Wettererkundungsstaffel 1 Ob.d.L.

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Wettererkundungsstaffel 1 Ob.d.L.

Wekusta 1 Ob.d.L.

Unit Codes: T5+ (1940-41); D7+ (1942-45)


Formation and Organization. (Jul 40)

Formed July 1940 in Germany, at Berlin-Gatow, from elements of Wettererkundungsstaffel beim Ob.d.L. Equipped with Dornier Do 17Zs and Heinkel He 111Hs. Another source (Kington) says it was initially equipped with 9 x He 111 J-1’s and a single Ju 86 G-1 with 12 pilots, 10 meteorological observers, 6 radio operators and 6 flight engineers. [1]


West - Germany and Norway. (Jul 40 - May 45)

9 May 40: Do 17Z (T5+GU) shot down by RAF Hurricane fighters off the E coast of Scotland and crashed into the sea, exploding on impact, 100%, 4 KIA.

24 Jul 40: (Lfl.2) – based at Oldenburg since 3 Jul 40 - He 111 H-3 shot down by RAF Hurricanes east of Wick/Scotland while on a weather flight to the Orkney Islands, 100%, 3 KIA, 2 captured.[2]

25 Jul 40: (Lfl.2) - He 111 H-3 (T5+GU) shot down by Hurricanes near Wick/N Scotland, 100%, 2 KIA and 3 reported MIA, although the meteorologist was later rescued by an RN cruiser and survived. (note: 24 and 25 July are not duplicate entries).

13 Aug 40: Staffel based at Oldenburg/NW Germany directly under Ob.d.L. with 3 Do 17Zs and 2 He 111Hs.[3]

23 Aug 40: (Lfl.2) - He 111 H-3 shot down by Hurricanes west of Fair Isle to the south of the Shetlands, 100%, 3 KIA and 2 MIA.

17 Jan 41: (Lfl.2) - He 111 H-2 shot down by a Hurricane off the south end of the Shetlands, 100%, 2 KIA, 3 captured.

24 Jan 41: (Lfl.2) - He 111 H-3 crash landed at Fp.Oldenburg in bad weather and soft ground, 50%.

Jan 41: Staffel transferred from Oldenburg (grass surface) to nearby Bad Zwischenahn (concrete runway) during the latter part of January 1941.[4]

1 Mar 41: (Lfl.2) - He 111 H-2 crashed at Lauenburg due to engine trouble, 80%, 4 injured.

Mar 41: began converting from He 111’s to the faster Junkers Ju 88; however, 3 of the Heinkels were kept on hand at Bad Zwischenahn for navigation and aerial gunnery practice flights.[5]

18 Dec 41: (Mitte) - Ju 88 D-2 (T5+NO) ditched in the North Sea near the Shetland Islands, possibly due to engine trouble, 100%, 4 MIA.

Feb 42: Staffel formed a detached Wetterkette Stavanger/Westa 1 Ob.d.L. and stationed it at Stavanger-Sola with Ju 88s and He 111s, generally maintaining a strength of 5 of these - the Kette flew weather missions over the North Sea as far west as Iceland during 1942 and 1943. The rest of Staffel remained at Bad Zwischenahn.[6]

1 Mar 42: Staffel reported 4 x Ju 88 D-1, 1 x Ju 88 D-2, 3 x Ju 88 D-5, 2 x Ju 88 A-5 and 1 x He 111 H-3 on strength.[7]

20 Aug 42: Wekusta 1 Ob.d.L. flew its 1,000th operational sortie.[8]

4 Nov 42: (Lfl.3) - Ju 88 D-5 (D7+BH) failed to return from a mission off the east coast of Scotland and believed shot down by a fighter, 100%, 4 MIA.

10 Nov 42: (Lfl.3) - Ju 88 D-1 (D7+GH) FTR from area off the east coast of Scotland and probably shot down by a fighter, 100%, Staka Hptm. Jonas (pilot) + 3 MIA.

1 Dec 42: reported 5 x Ju 88 D-1, 5 x D-5 and 1 x He 111 H-3 on strength.

13 Jan 43: (Mitte) - Ju 88 D-5 (D7+CH) shot up by AA-fire and crashed southwest of Borkum Is., 100%, Oblt. Siegfried Reuter (pilot) + 3 KIA.

1 Jul 43: reported 8 x Ju 88 D-1, 2 x D-5 and 1 He 111H-3 on strength.

13 Aug 43: (Lfl.5) - Ju 88 D-1 while on a test flight crashed into a power line near Fp.Stavanger-Sola, 100%, Oblt. Werner Storz (pilot) + 2 killed.

