3.(H)/41
3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41
Code: (C2 + )
also as: 3.(H)/4l (Pz)
Formation and Training. (Nov 38 - Aug 39)
Formed 1 November 1938 at Reichenberg/Sudetenland (new) with Heinkel He 45s and He 46s, most of which were exchanged for Henschel Hs l26s during the first half of 1939.[1]
Polish Campaign and Germany. (Sep 39 - Apr 40)
1.9.39: deployed from Reichenberg to a forward airstrip at Stubendorf/near Leobschütz in Upper Silesia on receipt of the 26 August order for general mobilization with 12 Hs l26s and He 46s - assigned to support 3. leichte Division (3d Light Division - this was later renamed 8. Panzer-Div.)/XV. Armeekorps (mot) (10th Army) along a line of advance Czestochowa - Kielce - Radom (11 September) Warsaw (19-27 September).
10.39 – 4.40: location unknown, but probably returned to Reichenberg after the campaign in Poland concluded at the end of September.
West - Attack on France and the Low Countries. (May 40 - c.Mar 41)
10.5.40: deployed on a fieldstrip in the Eifel area along the German-Belgian border under Koluft AOK 12 for the campaign in the West that commenced this date - assigned to support 8. Panzer-Division across Belgium into NE France then to the Amiens-Abbeville area - Calais - Gravelines-Dunkirk area (26-27 May).
17.5.40: Hs 126 shot down by a fighter over Guise/NE of St-Quentin, 100%.
18.5.40: 2 Hs 126s shot down by Hurricanes over NE France; 100%.
20.5.40: 2 Hs 126s shot down over NE France, 100%.
30.8.40: Belgium-North France area under Koluft AOK 16 and assigned to 8th Pz.Div. for Operation “Sealion”.
9.40 – 3.41: location unknown, but probably remained in the occupied West.
22.3.41: Fw 189 crash landed at Maria Ter Heide/NNE of Antwerpen, 15%. This loss entry may be an error of misidentification since there is no other evidence to confirm that the Staffel had any Fw 189s.
Balkan Campaign. (Apr 41 - May 41)
7.4.41: the Staffel’s advanced element had just arrived at Timişoara landing ground in W Romania. In support of 8th Panzer Division/XXXXVI Motorized Corps for the invasion of Yugoslavia from this date, advancing through Slavonia and Syrmia to Belgrade by 12 April.
North Russia and Germany. (Jun 41 - Mar 43)
22.6.41: East Prussia (at Insterburg?) under Koluft Panzergruppe 4/Army Group North for the attack on the Soviet Union this date - assigned to support 8th Panzer Division along the line of advance Pskov (14 July) - Luga Line (14 July - 8 August) - Narva - Leningrad outshirts (8 September).
26.6.41: Hs 126 B-l (C2 + AL) failed to return from a recce flight over the Daugavpils/Latvia area, 100%, Oblt. Günter Schmidt + 1 KIA.
7.41: operating from Fp. Ostrov/50 km south of Pskov.
8.41: moved rapidly forward toward Leningrad in company with 8. Pz.Div.
20.9.41: Hs 126 B-1 destroyed by bombs during enemy air attack on Fp. Zhary/SE of Leningrad, 100%.
14.11.41: Hs 126 B-1 crash landed at Fp. Zhary, 15%.
1.42: Leningrad and Vo1khov fronts under Ko1uft AOK 18.
26.1.42: Hs 126 B-1 crashed near Fp. Zhary due to engine trouble, 100%, 1 killed and 1 injured.
26.2.42: transferred from Fp. Zhary to Fp. Siverskaya, and still under Ko1uft AOK 18.
1.3.42: Staffel reported 1 x Hs 126 A-1 and 5 x Hs 126 B-1 on strength.
6.4.42: Hs 126 A-1 crash landed at Fp. Zhary, 25%.
3.6.42: Hs 126 B-1 crashed at Fp. Chudovo/95 km SSE of Schlisselburg on the Leningrad front after being hit by AA-fire, 70%, 2 WIA.
9.9.42: Staffe1 assigned directly under the tactical control of 18th Army and engaged mainly in artillery spotting and short-range reconnaissance along the perimeter of the Leningrad siege line; it was only under Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13 for administrative purposes.
9.11.42: Hs 126 force landed at Fp. Zhary due to technical problems, 35%.
12.42: withdrawn from operations and transferred to Jesau/East Prussia for conversion to the Bf 109G under NAGr. 12. During December 1942 and early January 1943, as the Stalingrad crisis intensified, elements of NAGr. 12 appear to have been moved to the Stalingrad front as reinforcements and are known to have been operating from Fp. Gorlovka/45 km NE of Stalino in mid-February 1943 and from Fp. Stalino in mid- March. Hs 126s and aircrews from 3.(H)/41 may have been included, but how many is unknown.
1.1.43: Staffel reported no aircraft on hand.
3.43: together with personnel from 6.(H)/13, renamed 1./NAGr. 4 at Jesau (Bf 109Fs and Gs).
FpN:3.(H)/41 (L 38116).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Hans Meyer-Sach (1 Nov 38? - 20 Mar 40) 9/39
Hptm. Robert Menzel (20 Mar 40 - 17 Dec 41)
Hptm. Günther Nell (Sep 42 - Dec 42)
Also see:
ASTOR, Heinz, Oblt.
BÖHM, Eberhard, Lt.
BURANER, Engelbert, Lt.
DISCHINGER, Albert, Oblt.
ERXLEBEN, Klaus-Otto, Oblt.
FLEISCHMANN, Werner, Oblt.
FRIEDRICHSEN, Ernst, Oblt.
GRANITZER, Hans, Lt.
HÖSL, Fridolin, Lt.
JAHNKE, Siegfried, Lt.
MÜLLER (MUELLER?), Kurt? (Karl?), Lt.
PANTHEL, Walter, Lt.
REDEN, Wibrandt. Von, Lt.
SCHMIDT, Günter, Oblt.
SCHULENBURG, Wilhelm, Graf von der, Oblt.
SEPPELL, ? ., Oblt.
SITTEL, Ernst, Oblt.
THUMM, Karl-Eugen, Oblt.
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ J.-P.Défieux - Répertoire des Unités Aériennes de la Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Reconnaissance Aéronavale (Nanterre, privately published, n.d. (c 1988-90?); K.Ries - Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939; G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, 16+ Bde., Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945; U.Balke - Der Luftkrieg in Europa: Die Operativen Einsätze des Kampfgeschwader 2 im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Teil I, p.399; AFHRA Maxwell: Karlsruhe Collection KC - Kl13.309-3/v.1; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-312 – various rolls for AOK 18); BNA HW 5/11; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Flugzeug-Bereitstellungen (Aircraft Availability Status Reports – FzB) in: M.Holm-website (ww2.dk).