KGr.z.b.V. 11
KGr. z.b.V. 11
Kampfgruppe z.b.V. 11
(Unit Code: G6+ letters D-T-U-V-W)
Formation and History. (May 40 - Jun 40)
Ordered formed at the beginning of February 1940 at Fp. Lippstadt by renaming III./KG.z.b.V. 2 with a Gruppenstab and 4 Staffeln for use in the opening phase of the attack in the West on France and the Low Countries, after being brought up to near full strength of 51 of 53 Ju 52 transports with the aircraft and crews coming from the training schools. On 10 May, the opening day of the campaign, the Gruppe airlifted 753 men of Infanterie-Rgt. 47 in 2 waves from an airfield in northwest Germany into the airfield at Valkenburg/2.7 km S of Katwijk aan den Rijn near The Hague in Holland which had been reported as secured in the early morning hours by paratroops dropped by I./KGr. z.b.V. 172. In another version of this operation, some of the aircraft were diverted to Katwyk to land on the beaches west of the town only after Dutch troops succeeded in obstructing the runway at Valkenburg. A total of 11 Ju 52’s were lost by KGr. z.b.V. 11 during the day, including some that were bombed on the ground by Dutch Fokker T.V bombers. No information has become available on further operations by KGr. z.b.V. 11, but undoubtedly some were flown over the following days. In early June (1 June?) 1940 the Gruppe was disbanded and the aircraft and crews returned to the schools.[1]
FpNs:Gruppenstab (L 33155, L 19537)
Kommandeur:
Obstlt. Gustav Wilke (c. 2/40 - 6/40)
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2022).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ G.Tessin-Tes; C.Shores et al-Fledgling Eagles:211; K.Kössler comment in Luftwaffe Verband Journal No. 15:12; F.Morzik-German Air Force Airlift Operations:402; J-P.Pallud-Blitzkrieg in the West Then and Now:113; Hecke, Rudolf - Jet and Prop 2007/05 - Errkentnisse über wenig bekannte Kampfgruppen z.b.V. und irhe Kennzeichen p.14-17.
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