Luftlandgeschwader 1

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Luftlandgeschwader 1


LLG 1 History


The Geschwader was ordered formed on 27 July 1940 as a glider support force for the 7 Fliegerdivision, Germany's first airborne division, and as a direct outcome of the successful assault on Fort Eben-Emael and the Albert Canal bridges near Liege, Belgium, on 10 May 1940. Following nearly a year of formation work-up and training at its bases in the Hannover-Braunschweig area, LLG 1 was first committed to action on 20 May 1941 when Ju 52s from I Gruppe and 69 DFS 230 gliders from throughout the Geschwader were used to transport paratroops for the airborne attack on Crete. At least 24 glider pilots were killed during this operation.


With the attack on Russia 22 June 1941, LLG 1 deployed small glider detachments to help move replacement engines and other vital components and parts from rear depots to forward airfields. Detachment Hundenborn (LS-Kdo.Hundenborn) was sent to South Russia with 15 DFS 230s where it operated from Tiraspol and Nikolayev under Transport Group KGrzbV 104 until it returned to Germany at the end of the year. Detachment Neumann (LS-Kdo.Neumann), with 18 DFS 230s, transferred east from Goslar in July and flew from Proskurov in the Ukraine under KGzbV 1, returning to Goslar in October. Another DFS 230 detachment went to Central Russia and flew its missions from Vitebsk and Seshchinskaya before returning to its home station at Parchim in October. In July 1941, 10 DFS 230s from 6/LLG 1 based at Halberstadt departed for North Russia and took part in the capture of Saaremaa Island (Usel) off the Estonian coast on 14 September.


The only sizeable employment of LLG 1 during 1942 was in June when I Gruppe was sent to Greece with its Ju 52s to transport the Ramcke Parachute Brigade (Fallschirmjäger-Brig. Ramcke) to North Africa. The remaining Geschwader units stayed in Germany where they trained and served as a crew pool for other glider units engaged in Russia and the Mediterranean. In January 1943 the entire Geschwader was ordered to South Russia to help resupply the 6 Army surrounded in Stalingrad, but it arrived in sufficient strength too late to have any bearing on the events. Instead, it was redirected to the Crimea and used for troop transport, evacuation of wounded, and supply missions into the Kuban Bridgehead in North Caucasia under VIII Fliegerkorps. In the meantime, III Gruppe had its orders changed while en-route to the Stalingrad area and was directed to Riga-Spilve in Latvia, where it was supposed to be used in a planned assault on the Russian naval bastion at Kronshtadt, which guards the entrance to the harbour at Leningrad. The attack was cancelled and the Gruppe returned to Germany in March. In April, the rest of LLG 1 returned to Germany from the Crimea where it was reorganized. Each of the Gruppen received a fourth Staffel, these being taken from IV/LLG 1 which then became non-operational and was subsequently disbanded.


The Geschwader began moving to France in May 1943, primarily due to the Allied victory in North Africa and the increasing threat throughout the entire Mediterranean area. Deployed on airfields in South France, LLG 1 began airlifting paratroops and equipment to Sicily a few days after the Allied invasion on 10 July, and then elements of the 2 Parachute Division into the Rome area during August and September. On 17 August, the Geschwader suffered heavy losses when American bombers attacked Istres airfield in South France, and further losses on 17 September during an attack on Pratica di Mare airfield near Rome. Together, these two attacks cost the Geschwader 17 aircraft and 108 gliders destroyed, and a further 22 aircraft and 76 gliders damaged. On 12 September, gliders belonging to 12/LLG 1 (III Gruppe) participated in the now-famous rescue of Mussolini from the Gran Sasso. One Staffel from II Gruppe, 8/LLG 1, was detached on a training mission in Norway during September and October. With the threat from Allied air attacks increasing daily, LLG 1 was ordered to leave South France and Italy for safer bases in Eastern France.


With the exception of several Staffeln detached at Siena/South airfield in the Florence area of Central Italy, LLG I carried out no noteworthy operational activity until March 1944 when II and III Gruppe were ordered to Yugoslavia. Coming under Fliegerführer Kroatien, the senior tactical air commander in Croatia, they were used on 25 May for the surprise airborne attack on Tito's headquarters at Drvar by SS-Parachute Battalion 500. In July, both Gruppen were engaged in a major anti-Partisan operation in Serbia called "Draufgänger" ("Daredevil"), II/LLG 1 using its Ju 87s to dive bomb Partisan positions. When the order to disband LLG 1 was issued on 9 September 1944, II Gruppe immediately began to reorganize as Nachtschlachtgruppe 10, while III Gruppe, in Serbia, got in a few more missions using its Hs 126's to fly recce along the Bulgarian border in support of the German 1 Mountain Division, which was trying to block the advance of Red Army infantry and tank units into Yugoslavia. It then departed Krusevac airfield in Serbia on 4 October, withdrew through Hungary, and arrived at Goslar on 21 November where it disbanded.


While II and III/LLG 1 were engaged in the Balkans, I Gruppe remained in France. Between 21 and 25 July 1944, it was employed to transport infantry and paratroops to the Vercors Plateau in the Grenoble area for an operation against French Maquis forces and American OSS teams. By 1 September it had transferred to Giessen, and on this date it lost 20 of its Do 17s during a USAAF attack on the airfield. Ordered disbanded on 9 September, I Gruppe, with the exception of 2/LLG 1, sent all of its personnel to the paratroop replacement units. The Geschwaderstab was also disbanded at this time. [1]

See Also

Stab./LLG 1

I./LLG 1

II./LLG 1

III./LLG 1

IV./LLG 1

17./LLG 1

Sondergruppe LLG 1

© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2023).

(1st Draft 2023)


References

  1. Schlaug, ULTRA, and occasional mention in T-321 and T-971).

BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Flugzeug-Bereitstellungen (Aircraft Availability Status Reports – FzB) in: M.Holm-website (ww2.dk); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection. AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18; British National Archives ULTRA signals; Kannapin, Norbert: Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945. 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); Schlaug, Georg: Die deutschen Lastensegler-Verbände 1937-1945: Eine Chronik aus Berichten, Tagebüchern, Dokumenten. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, 1985. ISBN: 3-613-01065-8. Hb. Dj. 296p. Illus. Maps. Appendices. Glossary of abbreviations. Bibliography; Schlaug, Georg: “Der Luftwaffen-Einsatz beim ‘Unternehmen Rösselsprung’”, Luftwaffe im Focus, 2/2003: 37-43.


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