Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Hi all

I am trying to untangle the career of a specific airman and wondered if anyone has any historical information on either (or both!) of the following units:

III. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 40 from June 1942 to spring 1944. I am particularly interested in the Ia of this unit and the other members of the Stabstaffel during this period.

2. Staffel, Küstenfliegergruppe 906 from October 1941 to June 1942. Does anyone know who served as Staffelkapitäne during this period?

Any help will be much appreciated

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Tim

I believe the III/KG 40 Ia was Oblt Joachim Ohm. Are you asking about 2/906 or 2/196 as both units are different!

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Sorry Chris, my typo (now corrected) it should be 2./906.

Do you happen to know the dates for Ohm being the Ia of III./KG 40? I have asked various questions about him before on TOCH, but Willi Gaul's photo album for his Luftwaffe days is captioned 'Ia' for the period mentioned while with III./KG 40. It would be nice to get independent confirmation.

Thanks

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Staka 2./Kü.Fl.Gr. 906:

Here are 3 names for you to check out for the time period indicated. I'll let you unscramble the conflicts.

GAUL, Wilhelm.
KRIEBEL, Siegfried.
WOJAHN, Gerhard.

L.

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Thanks Larry. Could I ask what reference you have for Gaul? He is the one I am interested in.

Thanks for the help.

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Tim O.,

The original sources for the career information are zillions of pages of Luftwaffe documents and hundreds of published works. Go to the following link and read the introduction:

http://www.ww2.dk/Lw%20Offz%202015%20Introduction.pdf

GAUL, Wilhelm. (DOB: 13.11.14 in Wetzlar/Lahn). 05.04.35 entered the Kriegsmarine (to 13.10.37). 15.10.37 trained as an observer (to 24.08.38). (n.d.) with the Condor Legion for 5 months, served aboard torpedo boat Leopard. 15.10.37 received observer training in the Luftwaffe while remaining in the Kriegsmarine (to 24.08.38). 02.11.37 began A2 pilot training in Pütnitz. 09.12.37 began B1 pilot training at Parow (still 10.38). 01.04.38 promo to Lt.z.S. 24.08.38 trf to 1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 106. 01.09.39 flew first mission - He 60 (M2+BH). 01.10.39 promo to Oblt.z.S. 05.40 returned to training at Parow for B2 training. 02.41 returned to 1./ Kü.Fl.Gr. 106. 15.08.41 awarded the Ehrenpokal. 10.41 appt Staka 2./Kü.Fl.Gr. 906. 06.42 appt Ia III./KG 40. 14.09.42 became a pilot of the Luftwaffe. 01.11.42 in III./KG 40, promo to Hptm. (Promotion cancelled 24.03.43 – no reason given). 01.05.43 promo to Hptm. 09.10.43 served in the Mediterranean (to 01.05.44). 01.05.44 flew sea recon "for the RLM" (to 15.02.45). 15.02.45 appt Staka (for ?)"in the Kurland" (09.05.45). Postwar, owned a car dealership.

L.

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

The first image attached is the current evidence I have of Willi Gaul taking over as Staffelkapitän of 2./906, scanned from one of his photo albums. Unfortunately I do not have precise dates but believe from Flugbuch entries, etc. that it is October 1941.

The second image comes from a scrapbook I obtained with Willi Gaul's documents and comes from an article in Luftflotte West's magazine of 11th September 1942 featuring an article on 8 holders of the Bomber Clasp in Gold who were flying with a long-range bomber group (it was III./KG 40). From the references I have, I believe Gaul became Ia of III./KG 40 in June 1942. Again I do not have a precise date. Interestingly Gaul had previously been awarded the Reconnaissance Clasp in Gold on 12th November 1941 (and not the Bomber Clasp) so he must have obtained a bomber version to align with his new role.

Later references mention Gaul as 'Staffelkapitän' at the time he was with III./KG 40 but I do not know exactly which Staffel this was so any help on refining any of this information would be great.

Thank you

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

Thanks Larry

I think I might have provided some of this information for the website, as I sent in details of all the document groups I have.

Thank you very much for this anyway.

Re: Stab III./KG 40 and Staffelkapitän 2./906
 

And Thank You for your contribution, Tim. Please let us know if you discover any new information regarding GAUL or anything that needs to be corrected.

L.