Stab/NAGr. 8
Nahaufklärungsgruppe 8
(Unit Code E3+)
Stab/NAGr. 8
Formation and Background. (April 1942)
Ordered formed on or about 19 April 1942 at Simferopol/Crimea. Initially and informally established in January 1942, the Stab was provisionally designated Nahaufklärungsgruppe AOK 11 and assigned to control tactical reconnaissance for 11th Army in Crimea. On 19 April 1942 it was ordered formalized under the above designation as part of the general reorganization of the reconnaissance branch of the Luftwaffe.[1]
Staffeln (Aufklärungsstaffeln known to have been subordinated to NAGr. 8 with the approximate dates): 3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 11 (5/42); Nahaufkl.St. 11./11 (8/44 to 5/45); 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 (5/42 to 12/42); Nahaufkl.St. 11./13 (10/43 to 2/44); 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21 (12/42 to 4/43); 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23 (9/42 only); 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 31 (11/43, 12/43); 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 31 (5/42 to 7/42); 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33 (12/42 to 2/44); 2./NAGr. 3 (2/45 to 4/45); 1./NAGr. 4 (8/44 to c.12/44?); 1./NAGr. 8; 2./NAGr. 8; 3./NAGr. 14 (5/44 to 6/44).
[Note: unless otherwise stated, the aircraft losses noted below are those of the independently designated Aufklärungsstaffeln that were subordinated to NAGr. 8 at the time of the loss.]
South Russia. (April 1942 - August 1942)
8 April 1942: Stab at Simferopol/Crimea.
11 April 1942: Simferopol with 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 and 3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 11.
8-15 May 1942: supported 11th Army’s re-conquest of eastern Crimea (Operation “Trappenjagd”), which the Russians had taken back from the Germans in January 1942.
21 May 1942: 2 men belonging to the Stab WIA in enemy bombing of Simferopol airfield.
2 June – 3 July 1942: from Simferopol, flew reconnaissance support for 11th Army’s siege and capture of the powerful Russian naval fortress at Sevastopol in south-western Crimea. NAGr. 8’s units flew continual daylight missions over the fortress spotting targets and taking damage assessment photos for the great mass of artillery the Germans brought up to reduce Sevastopol to rubble prior to the final infantry assault.
12 July 1942: Oblt. Rudi Deutschmann of Stab/NAGr. 8 WIA at Sudak/Crimea, cause not reported.
6 August 1942: Stab and 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 13 departed Simferopol for North Russia about this date together with the command elements of 11th Army as part of Hitler’s fresh plans to seize Leningrad (Operation “Nordlicht”). Its other Staffel, 3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 11, remained behind in south Russia.
North Russia. (September 1942 - February 1944)
11 September 1942: Stab arrived at Gatchina (Krasnogvardeisk)/44 km south-west of Leningrad from Crimea via Germany and remained there until the end of November. The Gruppe had little to do after it arrived since NAGr. 11 and NAGr. 13 were already assigned to this front.
30 November 1942: Stab arrived at Jesau/East Prussia from the Leningrad Front, reportedly with orders to re-equip with Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and reorganize as a single-seat (Einsitzer) reconnaissance group. These orders were apparently canceled over the next week or so in view of the crisis and chaos on the Stalingrad Front in South Russia.
11 December 1942: Stab now back in North Russia and based at Siverskaya/30 km south of Gatchina, replacing NAGr. 13 which had departed north Russia for France on 15 November. For the next 13 months, the Stab and its units flew daily recce missions along the Leningrad siege perimeter, the Oranienbaum Pocket, the Volkhov front and the front along the south end of Lake Ladoga at Shlisselburg. Since the siege of Leningrad paralleled the siege of Sevastopol in some respects, many of the missions were to spot for the heavy artillery.
26 January 1943: Stab at Siverskaya in support of 18th Army with 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21 and 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33.
1 May 1943: Fi 156 assigned to the Stab crash landed in bad weather at Soltsy airfield/
36 km north of Dno, 25%.
9 June 1943: 4 KIA and 2 WIA from Stabskp./NAGr. 8 in enemy bombing of Siverskaya airfield.
19 June 1943: Bf 110 G-3 (of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33?) crash landed at Siverskaya, 10%.
10 July 1943: NAGr. 8 reported a total of 21(18) Hs 126s and Bf 110s on strength.
14 July 1943: Bf 110 G-3 (of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33?) damaged taxiing at Siverskaya, 20%.
25 July 1943: Bf 110 G-3 (of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33?) shot down by a fighter east of Pustynka, 100%, Oblt. Horst Lorenz (pilot) and Oblt. Helmut Haupt (observer) both
KIA, and 1 WIA.
30 July 1943: Hptm. Karl Humberg (observer) of Stab/NAGr. 8 WIA in partisan ambush east of Siverskaya airfield.
26 August 1943: Bf 110 G-3 (of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33?) crash landed at Vilnius/Lithuania, 45%. This was most likely a courier flight or other non-operational mission.
