Transportstaffel IV. Fliegerkorps
(Unit Code: G8+)
Formation and History. (Mar 40 - Sep 44)
The planned table of allowances for a Fliegerkorps included the provision for each to have an assigned Transportstaffel to be used to airlift personnel, equipment, replacement parts, munitions, fuel and supplies within the Fliegerkorps area. The original six Fliegerkorps themselves were all established on 3 or 4 October 1939 by up-sizing the former Fliegerdivisionen. Their organic Transportstaffeln were set up over the next several months using personnel and an allowance of 12 Ju 52s drawn from the FFS C and Blindflug schools. These were designated as "Transportstaffel eines Fliegerkorps (Mot.)" during February-April 1940. Very little documentation concerning these Korps-level transport units survived the war, so the following history can only be brief and sketchy.
Trsp.St. IV. Fliegerkorps was formed in March 1940, probably at Düsseldorf where the Fliegerkorps had its headquarters or at or at Münster-Loddenheide in April 1940. From 10 May it supported the operations of the Korps through Holland, Belgium and into northeastern France. By early August the Staffel was flying from Dinard in Brittany and remained there to spring 1941 while the combat units of IV. Fliegerkorps attacked targets in western England, the Irish Sea and the western Channel during the air offensive against Britain. In spring 1941 it moved to Villacoublay/Nord near Paris and was there in Mar, Apr and May 41.
Moving east with the Korps to Romania for the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Staffel was based at Roman in eastern Romania during June and July, Balta during August and September and then moved forward with the Korps HQ to Nikolayev in October, remaining there until March or early April 1942. Transport missions were flown throughout South Ukraine and Crimea during the winter of 1941/42. A few fragmentary reports that survived the war help illustrate the Staffel's level of activity for at least part of this period: for the month of November 1941 Trsp.St./IV. Fliegerkorps reported flying a total of 642 Ju 52 supply sorties and evacuating 658 wounded; for February 1942 a total of 182 Ju 52 sorties were flown, a huge reduction due to extremely poor weather; the March figure came to 673 Ju 52 sorties completed and 526 wounded evacuated; and finally, the April total was given as 414 Ju 52 sorties and the evacuation of 324 wounded.
In March or early April 1942, the Staffel transferred east to Zaporozhye and then in May to Konstantinovka for the summer offensive through the Donets into North Caucasia. By late August operations were being flown from Armavir and then Krasnodar. At the end of November 1942 Trsp.St./IV. Fliegerkorps began flying numerous supply missions to Stalingrad-Pitomnik as part of the massive airlift to support the surrounded 6th Army. These flights were made from Salsk, airfields in the Rostov area and finally from Stalino in the Donets Basin in the second half of January 1943. In mid-February, the Ju 52s were withdrawn to Dnepropetrovsk and then a week or two later moved back to Zaporozhye.
The Staffel is believed to have remained at Zaporozhye-South and Dnepropetrovsk-South to late September 1943 when the rapidly advancing front forced it back to Kirovograd. From Kirovograd/East and Kirovograd/North airfields, its Ju 52s were used during the last week of September to fly fuel to Bol. Kostromka and other landing grounds further east. By 29 Oct 43 it was operating from Pervomaisk A month later, in early December, it transferred with Stab/IV. Fliegerkorps to Poland with station at Terespol and then at Brest-Litovsk. Little information has been found concerning the Staffel's activities during the first half of 1944, but by 25 Mar 44 it was at Warsaw-Bielany and was still there on 28 June.
By then the Soviet summer offensive in Belorussia was at full tide and all available transport units in Poland were pressed into service to haul gasoline, ammunition and supplies to German pockets cut off behind the front. The Staffel withdrew from Poland to East Prussia and on 4 August was at Bromberg and on 24 August at Thorn. In August many bomber and transport units were ordered to disband because of the critical fuel situation afflicting the Wehrmacht, particularly the Luftwaffe. The axe officially fell on Transportstaffel IV. Fliegerkorps on 16 September 1944 and its Feldpost number was deleted on 9 October. The disposition of its remaining aircraft is not known.
FpN:(L 15215)
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Oskar Scholz ( ? - ? ) 6/44
Also see:
AUGST, Otto, Hptm. d.R.
Representative Losses
29 Aug 40: Ju 52 (NJ+NR) crashed on landing at Münster-Loddenheide and 80% damaged with 4 reported injured.
28 Nov 40: Ju 52 force landed in bad weather at les Andelys to the SE of Rouen and 45% damaged.
17 May 41: Ju 52 reported 35% damaged while taxiing at Fp. Dinard.
13 Jul 41: Ju 52 struck an obstacle at Roman airfield and 60% damaged.
14 Oct 41: Ju 52 hit on ground during Soviet air attack on Mariupol airfield and 20% damaged with one man wounded.
26 Nov 42: a number of Ju 52s reported lost and damaged from this date through Jan 43 while flying supplies to Stalingrad.
13 Aug 43: W 34 crashed at Novoselovka due to technical problems and 75% damaged with one killed and one injured.
20 Sep 43: 3 aircrew wounded during Soviet air attack on Dnepropetrovsk-South, but no damage to aircraft reported.
28 Oct 43: Ju 52 reported 50% damaged while taxiing at Fp. Kirovograd-East.
14 Nov 43: Caudron C 446 reported 50% damaged in take-off accident at Talnoye with one man injured. 01 Dec 43: Ju 52 reported 15% damaged by ground fire near Gutnitskaya.
03 Dec 43: Ju 52 shot down and destroyed by Soviet fighters in grid sector (Pl.Qu.) 2976 (Kirovograd area) with one man reported wounded.
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2022).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
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