Hpt. Helmut Pliefke TG30 POW 22-2-1944

[Brian Bines]

Seeking information on the above officer the K report shows he flew in Spain and on many of the main Luftwaffe supply missions,

Thanks

Brian Bines

[Larry deZeng]

Pliefke was still a lowly Leutnant at the end of 1942 so we have nothing in our data base on him. Sorry.

HLdeZ/DGS

[RossGmann]

Hello Brian is the following any help/interest
BIOGRAPHY: Link http://www.ww2awards.com/person/25618
Helmut Pliefke entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1933. Towards the end of the 1930's he was trained as pilot on the Junkers Ju 52 and later the Heinkel He 111. Between January 12th and May 19th, 1939 he served with the Kondor Legion in Spain. In 1940 he took part in the operations in Norway (Oslo, Stavanger and Trondheim), in 1941 in Africa (Tripolis) and Crete (Canea), in 1942 at the Eastern Front (Demjansk, Stalingrad and Pitomnik) and in 1945 in France (La Rochelle). During the operations at Crete he was wounded. During a landing at Guernsey on December 26th, 1944 his plane was damaged. On February 22nd 1945 he had to make a crash landing with his Heinkel He 111 H-6 as the result of a lack of fuel. He was reported missing in action on February 24th. However he was taken prisoner by the resisentce and later found himself in British imprisonment in New Thumberland. At that moment he already had the rank of Hauptmann.

In 1948 he was released and returned to Germany.

Kind regards\
Ross

[Larry deZeng]

Brian -

Can you confirm that the information provided by Ross is from the ADI(K) interrogation report that you have, or does Ross' information include additional details not found in the ADI(K) report?

L.

[Brian Bines]

Ross,

Thanks very much for that , a shame the link does not include a photo but it has his awards and adds a lot, thanks.

Larry,

The ADI(K) report says:-

29. The pilot had originally been a Lufthansa pilot and had taken part in the Spanish War in KG.88, and in the Narvik, Crete and Stalingrad operations. He spent a considerable time as a blind flying instructor before joining TG.30 in November 1944. He held the Deutches Kreuz in Gold.

Regards

Brian Bines

[Matti Salonen]

Brian,

Were the other members of the crew also POW? NVM states that all were MIA on Feb 22, 1945.

Matti

[Brian Bines]

Matti,

All shown as POWs uninjured except BM Ofw. Johannes Augustin 15-June-1917 (8) slightly injured.
According to the report crews of the Staffel had been told (if captured) that they were on a weather recon. flight and their unit was ''Wetter Erkundigungs Gruppe I ''. It goes on to say ''The crew manfully repeated the story on interrogation but soon found that it didn't get them anywhere''.
The crash site is given as near Maiche, France (Swiss Frontier) at P.3862, 22nd Feb. 1944 at 0720hrs. The crew were lost and getting low on fuel the pilot made a belly landing thinking they were in German territory,

Regards

Brian Bines

[Larry deZeng]

Thanks, Brian, for the ADI(K) paragraph. I was curious how he got promoted to Hptm. so quickly since he was not a regular officer (Tr.O.).

L.

[Matti Salonen]

Thanks Brian. Again a small improvment in my database.

Matti

[RossGmann]

Hi Brian, not sure if the following is of any help/interest

http://www.blitzgeschwader.de/kg3_do...fbs_201011.pdf

Found the following information on page 193

Pliefke, Helmut Erich

Regierungsstaffel, Fluggast Graf Ciano,
Generäle, Fallschirmjäger nach Narvik,
„Büffel“, Stalingrad, KG zbV 106, KG
zbV 500, Wettererkundungsstaffel d.Lw.

Translated: Government Season, Passenger Count Ciano,
Generals, paratroopers to Narvik,
"Buffalo", Stalingrad, zbV KG 106, KG
zb V. 500, weather reconnaissance Season d.Lw.

Flug 1794 am 09.03.1940 – Flug 2298 am 15.12.1941
Flug 2975 am 11.12.1942 – Flug 2998

Translated: Flight 1794 on 09.03.1940 - flight 2298 on 15.12.1941
Flight 2975 on 11.12.1942 - Flight 2998


Kind regards

Ross