[Larry deZeng]

Hi John -

Here is the entire passage from Jurleit page 40:

“Mit Befehl des Generals der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland vom 4. September 1944 wurde das Zerstörergeschwader ZG 26 ‘Horst Wessel’ zum Jagdgeschwader JG 6 umgebildet. Die drei Gruppen des Zerstörergeschwaders lagen zu diesem Zeitpunkt in Powehren/Ostpreußen (I./ZG 26) mit Me 410, in Hildesheim unter Oberleutnant Stehle (II./ZG 26) mit Bf 110 und 10 Me 410 sowie in Lechfeld, Schwäbisch Hall und in Leipheim (III./ZG 26) deren 8. und 9. Staffel als Erprobungskommando 262 mit dem Turbojäger Me 262 operierten.”

He does not give a proper document citation with order and file numbers, nor does he state where he got his information from. I have often found this "exact date" of formation business to be something of an unrewarding puzzle that never gets satisfactorily solved because of conflicting documents, behind the scenes phone calls, incomplete records, etc. But in this case specifically, I would say that Organisations-Abt./OKL orders carry more weight than Galland's order which we have yet to see. It seems possible that the 5.8.44 order was issued covered just II. Gruppe, followed by Galland's order to rebuild the entire Geschwader, followed by the 13.10.44 order. At least that's what it looks like to me in the absence of actually seeing Galland's 4 Sep 44 order.

L.