II/KG.z.b.V 1
Formation. (Aug 1939)
Formed 26 August 1939 at Stendal/Anhalt by renaming KGr.z.b.V. 2 and then immediately transferred to Silesia to standby for the campaign in Poland.[1]
Campaign in Poland and the Occupation of Denmark and Norway. (Sep 1939 - Apr 1940)
1 Sep 1939: at Schönfeld-Siefersdorf/Silesia with 53 Ju 52s on strength. Transported personnel, equipment, ammunition and fuel for fighter and dive-bomber units as these moved forward to airfields in Poland, and remained on standby for paratroop operations which were found to be unnecessary. Returned to Stendal on 4 November.
Nov 1939 - Mar 1940: supported paratroop jump training at Stendal.
8 Apr 1940: for the occupation of Denmark and Norway (beginning 9 April), Gruppenstab, 5. Staffel and 6. Staffel transferred to Schleswig, 7. Staffel and 8. Staffel to Uetersen. From there, the Gruppe transported paratroops from Fallschirmjäger-Rgt. 1 to Oslo, Stavanger and Aalborg (Ålborg) to 13 April, losing 1 Ju 52 plus 4 damaged in the operation, and then airlifted a reinforced paratroop company to Dombås/C Norway on 14 April during which 8 Ju 52s were destroyed or damaged by enemy fire or crashes. Returned to Stendal on 20 April.
Attack on France and the Low Countries; Training in Germany. (May 1940 - Mar 1941)
8 May 1940: transferred to Dortmund and Gütersloh for the campaign in the West (from 10 May). Transported some 700 paratroops (from III./Fj.Rgt. 1) and air-landing troops to key bridges at Dordrecht and Moerdijk and the key airfield at Rotterdam-Waalhaven on 10 May, and then dropped supply containers in the same area to 14 May. The Rotterdam-Waalhaven operation on 10 May cost the Gruppe 5 Ju 52s destroyed.
15 May - 18 Sep 1940: hauled personnel and supplies to airfields in Belgium and northern France while bringing out wounded on the return flights. Moved forward to Hingene near Antwerpen on 11 June and remained there until August. Returned to Stendal on 13 August, but then moved to Posen (Poznań)/W Poland later the same day to begin glider tug training for the planned invasion of England (Operation “Seelöwe”). When “Seelöwe” was temporarily postponed, the Gruppe returned to Stendal on 17 September and then moved to Parchim on 18 September.
19 Sep 1940 - 25 Mar 1941: engaged in glider tug and instrument flight training at Parchim, frequently using airfields in East Prussia for short periods.
4 Mar 1941: DFS 230A-2 crashed at Parchim while being towed, 100%, 2 KIA.
Balkan Campaign, Operations in the Mediterranean, Refit in Germany. (Mar 1941 - Sep 1941)
26 Mar 1941: transferred to Neuruppin, then to Münchendorf to the south of Vienna on 3 April from where it was used to transport elements of the 22. Inf.Div. to Ploeşti/Romania.
23 Apr 1941: moved to Plovdiv/Bulgaria to haul fuel and ammunition to VIII. Fliegerkorps units in Greece.
27 Apr 1941: ordered to Reggio Calabria near Messina in south Italy and Catania/Sicily to ferry 3 battalions of infantry to North Africa and evacuate wounded on the return flights.
7 May 1941: transferred to Finsterwalde/Brandenburg to rest and refit.
13 May 1941: departed Finsterwalde for Megara/Greece for the airborne and air-landing assault on Crete. From 20 May, transported paratroops and air-landing troops, weapons, equipment and ammunition to the island until it was secured on 29 May. The entire Crete operation from 14 May to 3 June cost II./KG z.b.V. 1 4 Ju 52s destroyed and 16 damaged. Numerous re-supply missions were flown to Crete during June.
8 Jul 1941: ordered back to Parchim for an extended rest, refit and overhaul of the aircraft.
Operations in North, Central and South Russia. (Sep 1941 - Apr 1942)
26 Sep 1941: transferred from Parchim to Gutenfeld near Königsberg/East Prussia to ferry paratroops to Lyuban on the front southeast of Leningrad, and returning with wounded.
27 Sep 1941: Ju 52 crashed at Fp. Lyuban, 100%, crewed bailed out and safe.
30 Sep 1941: man from the Gruppe WIA by enemy fire at Fp. Lyuban.
6-7 Oct 1941: moved from Gutenfeld to Ponyatovka/111 km south of Smolensk on the central sector of the Eastern Front to haul c. 1,100 tons of fuel, supplies and ammunition for fighter, dive-bomber and tank units spearheading the attack on Moscow (Operation “Taifun”), flying around 700 sorties in 4 weeks. Many of the loads were picked up at rear area railheads, mainly Orsha and Orel.
7 Oct 1941: 7.St. Ju 52 (KY+NO) reported missing near Novgorod to the north of Lake Ilmen - no details, 100%, Staffelkapitän Oblt. Felix Körber + 3 MIA.
3 Nov 1941: reassigned to Luftflotte 4 in South Russia and directed to Kiev/N Ukraine and then on to Dnepropetrovsk-North on 18-20 November. From there, flew supply missions to forward airfields at Taganrog, Mariupol and Stalino in support of JG 77 and St.G. 77. The Gruppe also flew out 5,188 wounded between mid-November 1941 and mid-February 1942.
30 Jan 1942: Ju 52 crashed at Dnepropetrovsk, 100%, 4 WIA.
16 Feb 1942: Ju 52 shot down by a fighter near Kharkov, 100%.
21 Feb 1942: ordered to Ostrov-South on the northern sector of the front to provide airlift support to the 95,000 German troops trapped in the Demyansk pocket. In 7 weeks of continuous operations, mostly flown in sub-zero weather, the Gruppe lost 16 Ju 52s destroyed or badly damaged.
