Rare reconnoissance aircraft in the far north, Messerschmitt Bf 110 F-3 of 1.(F)/124

Earlier this month the following very rare photos of aircraft of the 1.(F)/124 long range reconnoissance unit was sold on eBay.

When talking long range reconnoissance over the tundra of the northern flank of the Luftwaffe presence, we are usually talking about Junkers Ju 88 variants.

But the unit operated a small number of other makes and models only - and someone has obviously been able to copy the (my speculation) photos from the album of a technician of the unit, showing the only Messerschmitt Bf 110 operated by the unit.

Aircraft technician H. Märtens in the pilot seat of G2 + ZH of 1.(F)/124

The aircraft was a F-3 variant, as identified by the Flugzeugbestand und Bewegungsmeldungen for the unit. These records along with the strength returns of the unit show that it was operated by the unit from September 1942 and all the way through September 1943 when it was transferred to another unit.

Full side view of the single Messerschmitt Bf 110 F-3 operated by 1.(F)/124

Closeup of the code of G2 + ZH of 1.(F)/124

The emblem and code G2 + ZH clearly identify it as an aircraft of the unit

As the unit was stationed at Kirkenes in the far north, and the only other unit operating the aircraft type in this area was the 13.(Z)/JG 5, my speculation was that this unit took over the aircraft. As the unit did indeed receive a single Messerschmitt Bf 110 F-3 from another unit, I believe this is proof enough that this lone swallow in the 1.(F)/124 did indeed end up in the Zerstörer Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5.

It did not stay long in the unit, however, by the end of October 1943 it had already been transferred on to another unit. I have not been able to trace this yet, and it is highly likely that it was transferred to a training unit at this stage of its life.

Altering and correcting a loss record

Hi, all!

It has been some time since my last blog entry - I will try to get more out this year. I just got myself a new Microsoft Surface Pro, which will help me to utilize more of my travelling time to do Luftwaffe research (and of course work...)

This post is going to be about one specific loss record in my database, but also and more importantly about the natural sceptisism we should have as researchers.

My team have, as you all probably know by now, more or less completed the entry of all available loss records for the Luftwaffe from the Gen.Qu.6.Abt. material into a relational database. This give us ample opportunity to analyze and cross reference with other sources.

My example today is a loss record from the document dated May 28th 1940. For those familiar with the loss record document from that period, the losses reported in a given document referred to the losses which occured two days previous unless the date is  - as the name of the document indicates:

Flugzeugunfälle und Verluste bei den Verbänden am 26.5.1940

Loss number 20 in this document relates to a He 59 of 1./706, which was strafed while it was lying at anchor after an emergency landing near Ålesund on the western coast of Norway.

We naturally registered this loss with a loss date of May 26th 1940, and it has been registered with this information until today. While reading through a new set of sources I came across the following two messages transferred from the 196 Infantry Division to the Armeegruppe XXI, Ia:

The first message read

Fernschreiben. 18.5.40 22.30 Uhr  

An Gruppe XXI, Ia

Heute deutsches Flugzeug, Hptm. Beitzke, bei Alsnes, 8 km westl. Alesund notgelandet. Nach Verständigung durch deutschen Konsul Aleshund mit Drontheim wurden 3 Mann von dort mit Flugzeug abgeholt.

196. Inf. Div. Ic

and the second

Fernschreiben. 19.5.40 12.50 Uhr  

An Gruppe XXI, Ia

Gestern bei Alesund notgelandet "He 59". Hptm. Beitzke, heute morgen durch zwei englische Flugzeuge mit Maschinengewehr zum Sinken gebracht.

196. J.D. Ic

So - after reviewing this new information the loss record was altered to read as seen here:

Loss record in the loss database

The next natural step is to see if I have any Kriegstagebuch entries for the given date that I have yet to review - in order to see if I can find more information on the aircraft and crew, and I would also like to try to identify the aircraft that attacked the moored He 59.

Daily eBay scan - FW 190s and Bf 109s of JG 5

A small collection of Focke-Wulf 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s is currently on offer from kurmark-antik.

Schwarze 4 of (in my opinion) 11./JG 5 after a an accident at what I think is Banak airfield. I believe this to be the landing accident of the FW 190 WNr 481, flown by Friedrich Hammesfahr on December 11th 1942, the accident resulting in a damage assessed to 20%.

Another image of the same aircraft during the operation to get it back on it´s wheels.

The second dual set of photographs show another FW 190 in the north, I believe this to be the airfield at Banak also. A fitting loss record could be the FW 190 A-3, WNr 2275 which was damaged 35 % after a landing accident on May 31st 1943. 

