2./NAGr. 6
2./NAGr. 6
(Unit Code F7+)
Formation. (September 1944))
Formed September 1944 at Herzogenaurach/Bavaria from elements of Nahaufkl.St. 3./21 and/or Nahaufkl.St. 12./12. Eventually equipped with Messerschmitt Me 262 jets outfitted for reconnaissance work.[1]
Germany. (September 1944 - May 1945)
September – December 1944: Herzogenaurach, but status unclear; most likely in delayed formation awaiting the assignment of pilots and enough of the new jet aircraft could be allocated to equip the Staffel.
10 January 1945: Herzogenaurach - Staffel had no aircraft or trained air crew personnel
assigned to it as of this date, according to a status report.
30 January 1945: absorbed or incorporated Sonderkommando Panther (Me 262 reconnaissance along the West Wall between Trier and Basel under 5. Jagddivision) this date and became operational. Other sources state that this was Sonderkdo. Braunegg rather than Panther, but Braunegg appears to have been re-designated Panther at the beginning of December 1944.
February 1945: while the infusion of “Panther” assets gave the Staffel immediate operational status, a number of other pilots belonging to 2./NAGr. 6 underwent Me 262 conversion training at Schwäbisch Hall and/or Lechfeld from mid-January to 27 February.
8 February 1945: 2./NAGr. 6 flew a few Me 262 reconnaissance sorties over Roermond/south-east Holland and the Westerschelde Estuary/south-west Holland this date, but the aircraft were still identifying themselves as being from Sonderkdo. Panther. As was often the case, the 30 January change in designation had apparently not yet filtered down to the pilots.
19 February 1945: Staffel removed from assignment under 16. Fliegerdivision on or about this date, under which it had been primarily operating along the Upper Rhine opposite Alsace.
21 February 1945: Me 262 A-1a/U3 crashed south-east of Landsberg while on a training flight.
2 March 1945: transferred to Münster-Handorf for operations under Stab/NAGr. 6.
27 March 1945: still at Münster-Handorf, but either departed this date or a few days later for Burg near Magdeburg; Münster was taken by advancing British forces on 3 April.
9 April 1945: Staffel reported 7(3) Me 262s on hand in a unit strength return filed for this date.
10 April 1945: lost 3 of its 7 Me 262s destroyed on the ground during a massive USAAF heavy bomber attack on Burg that effectively wiped out the airfield there for the rest of the war.
17 April 1945: listed as being now at Rechlin-Lärz/44 km south-west of Neubrandenburg in Mecklenburg - perhaps some desperate attempt was being made to re-equip the Staffel.
28 April 1945: Staffel still being carried as operational under Stab/NAGr. 6 with Me 262s in German documents of this date. No information has been found regarding the Staffel’s fate after this date. The Rechlin-Lärz area was overrun by the Red Army at the end of April.
FpN:none assigned.
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Herward Braunegg (February 1945 - April 1945)
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); M.Jurleit - Strahljäger Me 262 im Einsatz: Alle Geschwader, Gruppen und Kommandos (Berlin, 1993), p.161; M.Boehme - Jagdgeschwader 7: Die Chronik eines Me 262-Geschwaders 1944/45 (Stuttgart, 1983), p.212; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (Microcopy T-79 roll 14); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.625S (British Air Ministry) OKL document; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals HP627, BT2231, BT3843, BT5279, BT9027; PRO London: AIR 20/7891; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 4 II/32 (KTB General der Aufklärungsflieger); Archiv Gruppe 66 magazine, No. 7/v.2, page 24; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.