KGr.z.b.V. 9

KGr.z.b.V. 9

Kampfgruppe z.b.V. 9

(Unit Codes: to 1/41 9P+; from 1/41 4V+)

Formation. (Aug 39)

Formed mid-August 1939 at Tutow/Mecklenburg in North Germany with Stab and four Staffeln by activating elements of several multi-engine schools (FFS C Schulen) and instrument flying schools (Blindflugschulen). Assigned to Chef des Ausbildungswesens Ob.d.L. (Chief of Training), KGr. z.b.V 9 was to provide support for the tactical air transport and forward supply of Fallschirmjäger-Rgt. 2 (2d Parachute Infantry Regiment), specifically, to airlift the Regiment's heavy weapons forward to the drop zone or area of deployment.

Campaign in Poland and Standby in Germany. (Sep 39 - Dec 39)

1 Sep 39: moved forward to Aslau/90 km W of Breslau in Silesia on 1 September for the attack on Poland under 7. Fliegerdivision. Operating from there, Görlitz and Sagan over the next several weeks, the first and only combat mission was flown on 13 September when air-landing troops were transported to Łódź/Poland. Routine cargo flights from Germany into Poland and East Prussia kept the Gruppe occupied until the campaign concluded at the end of September. The rapid victory achieved by German ground forces in Poland made the large-scale employment of paratroops unnecessary. On 29 September, KGr. z.b.V. 9 was deactivated and the 53 Ju 52s and crews were returned to the schools. On 7 November 1939, the Stab was reestablished at Jena-Rödingen and then sent to Grossenhain by 22 November where it was held on standby status.

Occupation of Denmark and Norway, Attack in the West. (Jan 40 - Dec 40)

12 Jan 40: KGr. z.b.V. 9, which existed as a Gruppenstab with a handful of personnel and no aircraft, was removed from the authority of the Luftwaffe’s training branch and then reactivated at Jena-Rödingen for the forthcoming occupation of Denmark and Norway and the attack on France and the Low Countries. It was transferred to Neuruppin on 31 January, Hagenow on 3 February and then to Lippspringe on 12 March. Assigned to Luftflotte 2, troops and supplies were ferried to airfields in North Germany

during late March and early April, particularly to Westerland/Sylt off the coast of Schleswig. Operations against Denmark and Norway commenced on 9 April, but the Gruppe lost only one Ju 52 during the first three days of the campaign. Following a pause that lasted for a week, the Gruppe resumed operations on 18 April and to the end of the month flew around 100 sorties to Oslo, Trondheim and Stavanger hauling infantry (III./IR 334), Luftwaffe Flak units (4./Res.Flak-Abt. 111, 5./Res.Flak-Abt. 325), fuel and spare parts.

10 May 40: operating from Lippspringe on the opening day of the attack in the West, KGr. z.b.V. 9 transported air-landing troops of the 22. Infanterie-Division into Holland, landing on airfields, open countryside, roads and beaches in the Rotterdam area, around The Hague, and in the area between the two cities. Losses were enormous - this single day of operations cost the Gruppe a total of 39 Ju 52s destroyed or damaged. On 14 May, with the Gruppe effectively out of operation, it was reassigned from 7. Fliegerdivision to Lufttransportführer/Ob.d.L.

May – Dec 40: the Gruppe was quickly replenished with aircraft and for the balance of 1940 routine supply missions were flown from Germany to airfields in France and Belgium in support of the campaign in the West followed by the initial phase of the air offensive against England.

