A mystery Luftwaffe unit in the East in April 1945 - Kampfgruppe Freiheit
 

Dear members,

Further to my other two questions posed yesterday, 14 August:

1. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=65253

2. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=65254

A third and final query, also about the Luftwaffe in the East in 1945. This concerns a unit of Luftwaffenkommando Nordost, called Kampfgruppe Freiheit, subordinated to Gefechtsverband Helbig. In the middle and second half of April, it reported that it had about 30 Ju 88 bombers on strength, but only five or so crews. Does anyone know what was the original identity and operational task of this unit, or anything else about it? It appears not to have been a unit of either LG 1 or KG(J) 30, the two obvious possibilities.

Everyone is welcome to either reply here, or contact me by private message.

Regards,

Dan

Re: A mystery Luftwaffe unit in the East in April 1945 - Kampfgruppe Freiheit
 

Hi Dan,

I consulted a few secondary sources and found some useful information about "Kampfgruppe Freiheit".

Essentially, the unit consisted of volunteers who responded to an appeal from Goering for pilots willing to fly 'Selbstopfer-Einsätze' (aka 'SO-Einsätze' or 'Total-Einsätze') against Oder river crossings. These were true suicide missions because there was no chance of survival, as opposed to the ramming attacks flown by "Schulungslehrgang Elbe" volunteers against American bombers on Apr 7 1945. The 'Freiheit' missions were flown from Jüterbog on Apr 16/17/18 against bridges and pontoons on the Oder.

Surprisingly, I could only find three occurrences of the name "Kampfgruppe Freiheit" or "Operation Freiheit":

1. in Peter Taghon's unit history of LG 1, Band 2
2. in Manfred Griehl's "Last Days of the Luftwaffe"
3. on this website: http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/sh...?t=6539&page=2 (see 2nd last post)

However, despite the rarity of references to the unit by that name, there are several accounts in other publications that provide fairly detailed and coherent information about its origin and operations:

• "Das bittere Ende der Luftwaffe" by Ulrich Saft, 1997 (3rd edition) [pp.129-137]
• "Geschichte der Garnison Jüterbog 1864-1894 'Jammerbock'" by Henrik Schulze, 2000 [pp.489-495]
• "Last Days of the Luftwaffe: German Luftwaffe Combat Units 1944-1945" by Manfred Griehl, 2009 [pp.171-184]
• "Die Geschichte des Lehrgeschwaders 1, Band 2" by Peter Taghon, 2004 [pp.424-426]
• "Der verzweifelte Todesflieger der deutschen Luftwaffe vom 16. 04. 1945" by Gerhard Göppel, 1986 (self-published booklet)
• Jägerblatt 6/85: "Begleitschutz für Selbstaufopferer im April 1945" by Edward Kraas [pp.15-16]
• "Radikaler Luftkampf" by Arno Rose [pp.38-63]
• "The Last Year of the Luftwaffe" by Alfred Price, 1991 [p.161]
• Jägerblatt 6/85: "Mit dem SG 104 in den Erdkampf um Berlin" by Gerhard Göppel [pp.6-15]
• "Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939-1945, Band 3" [p.541]

Some notes:
- The most detailed information is in the 'Todesflieger' chapter in Saft's "Das bitter Ende der Luftwaffe." It also contains a chapter on the "Leonidas" Staffel (an 'SO' element in KG 200), which served as the ancestor/precursor to Kampfgruppe Freiheit.
- Schulze's book is another good resource. It draws heavily on Saft and includes some additional details. It also provides thorough coverage of the "Leonidas" Staffel.
- The Griehl, Taghon, and Göppel books don't have much detail on the 'SO' missions, but they do contain some useful background info on the unit's formation.
- The "Begleitschutz" article in Jägerblatt describes how Edward Kraas (JG 4) flew escort for the 'SO' mission on Apr 16.
- The Rose book provides much information about the origins and types of 'radical' approaches employed by the Luftwaffe in the late-war years.
- The Price book contains just a couple of paragraphs on the Apr 16 mission. It states that the 'SO' pilots were all from SG 104, which doesn't jibe with the info in Saft, Schulze, Griehl, or the SG 104 article in Jägerblatt.
- The Wehrmachtsberichte volume contains a brief reference to the suicide bomber attacks against the Oder bridges in its entry for Apr 17 1945.

Hope that helps,
Leon Venter

Re: A mystery Luftwaffe unit in the East in April 1945 - Kampfgruppe Freiheit
 

nice list Leon! A little easier to find is my own 'Angst, Blut und Tod..' in 'Luftwaffe fighters - Combat on all Fronts 2' (Mortons, 2022). The details about 'Freiheit' were largely based on a chapter in Gerhard Baeker's "Kampfgeschwader 1 Hindenburg' (self-published, 2006). This reprised a long article of Baeker's in Luftwaffen Revue 2/2002. Baeker was Gkr. II./JG 3 in Apr. 45

Re: A mystery Luftwaffe unit in the East in April 1945 - Kampfgruppe Freiheit
 

Hi Neil,

D'oh! I was severely remiss in not including your article, "Angst, Blut und Tod", in my research! :) It's a very relevant and useful addition to the references I listed above. Thanks also for the pointers to the Baeker book and the Luftwaffen-Revue issue.

On the Luftwaffe Research Group site (https://www.luftwaffe-research-group.com), Daniel Nusbaumer corrected my mangling of Leutnant Kraas' first name -- it's "Ewald", not "Edward". In addition, he suggested Mombeeck's history of JG 4 as another good resource.

Also, I found interesting information in Prien & Stemmer's history of III/JG3 about that unit's involvement in the 'Freiheit' missions, with some pilots flying as 'SO' volunteers and some as their fighter escort.

For the record then, here are the details for these additional references:

• "Storming the Bombers - A Chronicle of JG4, Vol. 2: 1944-1945" by Erik Mombeeck, 2011 [pp.147-159]
• "Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei der III./Jagdgeschwader 3" by Jochen Prien & Gerhard Stemmer, 1995 [pp.420-423]
• "Luftwaffe Fighters: Combat on All Fronts, Vol. 2" by Neil Page, 2023 [pp.14-15 in particular, but the entire "Angst, Blut und Tod" chapter is useful for context]
• "Kampfgeschwader 1 'Hindenburg'" by Gerhard Baeker, 2006 [pp.134-136]
• Luftwaffen-Revue, issue 2/2002 [don't have this one]

Thanks again,
Leon Venter