30 September 1943: Bf 110 G-3 (of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33?) shot up by a fighter in Pl.Qu.10851 (Volkhov area south-east of Leningrad), 10%.
14 October 1943: Gruko Obstlt. Friese MIA while flying with a Bf 110 crew from NAGr. 5.
26 October 1943: Stab at Siverskaya with Nahaufkl.St. 11./13 and 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33.
17 November 1943: Bf 110 G-3 (of 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33?) shot up by AA fire, 20%.
26 December 1943: Stab at Siverskaya with Nahaufkl.St. 11./13 and 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33.
25 January 1944: Stab/NAGr. 8, under 3. Fliegerdivision/Luftflotte 1, transferred from Siverskaya to Gostkino at Luga with 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33 and Nahaufkl.St. 11./13 following the Soviet offensive to break through the Leningrad perimeter that commenced on 14 January.
15 February 1944: Stab with 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33 and Nahaufkl.St. 11./13 transferred from North Russia to Herzogenaurach/Bavaria to rest and reorganize, which included the disbanding of the Stabskompanie/NAGr. 8 on 7 March.
Germany and Poland. (March 1944 - May 1945)
March – June 1944: Stab at Herzogenaurach refitting and overseeing the formation of 1. and 2./NAGr. 8 to approximately 1 July 1944.
July 1944: once again operational, ordered from Herzogenaurach to eastern Poland about 8 July for assignment to 1. Fliegerdivision/Luftflotte 6. The Stab received 6 Bf 109 G-8s during early July, of which 4 were retained, and had 2 to 4 of them on hand to the end of 1944 and probably to the end of the war. The transfer was to reinforced Luftwaffe assets along the front east of Warsaw where German forces were in retreat following the Russian Belorussian summer offensive that began on 22 June. NAGr. 8’s operations were mainly in support of 9th Army.
July – August 1944: NAGr. 8 changed bases rapidly during this period of withdrawal. Sources that have not been confirmed place it at Kobryn, Terespol, Biala Podlaska and Krzewwica all between 8 and 25 July, rarely staying more than a few days in any one place. On 25 July it moved to Warsaw-Bielany.
August 1944: Stab at Warsaw-Bielany.
September 1944: moved to Bielice/50 km west of Warsaw under 1. Fliegerdivision, and from there supported AOK 2 and AOK 9 (2d and 9th Armies) with 1./NAGr. 4, 2./NAGr. 8 and Nahaufkl.St. 11./11 to around mid-January 1945.
29 November 1944: Stab/NAGr. 8 had 4(3) aircraft of its own on strength.
10 January 1945: NAGr. 8 reported a total of 24(16) Bf 109s and Fw 189s on strength, this including the Stab and all assigned Staffeln on this date.
February 1945: following the powerful Soviet winter offensive along the Vistula in central Poland that began on 12 January, NAGr. 8 withdrew west and by 4 February the Stab was based at Sagan-Küpper airfield in Silesia and still in support of 9th Army.
March 1945: Stab now at Fürstenwalde/30 km west of Frankfurt/Oder since the second half of February under 4. Fliegerdivision with 2./NAGr. 3, 2./NAGr. 8 and Nahaufkl.St. 11./11; remained there until around mid-April.
9 April 1945: NAGr. 8 reported a total of 35(21) Bf 109s on strength.
26 April 1945: Stab/NAGr. 8 now at Hohn/Schleswig-Holstein, having withdrawn north after the collapse of the front around Berlin.
28 April 1945: Stab still listed as operational under 4. Fliegerdivision. No further mention of Stab/NAGr. 8 has been found, but it is believed to have surrendered in Schleswig-Holstein along with the many other Luftwaffe units that moved there in the last 10 days of the war.
FpNs:Stab/NAGr. 8 (L 01024), Stabskp./NAGr. 8 (L 43367), Ln.-Betr.Kp./NAGr. 8 (L 29272).
Kommandeur:
Maj. Albrecht Kothe (1 April 1942 - 25 June 1943)
Obstlt. Kurt Friese (26 June 1943 - 14 October 1943) MIA
Maj. Kurt Randel-Semper (4 November 1943 - February 1944 or 2 June 1944?)
Maj. Reinhold Tüttelmann (20 May 1944 - September 1944)
Hptm. Siegfried Erzberger (18 February 1945 - 8 May 1945)
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
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); NARA WashDC: RG 242 (Microcopy T-312 roll 568/314-19 document Genst.d.Heeres/Org.Abt.(II) Nr.1483/42g.Kdos., 19 Apr 1942 detailing the creation of the Nahaufklärungsgruppen, roll 846/027); (Microcopy T-321 roll 50/876, roll 114/022); (Microcopy T-501 roll 58/328, roll 63/893); 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 40/1971, 1982; BNA HW 5/441; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; BA-MA Freiburg: OKL order Ia Nr. 280/45; U.Balke - “Kaum bekannt: Die Küstenstaffel Krim”, Jet & Prop, 6/1995: pp.42-43; Archiv Gruppe 66 magazine, No. 7/v.2; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.