The same aircraft shown from the other side.

A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-2 or A-3 coded Schwarze 14 parked with starting cart attached. The apparently treeless hill in the background hints to the far north, but I will have to check further reference photos before I make a guess on where this was taken.

An early series Bf 109F being pushed into the custom made hangar, most likely at the airfield at Alakurtti in Finland

Another Bf 109F, probably also at one of the airfields in the far north.

Three members of JG 5 in front of a Bf 109G of the unit.

As always - more information on the photographs and comments with regards to my theories are most welcome!

Researching the Luftwaffe by following the paper trail - Introduction

When my interest in aviation history started to take off and being more of a serious hobby years ago (I will not state how many - as it might trigger a feeling that I am getting old!) my knowledge about what sources that were available was low.

I was reading magazines, some books and cartoons even, but I wanted more. I had a feeling that the stories told in our school textbooks and by popular media was to shallow - the whole story had to be more than the black and white bad guys vs good guys perspective almost all publications available to me at the time seemed to have.

I have already started a series on the 6. Abteilung des Generalstabes der Luftwaffe (Generalquartiermeister), but there are lots of documents that offer insight into the Luftwaffe which is not directly linked to this unit.

In this series, which I hope can be both an introduction for those starting up with a new hobby but also give those who have been interested for a while a few new ideas, I will try to cover those parts of the paper trail I have been using - and illustrate them with original source material - so that the reader can relate to the documents in their original state.

The language will naturally be cumbersome for some, and I will try to translate key components to English to the best of my ability.

I see now that I have forgotten to publish the introduction before I published the first two posts in this series - hopefully you will all read and enjoy these postings - the order you read them in is not really that important.

Following the paper trail - Part II

Intro

This series will consist of examples from my document collection showing the enormous amount of paper that was generated by the different parts of the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Meldung über erfolgte Bergung eines Flugzeuges - Report regarding the successful recovery of an aircraft

This pre-printed document was used by special units created to recover aircraft that was damaged or destroyed in all kinds of accidents or as a result of combat operations. These could be Bergetruppen attached to a specific airfield, other designations seen are Bergebattallion.

The first example here is the pre-printed sheet used by the units to record the information initially - the Vorläufige Ausführung - draft - where one can see that the Bergetrupp 25/IV attached to the Kommando Fliegerhorstbereich at Lille in France has entered the draft details of the recovery of a Bf 109 from III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 26 which occured at Vitry, France on October 31st 1943. I have published the original loss record as part of my data base of Luftwaffe losses here:

http://www.aviationhistory.no/ref_db/lw_loss_public.asp?lossid=109895

As one can see, the Halter (III./JG 26) given as the unit the aircraft was attached to differ from the draft seen here and the loss record (IV./JG 26) which was finally reported to the Generalquartiermeister 6. Abteilung in Berlin. This is in fact quite a rare bird also, as it is a two seater trainer version of the Bf 109,  a G-12 subtype.

Meldung über erfolgte Bergung eines Flugzeuges - draft

The second example shown is the typewritten final version of a recovery report from Flugzeugbergetrupp 41/IV subordinated to the Kommando Fliegerhorstbereich 6/XII Salon:

Meldung über erfolgte Bergung eines Flugzeuges - finished version

As one can see there are some astonishing details to be seen here, some which are usually not present in an ordinary loss report where no personnel injuries were sustained, and some that can only as far as I have been able to confirm be found in these reports.

We have the code or call sign of the aircraft "Yellow 15", the model and serial number of the engine, and even what part of the recovered aircraft went where after it was taken care of by the Bergetrupp.

The location is reported with a much larger degree of accuracy than the Generalquartiermeister reports, especially when the loss occurred outside of the airfield perimeter.

In this case the location is the same in both reports as can be seen from here:

http://www.aviationhistory.no/ref_db/lw_loss_public.asp?lossid=105411

The Zelle, or body/fuselage with wings, of the aircraft went to the Erla repair facility at Brüssel (Brugge) in Belgium, the engine was shipped to the Feldluftpark at Nimes in France as it was undamaged, while the spare parts and tools where to be prepared for transport (to the Erla VII repair works) by the unit the aircraft was attached to, in this case the 3. Staffel of the training unit Jagdgruppe Süd - the equivalent to a british OTU (operational training unit).

We even have the number of the transport document, 07 459 075, and which train wagon it was transported on, a French train wagon with the serial number 82687 - I bet some train geeks can tell us what kind of wagon this was!