2L
 

Hello

I have recently seen a copy of a page from a Flugbuch containing an entry for an Me 110 with a Verbandkennzeichen of 2L+ER being flown from Sarabus to Bagerowo on a transfer flight on 23 Sep 1943.

Interestingly the crew concerned had been operating recce flights from Sarabus as part of 4(F)./122 prior to the transfer (hence my interest). Subsequently they flew recce sorties over the Black Sea as part of Küstenstaffel Krim from Bagerowo.

There has been some suggestion that 2L belonged to Lehrgeschwader Greifswald - however, the only examples seen are those with pre WWII codes. (If I recall correctly there are a couple of posts here on Twelve O'Clock High relating to an He 111B with old "format" 2L codes).

Assuming that the entry is correct I cannot in all honesty suggest that a Bf 110 of Lehrgeschwadrer Griefswald (effectively disbanded in late 1938) would have survived to 1943 and also never been recoded.

So possibilities

1. Entry is transposition of L2
2. Aircraft was from Lehrgeschwader Griefswald (see above)
3. Aircraft originated from unknown (to me) unit.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Many thanks

Re: 2L
 

Likely it is option 1... Rosch has a Bf 110 C-4 noted in his book with the code L2+ER...


There's also Do 17 and Ju 86 known with pre-war 2L+ codes.

Re: 2L
 

Michael,

Thanks for your feedback.

Should have had a look through Rosch myself prior to starting to ask questions about this....

Re: 2L
 

Thank you for an interesting post, Andy. I agree with Mikael that proposition 1 is the more likely of the three.

Mikael, this additional information prompted me to perform an Internet search. I found two losses of Bf 110s coded L2+ER and LN+ER, respectively. Both were flown by pilots named Weyergang, perhaps these were brothers? I don't have the book by Rosch, but perhaps his note refers to the aircraft lost over Britain in 1940? The one that Andy saw mentioned should be one of the aircraft's successors in 7.(F)/L.G. 2.

Neil Page:
"On 25 September 1940 Bf 110 C-5 " L2+ER" flown by Oblt Weyergang was dispatched to photograph targets in London but ran into a 229 Sqn Hurricane and in the ensuing pursuit took a number of hits before crashing north of Hastings where the two crew were buried."
http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2013/1...f-7f-lg-2.html

Steve Sheridan:
"Me 110C W.Nr 2185 was coded L2+ER and served with 7(F) LG2!!
Oblt E Weyergang killed, his Bordfunker Fw G Nelson captured, but died later the same day from his injuries."
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=11680

egorr:
"Leutnant Dietrich Weyergang was born on 16.07.1918 in Aschersleben and wass killed in action on 05.07.1941 at Titowka Lizabuch 7km west Nordwestspitz.

He was shot down by AA-fire (air defense of Vayengi) together with Uffz. Kurt Tigges flying a Bf 110 C-4."

Brian Cull:
"The rampant Hptm Gerhard Schaschke (Stab/ZG76) claimed an I-16 near Litsa Bay on 5 July, accompanied by more from Z-Staffel. The Bf110s had taken off at 15:00 on a mission to Polyarnoe and claimed success over various surface vessels and also set fire to surrounding warehouses and sheds. During this mission LN+ER flown by Ltn Dietrich Weyergang/Uffz Kurt Tigges was shot down by AA fire in the Titovka area and crash-landed at the northen tip of Litsa Bay; both crewmen were killed and their bodies were recovered by a Finnish ski patrol nine days later"
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=52181

Kind regards,

Dan

Re: 2L
 

Dan,

Thanks for the additional information.

With regard to Rosch this is just a list of example codes against the individual unit codes. Each code has the aircrafdt type but no further information.

So L2+ER is a Bf 110C-4. Which in all fairness could be from anywhere.

Re: 2L
 

Dan,

On refering to the entry on Holm he indicates that 7(F).LG 2 disbanded in Jan 1943 although he then shows this unit being at Mariupol until June 1943. Rosch agrees with the disbandment date.

Unfortunately, I don't know what Barry Rosch used to build his list of codes - entries in the loss tables, Flugbuchs etc so cannot be sure of the source for his entry.

Re: 2L
 

Two different Weyergang:

Obltn. Weyergang Dierich geb. 10.07.18 died 05.07.41 [LN+ER] 1.(Z)/JG 77, Bf 110 C-4 WNr. 3235 VB+TN

Oblltn. Weyergang Eberhard geb. 01.08.39 died 25.09.40 [L2+ER] 7.(F)/LG 2, Bf 110 C-5 WNr. 2185 TG+FK

Re: 2L
 

Dan/Norbert,

Regarding Weyergang - here are the entries from the brilliant DeZeng and Stankey Career Summaries

WEYERGANG, Dietrich. (DOB: 10.07.18 in Ascherleben). 01.09.39 RDA as Lt. 08.02.41 Lt., 1.(Z)/JG 77.
05.07.41 Lt., 1.(Z)/JG 77 KIA - Bf 110 C-4 (LN+ER) emergency landing 7 km NW Liza Bucht after AA hit
near Murmansk. Credited with one victory.
WEYERGANG, Eberhard. 01.08.39 Oblt., in III.(Aufkl.)/LG 2. 25.09.40 Oblt. in 7.(F)/LG 2, KIA – in Bf
110 C-5 (L2+ER) shot down by RAF fighters of 229 Sqdn. near Beeneys Lane, Baldslaw, north of
Hastings. Buried at Hastings/Sussex.

If I recall correctly LN+ was a prefix used by 1(Z)./JG 77 on their Bf 110s - see pages 132 and 133 of Luftwaffe Colours - Luftwaffe Fighter-Bombers and Destroyers 1941-45 by John Vasco.