Refit in Germany, South Russia, Training in Germany. (Apr 1942 - Oct 1942)
11 Apr 1942: transferred to Heiligenbeil/East Prussia and Braunschweig-Broitzem in northwestern Germany for a 3-week rest and refit.
1 May 1942: Gruppe reported 37 x Ju 52 on strength.[2]
3 May 1942: ordered back to Dnepropetrovsk in South Russia to support the forthcoming summer offensive to Stalingrad and into North Caucasia.
13 Jun 1942: 2 Ju 52s damaged in a storm at Dnepropetrovsk,
9 Jul 1942: Ju 52 damaged its undercarriage landing at Fp. Artemovsk near Stalino, 15%.
9 Sep 1942: Ju 52 crash landed at Fp. Oblivskaya/168 km ESE of Millerovo to the west of Stalingrad, 60%.
19 Sep 1942: 2 Ju 52s bombed on the ground at Fp. Stalino during a Soviet air attack on the airfield, both 100%.
3 Oct 1942: moved back to Braunschweig-Broitzem to engage in paratroop training for a planned airborne operation to seize the oilfields around Baku on the Caspian Sea, but the operation was cancelled before it got much past the initial training phase.
3 Oct 42: Ju 52 crash landed at Braunschweig-Broitzem, 20%.
North Africa and the Mediterranean. (Nov 1942 - Dec 1942)
30 Oct 1942: transferred to Athens-Kalamaki to haul fuel and equipment to Rommel's Afrika Korps, which was in full retreat across Cyrenaica following the battle of El Alamein.
1 Nov 1942: Gruppe reported 53 x Ju 52 on strength.
3 Nov 1942: Ju 52 ditched in the Mediterranean south of Crete, 100%, crew rescued.
12 Nov 1942: 2 Ju 52s demolished by their own crews to prevent capture by the enemy after making crash landings at Fp. Derna in Cyrenaica, both 100%.
18 Nov 1942: Ju 52 shot down by a fighter south of Benghazi, 100%, 4 KIA.
7 Dec 1942: Ju 52 (1Z+GR) ditched in the Mediterranean due to engine failure, 100%, 2 MIA.
22 Dec 42: ordered back to Germany, moving to Berlin-Staaken to be refitted for cold weather operations.
Stalingrad Airlift and Re-Equipping in Germany. (Dec 42 - Apr 43)
30 Dec 1942: transferred to Salsk in North Caucasia to take part in the desperate air supply bridge set up to try and replenish 6. Armee surrounded in Stalingrad.
16 Jan 1943: withdrew from Salsk to Sverevo/85 km SE of Voroshilovgrad. By the end of January the Gruppe had lost 7 Ju 52s supporting the Stalingrad airlift, (incl. 1Z+KR and 1Z+CC)
4 Feb 1943: assembled at Kherson/S Ukraine, handed over all remaining Ju 52s to other transport units, and moved by train to Goslar for an extended rest and to completely re-equip.
1 Apr 1943: Gruppe reported 42 x Ju 52 on strength.
2 Apr 1943: Ju 52 flew into the ground near Bratina (probably in Yugoslavia), 90%, 5 WIA.
21 Apr 1943: refit completed, ordered from Goslar to Beauvais/65 km NNW of Paris to support paratroop training under XI. Fliegerkorps.
1 May 1943: renamed II./TG 1 effective this date.[3]
FpNs:
Gruppenstab (L 32813, L 38592)
5. Staffel (L 40416, L 08902)
6. Staffel (L 41670, L 16857)
7. Staffel (L 42339, L 19506)
8. Staffel (L 43821, L 26715)
Kommandeur:[4]
Obstlt. Karl Drewes (26 Aug 1939 - Dec 1940)
Hptm. Arnold Willerding (c. Jan 1941 - c. Jul 1941)
Obstlt. Guido Neundlinger (c. Aug 1941 - Mar 1943)
Maj. Franz Stipschitsch (c. Mar 1943 - May 1943)
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2003
Links
References
- ↑ [Kameradschaft Ehemaliger Transportflieger]-Geschichte einer Transportflieger-Gruppe im II.Weltkrieg: Die II. Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung 1 1938 - 1943 umbenannt in II. Transportgeschwader 1 (Ronnenberg/Hannover, 1989): throughout; K.Ries-Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939; G.Tessin-Tes; U.Balke-KG 2/Teil 1:390; N.Kannapin-Feldpostübersicht; F.Morzik-German Air Force Airlift Operations:96-97, 101-03, 116, 122, 147; K.Kössler-Transporter - wer kennt sie schon!: Die Kennzeichen der Transportfliegerverbände der Luftwaffe von 1937-1945:20, 55, 73; PRO London: AIR 40/1968; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals QT4750, QT9164; PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence documents; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 20/281-84; 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).
- ↑ Document Lufttransportführer beim Gen.Qu. Abt. Ia Nr. 281/43 g.Kdos., dated 21.4.43, reproduced in: [Kameradschaft Ehemaliger Transportflieger], Geschichte einer Transportflieger-Gruppe im II.Weltkrieg:180; H.Boog-Die deutsche Luftwaffenführung 1935-1945: Führungsprobleme, Spitzengliederung, Generalstabsausbildung:25.
- ↑ C.Zweng-Die Dienststellen, Kommandobehörden und Truppenteile der Luftwaffe 1935-1945/Bd. 1:42.
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