9032, KO277; 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, 79, 98, 206; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.