JG76 end of war
 

I'm looking for informations about JG 76 at the end of war. Is there any book about this unit ? Any veteran association ?
I'm interested about any info about the following pilots fate :

Fw. Buchberger, Ofw. Bärcer, Hptm. Marz.

Thank you for any help.

Stéphane Muret

Re: JG76 end of war
 

Gruppen of JG 76 were re-designated during Sept & Oct 44. See here http://www.ww2.dk/air/jagd/jg76.htm

the best published coverage is that accorded I./JG 76 which became IV./JG 300.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Falkeeins/jg3000tomeii.jpg

Re: JG76 end of war
 

As M.Holms excellent site shows, Stab./JG76 were effectively in control of I./JG53, II./JG52, II./JG51 and (Hungarian) ung. JGr.101, 'til war's end.

Elements of this "composite" unit surrendered at, among other locations, Ainring and, more famously, Neubiberg.

Chris

Re: JG76 end of war
 

I too am seeking detailed information about JG76, in particular III./JG76, because of a large dogfight they were in with P-38s of the 474th FG on 25 Aug 44. III./JG 76 was a very short-lived outfit. The group was created in May 1944 by retraining ex-RVT Bf110 pilots to become Bf109 pilots to supplement rapidly depleting fighter forces in Northern France. The group did not have much success, suffered terrible losses (at least 21 losses in the aforementioned 25 Aug 44 fight) and were eventually absorbed into JG53 as IV./JG53 on 25 Oct 44. There is an excellent article about the group in a magazine called Jet & Prop, May 1991 issue. There is also some information on them in the excellent book on the history of JG53 by Jochen Prien. Unfortunately, these are the only two pieces of documentation that I have been able to locate.

I checked on Buchberger, Barcer, and Marz. I did find a reference to a Obfw. Buchberger in Prien's book. It shows he was a member of II./JG53 and later IV.JG53. He could have been one of the few surviving pilots that transferred from JG76. It shows Buchberger was lost in a morning dogfight with P-51s shortly after taking off from Stuttgart-Echterdingen on 23 March 45. Buchberger was a Schwarmfuhrer at that time. I could find nothing on Barcer or Marz. Hope this helps.

Cheers, Gary Koch (474th FG Association Historian)

Re: JG76 end of war
 

Hi, Gary

Interesting reading.

Is it possible for you to list these losses by III./J.G.76 on this day?

I have the following for enemy inflicted losses in the unit on this day:

4 aircraft missing, 13 total losses (damage above 50%) and 1 damaged (damage below 50%).

4 pilots missing (no officers), 6 pilots killed (2 officers), 2 pilots wounded (1 officer).

This would indicate a real loss for the unit of 18 aircraft, of these 10 pilots would be missing or killed, 2 wounded and 6 would have survived the battle although their aircraft would have been damaged.

I have not counted one aircraft that is listed as damaged withouth enemy action, the category is usually used for aircraft damaged or lost in take-off and landing accidents and so on.

This would also mean that researching the WASt should give us details for 12 of these losses, as personnel injury was inflicted.

I had kind of hoped that you and/or the society already did this and could share the information with me.

Regards,
Andreas Brekken

Re: JG76 end of war
 

Thank you , this gives me first help !
Gary, i suppose the dog fight you're talking about was against 367 th FG ? I'm going to look in my files because i've searched few years before about this fact.
German pilots i've mentionned were involved in a dog fight over my area and according to Tony Wood's claim list, they asked for one P47 (wich is right, i found the US fighter crash site and pilot).

Again thank you all of you.
Stéphane

Re: JG76 end of war
 

Dear Andreas and Stephane,

Here is the information I have about the 25 Aug 44 dogfight. Stephane, III./JG76 was definitely the group that engaged the 474th FG over Mouy, France this day. The 367th FG engaged Fw190s of II./JG6 roughly one hour earlier near St. Quentin.

The 474th FG took off from airfield A-11 near Neuilly-la-Foret and headed east to attack airfields near Laon, Tergnier, and Chateau Porcien. Near Mouy, France, the 474th sighted 30-plus Bf109s of III./JG 76 being escorted by 12 Fw190s of I./JG76. The two formations turned into each other in a head-on pass and then broke up into individual dogfights. The fight was then engaged by 32 Fw190s of II./JG26 led by Hptm. Emil Lang. 11 P-38s were shot down (my father was one of them). According to ULTRA and Sigint intercepts, III.JG76 reported 18 aircraft missing, another 3 destroyed, 5 shot up, 2 crash landed. They also report 3 pilots WIA and 18 MIA which indicates 21 total losses.

Through the assistance of valuable contacts like John Manrho, I have been able to positively identify 17 of the III./JG76 pilots in this battle. The group was led by Hptm. Egon Albrecht flying Bf109G-14, werknummer 460593, Black 21. He was shot down and killed near St. Claude. I can provide the names and aircraft identification of the other III./JG76 pilots if you like. Let me know. Hope this helps.

Cheers, Gary