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Re: Stab. and I.KG 2 were based in "Silce" , but where is the airfield ?
Finally -
Source map in Teil 1 page 320 shows Silce (Sitcy) to be 25.5 km SSW of Gebokie (Glubokoje) at coordinates 54 55 16 N – 27 32 13 E. The airfield appears to have been immediately E or SE of the village. It was practically adjacent to and on the NNW side of:
Parafjanowo (POL) (Pacrafanowo, Parafjanovo) (c. 54 52 30 N – 27 32 10 E)
General: landing ground (Landeplatz) in NE Poland c. 146 km E of Vilnius and 74 km W of Lepel. It was just 18 km on the Polish side of the 1941 border with the USSR.
The source map shows I./KG 2 at Silce from 9 Jul to 4 Aug, and 9./KG 2 to be at Parafjanowo from 9 Jul to 4 Aug 1941. The next day, 10 July, the Geschwaderstab arrived at Silce and the rest of III./KG 2 arrived at Parafjanovo. All of these elements remained under VIII. Fliegerkorps during the stay at these two airfields.
The Source text at p.324 speaks several times of Sloboda/West being the a.k.a. for Silce and describes the transfer there on 9 July by Ju 52. The men set up two-piece captured English tents with the Gruppenstab and 3. Staffel setting up next to a church, a cemetery and a stand of old trees, while 1. Staffel, 2. Staffel and the 2. Flughafenbetriebskompanie set up some distance away. The area was peaceful, so much so that the men were able to drive to a lake 30 km distance to swim and bathe.
The authority for the bombing of Moscow was Führer Directive No. 33 dated 19 Jul 41, and KG 2 made its first attack during the night of 21/22 July using Vitebsk as an Absprungbasis (advanced landing field to top off their fuel tanks).
On 4 August, everybody at Silce and Parafjanovo departed by air for Wereteni (Vereteni) between Pskov and Porkhov on the northern sector of the front.
Source:
Balke, Ulf. Der Luftkrieg in Europa: Die Operativen Einsätze des Kampfgeschwader 2 im Zweiten Weltkrieg.
Teil 1. Das Luftkriegsgeschehen 1939-1941: Polen, Frankreich, England, Balkan, Russland. Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1989. ISBN: 3-7637-5883-6. Pb. 526p. Illus. Maps. Numerous appendices.
Teil 2. Der Luftkrieg Gegen England und über dem deutschen Reich 1941-1945. Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1990. ISBN: 3-7637-5884-4. Pb. 531p. Illus. Maps. Numerous appendices. Bibliography.
L.
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