Wettererkundungsstaffel 3

From Luftwaffedata Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Wettererkundungsstaffel 3


Code: (D7 + ) 1944, (4B + ) 1944-45



Formation

Formed January 1944 at Stavanger-Sola/SW Norway (ex-Wetterkette Stavanger/Westa 1 Ob.d.L., a.k.a. Wetterkette Südnorwegen (Stavanger)). Equipped with Junkers Ju 88Ds. [1]It should be noted here that an FpN was first assigned to the Staffel and entered in the Feldpost Directory on 2 Oct 1944, Further, it remained a component of Wekusta 1 Ob.d.L. and there is no documentary reference to the Staffel under its new designation until September 1944. Therefore, it does not appear that the Staffel was officially sanctioned by OKL in Berlin until the latter date (September 1944).


Norway

23.2.44: Ju 88 D-1 (D7+FH) shot down S of Stavanger by an RAF Mosquito during a routine sortie, 100%, 4 KIA, including Lt. Dittmar. The Mosquito was also lost, crashing into the sea with the crew of 2 KIA.[2]

22.3.44: Stavanger-Sola with 5 Ju 88Ds and perhaps 1 or 2 He 111Hs (as Wetterkette Stavanger/Wekusta 1 Ob.d.L.). [3]

23.4.44: Ju 88 D-1 (D7+YH) shot up by RAF fighters while shadowing an Allied convoy west of the Faroes. While attempting to return to Norway on one engine, the pilot was forced to ditch 80 km off the coast. 100%, 3 KIA and 1 rescued by a Do 24 flying boat.[4]

31.5.44: Stavanger-Sola with 4 Ju 88Ds and 1 Arado Ar 240 (as Wetterkette Stavanger/West 1 Ob.d.L.). [5]

11.6.44: Ju 88 D-1 misidentified by a German U-boat and shot down while outbound from Stavanger on a weather flight, 100%, 3 killed, 1 rescued.[6]

9/44: now as Westa 3, at Stavanger-Sola under Fliegerführer 4 with 4 Ju 88s and 2 Ju 188s after incorporating 3 aircraft handed over by Wekusta 5 and personnel from the disbanded Wekusta 2 OKL. [7]

9.10.44: Ju 88 D-1 (D7+WH) shot down 130 km ENE of the Shetland Islands by 2 Spitfires, 100%, 5 KIA.[8]

11.10.44: Ju 188 (D7+ UH) exploded on take-off, 100%, 4 KIA, sabotage with a bomb suspected.[9]

30.10.44: Ju 188 (D7+UH), crippled due to improper maintenance, shot down into the sea off Sogne Fjord by 4 Mosquitos, 100%, 2 KIA, 2 MIA.[10]

2-13.11.44: Staffel transferred from Stavanger-Sola to Øysand, a small auxiliary or dispersal field a few kilometers south of Trondheim, where it took over aircraft and some personnel of the disbanded Westa 5 and Westa 6. [11]

12/44: after the move, weather flights had to be staged through Ørlandet/near the coast c.70 km NW of Trondheim because the runway at Øysand was so short the Ju 88s and Ju 188s could not take off with full fuel tanks. [12]

12.12.44: Ju 88 D-1 crashed on take-off due to technical failure, 100%, 2 killed.

25.12.44: Øysand under Fliegerführer 5. [13]

26.12.44: Ju 88 D-1 (4B+E) crashed on landing at Ørlandet, 50-60%, 2 KIA, 2 WIA.[14]

27 Dec 44: Staffel (including its predecessor Wetterkette Südnorwegen) flew its 1,000th operational mission since 1940.[15]

14.1.45: Ju 188 (4B+B) ran out of fuel and crash landed on Leka Is. (along the coast of Central Norway) on return from a weather flight to Jan Mayen, 100%, crew safe.

25.1.45: Øysand, but now under Fliegerführer 4.[16]

2/45: Staffel flew 16 weather flights and 22 in March, with the last flown on 17 April.[17]

5/45: in the last few days of the war, probably around 7 May, the Staffel sent a few of its aircraft to Liepaja (Libau)/Latvia to help evacuate personnel to the West before they were forced to surrender to the Russians. [18]

8-10.5.45: Staffel surrendered to the Allies with 1 Ju 188 at Øysand and a detachment of 2 Ju 88s at Trondheim-Vaernes - total strength 9 officers and 70 men. [19]


FpN: Westa 3 (L 62875).


Staffelkapitän

Lt. Horst Dittmar (1/44 - 2/44) KIA 23.2.44

Oblt. Hans-Joachim Dubrow (2/44 - 6/44)

Hptm. Erich Huck (6/44 - 5/45)


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 Rec onnaissance 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 13 Feb 1992
  2. ↑ Kington/Selinger – Wekusta, p.74.
  3. ↑ K.Maesel collection
  4. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, pp.74-75.
  5. ↑ BA-MA documents via K,Maesel collection
  6. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.75.
  7. ↑ K.Maesel-op.cit; Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.75.
  8. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.75.
  9. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.75.
  10. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.75.
  11. ↑ F.Selinger-op.cit.; K.Maesel-op.cit.; Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.75.
  12. ↑ F.Selinger-op.cit.; Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.77.
  13. ↑ NARA T-312:1070/591
  14. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, pp.77, 81.
  15. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.77.
  16. ↑ T-312:1070/969
  17. ↑ Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.77.
  18. ↑ F.Selinger-op.cit.; Kington/Selinger, op cit, p.78.
  19. ↑ BA-MA RL 9/35; K.Maesel-op.cit.


Return to Aufklärungsverbände

Retrieved from "http://www.luftwaffedata.co.uk/index.php?title=Wettererkundungsstaffel_3&oldid=4751"