Mediterranean and North Africa. (Dec 40 - Jun 41)

Dec 40: KGr. z.b.V. 9 was reassigned to X. Fliegerkorps and ordered to Reggio di Calabria in South Italy, arriving there by 10 January 1941. Several days later, on l2 January, two Ju 52s were destroyed on the ground at Catania/Sicily during a British raid launched from Malta. Moderate losses continued over the next several months, with the first of these occurring on 28 January when a Ju 52 crashed on Rhodes in the eastern Aegean killing Maj. Helmut Frohne, one of the Staffelkapitäne, and three others. Accidents were recorded at Trapani and Palermo/Sicily on 3 and 9 February, respectively, and on 17 February

Ju 52 (4V + EH) from 1. Staffel crashed in the Straits of Messina and its crew of 4 listed as missing. Two months later, on 20 April, two Ju 52s out of a formation of 5 were shot down into the sea off Benghazi/Libya by a section of Fairey Fulmars from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier Formidable killing all 10 aboard. The Gruppe did not take part in the campaign in Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, and in the latter part of May it returned to Germany to rest, refit and prepare for operations in the East.

Cemtral and North Russia. (Jun 41 - Jun 42)

Jun 41: from the opening of the attack on the Soviet Union on 22 June to early February 1942, KGr. z.b.V. 9 was assigned to VIII. Fliegerkorps for the advance through Belorussia and the drive on Moscow.

11 Jul 41: based at Biala Podlaska/E Poland - transporting fuel from there to Bobruisk airfield/138 km SE of Minsk.

17 Jul 41: a Ju 52 belonging to 2. Staffel was damaged while taxiing at Demidov/NE of Vitebsk, another (4V + BM) from 4. Staffel, was shot down by AA fire near Mogilev on 20 July killing Oblt. Kurt Lang and his crew, and on 30 August four men were wounded by bomb fragments during a Russian attack on Belaya Tserkov airfield south of Kiev/Ukraine. Operating from Gomel-North and Seshchinskaya during October and November, the Gruppe transported fuel, ammunition and supplies for fighter, dive-bomber and tank units spearheading the attack on Moscow. On 3 November, two Ju 52s from 3. Staffel were reported damaged in crash landings at Chern/80 km NE of Orel.

Jan 42: now based at Vitebsk, hectic air supply operations continued during the bitter winter as weather permitted.

5 Feb 42: two Ju 52s were shot up at Shaikovka, a forward airstrip halfway between Smolensk and Moscow that was being used to bring up supplies to the tattered remnants of the German Army and to fly in reinforcements that were being hastily assembled in the rear areas. Around 10 February the Gruppe was ordered to transfer from Vitebsk to Pskov-South on the northern sector of the Eastern Front as the first of the many transport units gathered together for the Demyansk airlift, a maximum effort to supply 95,000 German troops surrounded in a pocket southeast of Lake Ilmen. Thousands of supply flights were made into the pocket over the next four months from Pskov-South and later, in April and May, from Schaulen (Siauliai), Kaunas and Korovye Selo to the south of Pskov. Losses were considerable during this period due to the severe winter weather, poor airfields, and Russian artillery fire that was directed onto the primitive airstrip at Demyansk.

South Russia. (Jul 42 - Apr 43)

Jul 42: on conclusion of the Demyansk operation and a two-month rest and refit in Germany during June and most of July, KGr. z.b.V. 9 transferred to South Russia to support the advance on Stalingrad, once again coming under VIII. Fliegerkorps. By the third week of August, the Gruppe was based at Konstantinovka/85 km N of Stalino where it remained through November. Minor crashes were reported at Nikolayev on 25 July, near Voroshilovsk/Donets on 24 August, Stalingrad- Pitomnik on 11 September, Tusov near Stalingrad on 29 September, and at Kramatorskaya/NE of Stalino on 9 November.

Nov 42: In November, the Gruppe was still based at Konstantinovka, but by 7 December had moved to Taganrog-South for the opening phase of the Stalingrad airlift. By late December a further move was made, this time to Sverevo/100 km NE of Rostov and 135 kilometers closer to Stalingrad.

