Aufkl. Gr. 122 Oct 1944

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Oct 44 – Jan 45: 5(F)./122 at Prowehren/8 km NW of Königsberg under FAGr.1, mainly engaged in converting to Ju 188s and Messerschmitt Me 410s.[1]

7 Oct 1944 – 5(F)./122 transferred from Riga-Spilve to Prowehren/East Prussia with FAGr.l as Soviet forces began the final assault on Riga.[2]

2(F)./122 sent an Me 410 (F6+HK), from Ghedi, on a sortie to the Ligurian Sea. This was crewed by Klinke and Misch and left Ghedi at 16.22 returning at 18.04 and does not appear to have found anything due to the weather conditions.

11 Oct 1944 – 2(F)./122 sent Me 410 (F6+MK) on a sortie to check Ancona. However, the crew (Borrman and Stauch) had to abort the sortie due to bad weather. This was after sighting Allied shipping east of San Benetto del Tronto.

This was the fourth sortie attempted by this crew in a variety of aircraft – all the others were aborted within 15 minutes.

14 Oct 1944 – 6(F)./122 lost a Ju 188 in combat near Bergamo-Serate airfield. Another Ju 188 (F6+GP 150501) was flown from Bergamo to Ghedi for operations and two new Me 410s were flown in from Reim for 1(F)./122.

1(F)./122 sent out Me 140 (F6+NK) on an afternoon mission.

Date Unit Aircraft Type Code Wkr.No. Notes
14 Oct 1944 6(F)./122 Ju 188D-2 F6+AP 150500 Lost in combat with72 Sqdn Spitfires in the late afternoon near Bergamo-Serate. One crew member survived but Oblt. B. Freisenhausen, Ofw. J. Franken and Ogfr. F. Regitz were all killed.

18 Oct 1944 - FAGr 122 sent out four aircraft in the late afternoon early evening. One was lost to an American nightfighter and another aborted it’s mission due to engine trouble.

Date Unit Aircraft Type Code Wkr.No. Notes
18 Oct 1944 6(F)./122 Ju 188D-2 F6+GP 150501 Shot down by an American Beaufighter of 417th NFS in the vicinity of Cramona at 1930. Ofw. K. Rautenburg and crew missing.

Ofw K. Rautenberg (6(F)/122) was almost certainly shotdown by 2/Lt Hyram J. Allen 417NFS who claimed a Ju188 probable 10-15m SW of Cremone at 19:30, only caveat is the claim is listed as 19/10/44 (there were no US MTO claims for any aircraft on 18/10/44, in fact Allen's claim for 19/10/44 was the only US MTO claim that day). It was his only claim and he was flying a Beaufighter VI.[3]

25 Oct 1944 – Klinke and Misch (2(F)./122) departed Ghedi at 06.37, in Me 410 F6+AK, on an early morning sortie to look at the Ligurian Sea and to reconnoitre the west Italian coastal waters.

They crossed the western part of the Po valley with 10/10 stratus at 1000m, this dropped to 700m on the northern slopes of the Apennines. On crossing the Apennines visibility was 15 – 20 km with stratocumulus clouds. They reached the coast on the northern part of the Gulf of Genoa in the vicinity of Rapallo (04 Ost 9555) with cloud at 800m to the south; flying down the coast to a point approx 10 Km west of Viareggio (14 Ost 0414); continued south to a point out to sea approx. 35 Km from the coast at Carducci (14 Ost 0475); then to a way-point about 10 Km NE of the Island of Capri (04 Ost 9486); the final way-point was 04 Ost 9481 and from there landfall at Rapallo, returning to Ghedi at 08.04.

The sortie was to cover the sea as far south as 43o 05’ and west as far as 09o 25’ – they were unable to completely fulfil the portion of the mission covering the reconnoitring of the west Italian coastal waters. Visibility over the sea to the west was 5km and to southwest 1km. Rain was encountered in the entire area t be covered by the sortie.

The time spent on the sortie had been reduced due to the adverse weather conditions. No contact with the enemy was reported.#

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References

  1. LdZ - BA-MA RL 40/Kart; Tessin; Defieux.
  2. LdZ - BA-MA RL 40/Kart; AirMin Sigint.
  3. Andy Fletcher via E-Mail 08/07/04