Re: 2L
 

Hi guys

There was a recent Forum post regarding Dietrich Weyergang, who was killed flying LN+ER. The remains of his aircraft has recently been discovered and shows 11 kill markings.

Robert says that he claimed at least 5 during the Battle of Britain (possibly 10); we also know of one whilst flying from Norway.

Cheers
Brian

Re: 2L
 

Andy -

Maybe this might help?


Provided by edwest2 on TOCH, 11 May 2018:
I hope some of the following is helpful:

"On 24 March 1941, 7.(F)/LG 2 moved via Popest, Romania, to Krumovo in Bulgaria, and on 2 April to the Sofia-Vrazdebna airfield. There yellow identification markings were applied to the Staffel's Bf 110s, on the nose, elevators and rudders. The German forces attacked in 6 April 1941. After missions over Southern Yugoslavia and Greece, the Staffel supported the airborne invasion of Crete from Athens-Kalamaki. The Russian campaign saw the Staffel in action in the southern sector where, in the summer of 1941, it flew reconnaissance missions on behalf of Panzergruppe 1 with its few remaining Bf 110 E-3s and C-5s as well as several Bf 109 E-6s. In September 1941 the unit was briefly withdrawn from operations and sent to Breslau for a rest and refit. In December the Staffel returned to operations, flying from Mariupol on the Sea of Azov west of Rostov. In february it transferred to Stalino. In March 1942 the unit was renamed to 7.(H)/LG 2 and in May it was attached to Stab Nahaufklärungsgruppe 12 (NAGr 12). In November the Staffel was briefly combined with 3.(H)/31 to form NAGr Fleischmann (Tactical Reconnaissance Group Fleischmann). The Gruppe flew missions over Stalingrad from Golubinskaya (north of Kalach). On 11 December 1942 the airfield had to be abandoned in a hurry as Russian forces approached. Most of the unit's machines were lost, as only a few Bf 110s could be flown out. At the end of December, 7.(H)/LG 2 and 3.(H)/31 had just five machines between them! By January 1943 this number had been reduced to three. At the end of February 1943, 7.(H)/LG 2 disappeared from the Luftwafffe Order of Battle. Many of its ground personnel had been forced into the Stalingrad pocket when the Russians broke through, and on 3 February 1943 sixty men were reported missing there. There is no record of the disbandment of 7.(H)/LG 2, the unit probably just ceased to exist."


Source: Luftwaffe im Focus, Spezial No. 1

Re: 2L
 

Hi Norbert - Post 7
Only a small point but might be relevant - The Bf110C-4 - W/Nr.3235 could not have had the Stkz VB+TN as this was a Fw58 - W/Nr.3326 with Focke-Wulf from 1941 to 08.43.
The W/Nr block Bf110C-2 VB+TT to VB+TX - 3241 to 3245 only

Re: 2L
 

Gentlemen, thank you all for excellent and informative contributions. I am pressed for time, so two brief comments follow below:





Brian, there appears to be a Russian website dedicated to LN+ER, with images of the crashed aircraft - "Located 12 kilometres north of the town of Zaozersk in Murmansk oblast. Lifted out by helicopter in 1991 and appeared in England in 1992. Now possibly located in the Berlin Technik Museum."
https://ln-er.ru/


This is contradicted by the information below:



"BF110F-2 Werknummer 5052 served as LN+NR with 13./Zerstörergruppe JG 5 in Finland during 1943. On January 11, it was damaged by Flak flying a mission against railway lines between Murmansk and Leningrad. Pilot Helmut Ziegenhagen successfully executed a forced landing on a frozen lake, with all crew picked up by friendly forces the next day.


The comparably well-preserved wreck was salvaged in 1991 and shipped to the UK. In 1997, it was acquired by Deutsches Technikmuseum together with another wreck marked M8+ZE, which provided parts to the restoration."
http://www.b-domke.de/AviationImages...eum/26126.html



Larry, you and Doug wrote in your book series that "Staffel disbanded (early February 1943)." So we can assume that there is no mention of this unit after the surrender at Stalingrad?



Warm regards,


Dan

Re: 2L
 

Post#11: Thanks for the correction Tom.


Regards,
Norbert

Re: 2L
 

Andy, Dan, et al,

Here are the last few entries from my research on 7.(F/H)/LG 2:

2 Aug 42: Bf 110D-4 (L2+HR) shot down by a fighter near Golubinskiy/50 km WNW Stalingrad, Oblt. Walter Köhler and two others killed.
Sep 42: based at Golubinskiy, and reported 6(2) Bf 110s on strength in a return for 20 Sep.
6 Nov 42: Bf 110E shot down by AA fire just west of Rossosh on the Don River, wounding Staka Oblt. Robert Kneifel and crew.
26 Dec 42: reported to be operating at least one Fw 189 on this date in the area south of Stalingrad.
3 Feb 43: at least 58 officers and men were reported lost in the fighting in and around Stalingrad, and 7.(H)/LG 2 was officially disbanded shortly thereafter. The survivors were subsequently reported in the Crimea, possibly for reassignment to units under NAGr. 9.

That's all I have. It almost seems as if it was in the process of being converted to Fw 189s in December 1942? In that case it would have turned over its remaining Bf 110s to other units or used them until none were left due to attrition from combat and crashes.

L.

Re: 2L
 

Larry, Tom, Norbert, Mikael, Dan and Brian.

A great many thanks for your input.

It looks like the conclusion is that the entry is a "typo" and should have referred to L2+ER being a survivor from 7.(F/H)/LG 2.

Yesterday I also received an e-mail from the person that passed me the FB page suggesting a similar thing.

Thank you all once more.