Stab/NAGr. 6
Nahaufklärungsgruppe 6
(Unit Code F7+)
Stab/NAGr. 6
Formation and Background. (April 1942)
Ordered formed on or about 19 April 1942 at Roslavl on the central sector of the Russian Front by renaming Aufklärungsgruppe (H) Süd (formerly Koluft AOK 4). The Stab had no reportable aircraft assigned to it until November 1944 and until then made do with a few hacks such as an Ar 66 and a Hs 126.[1]
Staffeln (Aufklärungsstaffeln known to have been subordinated to NAGr. 6 with the approximate dates): 7.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 (5/42 to 3/43); 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21 (8/43); 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23 (c.1/43 to c.3/43); 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 31 (c.11/43 to 12/43); 5.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 32 (c.1/43, 6/43 to 8/43); 7.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 32 (8/43 to 5/44?); 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33 (6/42 to 6/43); 1./NAGr. 2 (7/43)?; 2./NAGr. 2 (11/43); 2./NAGr. 16 (7/43, 8/43); 1./NAGr. 6; 2./NAGr. 6.
[Note: unless otherwise stated, the aircraft losses noted below are those of the independently designated Aufklärungsstaffeln that were subordinated to NAGr. 6 at the time of the loss.]
Central Russia. (May 1942 - January 1943)
18 May 1942: Stab/NAGr. 6 at Roslavl under Luftwaffenkdo. Ost and assigned to provide tactical reconnaissance support to AOK 4 (4th Army) deployed along the front east of the line Smolensk – Roslavl.
30 May 42: Naumovo under 1. Fliegerdivision with 7.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 and 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33.
June 1942: Roslavl with 7.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 and 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33.
1 July 1942: man from the Stab reported WIA by enemy fire at Naumovo airstrip/140 km east-south-east of Smolensk.
July – October 1942: at Roslavl-East - routine reconnaissance over its sector in front of AOK 4. The front here was stable at this time. The action was taking place far to the south as the German summer offensive drove toward Stalingrad and into North Caucasia.
22 October 1942: NAGr. 6 with assigned Staffeln transferred from Roslavl-East to Shatalovka this date in a total strength of around 800 officers and men.
19 January 1943: Stab/NAGr. 6 still under Luftwaffenkdo. Ost in support of AOK 4 with: 7.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13, 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23 and 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33.
29 January 1943: Stab transferred from Shatalovka on the central sector of the Eastern Front to Chuguyev/37 km south-east of Kharkov and reassigned to Luftwaffenkdo. Don on the southern sector of the Eastern Front. German ground and air forces along the Don were shattered and in retreat following a Soviet offensive aimed at destroying Hungarian 2d Army opened on 12 January along the Don south of Voronezh.
South Russia. (February 1943 - May 1944)
9 February 1943: a man belonging to the Stab reported WIA by enemy fire south of Kharkov.
11 April 1943: Stab at Belgorod under VIII. Fliegerkorps/Luftflotte 4.
14 May 1943: Arado Ar 66 belonging to the Stab shot down by AA fire in Pl.Qu.5182 (Kharkov-Belgorod area), 100%, pilot safe.
30 June 1943: NAGr. 6 deployed on airfields just south of Belgorod for Operation “Zitadelle”, the attack on the Kursk salient that commenced on 5 July. The specific airfield is not known with certainty because a number of hastily prepared field airstrips were built in this area for “Zitadelle”, but Mikoyanovka (today Oktyabr’skiy or very close to there) is mentioned.
5 July 1943: Hs 126 shot down by a fighter in Pl.Qu.67791, 100%, Oblt. Heinz
Delp (observer) KIA and 1 MIA.
9 July 1943: Bf 110 G-3 returned to Belgorod shot up by AA fire and written off, 100%, Oblt. Walter Jacob (observer) WIA.
9 July 1943: Hptm. Hugo Lachmann WIA while flying as an air gunner - aircraft not damaged.
10 July 1943: NAGr. 6 reported a total of 25(13) Fw 189s, Hs 126s and Bf 110s on strength. The low serviceability is indicative of the intense operations flown during “Zitadelle”.
