2./NAGr. 16
2./NAGr. 16
(Unit Code 8I+)?
(Unit Code 5H+)?
Formation. (October 1942)
Ordered formed on or about 1 October 1942, probably at Konotop in north-central Ukraine, from approximately half of the personnel assets of the former Aufklärungsstaffel XI. Fliegerkorps. By the end of October it had received 9 Fw 189As, 3 Hs 126s and 1 Bf 109.[1]
South Russia and Romania. (November 1942 - August 1944)
19 November – December 1942: ordered to the front area east of Rostov to reinforce the desperate struggle going on there following the commencement of the Soviet counteroffensive around Stalingrad on 19 November. It has not been possible to determine which Nahaufklärungsgruppen it was assigned to during the winter and spring of 1942-43, but NAGr. 1, NAGr. 12, NAGr. 14 and NAGr. Fleischmann are all contenders.
17 December 1942: Fw 189 (5H+KK) failed to return from a mission - no details,
100%, 3 MIA.
10 January 1943: Fw 189 shot down by a fighter in Pl.Qu.2876 (north-east of Rostov), 100%, 1 WIA.
10 February 1943: observer (navigator) WIA during air combat over Karpovo-Nikolayevka/32 km north-west of Rostov.
24 May 1943: Fw 189 shot up by a fighter in Pl.Qu.6055 (Lozovaya area about 120 km south of Kharkov), 60%, 1 WIA.
1 July 1943: reported 1 Fw 189 A-1, 7 Fw 189 A-2 and 2 Fw 189 A-3 on strength.
5 July 1943: participated in Operation “Zitadelle”, the German attack on the Kursk salient, operating from the Kharkov-Belgorod area, possibly assigned to NAGr. 6.
12 July 1943: Fw 189 A-5 (5H+XK), belonging to 2./NAGr. 16, failed to return
from a sortie over Pl.Qu.6162 (north-east of Kharkov), 100%, 3 MIA.
c.18 July 1943: withdrawn from the Kursk operation and transferred south to the Donets Basin where the Germans were trying to hang on to their defensive positions.
29 July 1943: possibly at Kramatorskaya/80 km north of Stalino under Stab/NAGr. 14.
18 September 1943: Pavlograd-Zaporozhye area under Stab/NAGr. 14 following the retreat from the Donets.
23 October 1943: now at Kirovograd in central Ukraine and assigned to NAGr. 1, according to ULTRA intercepts. Also used Apostolovo during October and November.
22.11.43: Fw 189 A-2 shot up by AA fire south-west of Novogeorgyevsk (Novo-Georgiyevskiy/58 km east of Dnepropetrovsk?), 50%.
December 1943 – February 1944: Staffel still under NAGr. 1 but not located - possibly on stand down for rest and refit and the personnel granted home leave as the situation allowed.
1 January 1944: reported 5 Fw 189 A-2 and 1 Fw 189 A-3 on strength. During January, it lost two Fw 189As in action and took delivery of 9 Fw 189 A-2s that were taken from other units (6 of them) or returned from repair. This tends to support the contention that the Staffel had been withdrawn from operations for rest and refit, although its location has not yet been determined.
February 1944: 2 more Fw 189s were reported lost in action.
12 March 1944: back in action and now at Golta/105 km south-east of Uman; departed about 20 March and possibly at Kotovsk/120 km east of Balti until 25 March.
25 March 1944 – June 1944: Kishinev/Bessarabia under Stab/NAGr. 1.
June 1944: the Staffel reported 3 Fw 189 A-2s lost to the enemy during the month, most likely during the first week of June when Armeegruppe Wöhler (AOK 8) was engaged in an offensive to eliminate a dangerous Russian bridgehead on the west bank of the River Prut to the north of Iaşi, which lies about 100 km west of Kishinev. The partially successful offensive ended on 6 June and this was followed by a lull along the front in that area.
11 July 1944: Kishinev, but now under Stab/NAGr. 14 since late June. The Staffel remained under Stab/NAGr. 14 to the end of the war (see there for more details regarding mission and activity).
19 August 1944: the long-expected Soviet offensive to take Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary commenced.
August 1944: withdrew from Romania to Hungary at the end of August after losing just two Fw 189A-2s in action during the month.
Hungary and Czechoslovakia. (September 1944 - May 1945)
September 1944: at Nowy Targ (Neumarkt)/69 km south of Krakow in South Poland with Stab/NAGr. 14 following the rapid retreat from Romania that began on 23 August when the Romanians switched sides. Left there about 10 September and used several airfields in eastern Hungary, including Görgenyoroszfalu/c.120 km east of Kolozsvár, until it moved to Felsösabrany/south-south-west of Miskolc on or about 27 September.
3 October 1944: at Felsösabrany in eastern Hungary under I. Fliegerkorps.
2 November 1944: Csakvar/46 km west-south-west of Budapest under Stab/NAGr. 14. No aircraft indicated on chart, so Staffel possibly re-equipping.
29 November 1944: Csakvar under Stab/NAGr. 14 with 16(15) aircraft (presumably Fw 189s).
30 January 1945: Fw 189 A-2 shot down by AA fire - no details, 90%.
February 1945: believed to have transferred to Györ (Raab)/110 km north-west of Budapest with Stab/NAGr. 14 around the beginning of February.
26 March 1945: at Györ (Raab) under Stab/NAGr. 14.
20 April 1945: at Budweis (České Budĕjovice)/120 km south of Prague under Stab/NAGr. 14/Luftwaffenkdo. 4.
3 May 1945: still at Budweis with one Kette detached at Graz-Thalerhof/south-east Austria under Stab/NAGr. 14/18. Fliegerdivision.
FpN:2./NAGr. 16 (L 51354).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Gerhard Leistner ( ? - 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); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection (Luftwaffe Gen.Qu. Einsatzbereitschaft tables); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18, interrogation CSDIC/CMF A.446; PRO (British National Archives) London: AIR 40/1975; PRO (British National Archives) 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; J.Rajlich et al - Luftwaffe Over Czech Territory 1945 (Hradec Králové: JaPo, 2001); M.Rauchensteiner - Der Krieg in Österreich, 1945. (Wien, 1984), pp.358; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.