2./NAGr. 13
2./NAGr. 13
(Unit Code: none known – used large single and double digit numbers on side of fuselage in Staffel colour)
Formation. (October 1942)
Formed on or about 1 October 1942, possibly at St-Brieuc in Brittany, by renaming, which was then in the process of converting from the Hs 126 to the Fw 189. This process was brought to a halt during October and the Staffel was completely outfitted with 14 Fw 190 A-4 single engine fighters modified for use as reconnaissance aircraft, these all being in the hands of the Staffel by 1 November. Like 1./NAGr. 13, it may have been at Jüterbog in Germany on 1 October and did not move to St-Brieuc until November or December. The whereabouts of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 after it left South Russia in June 1942 has not been determined so it cannot be said with certainty where it was on or about 1 October when it became 2./NAGr. 13.[1]
France. (November 1942 - August 1944)
15 November 1942: moved to Avignon-West in south France with Stab and 1./NAGr.13 as part of the German air and ground assets brought up in occupy Vichy France following the Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria on 8 November.
15 December 1942: ordered to (or to return to?) St-Brieuc on or about this date.
16 February 1943: claimed two B-17s in the Lannion area of Brittany during an 8th AAF raid on the port facilities at St-Nazaire by 59 bombers.
May – June 1943: based at Morlaix/Brittany. The date of transfer from St-Brieuc is not known.
8 July 1943: a Fi 156 light liaison aircraft belonging to the Staffel was caught by an Allied fighter and shot down near Rennes.
17 July 1943: Fw 190 A-4 crash landed at St-Brieuc, 35%.
August – September 1943: reconnaissance sorties over the English Channel were staged through the forward airfield on Guernsey/Channel Islands, where a number of Fw 190 A-3 and A-4 landing accidents were reported.
24 August 1943: Fw 190 A-3 mistakenly shot down by German Flak near Guernsey, 100%, pilot killed.
15 October 1943: 2 Fw 190s were shot down over the Channel by RAF Typhoons approximately 64 km south-south-east of Start Point in south-west England and both pilots, Oblt. Vollmar Klein and Oblt. Herbert Sell, lost.
1 December 1943: Staffel reported 5 Fw 190 A-3/U4 and 2 Fw 190 A-4s on strength.
January – May 1944: continued reconnaissance over the Channel during the first part of the year, and then-in the spring transferred to Cuers/20 km north-north-east of Toulon in South France where it was located on 31 May. Flew tactical reconnaissance over Corsica, along the coast of South France, and over the interior in search of movement and hideouts of the French Resistance.
1 June 1944: at Cuers with 5 Fw 190 A-3, 4 Fw 190 A-4 and 3 Bf 109 G-6s on strength.
26 June 1944: reported 10 Bf 109 G-8s and Fw 190 A-3s on hand at Cuers under 2. Fliegerdivision.
18 August 1944: withdrew to Landsberg/Lech in South Germany to refit following the Allied invasion of South France on 15 August and then is believed to have moved to Freiburg to 30 September before transferring to Donaueschingen/50 km east of Freiburg in south-west Germany.
22 August 1944: Staffel apparently ordered to Caselle airfield in north-west Italy to rest and refit, and then reinforce elements of NAGr. 11 in the event the Allies in South France try to enter Italy through the “back door”. The order is believed to have been canceled before it could be carried out.
Germany. (September 1944 - May 1945)
31 October 1944: claimed an Auster or Piper single-engine artillery spotter c.50 km south-east of Nancy.
December 1944: at Donaueschingen flying Bf 109 recce sorties in the Mulhouse-Belfort-Strasbourg area under Stab/NAGr. 13.
31 December 1944: ended the year with 4 Bf 109 G-6 and 8 Bf 109 G-8s on hand. Between 1 June and the end of December 1944 the Staffel lost just 3 Fw 190s and 5 Bf 109s to enemy action.
13 February 1945: a Bf 109 G-6 crashed and burned north-west of Lörrach/8.5 km north-east of Basel and two weeks later, on 27 February, 2 Bf 109 G-6s were shot down by Allied aircraft in the vicinity of Donaueschingen.
9 April 1945: Donaueschingen with 13(12) Bf 109s on strength.
c.15 April 1945: withdrew from Donaueschingen as Allied forces advanced across south-west Germany in mid-April, moving to Niederbiegen (22 km north of Friedrichshafen) by 21 April.
25 April 1945: ordered disbanded by Luftwaffenkdo. West.
3 May 1945: at Bad Reichenhall under Stab/NAGr. 13, this being the Staffel’s last known station prior to surrender on 8 May.
FpN:1./NAGr. 13 (L 19257).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Hermann Harbig ( ? - April 1944)
Hptm. Wilhelm Messner (July 1944 - 8 May 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); PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA, “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; 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) “Ob.d.L./OKL Fighter Claims”; N.Beale et al - Air War Italy, 1944-45: The Axis Air Forces from the Liberation of Rome to the Surrender (Shrewsbury (Shropshire), 1996), p.79; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.