Hi, guys.
Just had to fix a couple of 'errors' here.....
Firstly - Keppler is noted as Staffelführer in his loss record, and although the distinction between a Staffelführer and Staffelkapitän seems to have been more or less ignored by authors over the years, a Staffelführer did not have the formal appointment as Staffelkapitän, and one should thus not use this title in conjunction with a Staffelführer (often it seems that this was either the title used until the formal appointment went through, at other times on can see units that had a Staffelkapitän AND a Staffelführer at the same time, one being the formal commander, the other leading the unit in combat).
Secondly - the guys flying FW 190's out of Herdla would be a bit offended if you told them their Staffel did not exist in February/March 1945....
The 12. Staffel did in fact reappear, and was used to form the new 5. Staffel as part of the new II. Gruppe very late in the war (we are still looking into this, but the order of February 28th clearly specify this reorganization, with former Stab IV./Z.G.26 forming the new Stab II./J.G.5.). In fact, the pilots we have been able to speak to did not know that their unit had been renamed, and thus thought they were the 12. Staffel until the war ended....
Also - I am not sure that you have located the correct person with regards to the mentioned gravesite (I will check in my index for the graves at Trondheim - Havstein tonight).
Lister is a very long way from Trondheim, and unless the remains have been moved I find it highly unlikely that a person killed at Lister were buried in Trondheim (Bergen and Oslo is closer, and all have their own war graves site, although german soldiers from all over Norway have been relocated to Trondheim Havstein).
Last but not least - the date of the crash and subsequent death of Lt. Keppler was 24. March 1945, and is recorded in the loss report of 29.03.1945. Please see this link:
http://www.ahs.no/ref_db/lw_loss_pub...?lossid=100161
Regards, and will post a follow-up tonight,
Andreas