[Raimo Malkamäki]

Dear all,
I ask your help regarding the II/ZG 76 "carnage" in 1944/1945. I know that this has been discussed here before, back in 2007 as "Me 410 carnage over Oder 1945".

The sources are a bit confusing. Let´s take first Held-Trautloft-Bob: "Grünherzjäger", from which is the following quote;
"Eine zweite "Neuaufstellung" der IV. Gruppe im Früjahr 1945 war lediglich eine Umbenennung der II. Gruppe des Zerstörergeschwaders 76. In Grossenhain rüstete die Einheit auf Fw 190 um (vorher Me 410). Hier in Grossenhain besichtigt Oberstleutnant Hrabak - 5. Kommodore des JG 54 seit Oktober 1944 - die Gruppe, die jedoch zu keiner Zeit dem Grünherzgeschwader unmittelbar unterstellt war. Ihre Einsatzbefehle kamen von der Jagddivision in Bad Saarow.

Den schwesten Verlust erlitt die Gruppe bei einem geschlossenen Angriff mit Bomben auf die Oderbrucken und Bereitstellungen im Raum Göritz-Lebus. Mehr als 15 der schwerfälligen, mit 250 kg-Bomben beladenen maschinen wurden von Mustangs abgeschossen. - Die bilder zeigen die übernahme der neuen IV. Gruppe in Grossenhain durch Otl Hrabak. Rechts neben Hrabak der Kommandeur der Gruppe, Hauptmann K F Schlossstein." On the same page there are 2 pictures which show FW 190 A on the backgrund.

Another quote from Norbert Hannig´s memoirs (he was in JG 54). This is a loose translation from the Finnish edition of his book:
"In December 1944 Hannig got a personal order from Oberst Trautloft. Hannig and Leutnant Kabbe were to go right away to Grossenhain and train the remaining crews of II/ZG 76 to fly FW 190 A-8. They were to report Major (!) Schlossstein, who was the Kommandeur. The Gruppe had attacked with their Me 410s (with 250 kg bombs) against the Oder bridges, but had been surpised by Mustangs and over 15 planes had been shot down. The remaining pilots were not in the mood to talk about the battle.

At Grossenhain Hannig and Kabbe meet very serious Schlossstein who told that they had been on their way to attack bridges near Küstrin, but they never got there. Only three crews escaped the carnage, Schlossstein himself being one of them. Hanning reports to Trauloft that the remaining pilots are mentally unable to be retrained with FW 190 at that moment. Trautloft accepts his evaluation and Hannig is released to his former duties."

And finally, here is the man (Schlossstein) himself in Mombeek´s Eismeerjäger, Band 1, page 190:
"Am 15. Juli wurde Ich dann von Oberst Handrick (Jafü Wien) angefordert und übernahm in Malatzki (Slowakei) als Kommandeur die II./ZG 76, die mit Bf 410 ausgerüstet war. Die Gruppe verlegte nach Ostpreussen auf den Fliegerhorst Seerappen bei Königsberg und rüstete ab Oktober/November 1944 in Grossenhain bei Dresden auf die FW 190 um. Im Januar 1945 wurde die Gruppe in IV./JG 54 umbenannt und flog bis April 1945 Einstze gegen die vorrückende Rote Armee."

I found the timeline of events very confusing. If Hannig is correct and the carnage happened while flying Me 410, it should have been sometime in late autumn 1944. But why would they attack Oder bridges then??
If I understand correctly, Russians reached Oder only in January/February 1945. It seems obvious that Hannig is wrong with the timeframe.

In the previous thread regarding this issue in 2007, 22nd of March 1945 was suggested to be the day of the carnage. If that is the case, then the planes were FW 190s and attackers were Mustangs from 4FG.

Finally, my question is; does somebody have loss lists for II/ZG 76 or IV/JG 54 for late 1944 or 1945? I hope to clear this question.

As a side note regarding II/ZG 76 and the old question if it became III or IV/JG 54 in February 1945, my "theory" is:
For about a week (18.-25.2.1945) there were two III/JG 54s, the "old" one which soon became IV/JG 26 (flying 190 D) and the "new" one, which was the former II/ZG 76 (flying 190 A).

While this was confusing to say the least, it was decided soon to rename the "new" III/JG 54 to IV/JG 54. IV/JG 54 -name was available, since the "old" IV/JG 54 was renamed as II/JG 7 in early February 1945. I don´t have written proof, but...

I do think that Mr Schlossstein would remember the number of his old Gruppe correctly and II/ZG 76 finally became IV/JG 54.
　
I hope to hear your comments,
Raimo Malkamäki


PS I am asking this because Mr Schlossstein is coming to Helsinki in August! So, I will be able to ask the question from the man himself, if we are not able to find the answer here.
I am currently writing a short bio (4-5 pages) about his career. Everything else is quite clear, but these last months of the war are not (what a surprise...).
But I´ll write more about his visit later.