LW-Gruppe Schädlingsbekämpfung (Pest Control Group)

[Leendert]

The LW had a Gruppe Schädlingsbekämpfung which answered to the Luftkommando Berlin-Tempelhof. Equipped with over 60 Do-23, Fw-58, Fi-156 and Hs-126 a/c the unit was tasked with forest protection, agricultural pest control and anti-insect spraying. It was formed pre-war.

It may be that the unit was (also) known as Streustaffel (spraying/dusting staffel).
I wonder if this Gruppe has operated in occupied territories during the war years as well?

Thanks for any info.

Regards,
Leendert

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Leendert,

Have you found any pilot or aircrew member related to this particular unit?

Was it a pre-war Gruppe or did it maintain its functions during the war? And...60 machines is quite a number of equipment fo forest protection...Am not doubting the number itself, no way would I doubt such information, but why this huge number I mean?

I guess you found something we had never heard about....and surely it is a fantastic topic to further investigation...to discover the kind of missions they usually flew...how they were scheduled and planned...what kind of insect spraying was done and where... the results of those, etc...

A mervellous topic and keep us informed...I do bid that many of us had never heard anything about it...

A.

[ghostwriter]

hello leendert, adriano and all,

the keyword for a further research is: "Flieger-Forstschutzstaffel" or only "Forstschutzstaffel" ...

so you can find some more informations and pictures on this interesting topic!?

in this link for example, the fifth picture from above:
Do 23 G, D-APYN, of a forestry protection squadron
http://www.luftarchiv.de/index.htm?/flugzeuge/dornier/do23.htm


best regards
marc

[ghostwriter]

an addition ... found and translated:

Test Command 40:

The Air Force Forestry Protection Association was formed on March 5, 1940 as an independent association from the "Pest Control Group" of the Berlin Air Command, which had existed since 1936. It was mainly used for forest pest control and from October 1941 also took over the fight against malaria in the occupied territories. Numerous spraying and pollination flights were carried out for this purpose. Another focus of his activities was the sowing of agricultural and forestry seeds and the spreading of artificial fertiliser. After it was placed under the command of the E-Stellen on 1 January 1944, the Air Force Forestry Protection Association was renamed E-Kommando 40. By order of September 3, 1944, the command stationed in Göttingen was dissolved and the remaining command was transferred to Coburg in November 1944, where it was used to set up E-Kommando 41.

source: https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/ead-display/-/ead/pl/aicode/DE-1958/type/fa/id/DE-1958_12cf8fd0-2210-4c1d-b61e-a39beea3b0e4 (german)

[Leendert]

Marc,
Thanks for this additional info and pointing me to what German words to use for further searches on the net.


Grüss,
Leendert

[Leendert]

For those interested: more about this unit in the online book (in German) "Biologische Waffen: nicht in Hitlers Arsenalen" by Erhard Geissler (Münster, 1998).


The name of Oberst von Borstell is mentioned as CO.



Regards,
Leendert

[Edward L. Hsiao]

This is all new to me! A Luftwaffe pest control group or forestry protection group? Well the German pilots who flew these aerial chemical spray planes must have been pretty serious in fighting forest pests during WWII!

Edward L. Hsiao

[Leendert]

Not so unusual. Allied air forces such as USAAF and RAF also had spraying a/c to combat (e.g.) malaria and other diseases in the Pacific, CBI, Europe (Naples, Sardinia...) and Africa (locusts in East Africa, malaria in Ghana...). The RAF also did locust control in Iran in 1943.



With every landing on the Pacific islands the USMC sent malaria control units within hours to ensure the health of its soldiers.



Regards,
Leendert

[Adriano Baumgartner]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sterbebild-Deathcard-Wehrmacht-Scharfuhrer-Forstschutz-Reichsforstdienst-10-1944/114105080076?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

A.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

An amazing topic indeed...hope that an Article or booklet will arise from it.

Congratulations Leendert and good "hunt" for you.

A.

[Mihai Pica]

Ok this is probably one of the most interesting new things to find out about the Luftwaffe this month, thanks for sharing.

