Fw. Hans Richter I/NAGr.1 24-12-1944

[Brian Bines]

Seeking details on this pilot and his shooting down on 24th Dec.44 reported as a prisoner of war,

Thanks

Brian Bines

[Nordpol54]

Hello Brian,

i only found this at lostarcraft.de closest to that date in question:

23.12.1944, Bf 109 G-14, Werk-Nr. 512339, yellow 11, 3. (I.)/JG 77, Fw. Hans Richter (MIA), crash location Dümpelfeld

Horrido
Norbert

[Larry deZeng]

I/NAGr.1? Hmmm..............

On 24 Dec 1944, 1./NAGr. 1 was at Herzogenaurach with Me 262s. There are now nearly a half-dozen books in English and German on the Me 262 that purportedly list all known losses of this type. Have you checked any of them? If not, then perhaps someone here has the more recent ones. All I have is Manfred Jurleit - Strahljäger Me 262 im Einsatz: Alle Geschwader, Gruppen und Kommandos (Berlin, 1993), which is now 19 years OOP. The 2-volume book has an appendix with all the Me 262 losses, but there is none for that date and unit.

L.

[Larry deZeng]

Postscript:

I have just discovered that 1./NAGr. 1 did not begin receiving Me 262s until February 1945, so you evidently have some bad information there, or at least it would seem so.


1./NAGr. 1
(Unit Code Q1+)


Formation. (November 1944)
Formed on or about 22 November 1944 at Langendiebach/Hesse (ex-1.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 121) and equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109G single-seat reconnaissance aircraft. Plans changed and it was decided to convert the Staffel to the Me 262 jet as will be seen below.[1]

Germany. (December 1944 - May 1945)
10 December 1944: Staffel in transfer from Langendiebach to Herzogenaurach.
10 January 1945: at Herzogenaurach.
5 February 1945: Herzogenaurach under Stab/NAGr. 1.
February 1945: began receiving Messerschmitt Me 262 jets at Herzogenaurach.
....................
[1] G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945, 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); M.Jurleit - Strahljäger Me 262 im Einsatz: Alle Geschwader, Gruppen und Kommandos (Berlin, 1993), p.116; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals HP8068, HP9167, BT1989, BT6376, BT9223, BT9693, KO310; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.625S (British Air Ministry) OKL document; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 4 II/32; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Postscript:

I have just discovered that 1./NAGr. 1 did not begin receiving Me 262s until February 1945

Talking of which: http://www.ghostbombers.com/recon/262/1nag1.html

[Brian Bines]

Thanks guys for the help this was the origin of my request :- http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=29210

Regards

Brian Bines

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Talking of which: http://www.ghostbombers.com/recon/262/1nag1.html

N.B.: if the fellas here did a little googling before posting their questions, you, me, a bunch of others and TOCH! itself would all be out of business!

[yogybär]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

February 1945: began receiving Messerschmitt Me 262 jets at Herzogenaurach.

Where in Herzogenaurach was an airfield usable for Me 262's?

[Larry deZeng]

Herzogenaurach
Dimensions: approx 750 x 1,400 meters.
Runway: grass surface with two camouflaged concrete starting platforms at the NW and SW corners of the landing area. The field had a beam approach system, perimeter lighting and obstruction lighting.
[above information as of 17 November 1944]

Answer: nowhere. To the best of my knowledge, Herzogenaurach was not intended to be an operational airfield for the Me 262. That entry came from an ULTRA signal, I believe, and appears to have been mis-translated. It probably means, "1./NAGr. 1 at Herzogenaurach began receiving Me 262s in February 1945." As you know, a unit could be billeted at almost any airfield and the pilots ordered to report to Lechfeld, Neuburg/Donau, u.a., for Me 262 conversion training. On completion of the re-equipping and conversion process, the unit would be transferred to an operational airfield with a runway capable to handling the Me 262. There were quite a number of airfields in Germany that were having their runways extended and hardened from fall 1944 through spring 1945 so they could handle the jet aircraft.

L.