1.(H)/41 - Luftwaffedata Wiki (2024)

1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41

Code: (C2 + )

Formation and Training. (Nov 38 - Aug 39)

The Staffel was formed from 1.(H)/Aufklarungsgruppe 52 on 1 November 1938 at Reichenberg (Liberec), 89 km NNE of Prague in the Sudetenland border area between Czechoslovakia and Silesia. 1.(H)/41 was equipped with Heinkel He 45 and He 46 aircraft when formed. During the first half of 1939, the Staffel converted to the newer Henschel Hs 126, and at the end of August transferred from Reichenberg to Stubendorf, 20 km southeast of Oppeln in Silesia.^[1]

Polish Campaign. (Sep 1939)

The Staffel had 12 Hs 126s on strength for the coming attack on Poland and worked hard to keep as many operational as possible. After the attack began in September, they flew tactical reconnaissance in support of IV. Armeekorps/AOK 10 (10th Army). Their missions were in central Poland and followed the line of advance Czestochowa-Radom-Lublin-Chelm. No losses were recorded for the Staffel during the campaign. The location and activity of the Staffel between October 1939 and March 1940 are unknown.

West - Attack on France and the Low Countries. (May 40 - c.May 41)

By early March, apparently after a period of rest, refitting and training, the Staffel was assigned to IV. Armeekorps, which was located in the Eifel area along the German-Belgian border. On 8 March, a Hs 126 was reported as 70% damaged during a forced landing near Witten, SW of Dortmund, due to engine failure. On 10 May the great German Blitzkrieg attack began and the Staffel (at Hückelhoven/22 km SW of Mönchengladbach?) supported the advance across central Belgium by the IV. Anneekorps/AOK 6, which reached the Lille area toward the end of May. On May 12th, an Hs 126 was shot down by a British Hurricane over St.-Trond, Belgium, and on 15 May another was lost to a Hurricane east of Brussels. Near the end of the month, on 30 May, an Hs 126 was shot up and damaged by AA fire over St.-Lucienne, in the northeastern part of France.

Following the end of the campaign, the Staffel moved to Royan on the Bay of Biscay, north of Bordeaux, and on 13 August reported eight Hs 126s on strength under the Stab/Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 41, which in turn was under IV. Fliegerkorps/Luftflotte 3. On 24 October, Hs 126 (C2+DH) was lost when it crashed into the Bay of Biscay, probably while on a routine training flight. The crew was rescued by a fishing boat.

South Russia and Germany. (Jun 41 - Apr 42)

In April of 1941, the Staffel converted to the Focke Wulf Fw 189, but where this occurred is not known. Later in June, it was in the Mielec-Rzeszow area in southeastern Poland under Koluft 17, and again was assigned to support the IV. Armeekorps. During June and July as operation Barbarossa started, the Staffel advanced with the Armeekorps through Galicia via Lvov into the western Ukraine. On 13 July, a Klemm Kl 35B liaison aircraft belonging to the Staffel was 80% damaged in a crash landing at Krasilov airfield, 21 km southwest of Staro-Konstantinov. In August and September the Staffel was operating along the Dnieper River southeast of Kiev between Kanev and Cherkassy. On 18 October, while still supporting the IV. Armeekorps, an Fw 189 was shot up by a Russian fighter and slightly damaged over Krasnograd, 105 km NNE of Dnepropetrovsk. One member of the crew was killed, while Lt. Gerhard Mollenhauer and another crewman were wounded. A few weeks later, as winter weather closed in, 1(H)/41 was withdrawn from operations and returned to Germany for rest and refitting.

Central Russia. (May 42 - Dec 42)

Following the Spring thaw in May of 1942, the Staffel returned to Russia and was based at Vyazma-Gradina, on the central sector of the front for operations under Nahaufklärungsgruppe 2 (NAGr. 2). During a mission on 28 June, an Fw 189 A-l was 20% damaged by AA fire near Senino in the Vyazrna area wounding two members of the crew. Another Fw 189 A-l was shot up by ground fire over Temkino, 40 km southeast of Vyazma, and slightly damaged on 14 August. Later that month, on 25 August, an Fw 189 A-3 was hit by AA fire (50% damage) near Temkino, and on 4 September an Fw 189 A-l returned to Vyazma-Gradina heavily damaged (80%) with one crewman wounded after combat with a Russian fighter. No information has been found to date giving the location and activity of the Staffe1 between September and December, 1942.

South Russia. (Jan 43 - Dec 43)

In early January of 1943, the Staffel was transferred with NAGr. 2 to Voroshilovgrad in the Donets Basin area of southern Russia to reinforce the front west of Stalingrad. En-route to this new location, an Fw 189 listed in the loss reports as a C-2 version, crashed southwest of Bryansk killing the crew of three. This was probably a typographical error resulting from confusion with the Staffel code (C2+). On 9 February, an Fw 189 returned to Voroshilovgrad slightly damaged after being hit by AA fire, and on 21 April an Fw 189 A-2 was shot up by AA fire near Voroshilovgrad which caused minor damage and wounded one of the crew. Elements of the Staffel also used the airfield at Rovenki, 55 km south of Voroshilovgrad, during the spring of 1943. On 30 May, in what proved to be the last entry recorded in the loss reports for 1.(H)/41, an Fw 189 A-2 (C2+IH) was shot down by AA fire northeast of Nizhiy-Nagolchik near Rovenki, and the three man crew was reported missing. During March, the Staffel had operated under NAGr. 12, and the from April to September 1943 under NAGr. l. It appears that sometime in September 1.(H)/41 handed over its remaining 8 x Fw 189 A-2 and A-3 aircraft to other Fw 189 tactical reconnaissance units operating in southern Russia and then the pilots and other aircrew returned to Germany for Bf 109G conversion training. On or about 1 December 1943, the Staffel was renamed 2./NAGr. 14 at Bayreuth-Bindlach.

'FpN:1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41 (L 04758).

Staffelkapitän:

Major Wilhelm von Winterfeld ( ? - ? ) 1939

Major Werner Stein (Sep 40 - Apr 41)

Also see:

BRAUNEGG, Herward (Herwald?), Lt./Oblt.

BRUHN , H., Oblt.

BUJALLA, Werner, Lt.

DEIMANN, Wilhelm, Lt.

DIETRICH, R., Lt.

FISCHHAUER, Werner, Lt.

HALBROCK, Friedrich-Ernst, Lt./Oblt.

JEHSER, Horst, Oblt./Hptm.

KRIEGEL, Hans, Oblt.

MELLENHAUER, Gerhard, Lt.

MITZELFELD, T., Lt.

NÜSKEN, Rudolf, Lt. (Tr.O.)

SCHEER, Gerhard, Oblt.

SCHICK, Rudolf, Lt.

SIGEL, Hermann, Lt.

STROHM, Ulrich, Oblt.

WAGNER, Friedrich (Fritz), Hptm.

© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).(1st Draft 2022)

References

Aufklärungsgruppe 41

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