Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

I found a mistake on http://www.ww2.dk Hungary airfields. Hungary (now Romania)
Besztercze (HUN / ROM) (474 ​​35 N - 24 34 25 E) is actually a reference to Budak (HUN / ROM) airfield (aka Budak de Jos, Szászbudak)
Both references are identical. SE 8.5 km from Bistrita is Budus (It is part of the Lower Budacul) and to the aerodrome are exactly 8.5 km. The grass surface measuring approx. 2560 x 760 meters is actually the size of the old Budak airfield.

I support and have evidence. In the 40s, the Hungarian aviation used as emerging landing (the foundations of the two hangars were still visible) and used East to West landing. Between 26 August and 11 October 1944, the Luftwaffe aviation used the SE side of the airfield, the entire clearing of the forest for the camouflage and the repairs of the airplanes.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

About Luftwaffe Budak airfield 26.8.1944 - 11.10.1944 ( Hungary now Romania). https://holland.ro/harta_aerodorm_budak.jpg

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Gross Betschkerek, or Hungarian: Nagybecskerek, or Ecka airbase, Zrenjanin, Banat, Vojvodina, Yugoslavia.

A friend of mine who developed a particular interest in this airbase bought two photos showing some Ju 52 wrecks with code 4V+.. Apparently taken by a Red Army cameraman when they entered the area, which would be in autumn 1944. These are attached.

Could someone please review and possibly confirm that these photos were indeed taken there, and which unit the Ju 52s with the said code belonged.

Source: Photos are in private collection, I understand.

Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Dan,

Thank you for your exhaustive reply to my query above. Much appreciated. There is nothing certain about the above two photos, to summarize:

a. My friend thinks, or rather feels, that the photo may have been taken at Nagybecskerek (I presume in autumn 1944).

b. Dénes Bernád confirmed on FB page entitled Luftwaffe Fliegerhorste 1933-1945 that he had seen the above photos before, albeit labelled as being taken in Romania.

c. You suggested that these photos may even have at the Korsun (Cherkassy) pocket in February 1944.

d. The participants generally agree that the Ju 52s belonged to (III./)TG 3.

The friend of mine will send me the name of the Soviet photographer, for ready reference.

In short, it is undecided, but some progress has been made.

Best Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

The Red Army photographer was Yevgeny Ananevich Khadel. Liberation of southeast Europe, WW2, Eastern Front.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

You are welcome, Sinisa.

Now that you we know the photographer's name, things could become easier. Yevgeny Anan'evich Khaldei (Евгений Ананьевич Халдей) was the most famous Soviet photographer during the war - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Khaldei His photos are in official Soviet collections inherited by modern Russia, so it should be possible to contact the holders of these collections and ask for details of the location where the image was taken. That may be difficult without local knowledge, of course.

Kind regards,

Dan

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Bjoris:

Thank you very much for your contribution.

L.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hüttenfelde (1938 to 1946) german name Budupönen (54,9263406 ; 22,266305) now hamlet of the municipality of Malomozhaïsckoe (Malomojaïsckoe).
4 km to the east of Altenkirch (1938-1946) before Budwethen now Malomoschaïsckoe (german tansliteration).

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Fliegerhorst Alperstedt or Gross-Ruderstedt bei Erfurt, or perhaps both...

There are two photos from an expired eBay auction showing Bf 109 G-10 and G-14/AS of 8./JG 27, with the writing overleaf "Alarmstart in Alperstedt Februar 1945". The photos were posted today, 1 September 2019, and can be found on the Luftwaffe Fliegerhorste 1933-1945 FB page, administered by Marc-André Haldimann, and others.

The same photo is said to have been published in Jochen Prien and Gerhard Stemmer's opus on II./JG 3, Strüve Verlag, 1996, p. 379 with the location given as Gross-Rudestedt bei Erfurt, Winter 1944 - 1945.

According to the aforementioned FB page member, Alperstedt and Großrudestedt are both neighbouring villages north of Erfurt. Between both villages there is still a huge field, so it is possible that this was the former airfield, lying between both villages, leading to the fact that it was named after one and/or the other villages in different sources.

The information is given with agreement and in close cooperation with Marc-André. Hopefully, Larry deZeng will find it useful for his growing airfield database.

Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hvala vam, Sinisa!

I agree. I think it was an open field, pasture, meadow that became a convenient and useful landing ground mainly because it was undeveloped and unknown to the Allies. There were a number of these in those final months of the war where the Luftwaffe had to improvise to avoid being spotted and strafed on the ground. It probably had a woods along one or more sides along which the aircraft could be parked and somewhat concealed with evergreen boughs and netting. Not having access to the photo, my comments are just speculation.

L.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hi there Larry,

Here is the old eBay photo in question starting this process of thinking, especially so because Jochen Prien and Gerhard Stemmer published it in 1996 as being taken at Gross Rudestedt whilst the photo backside had this written caption : “ Alarmstart in Alperstedt, February 1945”

https://flic.kr/p/2h8LBqQ

Cheers
Marc

Envoys de mon iPhone

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

You are most welcome, Larry.

In addition to Marc-André's link above, for illustration purposes I herewith attach one of the two photos with the remarks on the date and location overleaf. Source: Expired eBay auction.

Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Thanks Marc and Sinisa! Although it's hard to tell with any certainty, it looks like there was something along the edge of the trees in the background. Of course, the treeline wouldn't afford as much cover in the dead of winter as it would when the trees were covered with foliage.

