Störchkommandos (Pz.Aufklärungsschwärme)
Störchkommandos (Pz.Aufklärungsschwärme)
The actual date the first four of these Fi 156 detachments were set up is not known, but strong evidence suggests sometime during December 1944, The author has a complete photocopy of the Kriegstagebuch (KTB) of the General der Aufklärungsflieger (meaning the daily war journal for his headquarters and staff at Jüterbog-Waldlager near Berlin) covering the period 1 January 1945 to 29 March 1945. It lists all formation and disbandment of all Aufklärungs- units, large and small. The first mention of these units is in an entry for 15 February 1945, which states that the first after-action/experience report on the use of the Fi 156 in an auxiliary reconnaissance role was received at headquarters on that date. The next (and last) time these units are mention in the KTB is in an entry for 8 March 1945, which states that Störchkdos. 1-4 had been set up provisionally for a duration of 3 months effective this date as Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 1-4 for subordination to Luftflotte 6. Therefore, it is probably safe to recognize 8 March 1945 as the official date of establishment for these units. No information on unit codes or markings has come to hand, but it is doubtful if they ever received any - these were provisional units, as noted above, and provisional units did not receive their own codes. Furthermore, the Fi 156s issued to them were direct from the factory, and probably carried a factory code. The reader should keep in mind that we are talking about the very last few weeks of the war, here.
Identified Storchkommandos
Storchkdo. 1 (from 8.3.45 as Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 1)
1.3.45: based at Eggersdorf near Fürstenwalde under NAGr. 8.[1]
20.3.45: an Fi 156 belonging to this Schwarm that was attached to NAGr. 2/Luftflotte 6 shot down by ground fire over Dittmannsdorf/Silesia, 100%, 2 WIA.[2]
29.3.45: Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 1 at Eggersdorf under NAGr. 8/4. Fliegerdivision,[3]
Storchkdo. 2 (from 8.3.45 as Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 2)
1.3.45: based at Prenzlau directly under 1. Fliegerdivision.[4]
29.3.45: now at Pasewalk directly under 1. Fliegerdivision.[5]
Storchkdo. 3 (from 8.3.45 as Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 3)
1.3.45: at Pasewalk directly under 1. Fliegerdivision.[6]
18.3.45: ordered to withdraw from the Danzig area to Jüterbog-Waldlager to rebuild and re-equip with new Fi 156’s, having lost all of its aircraft in operations.[7]
Storchkdo. 4 (from 8.3.45 as Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 4)
29.3.45: at Bautzen-Litten under NAGr. 15/VIII. Fliegerkorps.[8]
3.5.45: now at Kosteletz under NAGr. 2 flying reconnaissance for Pz.AOK 1.[9]
Storchkdo. 5 (from 8.3.45 as Pz.Aufkl.Schwarm 5)
3.3.45: formed this date at Jüterbog-Waldlager and then transferred to Hirschberg on 10.3.45 for operations under VIII. Fliegerkorps.[10]
29.3.45: at Hirschberg directly under VIII. Fliegerkorps.[11]
3.5.45: now at Reichenberg/SE of Dresden directly under Gefechtsverband Rudel flying reconnaissance for AOK 17.[12]
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2022).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ Gen.d.Aufkl.Fl. Ia Nr. 280/45
- ↑ BA-MA Loss Reports
- ↑ NARA T-321 roll 50/f.877
- ↑ Gen.d.Aufkl.Fl. Ia Nr. 280/45
- ↑ NARA T-321 roll 50/f.878
- ↑ Gen.d.Aufkl.Fl. Ia Nr. 280/45
- ↑ BA-MA RL 4 II/32
- ↑ NARA T-321 roll 50/f.876
- ↑ Rauchensteiner, p.359
- ↑ BA-MA RL 4 II/32
- ↑ NARA T-321 roll 50/f.876
- ↑ Rauchensteiner, p.360