3./NAGr. 13
3./NAGr. 13
(Unit Code: none known – used large single and double digit numbers on side of fuselage in Staffel colour)
Formation. (April 1944)
Formed March 1944 at Nürnberg by renaming 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23, which had been based at Wesenberg (Rakvere)/92 km east-south-east of Tallinn in Estonia with a few Hs 126s at the end of February. Between mid-March and the end of the month, 3./NAGr. 13 came into existence and received 15 Bf 109 G-8s. Many of the assigned pilots had been in NASt. 12./12 in Russia to November 1943, when they were ordered to Jüterbog-Damm for Bf 109 conversion training. No crashes or accidents were reported that month, but 1 Bf 109 G-8 was lost a practice flight in April as conversion and work-up training began in earnest.[1]
France. (May 1944 - August 1944)
May 1944: transferred to France with 2 Bf 109 G-6s and 14 Bf 109 G-9s and based at Laval by 28 May. the Staffel, which was still working up and not yet operational, reported 3 losses in the Normandy area to crashes during May while the aircraft and their pilots were on practice or training flights.
6 June 1944: flew its first recce sortie over the invasion area in the vicinity of Caen and thereafter flew an average of 2 missions a day.
15 Jun 44: Laval - effective immediately, ordered to collaborate directly with LXXXIV. Armeekorps and it subordinate units. (CX/MSS/T217/2)
22 Jun 44: transferred from Laval to Maze near Angers.
26 June 1944: reported 10 Bf 109s and Fw 190s on hand at Laval, but moved to Angers on 20 June.
June: 5 G-8s lost to enemy effect during the month of June and none to crashes or accidents.
19 July 1944: Bf 109 G-8 shot down by an Allied fighter near Lessay/33 km west-north-west of Saint-Lô in Normandy. July’s operational losses came to 5 Bf 109 G-8s.
12 August 1944: Bf 109 G-8 failed to return from operations, Oblt. Friedrich Geiger MIA.
c.24 August 1944: withdrew from France via Charleville and Belgium and based at Bonn-Hangelar by 13 September.
Germany. (September 1944 - May 1945)
29 September 1944: now at Köln-Wahn flying recce operations in the Stolberg-Aachen-Monschau-Gemünd area. Operational losses for September totaled 3 Bf 109 G-6s and 2 Bf 109 G-8s.
10 November 1944: flew recce sorties in the Geilenkirchen-Heerlen-Aachen sector under Stab/Aufklärungsgruppe 123, which controlled all tactical reconnaissance along the Western Front for Luftwaffenkdo.West.
3 December 1944: reported a Bf 109 shot down by a Typhoon during a sortie in the Roermond-Helmond area; the aircraft crashed and blew up 1.5 km south-west of Venlo killing the pilot.
31 December 1944: at Köln-Wahn with 1 Bf 109 G-6 and 10 Bf 109 G-8s on strength. December was the Staffel’s most costly month to date with 11 Bf 109s being lost to enemy action.
7 March 1945: transferred from Köln-Wahn to Mannheim-Sandhofen, and then to Beckhofen/4 km north-west of Donaueschingen by 3 April.
9 April 1945: Beckhofen with 12(5) Bf 109s on strength.
21 April 1945: at Cham/46 km north-east of Regensberg, where the Staffel blew up all of its remaining aircraft on 24 April to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The personnel then moved south to Bad Reichenhall to join the rest of NAGr.13, and were located there on 3 May.
FpN:3./NAGr. 13 (L 21727).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Gerhard Dickenbrock? (c May 1944 - June 1944)
Hptm. Karl Mörbitz ( ? - ? ) 22.10.44
Hptm. Heinz Stanjeck ( ? - 24 January 1945)
Oblt. Heinz Meyer (c.24 January 1945 - 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 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogations ADI(K) 373/44 and 670/44; PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA, “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; CX/MSS/R. 233 (C) 3.7.44; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.