Maj Dietrich Puttfarken, KG51, Lost 23.04.44.

[Joe Potter]

Seeking any info on the loss of Maj Puttfarken, and the name of his Bf.
Thanks
Joe

[Jim P.]

Me 410A-1, 420314, PUTTFARKEN, Hptm. Dietrich (F)/Lux, Ofw. Willi (Bf), 5, 5./KG 51, , 9K+MN, , , 22-Apr-44, Both MIA during Fern Nachtjagdeinsatz over North Sea against B-24s., RK awarded for bomber missions, Kanal, Obermaier p.181, , Cambridge, 100%, F

[Joe Potter]

Thank's Jim.
Joe.

[Nick Beale]

You would probably find Intruders Over Britain by Simon W Parry interesting as well.

ISBN: 1-871187-16-8
208 pages, 232 x 150mm
Soft covers

Price £11.95 (+ P&P)

http://www.airresearch.co.uk/

[Chris Goss]

Not that much about Puttfarken in Simon's book but he did go down over the North Sea

[Maximowitz]

Any idea of what colour scheme was used by the KG51 machines on these intruder missions? I'm rather interested in researching this subject, in particular Maj Puttfarken.

Thanks.

[Doug Stankey]

This is what we currently have on this guy:

PUTTFARKEN, Dietrich.
(DOB: 30.04.20 in Hamburg).
1940 in KG 51.
02.07.42 Oblt., awarded DKG, I./KG 51.
07.10.42 Oblt. in 1./KG 51, awarded the Ritterkreuz for completing 250 combat missions, sinking a submarine and several merchant ships, and destroying 30 aircraft on the ground and 3 important bridges along the Don.
21.11.42 Hptm., appt Staka 11./KG 51 (to 24.04.44).
c.02.44 Staka Fernnachtjägerstaffel/KG 51.
01.04.44 promo to Maj.
23.04.44 reported MIA over the North Sea during an attack on Cambridge/England.
Credited with 269 combat missions and 5 air victories.

LdZ
DGS

[Maximowitz]

Thank you Doug, I find the Fernnachtjäger missions quite absorbing. I'm sure there's more info to be found about this little known (outside of this forum anyway) aspect of Luftwaffe strategy. I've just purchased Intruders Over Britain by Simon W Parry, are there any other books you would advise me to read?

[Doug Stankey]

I would suggest "Nachjagd" by Theo Boiten which covers all night fighter operations but at least is in English, as is "Nachtjager" by David Williams (2 volumes). The later I haven't seen but I expect its good. What would probably have more content on the subject of Fernnachtjagd would likely be (in German):
Chronik der I. Gruppe des Nachtjagdgeschwaders 2 by Heinz-Rökker; VDM Heinz Nickel Verlag.


The later is a high quality production consisting of many articles dealing with different aspects of the unit. The author is, of course, a well known veteran of the unit.



Apart from the Parry book, there is nothing else that springs to mind.


Good luck.



Doug Stankey

[leonventer]

Originally Posted by Doug Stankey

...at least is in English, as is "Nachtjager" by David Williams (2 volumes). The later I haven't seen but I expect its good.

I suspect that Doug is referring to Williams' 2-volume work, "Hunters of the Reich."
One volume ("Day Fighters") is devoted to the Tagjagd, while the other ("Night Fighters") covers the Nachtjagd. The night fighter volume is a collection of five biographies: Wolfgang Falck, Georg Hermann Greiner, Werner Hoffmann, Peter Spoden, and Paul Zorner. The appendices include victory lists, promotion dates and award dates for each pilot. The book also includes a list of the top 25 Nachtjäger, an airfield map, a Nachtjagd navigation map, and a glossary and bibliography.

What would probably have more content on the subject of Fernnachtjagd would likely be (in German):
Chronik der I. Gruppe des Nachtjagdgeschwaders 2 by Heinz-Rökker; VDM Heinz Nickel Verlag.

Yes, an excellent book. Note that there are a couple more unit histories of I./NJG 2, namely:

• "Ferne Nachtjagd: Aufzeichnungen aus den Jahren 1940-1945" by Möhlenbeck and Leise, published by Motorbuch Verlag in 1976. It has 224 pages and is written in a diary format, describing daily events from mid 1940 to mid 1943. (1944 and 1945 are summarised in just a couple of pages.) The appendices contain victory and loss lists for the period from June 1940 to the end of April 1943.

• "I./NJG 2" by Murawski, published by Kagero in 2002. This is a smallish card cover of 80 pages, with text in both Polish and English. It's primarily focused on operations in 1940 and 1941, but also contains 10 pages on Operation Gisela, launched in March 1945.

Hope that helps,
Leon Venter