Sonderkommando Totenkopf

[Andy Mitchell]

The above unit appears on several occasions in Air 20/40 -2687 as follows (below is my interpretation of the notes found in the Air 20/40 documents):-

14 Apr 1945 – Luftwaffenkommando West ordered 7 JagdDiv to establish Sonderkommando Totenkopf under command of a former commander of (F)./123. Personnel (volunteers) drawn from Heere and Luftwaffe to operate as pilots, panzerfaust operators and demolition men, Fi 156 aircraft to be used for this. Operations would be carried out to the rear of the Allied front lines and consist of attacks against: installations, bridges, troop / supply columns, tanks, locomotives etc.(1)(Appears that the plan for the use of this unit was given the codename “Meredith”)

18 Apr 1945 – 15 personnel for “Meredith” to standby for deployment.(2)

25 Apr 1945 – Orders issued – Ten Fi 156 aircraft to hamper enemy supplies, attack tanks and blow up bridges with two men from each aircraft. Additional task for two Fi 156 aircraft to block road and rail links between Rottwiel and Tuttlingen. men to return in two days.(3)
Of five aircraft which eventually took off for the above operation, four returned (two slightly damaged) and one was recorded as missing.(4)

26 Apr 1945 – 9 Fi 156 aircraft took off between 0145 and 0230 hours, each carrying a demolition party of two men. They were to land in the vicinity of Dillingen. Four aircraft returned, landing between 0415 and 0435 hours. Recce sorties confirmed that bridges near Guensburg had been blown up. 5 aircraft failed to return.(5)

28 Apr 1945 – Intended operations for 29 Apr, hampering enemy supplies in S.E. Germany using 5 Fi 156 aircraft. After this fuel stocks exhausted. Detatchment to be disbanded.(6)
Three Fi 156 aircraft took off, none returned.(7)

==References==

1 - Ultra T523/110
2. - Ultra T524/23
3. - Ultra T530/14
4. - Ultra T530/17
5. - Ultra T532/45 summary does not contain direct reference to Totenkopf, however activities similar to this credited to Totenkopf.
6. - Ultra T537/21
7. - Utlra T537/11

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Questions

(a) Has anyone come across any other references to this unit.
(b) Has anyone seen references to "Meredith"
(c) Who was the "commander" of (F)./123 who was put in charge of this Kdo/operation?
(d) I have translated "Special Detachment Totenkopf" as Sonderkommando Totenkopf - is this a correct assumption or, if not, what should be the correct name for the unit?
(e) Does anyone know which units the Fi 156 aircraft would have been sourced from?

I look forward to your thoughts, suggestions and corrections to the above.

[Larry deZeng]

Hi Andy,

There was a big article on "Totenkopf" in Jet & Prop magazine or Flugzeug magazine some years ago. It had a lot of additional information. Also covered in at least one book. I think the Dillingen bridge attack has been discussed on AHF or here, too.

L.

[Nick Beale]

(b) "Meredith" is just an Allied substitution for the original German code name. They did this consistently with Ultra, the Allied report's own encryption was more secure if it din't contain words from the original German.

Other examples: "Einhorn" became "Salter"; "Zeisig" (mining of the Scheldt Estuary) became "Conway."

[Andy Mitchell]

Larry,

Thank you very much for the pointer to Jet and Prop and/or Flugzeug.

And Nick - thank you for the correction regarding Meredith, does anyone know the true codename for the operation?

[Larry deZeng]

Hi again, Andy,

I checked my notes for Totenkopf and found these references. I'm guessing the magazine article is missing because it's more recent than I may have thought. Anyway, the Saft books covers it pretty well.

U.Saft - Das Bittere Ende der Luftwaffe: “Wilde Sau” – Sturmjäger – Rammjäger – Todesflieger – “Bienenstock” (Langenhagen, 1992), pp.155-66; H.Herrmann - Eagle’s Wings: The Autobiography of a Luftwaffe Pilot (Osceola (WI), 1991), 259-66; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals K01349 and K01543.

The Kdr. of Totenkopf was:

Maj. Otto Köhnke (c.16 Apr 45 - 8 May 45)

The more official and more commonly used name for Totenkopf was
Sonderkommando “Bienenstock”.

They eventually had 20 aircraft and these included Si 204s and Bü 181s as well as the Störche. None of the accounts indicate where the aircraft came from, but by that date there were scads of unused aircraft laying all over the Reich. Not too difficult to cobble together 20 zoom-zooms at that late date.

HTH,

L.

[Andy Mitchell]

Larry,

Thanks again for the additional information.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Andy Mitchell

Nick - thank you for the correction regarding Meredith, does anyone know the true codename for the operation?

I've seen both Bienenstock (Beehive) and Totenkopf (Death's Head) at different times. These may simply have been names given to individual groups carrying out these missions, not the overall project.

[Andy Mitchell]

Nick,

Thanks for the clarification regarding the unit/operation name.

I have done some googling and come up with very little on Bienenstock. However, Bienenstock is mentioned in several references alongside the Rammkommando Elbe. The idea behind both appearing to be credited to Hajo Hermann...

Mention of Elbe took me to Adrian Weir's book "The Last Flight of the Luftwaffe". here there are some comments on pages 175 and 177 about the origins and intentions of Bienenstock.

Apparently to carry out operations against US airfields in Italy from where raids against the airfields used by the Luftwaffe's jet aircraft were being conducted. These attacks were originally intended to complement the Rammkommando operations and be one spectacular assault on the airfields rather than what appears to have been piecemeal operations frittering away scant resources.

Weir also indicates that Hermann was also instructed to use the Bienenstock forces to operate against Soviet supply lines in an attempt to slow their advance - presumably against Berlin.

Weir notes flights from Pocking on 25 and 28 Apr 1945 and operations against the Donau crossings.

Larry,

Found several references to Saft's book.

You mentioned that Maj. Otto Köhnke (c.16 Apr 45 - 8 May 45) was Kdr of Totenkopf - do you have any notes on his previous history?

Ed,

A visit to my local library may be in order.

[Don Pearson]

Thank you for your answers

Don

[Andy Mitchell]

Larry,

The link is here

or go to the Wiki Downloads page and look for the section for "The tank Busting Midgets"