Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur Questions

[hucks216]

Good afternoon all,
I was hoping that someone could help me with a location problem I have encountered please. I have a soldbuch to a medic who served with Fliegerhorst-Kommandantur E 12/III from July 1941 to 2nd April 1943. In March 1943 he received schrapnel wounds and according to www.ww2.dk Fleigerhorst-Kdt E 12/III suffered losses at a place called Podssadna. Would anyone know where this is (or have a rough idea) and what would LW personnel from a Fliegerhorst-Kdt unit possibly based at Riga be doing there?

In the Soldbuch, he enters the LW Lazarett at Pleskau (present day Pskov) which is approx 150 miles south west of Leningrad - which I am assuming is the general area of where Podssadna is located but confirmation would be appreciated.

[Larry deZeng]

Fl.H.Kdtr. E 12/III might have been at Riga-Spilve in August 1941, but it was just passing through and was not permanently stationed there. It was an E-Hafen so it moved forward. I have Fl.H.Kdtr. E 12/III at Kholm in at least March 1942. I next have it at Alt-Schwaneburg (Gulbene) in NE Latvia in at least Dec 43 and Mar 44.

The guy was wounded at Podssadna (Podsad’ye) in Belorussia 29 km W of Polotsk in March 1943.

So it seems to have always been in that Ostrov - Kholm - Polotsk - Idritsa - Gulbene sector along the Russian-Latvian border to the south of Pskov during 1941-44. That's where it would have been in March 1943. There was no airfield, landing ground or field airstrip at Podsad'ye, but there was at Polotsk.

It sounds to me like there was an anti-partisan operation going on around Podsad'ye and, as a medic, he was ordered out to pick up or help attend to German wounded during the operation. This was not uncommon at all. Luftwaffe Medics were always on call if asked to respond to nearby wounded regardless of the branch of service - Heer, Waffen-SS, Polizei, SD, whatever.

L.

[hucks216]

That is a great help Larry, thanks a lot.