L. :)

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Correction:

Nordhorn airfield is located in Niedersachsen, not in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Don't know if borders have changed in the meantime, but at the moment the airfield is located in Niedersachsen.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hello Mr. Tiger -

It looks like we were both wrong.

1) "Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen) is a German state situated in northwestern Germany. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover (Hannover) with Brunswick (Braunschweig), Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe on 1 November 1946." So it didn't exist during the NS period. All of the locations given in my monograph are during the NS period.

2) The State (Land) it was in during the NS period was Oldenburg. So I was wrong when I wrote Nordrhein-Westfalen.


Cheers,

Larry de Zeng

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Thank you for your answer!

Lower Saxony is not really 'wrong' though, this name is used throughout the entire document.

Kind regards,

Timon

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

There were no states (Länder) during NS-time. Nordhorn was located in Gau Weser-Ems with administrative center Oldenburg

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Thank you, Egbert. Sometimes it is necessary to bend the "rules" a bit in the interest of clarity. While many Europeans who might have occasion to look up Nordhorn would have at least some idea of where the German states (Länder) are located, very, very few have committed the NS Gäue and their locations to memory. Accordingly, I used the present day Länder to better help researchers locate the airfields. I make no apologies.

L.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

No need for apologies. I also use the present day state names for identification purposes. Much easier. I just wanted to tease your fighting for Oldenburg and Niedersachsen vs Weser-Ems

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

:) ;) :lol:

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hello Mr. deZeng,

in a book I found the mention of Anholt airfield. I can't find it in the 'Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders)' document...
It was used by Messerschmitts of the 2./NJG 1 in 1940.

Kind regards,
Timon

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hello Timon,

Although Anholt was/is the name of towns in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, there was no airfield there between 1935 and 1945, according to all of the wartime and postwar German and Allied directories I have. The one in Germany is very close to the border, just 12.25 km E of Emmerich. There may have been a nice, level pasture or farm field there that could be used by a few Bf 109s at a time for take-offs and landings but had no facilities. A field like that would probably not get listed in the airfield directories.

L.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hello Larry,

Not sure whether of any interest, but just found a reference on eBay here https://www.ebay.de/itm/Original-Fot...YAAOSwLMZfZ6Qe to a forward air strip, Feldflugplatz, Wereteni (Vereteni), apparently in Pskov region.

The photo shows Stab/JG 54 aircraft getting ready for a mission in July 1941.

Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Help always welcome, but I could not find this one in my files and piles of maps, gazetteers, lists, etc. I suspect it was a pasture or farm field that was pressed into service for a few days during the July 1941 advance toward Pskov and then abandoned. I also think it may be misspelled and the "teni" ending makes it more likely to have been in Estonia or Latvia.

Thanks,

Larry de Zeng

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Hello again Larry,

You are very welcome. For your ready reference, here is the Lat/Long (dec) of the place: 57.69505,29.38859.

The Germans misspelled it as Wereteni, and it is not that far from Estonia, but according to the present map at least, it is situated in Russia.

Otherwise, I believe that is the case that the airfield was likely a pasture or farm field that was pressed into service for a few days during the July 1941 advance toward Pskov and then abandoned.

Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

1. Your coordinates are for an unidentified village c. 64.35 km ESE of Pskov. The satellite view of this one shows what might have been an airstrip aligned SE/NW that passed right through the center of the village. "Veretenye" is also listed in TsAMO documents dated 22.06.41 as an "Operative Airfield Under Construction" on this date.

2. If we go to Google Earth and enter "Veretene" we get 58 03 07, 29 43 34, a small village labeled "Veret'e", c. 86 km ENE of Pskov. Although surrounded by cultivated land to the east and south of the village, there is no evidence of an airstrip ever having been there nor is a "Veret'e" mentioned in the TsAMO documentation.

Although the spelling differences make it impossible to tell with certainty, I think Nr. 1 is the correct location.

Cheers,

Larry de Zeng

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Thank you for your insight.

My better half confirmed the correct pronunciation of the locality as "Vereteny", which is close to "Veretenye", which you suggested was listed in TsAMO documents for location No.1.


Regards,
Sinisa

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Recently I somewhere saw a contemporary document listing several (night fighter) airfields which were sorted by surface area in square metres.
I remember seeing Powunden being a Fliegerhorst having the same dimensions as the Fliegerhorsten Twente and Deelen.
However, in the document 'Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders)' Powunden is listed as an Einsatzhafen I. Maybe the airfield was upgraded later on?

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

T.T. -

That could well be the case, but an Einsatzhafen I. Klasse was already pretty well built out and could sustain operations indefinitely for up to a Gruppe of aircraft, including multi-engine aircraft. In a Genst.d.Lw. document dated 1 Dec. 1944 and entitled "Tarnzahlen für Flugplätze", Powunden is listed along with c. 950 other airfields still in use by the Luftwaffe in the Reich. It's code numbers were 1310, 7639 and 9292.

It was equipped with perimeter lighting, a probable flare path, a beam approach system and a visual Lorenz system for night landings. Most of the tenant units there from 1943 to January 1945 were NJG units.

L.

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Krasnodar II @min 10:35

https://archiv-akh.de/video_files_mp4/M4230_WEB.mp4

Re: Airfields of the Luftwaffe
 

Not unusual that a Einsatzhafen were upgraded to Fliegerhorst. Grove/Denmark is one example.
Junker