[Leendert]

Did some more trawling on the net.
There is an online publication of the University of Göttingen called 'Die Förstliche Fakultät der Universität Göttingen im Nationalsozialismus' by Peter-Michael Steinsiek.

There are some references to and a few pictures of the Fliegerforstschutzverband , with notes of spraying activities in Poland, e.g. against leaf wasps. Also that from May-October 1944 three a/c did anti-malaria dusting around Auschwitz...
In July 1944 7 x Fw-58 were active near Krakow.

It appears that the Bundesarchiv in Freiburg has some 60 documents wth spraying reports in their archives.

Regards,
Leendert

[ouidjat]

The question being ... did this group intended to use Bf 109 for spraying ? ;)

[Andy Mitchell]

Hello,

Barry Rosch's book "Luftwaffe Support Units" (Luftwaffe Colours - Classic Colours) contains approx one and a half pages (pages 11 and 12) on Fliegerforstschutzverband and its successor units Erprobungskommando 40 and 41.

It notes that the main base for the unit was Göttingen with missions being flown from Strausberg (Nov 1939- Feb 1940), Stargard (autumn 1942) and Weimar-Nohra (summer 1943).

During 1944 aircraft operated from Weimar-Nohra (Feb - Sep 1944, Beyreuth (Sep 1944) and Coburg (6 Fw 58 were destroyed by Allied strafing on 12 Sep 1944)

1 Jan 1944 - Fliegerforstschutzverband was renamed Erprobungskommando 40.

22 Jan 1945 - Erprobungskommando 40 was renamed Erprobungskommando 41.

Main aircraft used were Do 23 up until Summer 1943 when 30 Fw 58C-2/U6 were employed. The Do 23s lasting until Sep 1944.

During April 1945 the units aircraft were stored at Münster, Göttingen and Faßberg.

[Larry deZeng]

Hello,

Barry Rosch's book "Luftwaffe Support Units" (Luftwaffe Colours - Classic Colours) contains approx one and a half pages (pages 11 and 12) on Fliegerforstschutzverband and its successor units Erprobungskommando 40 and 41.
It notes that the main base for the unit was Göttingen with missions being flown from Strausberg (Nov 1939- Feb 1940), Stargard (autumn 1942) and Weimar-Nohra (summer 1943).
During 1944 aircraft operated from Weimar-Nohra (Feb - Sep 1944, Beyreuth (Sep 1944) and Coburg (6 Fw 58 were destroyed by Allied strafing on 12 Sep 1944)
1 Jan 1944 - Fliegerforstschutzverband was renamed Erprobungskommando 40.
22 Jan 1945 - Erprobungskommando 40 was renamed Erprobungskommando 41.
Main aircraft used were Do 23 up until Summer 1943 when 30 Fw 58C-2/U6 were employed. The Do 23s lasting until Sep 1944.
During April 1945 the units aircraft were stored at Münster, Göttingen and Faßberg.

What follows is not an attempt to light a fuse or produce a contentious reaction - I just want to set the record straight. Virtually all of the information on E-Kdos. 40 and 41 that appears on pages 11 and 12 of Rosch's 2009 Luftwaffe Support Units book came from a handful of document photocopies and notes that I gave to him 6 or 7 years before his book was published. I also gave him very extensive notes on virtually every other unit that he describes in the book. I was very disappointed and angry when I saw the book because I lost contact with him 5 years before it was published and he never had the courtesy of asking permission. He did insert an Acknowledgements paragraph inside the front cover, however. I notified Robert Forsyth at Chevron and that resulted in some rather unpleasant back-and-forth e-mails that came close to the hiring of attorneys on both sides. Lesson learned: be careful who you give your material to when it cost you considerable time, effort and money to acquire it.

L.

[sveahk]

Hello all!

In Freiburg/Brsg, more than a decade ago., researching other stuff, I came across documents regarding Flieger-Forstschutz-Verband, later E.Kdo.40. - archive number RL 36/445.

