[Larry deZeng]

Hi Tim O. -

I don't know where you got that from, but it wasn't from my pen. I think you may have gotten it mixed up with II./Schlachtgeschwader 2, which was an entirely different unit. Here is the right one that steven1 is looking for:


II.(Schlacht)/LG 2


Formation and Early History. (Nov 38 - Aug 39)
Formed 1 November 1938 at Tutow/near Demmin in N Germany by renaming Gruppenstab, 1. and 2.Staffel of Fliegergruppe 40 and one Staffel from Fliegergruppe 20. Equipped with Heinkel He 45s, replacing these with Henschel Hs 123s in early 1939.

Polish Campaign and Standby in the West. (Sep 39 - Apr 40)
Sep 39: transferred from Tutow to Altsiedel/20 km SE of Oppeln in Silesia by 1 Sep for assignment to Fliegerführer z.b.V./Luftflotte 4 with 39(39) Hs 123s, and flew World War II's first ground support mission on the first day of hostilities. Moved forward with XVI.Korps/AOK 10 and participated in the battles of encirclement at Radom, where from 8 to 10 September the Gruppe participated in the destruction of a Polish Army in a forest area around Ilza, and along the Bzura River to the west of Warsaw. On 13 September Gruppenkommandeur Maj. Spielvogel failed to return from a Fi 156 reconnaissance sortie along the front and was reported missing (later amended to KIA) On conclusion of operations in Poland, transferred west to Braunschweig in N Germany to train and stand by for forthcoming operations.

Attack on France and the Low Countries. (May 40 - Jun 40)
4 May 40: 1 killed and 9 wounded when a bomb accidently detonated during final preparations for offensive action.
10 May 40: at Lauffenberg/near Neuss under VIII.Fliegerkorps/Lfl.2 with 49(38) Hs 123As. (Note: the airfield “Lauffenberg” or “Laufenberg” is ill-defined and may actually be Neuss-Kaarst). Supported the advance of the Panzer divisions assigned to AOK 6 into Belgium, taking part in the decisive battles around Maastricht and Eben Emael, with station at St.Trond-Duras by mid-May. At Eben Emael on 10 May, the Gruppe and elements of St.G.2 chewed up an infantry division that attempted to relieve the fort’s garrison and prevented it from getting through. Ordered south to Guise/25 km ENE of St-Quentin to support the drive by XIX.Pz.Korps across the Meuse and the fighting around Sedan, Liège and Namur. On 14 May, a Hs 123 was shot up by AA fire near Tirlemont and reduced to salvage. Transferred to Cambrai on 21 May, and shortly after arrival credited with the destruction of nearly 40 French tanks and supporting infantry that were massing north of Cambrai. On 22 May the Gruppe distinguished itself by helping to block a breakthrough by British tanks about 35 kilometers north of Arras. Remained active in the Dunkirk area over the next 10 days, mainly in support of Panzergruppe Kleist, flying from St-Pol as well as other forward airfields.
Jun 40: following operations around Dunkirk, advanced southwest toward Paris and into Normandy and Brittany in the final battles for France as a component of VIII.Fliegerkorps in support of Pz.Gr. Kleist, AOK 6 and AOK 9. One combat loss was reported on 5 June. On conclusion of the campaign on 22 June, ordered to Braunschweig- Waggum for conversion to the Bf 109E, then to Böblingen to begin fighter-bomber training

Air Offensive Against England (Battle of Britain). (Jul 40 - Mar 41)
13 Aug 40: at Böblingen for training at the Rohrau weapons range with 39(31) Bf 109E-7s, which concluded with a transfer to Calais-Marck on 4 September. Suffered first losses in the air offensive against England on 6 September, with two Bf 109E-7s shot down by fighters at Canterbury and off Herne Bay, followed by another over Ashford Kent on 14 September. A turning point was reached in the Battle of Britain on 15 September when the Luftwaffe suffered extraordinary losses, forcing it to shift the main effort to night bombing. Daylight operations after this date relied increasingly on nuisance raids along England's south coast by the fighter-bombers of II.(Schl.)/LG 2. On 7 October two 4.Staffel Bf 109E-4s were shot down by fighters over southern England during fighter-bomber sorties to London followed by two more on 29 October, these falling to Hurricanes during an attack on North Weald air base.
5 Dec 40: 4.Staffel lost its Staffelkapitän, Oblt. Heinz Vogeler, when he failed to return from an attack on Channel shipping, and Oblt. Viktor Kraft from the Gruppenstab was lost to a Spitfire on 11 December during a fighter-bomber sweep over Kent.
5 Feb 41: Bf 109E-4 crashed at Fp.Cognac in SW France, 100%, Staffelkapitän Oblt. Paul Widmann killed.
8 Feb 41: 5.Staffel lost a Bf 109E-7 to AA fire over RAF Station Hawkinge.
9 Mar 41: Bf 109E-7 bombed on ground during RAF raid on Fp.Calais-Marck, 100%.
15 Mar 41: Bf 109E-7 shot down by 3 Hurricanes flying convoy escort off Dungeness/Kent.

