Stab./FAGr 1
Fernaufklärungsgruppe 1
Formation. (Apr 42)
Ordered formed o/a 19 April 1942 as a Stab to control attached long-range (or strategic) reconnaissance Staffeln in North Russia under Luftflotte 1 for the support of Army Group North (Heeresgruppe Nord), with the actual formation occurring during the second half of May or the beginning of June. Place of formation has not been determined with certainty, but Luga/135 km SSW of Leningrad is probable. At the beginning of 1945 two organic (F) Staffeln were ordered formed under the Stab.[1]
North Russia, Baltic States and East Prussia. (Apr 42 - Jan 45)
7.42: believed to have moved from Luga to Dno/120 km east of Pskov in July.
4.8.42: Stab at Dno - OB: 3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 22, 5. (F)/Aufkl.Gr. 122 and 3. (F)/Nacht.
8.11.42: Stab now at Gostkino/135 km SSW of Leningrad.
13.4.43: Kdr. Obstlt. Prager reported missing in action.
31.5.43: Messerschmitt Bf 108 assigned to the Stab force landed near Samushki due to engine failure, 15%.
8.43: Stab transferred from Gostkino to Pskov-South.
26.10.43: Stab at Pskov-South - OB: 5.(F)/122 and 3. (F)/Nacht.
26.1.44: Stab transferred from Pskov-South to Riga-Spilve/Latvia with 3.(F)/22 and 3.(F)/Nacht as Soviet forces began closing on Pskov.
29.2.44: Riga-Spilve - OB: 3.(F)/22, 5.(F)/122 and 3.(F)/Nacht.
26.6.44: Riga-Spilve under Luftflotte 1.
15.7.44: Riga-Spilve - OB: 3.(F)/22, 5.(F)/122 and 4.(F)/Nacht. Stab responsible for directing all long-range reconnaissance deep behind Army Group North’s 500 kilometer-wide front in search of train traffic, especially the loading and unloading of units and vehicles that would suggest the transfer of formations and large-scale reinforcements for the Soviet summer offensive that began on 22 June 1944.
1.8.44: Stab reported 1 x Ju 88 D-1 and 1 x Me 410 B-3 on strength.
3.10.44: Riga-Spilve under 3. Fliegerdivision, but preparing to transfer to Prowehren.
10.44: Stab at Prowehren/8 km NW of Königsberg in East Prussia and now under Luftflotte 6. Remained at Prowehren through December.
25.11.44: recce units assigned to the Stab also using Sabile (Zabeln) in NW Latvia as an advance landing ground for support of Army Group North.
1.12.44: Stab reported 2 x Me 410 B-3 on strength.
North Germany. (Jan 45 - May 45)
22.1.45: Stab transferred from East Prussia to Jüterbog-Waldlager to rest and refit per orders issued by Luftflotte 6.
30.1.45: Stab ordered to prepare to move to Denmark, but this changed to Quakenbrück/ NW Germany on 4 February.
2.45: at the beginning of February, plans called for Stab/FAGr. 1 to be disbanded and Stab/FAGr. 5 to be renamed Stab/FAGr. 1, and orders were issued by OKL to this effect. However, numerous documents from February through April 1945 make it clear that these plans were not carried out.
1.3.45: Stab at Quakenbrück.
9.3.45: Stab transferred to Wittmundhafen/NW Germany.
26.3.45: Stab returned to Quakenbrück and under Kommandierender General der deutschen Luftwaffe in Dänemark - OB: 1.(F)/FAGr. 1, 1.(F)/33 and 5.(F)/122.
2.4.45: Stab ordered back to Wittmundhafen.
6.4.45: Stab ordered to transfer to Grove/Denmark.
22.4.45: Stab/FAGr. 1 ordered disbanded by OKL.
26.4.45: orders supposedly issued directing that the Stab be transformed into a Stab for the (or a) Panzerjägerabteilung der Luftwaffe this date, which was to be carried out at Rechlin. If these orders were actually issued, they were certainly never carried out because Rechlin was overrun by the Russians a few days later and the war ended 12 days later.
FpN:Stab/FAGr. 1 (L 44983).
Kommandeur:
Obstlt. Hellmut Höppener (8 Jun 42 - Dec 42)
Obstlt. Friedrich-Karl Prager (Dec 42 - 13 Apr 43) MIA
Hptm. Horst Klinger (30 Apr 43 - 11 Sep 43) KIA
Maj. Viktor von Moller (c.11 Sep 43 - ? )
Maj. Adolf Friedrichs ( ? - ? ) 1944?, 1945?
Hptm./Maj. Richard Taubert (15 Oct 44 - c.27 Jan 45)
Maj. Hermann Fischer (appt 2/45 - ?) 6 Mar 1945[2]
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress). (1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, 16+ Bde., Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation, p.157; N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-311 Heeresgruppe Nord microfilms); (T-312 roll 568/314-19); PRO London: AIR 40/1981, 1988; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals BT9465, BT9689; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 4 11/32 KTB General der Aufklärungsflieger); Signatur RL 40/Kart; OKL order Qu.2 Nr.20657/45; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); K.Köhler - “Der Einsatz der Luftwaffe im Bereich der Heeresgruppe Nord von Ende Juni bis Mitte Oktober 1944”, in Meier-Welcker, Hans (ed.), Abwehrkämpfe am Nordflügel der Ostfront 1944-1945 (Stuttgart, 1963), pp.30-39; G.Gellermann - Moskau Ruft Heeresgruppe Mitte ....(Koblenz, 1988), p.247; K.Kössler/G.Ott - Die großen Dessauer: Junkers Ju 89, Ju 90, Ju 290, Ju 390 – Die Geschichte einer Flugzeugfamilie (Berlin, 1993), p.196.
- ↑ BA, via Junker (TOCH)