End of hostilities - Vol 03 - Sardinia - Villacidro - Part 2

In addition to the 12 Ju 88s covered in part 1 there were a coule of handfuls of other aircraft models found at Villacidro, and you can find them detailed in the table below.

Other aircraft models found at Villacidro

No	Type of aircraft	Works No. & Acceptance date	Markings	Engine type and No.	Remarks	Loss record
13	Ju 52	W.N. on fin 3549 on rudder 22	-	-	Wrecked
14	Me 109	W.N. 18454	G white	-	Wrecked	Info
15	Me 109 G	W.N. 10895	H + on white band	-	-	Info
16	He 111 H-II	W.N. 110157	I H x H (yellow) R	-	Wrecked
17	He 111 H.II	W.N. 7112	I H x F (white) H	-	Crest. "Vestigium Leonis" in black on white shield.
18	He 111 H.II	W.N. 7257	I H x L (outlined white) X	-	Wrecked
19	He 111	W.N. 8125	I H x D (yellow) P	-	Wrecked
20	Fi 156	W.N. probably 0098	-	-	Burnt out
21	Fi 156	-	-	-	Burnt out

I have not been able to find loss records for the KG 26 aircraft listed here.

Maybe a KG 26 expert can give a hint towards why these were seemingly not reported in the loss records?

End of hostilities - Vol 03 - Sardinia - Villacidro - Part 1

This post will contain details on the aircraft remains located on or around the airfield at Villacidro - the location where the second largest collection of Ju 88s were found on Sardinia.

I am writing this partly on request from a reader who work on Ju 88 units and wanted to see what was in the reports on that particular aircraft model.

There were 12 Ju 88s found at Villacidro - and the wrecks must have been in a reasonable condition - as identifying features were found on a lot of them.

Ju 88s found at Villacidro

No	Type of aircraft	Works No. & Acceptance date	Markings	Engine type and No.	Remarks	Loss record
1	Ju 88 A-4 Trop	-	3 Z - C (green) D	-	Wrecked
2	Ju 88	W.N. 2398 W.N. 3984	F I - D (white) H	-	Wrecked
3	Ju 88 A-4 Trop	W.N. 1143	F I - D (yellow) T	-	Crest. Yellow lion with red tongue and claws on black shield. With Heidelberg written above	Info
4	Ju 88 A-4	W.N. on fin 5658	I H x D (blue) R	-	Wrecked
5	Ju 88 A-14	W.N. from main plate 088 014 4665	I H x B (blue) R	-	Wrecked
6	Ju 88 A-14	W.N. from main plate 088 014 4407	I H x B (outlined yellow) T	Jumo 211 J	Crest. "Vestigium Leonis". Lion in black on yellow shield.	Info
7	Ju 88	W.N. 0140568	4 D x G (white) S	-	Crest. Yellow shield with black diving eagle.
8	Ju 88	W.N. 0144408	-	-	Crest. "Vestigium Leonis", black lion on yellow shield.	Info
9	Ju 88 A-4	W.N. 0144320	I T x C (outline yellow) T	-	Wrecked	Info
10	Ju 88 A-4	W.N. 0144285	I T x D (outlined white) S	-	Wrecked	Info
11	Ju 88 A-4	W.N. from main plate 4587	I T - D (blue) R	-	Wrecked	Info
12	Ju 88 A-4	-	I T - F (outlined yellow) T	-	Wrecked

There are a few interesting features here - note that the aircraft unit codes are written with a capital I (Italy), and not the number 1 (one). This is most likely due to the fact that the messages were transferred using radio and/or teleprinter equipment - and later written up based on that communication. I have seen a lot of the same in German communication on teleprinter strips and there they often use for example "roemisch 3 KG 54" to state that he communication relates to III. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 54.

What we have here is a nice collection of  KG 26 (code 1H and 1T), KG 30 (4D), KG 76 (code F1), KG 77 (code 3Z) aircraft.

The report I am quoting is produced after November 24th 1943 - and one of the III./K.G.26 aircraft listed here was recorded as lost on November 18th 1942 (note the interesting location name in the German loss record!):

http://www.aviationhistory.no/ref_db/lw_loss_public.asp?lossid=144011

End of hostilities - Vol 02 - Sardinia - Olbia

Second part of this series will detail the information on aircraft found on the airports in the Olbia area.

In the list wreckage is listed as being located in three places:

• On the airfield Vena-Fiorita, which should be the current Aeroporto di Olbia Venafiorita
• In a location called Posiana - Ettore - I wonder if this is on the street Via Ettore Pais between Spiaggia Bianca and Golfo Aranci - maybe some Italian friends can help us out here?
• The third location is just stated as in the vicinity of Olbia. 

The aircraft remains located at Posiana - Ettore was a Bf 109G-6, from III./JG 77 - given away by the fact that it carried the well known crest with a wolfs head and the motto Wanderzirkus Ubben. The aircraft was dismantled for shipping, and the markings as given by the document was apparently 1 + X painted over J + X. My theory is that the tactical marking on the aircraft was '1', and that the J and X are the remains of the Stammkennzeichen.

