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132.
Major Hans-Georg Bätcher was
Gruppenkommandeur of
III./KG 76 from 6 December 1944 to 25 February 1945 after which he was transferred to lead
KG (J) 54 as
Kommodore. In this photo, his rank as
Major is sewn onto the sleeve of his pilot's jumpsuit, as he waits for his Arado "F1+AD" to be towed to the runway. Note the lack of a bomb under the fuselage.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1614
133. In this photograph, Bätcher's Arado is hitched to a
Kettenkrad tracked motorcycle. The officer standing at attention is
Oblt. Herbert Kolm, the
staffelkapitan of
8./KG 76, (Kolm was the one who led the last Arados to Stavanger on 5 May 1945). "Being the commander's aircraft of
III. Gruppe, in theory the aircraft letter "A" and engine nacelle intake rings would have been green," Creek & Forsyth,
Blitz Bombers, (Chandos, 2020), p. 116.
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134. Bätcher "is seen here about to enter the cockpit of Ar 234 B-2 "A" ... in the winter of 1944-45. Note the large riveting of the cockpit framework and clear vision panel at the left," Forsyth & Beale, Arado Ar 234 Bomber and Reconnaissance units, (Osprey, 2020). p. 44.
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135. "F1+AD" is being towed to the
startbahn, again without a bomb under the fuselage, possibly for Bätcher's
uberfuhrungsflug from Burg to Achmer on 23. January 1945 at 11:07 hours. According to Batcher's
leistungbuch, his other four flights in "F1+AD" were operations (feindfluge) from Achmer, presumably using bombs.
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136. Kolm's "F1+AS" with red rings and a red "A" was readied as well, "Die Triebwerke der F1+AS, der Maschine von Oblt. Kolm, Staffelkapitän der 8./KG 76 werden angelassen," Jan Horn,
KG 76, (2019), p. 127. Curiously Horn has Kolm flying "F1+NS" that day. Horn attributes these photographs to "Archiv Walter Brieke".
Uffz. Walter Brieke was "Ltr. Bildstelle" in Stab/KG 76, (Horn, p 411) and may have been doing a "photo Op" on the day of the transfer of 8./KG 76 to its operational base.