demjansk - which units involved

[jim norton]

hi,

is there any chance to get to know which units were involved in demjansk-airlift? many other planes than ju 52 took part, like schools and ergaenzungsgruppen. are there any documents? something in tsmo?

thanks in advance
jim

[Brian Bines]

Jim , some years ago I extracted losses for Demjansk and Cholm from GQM for another researcher the units I had for these supply flights to both were :-

II and IV KG.zbV 1 with Ju 52s the following KGr.zbVs 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 105, 172, 211, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 999, Posen, and Oels there was also Luft Verk.St.Berlin-Rangsdorf and Lastensegler St.Kabicht but I believe these two were linked to Cholm . The majority of these flew Ju 52s with 5, 8, and 211 using the He 111 and 6 and 7 also including the Ju 86 .

Some of the KG.s also took part I believe I/KG 4 was involved on towing Go 242s

Hope this may be of some help,

Regards
Brian Bines

[jim norton]

hello brian,
thanks a lot! so there are no other sources than the gqm?
is there a chance to get to know which school or kampfgeschwader came to which kgr.zbv.?
all the best
jim

[RT]

Not sure that we could tie one Training unit specifically to one transport unit involved in Demjansk op., but elements of the BFS 3 nd some of the FFS C9 nd C14 nd C19 nd C12 + Gr.KFS 2+ Fl.Sch.d.Lw.(S) 2 +Gr,KS 4 were lost with KGrzbv 5, BFS 8 people died for the KGrzbv 7, Überf.St.d.Nachsch.d.L.Jüterbog. crew with KGrzbv 8,
Probably "erfahrene" personel , instructors nd advanced trainees were pick-up in each unit with planes of their unit nd incorporated in the ad-oc built units to fly in Demjansk


Rémi

[Larry deZeng]

Exactly. I've been working on the KGr. z.b.V. and other transport units for 30+ years and this is why no documents have been found that exclusively tie a particular C-Schule or Blindflugschule to a particular KGr. z.b.V. by providing all of the personnel and all of the aircraft. Each of the latter were comprised of personnel and aircraft from a number of different schools.

L

[jim norton]

hi,

that's a pity. but there must have been some orders, which school etc. had to transfer machines and crews to which unit. nevertheless it is very difficult to bring former school-machines and their new owner together. this would also be the clue to the special markings on the planes during demjansk like the triangle or stripes and circles...

all the best
jim