16 July 1943: Fw 189 A-5 shot up by a fighter over Pl.Qu.6122, 60%, Oblt. Horst
Riepe + 2 WIA.
20 July 1943: Hs 126 shot up by AA fire over Veterinar (not located), 20%, 1 WIA.
24 July 1943: Bf 110 G-3 crash landed in fog in Pl.Qu.6155 (Kursk salient), 80%, 1 injured.
4-22 August 1943: Soviet forces gradually drove the Germans out of the Belgorod-Kharkov area and NAGr. 6 pulled back to Konotop airfield/210 km east-north-east of Kiev around mid-August.
8 August 1943: Hs 126 shot down by a fighter in Pl.Qu.61584 (Kursk salient), 100%, 2 WIA.
8 August 1943: Hs 126 shot down by a fighter in Pl.Qu.51884 (Kursk area), 100%, crew safe.
16 August 1943: Fw 189 A-2 shot down by a fighter over Korushi (Koruchi? – not located), 100%, Oblt. August Osterholt (observer) + 2 KIA.
18 August 1943: Fw 189 A-2 shot up by a fighter and crash landed west of Nikol’skoye,
50%, 1 KIA.
21 August 1943: 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21 (NAGr. 6) loss in the Belgorod area.
26 August 1943: Konotop fell to the rapidly advancing Russians and NAGr. 6 transferred south to the Kiev area.
31 August 1943: Fw 189 A-3 force landed in Pl.Qu.60511 (just south of Kharkov), 100%. 4 September 1943: Hptm. Heinrich Gehrken (observer) WIA by ground fire in Pl.Qu.4187 (west of Kharkov) - no damage to the aircraft.
5 September 1943: crew member WIA by ground fire near Konotop.
6 September 1943: crew member WIA by a fighter near Taranovka/40 km south of Kharkov.
8 September 1943: Fw 189 A-2 shot down by a fighter over Konotop, 100%, 2 WIA.
9 September 1943: Fw 189 A-2 force landed at Poltava airfield, 50%.
18 September 1943: crew member returned from Konotop WIA after being hit by ground fire; no reportable damage to aircraft.
20 September 1943: Fw 189 shot up by AA fire over Kiev, 15%, 1 WIA.
20 September 1943: Fw 189 A-3 shot up by a fighter over Borispol/30 km south-east of Kiev, 15%, 1 KIA and 2 WIA.
24 September 1943: still assigned to VIII. Fliegerkorps.
26 September 1943: Hs 126 (F7+5F) belonging to Stab/NAGr. 6 failed to return (FTR) from a mission over Pl.Qu.0182 (c.40 km south of Kiev), 100%, 2 KIA.
October 1943: NAGr. 6 now based at Belaya Tserkov airfield/75 km south-west of Kiev.
20 October 1943: Oblt. Herbert Wahls (observer) WIA by a strafing fighter at Belaya Tserkov airfield.
12 November 1943: Fw 189 A-2 shot down by a fighter near Zhitomir, 100%, crew safe. 13 November 1943: Stab/NAGr. 6 at Krasilov airstrip/21 km south-west of Starokonstantinov in western Ukraine - had possibly been there for the previous several weeks resting and refitting.
15 November 1943: in transfer to Kalinovka airfield/western Ukraine where it is said to have remained until 10 March 1944. NAGr. 6 supported the heavy defensive fighting and occasional counterattacks along the front to the west of Kiev during winter 1943/44, mostly in behalf of Pz.AOK 1 and Pz.AOK 4 which were in the thick of it.
January 1944: still assigned to VIII. Fliegerkorps.
4 March 1944: Russian 1st Ukrainian Front unleashed a powerful offensive along the dividing line separating Pz.AOK 1 and Pz.AOK 4 and began driving toward Ternopol, Lvov and Stanislawów.
24 March 1944: Stab now at Kolomyya (Kolomea)/south-west Ukraine, but moved to Lemberg (Lvov)/south-east Poland at the end of March.
April 1944: Stab at Lvov under VIII. Fliegerkorps.