Jan 43: as air supply flights reached their peak during January, losses quickly began to mount: one Ju 52 was shot down near Pitomnik on 10 January, another was destroyed and two damaged during a Russian air attack on Sverevo on 17 January, two more crashed in bad weather and poor visibility between Sverevo and Stalingrad on 22 and 23 January killing both crews, and Ju 52 (4V + AM) and its crew failed to return from a supply flight to Stalingrad on 28 January. With the surrender of German 6. Armee in Stalingrad on 2 February, KGr. z.b.V. 9 was reassigned to airlift operations into North Caucasia, losing a Ju 52 in a crash at Slavyansk on 17 February and another near Chernyy on 26 February, the latter being shot down with the loss of the crew and four Army officers who were aboard as passengers. It is not known with certainty where the Gruppe was based during this period, but Taganrog-West was possibly being used in February and Sarabus/Crimea in March, where a Ju 52 made a crash landing in bad weather on 20 March. By April, KGr. z.b.V. 9 had been withdrawn from operations to rest, refit and reorganize, and on 1 May 1943 it was renamed I./Transportfliegergeschwader 3 as part of the general restructuring of the Luftwaffe's air transport branch.

FpNs:

Gruppenstab (L 30068, L 37745)

1. Staffel (L 30373, L 38059)

2. Staffel (L 30675, L 38609)

3. Staffel (L 31388, L 09714)

4. Staffel (L 31798, L 16947)

Kommandeur:

Maj. Karl Christ (Aug 39? - 28 Feb 40)

Obstlt. Johannes Janzen (1 Mar 40 - Feb 42)

Maj. Markus Zeidler, acting? (Feb 42 - 20 Mar 42)

Maj. Alfred Wübben (21 Mar 42 - Jul 42)

Obstlt. Adolf Jäkel (Jul 42 - 19 Feb 43)

Hptm. Hans-Hermann Ellerbrock (20 Feb 43 - 30 Apr 43)

© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2022).

(1st Draft 2022)

See also

KGr.z.b.V. 9 Emblems

Demyansk and Kholm

Kuban

Additional Notes & Losses

Date	Unit	Aircraft Type	Code	Wkr.No.	Notes
20 Mar 1940	3./KGrzbV 9	Ju 52/3m			Hit another aircraft due to engine failure on take-off. Lippspringe
20 Mar 1940	3./KGrzbV 9	Ju 52/3m			Hit by another aircraft in a take-off accident. Lippspringe
21 Mar 1940	2./KGrzbV 9	Ju 52/3m	9P+HK	6023	Crashed into a mountain near Iburg. Crew killed.

Date	Unit	Aircraft Type	Code	Wkr.No.	Notes
25 Feb 1942	KGrvbV 9	JU 52/3m		6062	Damaged in a bombing attack on Fl.Pl. Kholm
25 Feb 1942	KGrvbV 9	JU 52/3m	BJ+EN	3178	Damaged in a bombing attack on Fl.Pl. Kholm. Oblt. Schubert and Ofw. Karl Hansen killed.
25 Feb 1942	KGrvbV 9	JU 52/3m		6955	Damaged in a bombing attack on Fl.Pl. Kholm.

Date	Unit	Aircraft Type	Code	Wkr.No.	Notes
2 Mar 1942	4./KGrvbV 9	Ju 52/3m	4V+AMH -SE+HU	6132	Lost between Dno and Demyansk. 100%. Uffz Karl Meyer, Fw. Gerhard Gnida and Uffz. Jakob Gerhardy all killed and Ogefr. Herbert Geyer missing.
2 Mar 1942	KGrvbV 9	Ju 52/3m		2971	Rammed by Ju 52/3m W.Nr. 5097 on take-off at Demyansk. 100%.
2 Mar 1942	KGrvbV 9	Ju 52/3m		5097	Rammed Ju 52/3m 2971 on take-off at Demyansk –unknown amount of damage
6 Mar 1942	KGrvbV 9	Ju 52/3m		7105	Rammed by a Ju 88 at Pleskau-Sud 70%
6 Mar 1942	KGrvbV 9	Ju 52/3m	NJ+KT	7371	Rammed by a Ju 88 at Pleskau-sud. 70 %, Uffz. Kurt Golinek injured.

At a tactical level KGrzbV 9 tended to paint a "9" on the rudder of its Ju 52/3ms, usually in white (please refer to the photos on this page for examples.

References

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