I took some 40plus copies from the period 1943-1945. They confirm what has been said here in the forum, and also goes deeper in detail why and when the E.Kdo.40 was used. They started out with forest and Malaria spraying tests 1942 in Greece and Ukraine. 1943 they used it regularly in the Kuban area. To kill off the forest bugs they used GESAROL, and for the mosquitos THIODIPHENYLAMIN(I.G.-"Bayer"-Leverkusen), which they said was relatively harmless ("relativ harmlos") for human beings and animals...!

Contradicted in a report from september 1944, where it said that the pilot Hauptmann Willy Flach - from this E.Kdo. - couldn't be used for further flying service because he was "...behindert im besonderen Einsatz durch mehrfache Vergiftung." ("...hampered in special missions because of repeated poisoning."). Well, well...

Which aircraft were used up till the disbandment in autumn 1944, and some top names from E.Kdo.40., you'll find in the enclosed documents.

Cheers
Hans K

[sveahk]

Documents

[Leendert]

Hans, Larry et al.

Thanks for all this aditional helpful information to shed light on this little known Verband.

Regards,

Leendert

[uschu4711]

score: https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/ead-display/-/ead/pl/aicode/DE-1958/type/hg/id/Best%C3%A4nde%C3%BCbersicht/unitid/RL+36/search/0/luftwaffe+gruppe+sch%C3%A4dlingsbek%C3%A4mpfung


Erprobungskommando 40:
Der Fliegerforstschutzverband wurde am 5. März 1940 als selbständiger Verband aus der "Gruppe Schädlingsbekämpfung" des seit 1936 bestehenden Flugkommandos Berlin gebildet. Er wurde vorwiegend zur Waldschädlingsbekämpfung eingesetzt und übernahm ab Oktober 1941 auch die Malariabekämpfung in den besetzten Gebieten. Zu diesem Zweck wurden zahlreiche Sprüh- und Bestäubungsflüge durchgeführt. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt seiner Tätigkeit lag auf der Aussaat von landwirtschaftlichem und forstwirtschaftlichem Saatgut und dem Ausstreuen von künstlichem Dünger. Nach seiner Unterstellung unter das Kommando der E-Stellen am 1. Januar 1944 wurde der Fliegerforstschutzverband in E-Kommando 40 umbenannt. Mit Befehl vom 3. September 1944 wurde das in Göttingen stationierte Kommando aufgelöst und das Restkommando im November 1944 nach Coburg verlegt, wo es zur Aufstellung des E-Kommandos 41 verwendet wurde.

[sveahk]

Hi.

Can't refrain from bringing this strange letter concerning the Chef of E.Kdo.40. to light. It's sent from Weimar to the Commander of Erprobungsstellen Rechlin, date 25.2.1944.

My translation:

" At the airport of Nohra there is an Oberst von Borstell, a crass egotist, who knows how to provide himself with all possible advantages. Recently he wishes to place a part of his unit(E.Kdo.40) in a forester's house by Coburg, where he can perform alleged "scientific" research. In reality it's only a pretext to be able to be together with his divorced first wife, who lives there. What a scoundrel! And such a man is a high officer in the Third Reich. What will the common soldier think of that.
I could with a clear conscience sign this letter with my name, but I won't do it, as I've seen last year how persons not in favour have been sent off.
I've sent a copy of this letter to GFM Milch.

Heil Hitler
An old National Socialist"

Well, how about that!! No wonder somebody wrote "Papierkorb!" at the bottom - Trashcan! But for once, a German command which was not followed - and instead let us sit here more than 75 years afterwards wondering...what was that all about?!

Cheers Hans K

Original letter

[David E. Brown]

Gents,

Thought that I would share the attached from my collection.

Below is a photos of an Fw 58 C-2/U6, “TE+BK”, WNr.2093 of EKdo. 41. The photos were taken at Fassberg in late May 1945 by a member of the RCAF. Note that this machine later became AirMin 117. I particularly like the unit wappen.

Best,

David

[JoMe]

Hi David

There is much wrong in this last post.
The last letter cannot be a "K", the outline of the lower part of the letter does not fit.
The Fw 58/2093 carried the SKZ: DC + EU and the Fw 57/58233 carried the SKZ: TE + BK, both aircraft belonged to Fliegerforstschutzverband and later since 01.01.44 to EKdo.40.

best wishes
JoMe