Schleppgruppe 3
Schleppgruppe 3
Code: (8M+__)
Ordered formed 10 October 1943 by renaming Verbindungskommando (S) V.
FpNs:
Stab/3: L 55 854 (*22 Dec 1943. +28 Oct 1944).
1.(DFS) Staffel/3: L 49 413 (*13 Dec 1943 by renaming 1.(DFS)/Verb.Kdo.(S) V. +19 Oct 1944).
2.(Go) Staffel/3: L 49 112 (*13 Dec 1943 by renaming 1.(Go)/Verb.Kdo.(S) V. +19 Oct 1944).
3.(Go) Staffel/3: L 05 950 (*13 Dec 1943 by renaming 5.(Go) Staffel/LLG 2. +20 Oct 1944).
History
Schleppgruppe 3 remained at Bialystok in northeastern Poland throughout its operational period of service. To March 1944, its activities were confined mainly to night bombing missions with its He 111 tow aircraft against targets southeast of Smolensk and around Gomel on the central sector of the Eastern Front. During March and April it participated in the airlift of supplies to German forces defending Kowel (Kovel’) in east-central Poland, frequently operating from the airfields at Baranowicze and Biala Podlaska during this period. In May, under the tactical control of Fliegerführer 1, it began hauling fuel and other supplies for fighter and ground attack units assigned to Luftflotte 6, continuing in this capacity into July, when it flew its last mission - the airlift of fuel to Panzer divisions attempting to withdraw westward to escape the onslaught of the Soviet Belorussian offensive and the threat of encirclement. In the second half of July, the Gruppe pulled back to Warsaw and then, a few weeks later, to Posen (Poznan) in western Poland where it was disbanded in September. Most of the personnel were reassigned to the parachute units, but 9 tow aircraft crews were transferred to Belgrade/Yugoslavia and turned over to Schleppgruppe 1. [1]
Kommandeure (Commanding Officers)
Maj. Ernst Geres (10/43 - 8/44)
Hptm. Kurt Herzog (8/44 - 9/44)
Stations
Białystok-Kuriany/Poland (10/43 - 7/44)
Warsaw/Poland (7/44 - 8/44)
Poznan (Posen)/Poland (8/44 - 9/44)
Equipment and Returns
Reported 18 aircraft and 50 gliders on strength June 1944.
Representative Losses Schleppgruppe 3
30.10.43: He 111 H-6 (20%) and a DFS 230 glider (100%) crashed at Lida landing ground in NE Poland.
[With the exception of the above entry, the destruction or disappearance of the Luftwaffe General Quartermaster (Gen.Qu./6.Abt.) Loss Reports (Verlustmeldungen d. fliegende Verbände) for all of 1944 and parts of 1945 makes a listing of losses unworkable.]
Also see:
APEL, Norman, Lt. Pilot.
AUDERER, Hermann, Oblt. Staka 2.(Go)/3. MIA.
GERES, Ernst, Maj. Kdr. (10/43 - 7/44?).
HÄCKER, Karl-Otto, Lt.? Pilot. In 3./3 in 6/44.
HERZOG, Kurt, Hptm. Kdr. (8/44 - 9/44).
KÖHLER, ? , Oblt. Adjutant.
Markings
See: Ketley, Barry. Luftwaffe Emblems 1939-1945. Manchester: Crécy Publishing Limited, 2012.
Distinctions and Remarks
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2023).
(1st Draft 2023)
References
- ↑ ? Sources checked: 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); NARA WashDC, RG 242, Microcopy T-311 roll 228/frame 491; 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.
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