4.(H)/22
4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 22
Formation. (Nov 38 - Aug 39)
Formed 1 November 1938 at Kassel-Rothwesten (new) with Henschel Hs 126s.[1]
West. (Sep 39 - Apr 40)
1.9.39: deployed from Kassel-Rothwesten to Hopstädten near Birkenfeld/Rheinpfalz in accordance with general mobilization orders issued 26 August, and assigned to support XII Corps/lst Army with 12 Hs 126s. Flew reconnaissance patrols over the Saar area between Germany and France.[2]
4.10.39: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 shot up by a French Curtiss Hawk 75A fighter near Pirmasens/Rheinpfalz, Oblt. Heinz Pape + 1 WIA.
24.10.39: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126B shot up by French AA-fire and crashed at Hopstädten, 100%, 1 KIA.
31.10.39: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126B shot down by French AA-fire along the Saar border, 100%, 1 KIA.
11/39 - 4/40: no information, but the Staffel is thought to have remained at Hopstädten training and .flying a few operational sorties as the weather allowed.
.
Attack on France and the Low Countries. (May 40 - Jun 40)
10.5.40: remained assigned to support XII Corps/lst Army for the campaign in the West this date, initially in the Saarland area and then moving forward into Lorraine.[3]
24.5.40: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 shot up by AA-fire over Urrall (not located), 100%.
25.5.40: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 shot up and damaged by AA-fire - no details.
6.6.40: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 shot down -no details, 100%.
20.6.40: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 failed to return from a recce mission to the Bourges area, 100%.
France - Standby for the Planned Invasion of England and Training. (Jul 40 - Jan 41)
7/40: remained in France following the armistice on 22 June.
13.8.40: West France under Stab/Aufkl.Gr.31 with 9 Hs 126s and probably assigned to lay smoke screens under IV.Fliegerkorps in support of the planned invasion of England.[4]
11.10.40: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 (CH+AM) damaged landing at St-Martin airfield in Normandy (either at Bernay or at Évreux), 10%.
4.1.41: Staffel departed France for Germany for an extended rest and refit, and then moved on to the Balkans.[5]
Balkan Campaign. (Jan 41 - May 41)
19.3.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 damaged taxiing at Stara Zagora/Bulgaria, 50%.
6.4.41: under Koluft AOK 12 and assigned to support XXXX Motorized Corps this date for the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece.[6]
8.4.41: flew reconnaissance sorties in the Štip-Negotin area of Macedonia.[7]
20.4.41: at Servia/NE Greece.[8]
11.5.41: at Servia/NE Greece.[9]
14.5.41: possibly moved forward to Athens around this date.[10]
South Russia and Disbandment. (Jun 41 - Jan 42)
22.6.41: Galicia district of SE Poland under Koluft Panzergruppe I/Army Group South for the attack on the Soviet Union commencing this date, and assigned to support III Motorized Corps along a line of advance Galicia-Rovno-Zhitomir-Kiev.[11]
1.7.41: Staffel cited in dispatches for shooting down 4 Soviet planes that attacked Rovno airfield, these being claimed by the Staffel's antiaircraft platoon (Flakzug).[12]
3.7.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126 (4N+EM) operating from Rovno failed to return from a recce mission, 100%, 2 KIA.
15.7.41: (Ob.d.H.) - Hs 126B-l shot down by a Russian fighter over Zhitomir, 100%. Possibly based at Brusilov just before or just after this date.
8/41 - 1/42: no trace of the Staffel has come to light after the 15 July entry. Presumably it was disbanded toward the end of September 1941 on conclusion of operations around Kiev, and then officially disbanded in January 1942.[13]
FpN: (L 04091)
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Hans Asmus ( - Jul 40) 1938, 9/39
Hptm. Arno Kötzing ( - ) 8/40
Also see:
BÖRINGER, Dr. Hans, Oblt./Hptm.
BÜHL, Hans-Wilhelm, Lt./Oblt.
DENZINGER, (Josef?), Lt.
ERZBERGER, Siegfried, Oblt.
HÄUSER, Kurt ("Karl"), Lt.
HEUSER, Karl, Lt.
HOFFMANN, Rudolf, Oblt./Hptm.
HUTTER, Siegfried, Lt.
NIGGL, Hans, Oblt.
PAPE, Heinz, Oblt.
RECKER, Heinrich?, Oblt.
RICKE, Helmut, Lt.
RONEGG, ? von, Lt.
RÜCKNER, Heinrich, Lt.
SCHLICHTING, Ulrich, Oblt.
SCHUMACHER, ? , Lt.
SEMMLER, Waldemar, Lt.
SENFTLEBEN, Walter, Lt.
STÄMMLER, Günther, Lt.?
STEFAN, ? , Lt.
WALTER, ? , Lt.
WANGENHEIM, Klaus Freiherr von, Hptm.
WOLTER, ? , Lt.
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2021
References
- ↑ Tessin-Tes; Ries-Lw; Defieux-Luftwaffe 1935-1945, Reconnaissance Aéronavale.
- ↑ Balke-KG2/v.1:397.
- ↑ Tessin-op cit; Dierich-VdL.
- ↑ Balke-op cit:412; Dierich-op cit.
- ↑ NARA WashDC: EG 242/T-311.
- ↑ Dierich-op cit; various T-311 and T-312 microfilms.
- ↑ T-312 microfilms.
- ↑ BNA HW 5/11.
- ↑ PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA Signal.
- ↑ LR evidence.
- ↑ AFHRA Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama: Karlsruhe Collection decimal KC-KI13.309-3/v.l; Dierich-op cit; Tessin-op cit.
- ↑ NARA T-77 roll 922/frame 615.
- ↑ Dierich-op cit; Kannapin-FpN.