Balkan Campaign. (Apr 41 - May 41)
29 Mar 41: transferred from Calais-Marck to Bulgaria for the Balkan campaign via Köln-Butzweilerhof with station at Sofia- Bozhurishte under VIII.Fliegerkorps, with 29(23) Bf 109Es in two Staffeln and one Staffel of Hs 123As. Supported the advance through Serbia, Macedonia and into Greece, and on 26 April strafed ground targets and flew cover for the airborne and glider assault on the Corinth Canal by the Luftwaffe's 2d Parachute Regiment (Fallschirmjäger-Rgt. 2). By early May the Gruppe was at Molaoi/150 km SW of Athens.
Jun 41: ordered from Molaoi to Praschnitz (Przasnysz)/85 km N of Warsaw in northeast Poland in early June for the forthcoming invasion of Russia with subordination to VIII.Flg.Korps/Lfl.2.

Attack on the Soviet Union - Central and North Russia. (Jun 41 - Jan 42)
22 Jun 41: Praschnitz with 38(37) Bf 109Es attached to St.G.2, operated from Suwałki and Berzniki in support of AOK 9 and Pz.Gruppe 3 around Białystok for the initial advance into the Soviet Union.
5 Jul 41: moved forward to Sloboda for operations in the Minsk area.
6 Jul 41: ordered to Lepe1 to fly escort for I./St.G.2 Stukas.
8-11 Jul 41: lost two Bf 109E-7s in the Lepel-Vitebsk area supporting the drive toward Smolensk, moving to Vitebsk by 24 Jul.
3 Aug 41: transferred to the northern sector of the front with VIII.Flg.Korps and attached to Stab/JG 27
for employment, with action in the Dno - Staraya Russa area southwest of Lake Ilmen by 8 August.
25 Aug 41: based at Spaskaya/NNE Novgorod, where two Bf 109E-7s were destroyed on the ground in a Russia air attack. Moved to Lyuban/SE Leningrad by 29 August, and at the end of September transferred from Lyuban back to the central sector with VIII.Flg.Korps for the attack on Moscow, flying direct support for the battles around Bryansk on 2 Oct.
Oct – Nov 41: moved to field strips at Belyy and Moshna a few days later for action around Vyazma and the offensive toward Kalinin. On 14 October 3 Bf 109E-7s were lost in heavy fighting in the Kalinin area, and 3 more damaged there on 18 October. At Ka1inin-South on 21-22 October where the Gruppe flew near round the clock attacks on Russian forces that had cut off and isolated 1.Pz.Div.; while there it also received orders to engage and shoot down every enemy plane encountered over the Ka1inin sector. Back at Be1yy on 24 October, but then returned to Ka1inin-Luchinovka by the end of the month.
Dec 41: by December the Gruppe was in support of the heavy defensive fighting along the entire front from Moscow northwest to Lake Ilmen that began with the Soviet counteroffensive on 5 Dec. Base changes were rapid and frequent as the Gruppe attempted to support the German retreat toward the west. On 13 December 4.Staffel (at least) was operating from Staraya Russa at the south end of Lake Ilmen.
6 Jan 42: now based at Dugino/ 65 km south of Rzhev, where it was renamed I./Schlachtgeschwader 1 on 13 January 1942.


FpNs: Gruppenstab (L 36352, L 34346)
4.Staffel (L 36533, L 35341)
5.Staffel (L 37154, L 35777)
6.Staffel (L 32907, L 36673)


Kommandeur:
Maj. Werner Spielvogel (1 Nov 38 - 13 Sep 39) KIA
Maj. Wolfgang Neudörffer (c 14 Sep 39 - 1 Dec 39)
Maj. Otto Weiss (RK, EL) (1 Dec 39 - 15 Oct 40)
Hptm. Egon Thiem (RK) (15 Oct 40 - 26 May 41)
Maj. Otto Weiss (RK, EL) (26 May 41 - 13 Jan 42)





© H.L. deZeng IV, 2003