2./NAGr. 2
2./NAGr. 2
(Unit Code J8+)
Formation. (March 1943 - June 1943)
Formed March 1943 at Jesau/East Prussia (ex-5.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 12) and equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs outfitted for the reconnaissance role. By 1 May, the Staffel had received 15 Bf 109 G-4s and 2 Bf 109 E-7s.[1]
Balkans. (July 1943 - November 1943)
July 1943: transferred to Greece with Stab/NAGr. 2 and initially assigned to fly reconnaissance in support of anti-partisan operations. Its stations for July and August, but it is believed to have mainly used Araxos and Argos on the Peloponnesus Peninsula.
12 September 1943: 6 of the Staffel’s Bf 109s ordered to South Italy as reinforcements following Allied landings on the Italian toe (3 September) and at Salerno (9 September), according to a POW judged reliable.
15 September 1943: Bf 109 G-4 damaged landing at Araxos airfield/Greece, 80%.
24 September 1943: Bf 109 G-4 failed to return from a sortie over Corfu, 100%, pilot MIA.
4 October 1943: Bf 109 G-4 destroyed during a raid on Argos airfield/Greece by Allied aircraft, 100%.
4 October 1943: main element based at Argos/Peloponnesus.
9 October 1943: Bf 109 G-4 destroyed in bombing of Larrisa airfield/east-central Greece by U.S. B-17s, 100%.
October 1943: all 6 of the Bf 109 contingent in Italy returned to the Balkans without loss,
taking up station at Podgorica/Montenegro until around mid-November when it moved to Mostar/Croatia.
21 October 1943: Bf 109 G-4 damaged in runway accident at Argos, 15%.
2 November 1943: Bf 109 G-6 crashed west of Megara airfield near Athens, 100%, Staka Hptm. Scheibel killed.
20 November 1943: main element said now to be at Athens-Kalamaki.
26 November 1943: entire Staffel ordered from the Athens area and Mostar to Berdichev/western Ukraine for reassignment to NAGr. 6.
South Russia, Romania and South Poland. (December 1943 - January 1945)
December 1943 – March 1944: no details, but probably at Berdichev and Kalinovka in western Ukraine.
1 January 1944: had 3 Bf 109 G-4 and 6 Bf 109 G-6 on hand.
24 March 1944: Staffel now at Iasi/eastern Romania under NAGr. 2.
May 1944: transferred to Lvov area in south Poland with the rest of NAGr. 2. Its bases have not been determined but the rest of NAGr. 2 was at Lvov, Stryj and Strunybaby. The Staffel may have also operated from Lysiatycze/10 km north-east of Stryj.
1 June 1944: reported 1 Bf 109 G-4, 6 Bf 109 G-6 and 4 Bf 109 G-8 on strength.
26 June 1944: at Strunybaby/south-east Poland under NAGr. 2. Withdrew to Krakow in July using Krosno and possibly Jasionka/Rzeszow while en-route.
17 September 1944: Krakow.
1 December 1944: Staffel reported 3 Bf 109 G-6 and 10 Bf 109 G-10 on hand.
31 December 1944: detailed losses for 1944 are not available but totals do exist and can be used as a substitute. For all of 1944, the Staffel lost 9 Bf 109s to direct enemy action and a further 16 to non-combat causes. Most of the non-combat losses occurred between January and June when 14 of the 16 were written off.
11 January 1945: still at Krakow - personnel strength: 10 officers and 135 men. Krakow was taken by the Red Army on 19 January and the Luftwaffe units based there departed a day or two before.
Silesia and Czechoslovakia. (January 1945 - May 1945)
February 1945: under NAGr. 2, and presumably at Neisse/75 km south-south-east of Breslau.
1 March 1945: Bf 109 G-6 shot up by AA fire north-west of Gräditz (near Schweidnitz/53 km south-west of Breslau), 10%.
5 March 1945: Bf 109 G-8 shot down over Heidau über Niesse/south-west of Oppeln, 100%, pilot WIA.
13 March 1945: Bf 109 G-10 destroyed in enemy bombing of Niesse-Möckendorf airfield, 100%, Oblt. Karl Schuh WIA.
19 March 1945: Bf 109 G-8 shot down by AA-fire in Pl.Qu.71648, 100%, pilot KIA.
22 March 1945: Bf 109 G-14 crashed on take-off from Glatz-Konturhof/83 km south-south-west of Breslau, 100%, pilot injured.
23 March 1945: 2./NAGr. 2 reported its 2,500th operational sortie flown this date and had, to this point in time, claimed a total of 27 aerial victories.
24 March 1945: Bf 109 G-6 crashed at Friedrichsgrund, 100%, pilot killed (Fahnrich Orlando Chittaro – perhaps an Italian volunteer?).
24 March 1945: Bf 109 G-10 shot down by an enemy plane north-west of Rennersfeld/south-west of Oppeln, 100%, pilot safe.
29 March 1945: still at Glatz under NAGr. 2.
3 May 1945: at Olmütz-West (Olomouc) in western Czechoslovakia under NAGr. 4.
FpN:2./NAGr. 2 (L 42239).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Horst Scheibel (20 March 1943 - 2 November 1943) KIA
Hptm. Siegfried Steinberger (c.3 November 1943 - ? ) 2/44
Hptm. Horst Jehser ( ? - 8 May 1945) 3/45
© 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-501 roll 218/1276, roll 222/954); (Microcopy T-311 roll 179/688); (Microcopy T-321 roll 50/876); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation ADI(K) 564/44; 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 4 II/32 KTB Gen.d.Aufkl.Fl.; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; M.Rauchensteiner - Der Krieg in Österreich, 1945. (Wien, 1984), p.360; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.