June 1944: Stab transferred from Lvov to Bayreuth-Bindlach in Bavaria in mid-June to rest, refit and eventually convert to the Me 262 jet.
Germany. (June 1944 - May 1945)
31 August 1944: Stab now at Herzogenaurach/18 km north-north-west of Nürnberg with Nahaufkl.St. 3./Aufkl.Gr. 21 and NASt. 12./12.
September 1944: Stab remained at Herzogenaurach through January 1945.
1 December 1944: Stab reported 1 Bf 110 D-4 and 1 Bf 110 G-4/R3 on hand.
10 January 1945: Stab at Herzogenaurach with 1 Me 262 and 4 Bf 110s - the jet had been received at the beginning of December 1944 and plans called for the Stab to convert to this type.
8 February 1945: NAGr. 6 ordered to transfer from Herzogenaurach to Münster-Handorf and Essen- Mühlheim for employment in the West.
21 February 1945: Stab Me 262 A-1 crashed south-east of Landsberg/Lech, 100%, pilot killed.
26 March 1945: Stab/NAGr. 6 at Münster-Handorf under Luftwaffenkdo.West.
27 March 1945: Stab transferred to Vörden[2] and then on 3 April to Fassberg.
10 April 1945: Stab and 2./NAGr. 6 now under 14. Fliegerdivivision/Luftflotte Reich.
17 April 1945: Stab at Kaltenkirchen/north of Hamburg.
28 April 1945: Stab at Husum/Schleswig-Holstein under 14. Fliegerdivision. Believed to have surrendered there on 8 May.
FpNs:Stab/NAGr. 6 (L 04412), Stabskp./NAGr, 6 (L 43702), Ln.-Betr.Kp./NAGr. 6 (L 32887).
Kommandeur:
Maj. Richard von Korff gen. Schmising-Kerssenbrock (April 1942 - May 1942
Maj. Hans-Gerd von Scholz (8 June 1942 - 30 November 1942)
Hptm. Wilhelm Sell ( ? - 22 April 1943)
Hptm. Heribert-Christian Rinke (acting) (5 June 1943 - June 1943)
Maj. Kurt Scholz (2 February 1944 - September 1944)
Hptm. Wilhelm Sell(?) ( ? - ? ) 9/44?
Maj. Hermann Harbig (September 1944? - January 1945?)
Maj. Heinz Schultze (26 September 1944 - 8 May 1945?)
Hptm. Herward Braunegg (acting?) (March 1945 - May 1945?)
Maj. Kurt Schulze-Wiehenbrauck ( ? - ? ) 4/45
Maj. Arthur Schulze (acting?) (April 1945 - ? )
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
Additional Notes and Losses
3 Apr 1945 - Stab/NAGr. 6 departed Vörden, just one day before the Vörden base personnel began destroying it to prevent Allied use after they withdrew. [3]
References
- ↑ W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945, 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); H.Plocher - The German Air Force Versus Russia, 1943. USAF Historical Studies: No. 155 (New York, 1968); NARA WashDC: RG 242 (Microcopy T-79 roll 14); (Microcopy T-312 roll 169/570; roll 183/392; roll 205/032; roll 568/314-19 document Genst.d.Heeres/Org.Abt.(II) Nr.1483/42g.Kdos., 19 Apr 1942 detailing the creation of the Nahaufklärungsgruppen; and roll 1156/1020 Koluft Heeresgruppe Mitte order 86/42 g.Kdos.); (Microcopy T-321 roll 114/022); (Microcopy T-501 roll 73); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.625S (British Air Ministry) OKL document; PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA, “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; PRO London: AIR 40/1975; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals HP627, BT1143, BT2231, BT9027, BT9463; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 4 II/32; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; Archiv Gruppe 66 magazine, No. 7/v.2, page 24; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.
- ↑ Amended from Varden to Vörden following message from Matthias Hundt - 20220315
- ↑ From and e-mail from H.L. de Zeng IV dated 15/3/2022. References quoted DEFE 3 ULTRA signals HP627, BT1143, BT2231, BT9027, BT9463.