23 Aug 43: (Mitte) - Ju 88 D-1 (D7+FH) shot down by RAF Beaufighters over the North Sea, 100%, Oblt. Karl Rapp + 3 MIA.

28 Oct 43: (Mitte) - Ju 88 D-1 damaged landing at Fp.Stade, 25%.

22 Nov 43: (Mitte) - Ju 88 D-1 (D7+BH) FTR from a mission - no details, 100%, 3 MIA.

9 Dec 43: (Mitte) - Ju 88 D-1 (D7+DH) FTR from a mission - no details, 100%, 4 MIA.

16 Dec 43: from Bad Zwischenahn, Wekusta 1 Ob.d.L. flew its 2,000th operational sortie.[9]

1 Jan 44: reported 8 x Ju 88 D-1, 1 x D-5 and 1 He 111 H-3 on strength.

8 Jan 44: Ju 88 D-1 (D7+CH), returning from a weather sortie over the Faroe Islands, ran out of fuel and ditch off the entrance to Trondheim Fjord, 100%, crew of 4 rescued

Jan 44: Staffel had 9 Ju 88s and 1 He 111, with 6 at Zwischenahn and 5 at Stavanger-Sola.[10]

Jan 44: Wetterkette Stavanger/Westa 1 Ob.d.L. renamed Wettererkundungsstaffel 3 with 5 Ju 88Ds and perhaps one or two He 111s.[11]

Mar 44: Staffel took delivery of 3 Ju 188 F-1s, the new and improved version of the Junkers bomber.

Mar 44 – Jan 45: no operational details - presumed routine weather operations from Bad Zwischenahn with occasional losses. Bad Zwischenahn airfield was heavily bombed by the Allies on 30 May and 15 August, but the Staffel is not known to have suffered any losses on the ground.[12]

1 Sep 44: the Staffel set up a Wetterkette at Frankfurt/Rhein-Main to provide improved weather flight coverage over the Western Front area.[13]

1 Dec 44: reported 1 x Ju 188 F-1, 5 x Ju 88 D-1, 8 x Ju 88 S-3 and 3 x Ju 88 T-3 on strength.

4 Dec 44: a Ju 88 belonging to Wetterkette Rhein-Main FTR from a flight over France after encountering extremely high winds from the Polar jet stream and being blown 500 km off course, crashing near Königgrätz in Bohemia, 100%, no survivors.[14]

11 Feb 45: (Reich) - Ju 188 F-1 (D7+GH) believed shot down by a fighter over the North Sea, 100%, 5 MIA.

Mar 45: Staffel began relocating to Husum/Schleswig-Holstein due to heavy Allied bombing at and around Bad Zwischenahn during the last 10 days of March with the transfer completed by 1 April - conducting operational training for all weather reconnaissance flight crews in the Luftwaffe.[15]

28 Apr 45: Staffel elements based in Denmark (probably at Grove) attached to 1.(F)/33 with Ju 88s and Ju 188s.[16]

3 May 45: from Husum, Staffel flew its last mission – a Ju 88 weather reconnaissance sortie over the North Sea.[17]



FpN: (L 05356)



Staffelkapitän:

Hptm. Kurt Jonas (DKG) (Jul 40 - Nov 42)

Hptm. Eric Freiherr von Loudon (DKG) (Nov 42 - Oct 44)

Hptm. Kurt Dorn (acting?) ( - ) 11/43, 12/43

Hptm. Ludwig Drinkut (Oct 44 - 8 May 45)





Special Note:

The history of the Luftwaffe Weather Service, this Staffel, all of the other Staffeln, the Wetterflugstellen, the Wetterketten and all other components engaged in meteorological reconnaissance activities are covered in extensive detail in: Kington, John A. & Franz Selinger, WEKUSTA – Luftwaffe Meteorological Reconnaissance Units & Operations 1938-1945, Ottringham/East Yorkshire (U.K.), 2006. Accordingly, rather than repeat what has already been treated in considerable detail, the researcher/reader is encouraged to see this extraordinary study.



© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2022).

(1st Draft 2022)

References

  1. ↑ F.Selinger letter dated 13 Jan 1993; Kington/Selinger – WEKUSTA, p.43.
  2. ↑ BA-MA RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs). All of the losses cited are from this source so it will not be repeated.
  3. ↑ Balke-KG 2/Teil 1:408.
  4. ↑ F.Selinger letter 13 Feb 1992.
  5. ↑ Urbanke, Axel-“Die ‘aufgespießte’ He 111” in Jet & Prop 2/98:24-25.
  6. ↑ F.Selinger-op.cit.
  7. ↑ BA-MA Freiburg – Flugzeug-Bereitstellungen (Aircraft Availability Status Reports – FzB) in: Holm-op cit; all subsequent entries of this type are from this source.
  8. ↑ Kington/Selinger – op cit, p.48.
  9. ↑ Kington/Selinger – op cit, p.52.
  10. ↑ AFHRA Maxwell decimal 512 British AirMin P/W interrogations on microfilm, rolls A5400-05, report ADI(K) 330/44; F.Selinger-op.cit.
  11. ↑ F.Selinger-op.cit.
  12. ↑ Holm-Website www.ww2.dk; Kington/Selinger – op cit, p.53.
  13. ↑ Kington/Selinger – op cit, p.53.
  14. ↑ Kington/Selinger – op cit, p.53.
  15. ↑ Dierich-VdL.
  16. ↑ AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.625S.
  17. ↑ Kington/Selinger – op cit, p.54.


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