In my opinion this is the remains of Bf 109G-6, WNr 18254, where the J + X refer to the remains of the Stammkennzeichen SO + JX, but in the report referring to the underwing markings which would read S + O on one wing and J + X on the other wing.

I have not been able to tie this bird with 100% certainty to the III./JG 77 during their stay at Sardinia - but there is one loss which could be referring to this - obviously with an incomplete WNr 1825:

http://www.aviationhistory.no/ref_db/lw_loss_public.asp?lossid=126146

I have not been able to locate a loss record for WNr 18254, I would just love it if someone came up with a comment to this post which was relevant to solving this!

More to follow on the other airframes in the Olbia area later this week...

End of hostilities - Vol 01 - Sardinia

This time I am moving to another area. As I realise that the time I use for a more research intensive blog post is too long - I would like to put in some short blog posts to keep posting on a more regular basis in a hectic day to day life.

Even so - the post is based on use of period archival references - this time coming from the National Archives in London.

The report I am quoting gives some interesting insight into the meticulous work the allied forces did as they overran German occupied territory or the territories of their allies.

As the title suggest, I am starting with a report on Sardinia with an overview of the aircraft inspected on the various airfields there. As my family has a special relation to this island I fould it a nice place to start. Today known as a holiday island - then very much a part of the defence of the 'soft underbelly of Europe'!

CONFIDENTIAL

ABANDONED ENEMY AIRCRAFT - SARDINIA

Signals have been received giving details of 121 aircraft inspected on the airfields in Sardinia, bringing the total for the Italian campaign, including the aircraft examined in Corsica, up to 1643.

SARDINIA

SARDINIA BORORE	1	Me 109
MILIS	5	He 111
	1	Fw 190
	1	Fi 156
ORISTANO	1	Ju 88
	1	He 111
	5	Ju 87
	1	Fi 156
OTTANA	1	Ju 87
	8	Fw 190
	1	Fi 156
SENORBIA	8	Me 109
DECOUCMANN	6	Ju 88
	8	He 111
	1	Ju 87
	1	Me 410
	7	Me 109
	1	Fi 156
VILLACIDRO	12	Ju 88
	4	He 111
	2	Me 109
	2	Fi 156
	1	Ju 52
ELMAS	19	Ju 88
	9	He 111
	3	Me 109
	1	Do 24
	1	Fw 200
	1	Go 242
MONTSERRATO	2	Ju 88
	4	Me 109
	2	Go 242
TOTAL	121

I will come back with more - as an updated reported more than doubles this number - ending up at 278 aircraft!

Research notes - Unit strength reports part II

A natural follow-up of the previous post on unit strength reporting is of course to look at how the Generalquartiermeister reported the personell of a unit with regards to operational readiness.

For a flying unit the smallest entity was of course the single aircraft and its corresponding crew - and this was also the highest granularity used for reporting. For a unit equipped with single engine fighter aircraft the corresponding crew unit would be the pilot - for a multi-engined bomber aircraft the crew unit could be as large as 5 for a Heinkel He 111 or later in the war even higher for a Heinkel He 177.

Representation of aircrew

Chart explaining the symbols used by the Generalquartiermeister 6. Abteilung for their graphical representation of strength reports for the operational units of the Luftwaffe.

There were two symbols used to represent aircrew as shown in the illustration above. A circle filled in with colour in a given pattern, and a circle with a superimposed triangle.

The colour blue were used to indicate the status of the crew up to the established strength of a unit, while the colour green was used to indicate any additional available aircrew above the established strength - but here numbers and letters were used to report the number and individual status - the green disc used to show that the unit had additional aircrew only.

• A filled blue circle represents a crew (remember - a crew not a single crew member for aircraft types with more than one crew member!) on strength and ready for operations.
• A circle with lines tilted at 45 degrees angle indicate a crew which is conditionally ready for operations - for example a crew which is not yet fully qualified for night operations due to missing instrument flying training and so on.
• A circle with a blue cross would indicate a crew in the unit, but not ready for operations - "nicht einsatzbereit".
• An empty square indicate that there are a number of crews missing from the established strength.

Strength report for III./JG 52, showing 23 pilots ready for operations, and nine conditionally ready. The unit is missing 8 pilots from its established strength of 40 pilots at this point in time.

As mentioned, hte colour green is used to show the number of additional complete crew above the Sollstärke or established strength of the unit.

The following examples show some variations where alle the variants are used in one way or another:  

Strength return of III./J.G.26, illustrating the use of a green circle to indicate aircrew in the unit above established strength. Note the pencilled remark showing that in addition to the 40 pilots of the established strenght of the unit, they had three pilots which were conditionally ready and one pilot not ready for operations. 

Strength return of II./N.J.G.1 showing that at this particular point in time they did not have a single crew ready for operational sorties, even if they had a full roster according to the Sollstärke.