Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

On April 16 or 17, 1944, a JU52 crashed in the Romanian Mrakonia Valley, near the Danube River. The valley is not far from the town of Dubova.
Reason of crash is unknown. any details known please?

Re: Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

Hi egbert, there are two Ju 52's which crashed in that area, one on the 16th on one the 17th, if i remember correctly both of them were already discussed here on the forum in threads started by you, there is only a third crashed Ju52 in this timeframe but very far away from this area, namely in the Brates lake near Galati.

16.04.1944 9./TG 4 Ju52 Wnr. 501325 Toplitz, 9 km westl. Orsova
17.04.1944 11./TG 4 Ju52 Wnr. 501132 Orsova (32 km südl., auf Donau)

Both appear to have been attacked by 15th AF escort fighters

Re: Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

Hallo Egbert,

Excerpt from „Point Blank” Volume 4 April 1944:

16. April 1944

9./TG 4 / Junkers Ju 52/3mg8e / # 501325 / Transportflug / Abschuss durch P-38 Lightning - 2nd Lieutenant Griffith - 82nd Fighter Group - 15th USAAF / Absturz nahe Toplitz, 9 Km westlich Orșova (Kreis Mehedinți) - Rumänien / Feldwebel Ludwig Hebstreit (FF) + Unteroffizier Heinz Kürschner (Bf) + Unteroffizier Josef Scharinger (Bw) + Unteroffizier Albin Kupczak (Bs) - gefallen / Passagiere: Feldwebel Hartmut Wilkens + Unteroffizier Johannes Elbinger + Obergefreiter Franz Gravogel + Unteroffizier Alfred Grimm + Unteroffizier Fritz Marx + Unteroffizier Walter Ney + Gefreiter Helmut Nonn + Unteroffizier Hubert Neger + Unteroffizier Kurt Trafoyer + Gefreiter Edmund Simon + Gefreiter Heinz Urban + Gefreiter Robert Karl Treutel (Bodenpersonal der 10. und 12./JG 54) - gefallen (2nd Lieutenant Griffith spricht die Ju 52 als He 111 an)

17. April 1944

1./TG 1 / Junkers Ju 52/3mg8e / # 130859 / 1Z + FH / Transportflug / Beschuss durch P-38 Lightning - Captain Force Jr. - 82nd Fighter Group - 15th USAAF / Notwasserung in der Donau etwa 32 Km südlich Orșova (Kreis Mehedinți) - Rumänien / Unteroffizier Hans Dieterle (FF) + Feldwebel Walter Müller + Unteroffizier Albert Neiteler + Gefreiter August Tatzel - gefallen / Passagiere: Feldwebel Franz Eichinger + Obergefreiter Friedrich Ziegler + Oberfeldwebel Anton Stamm + Feldwebel Hermann Gehre + Unteroffizier Servatius Neufang + Gefreiter Vinzent Barka + Gefreiter Horst Hoffmann + Obergefreiter Günther Wolff + Gefreiter Joachim Nass + Obergfreiter Rudolf Hausotter + Flieger Heinz Dippner + Obergefreiter Otto Wichern - gefallen

11./TG 4 / Junkers Ju 52/3mg8e / # 501132 / 1Z + JX / Abschuss durch P-38 Lightning - Lieutenant Patterson - 82nd Fighter Group - 15th USAAF / Absturz nahe Pančevo, nordöstlich Belgrad (Region Serbien) - Yugoslawien / Oberfeldwebel Willi Lichy (FF) - schwer verwundet - noch am selben Tag im Lazarett 521 in Belgrad seinen Verletzungen erlegen / Feldwebel Wilhelm Löwes + Feldwebel Otto Pielicke + Unteroffizier Herbert Hilgenberg - verwundet - Lazarett

Lufthansa / Junkers Ju 52/3mg14e / # 640996 / D-AOCA / „Harry Rother” / Linienflug Wien -> Belgrad -> Sofia -> Thessaloniki -> Athen / Beschuss durch P-38 Lightning - Captain Force Jr. - 82nd Fighter Group - 15th USAAF / Bruch bei Alt-Pasua (Zara Pazova), nordwestlich Belgrad (Region Serbien) - Yugoslawien / Flugkapitän Kurt Vogel (FF) - schwer verwundet - am 23. April 1944 im Lazarett 521 in Belgrad verstorben / 3 Passagiere gefallen / 2 Besatzungsmitglieder (Flzg.Fu. Georg Denzer + Fu.Ma. Karl Freymüller) kommen mit leichten Verwundungen davon

All the best,

Fred

Re: Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

Wow Vielen Dank und thank you so very much guys.
The info will be for a friend who once lived in the area and who researches all local German Luftwaffe crashes from WWI and II. Once a year he returns to these places for further studies......

Re: Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

Ok here is the discrepancy:

Maybe somebody has the answer.
According to Fred's document the Lufthansa "Harry Rother" was shot down on 17 April 1944.

According to this source
https://aviation-safety.net/database...0115-1&lang=de

the "Harry Rother" crashed on 15 January 1944

Can somebody please shed some light into the different dates of crash?

Re: Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

Egbert

Answer is simple enough if you check the WNr and civil registrations listed.
There were two aircraft named Harry Rother.
It seems D-AOCA replaced the earlier D-ADQW after its crash 15.1.1944

Cheers
Stig

Re: Ju 52 crash details, Romania, 16 or 17 April 1944
 

Thanx Stig, the logical explanation