SG 1 at Garz/Usedom airfield 1945?

[Schlageter]

Hello all,

I have a question regarding the presence of SG 1 at Garz/Usedom airfield in 1945. According to Michael Holm's site and Lexikon der Wehrmacht both Stab and III./SG 1 were based at Garz/Usedom, in February and March 1945 respectively. This is contrary to Doug Stankey's and Larry de Zeng's works, which have only III./SG 1 placed at Garz/Usedom ("Dive Bomber and Ground Attack Units of the Luftwaffe"), while the more recent "Airfields of the Luftwaffe" does not mention any unit of SG 1 there at all!

Can anybody clarify, whether units of SG 1 were based at Garz/Usedom and if yes, when exactly.

Thank you very much in advance!

Best Regards

Michael

[Merlin]

Hello Michael,

the III./SG 1 was based according to a Flugbuch from 7.Mar.45 to 6.Apr.45 at Kolberg. During that time frame some missions were flown from Garz.

The Stab/SG 1 was at that time based in the Berlin area.

[Recceswind]

Hello,

Another III./SG 1 Flugbuch lists no flights from Garz in 1945. BTW: Kolberg was taken by the Polish Army on March 18, 1945. As far as I know, III./SG 1 left that town on March 5.

Greetings

[Schlageter]

Thank you very much for your replies!
I would be very interested in scans of the aforementioned Flugbücher of SG 1 pilots, is it possible to acquire them? Or could you please provide me with a listing of the utilized airfields of III./SG 1 after its departure from Kolberg?

Thank you very much for your help!

Best regards

Michael

[KrisJG3]

Originally Posted by Recceswind

Hello,

Another III./SG 1 Flugbuch lists no flights from Garz in 1945. BTW: Kolberg was taken by the Polish Army on March 18, 1945. As far as I know, III./SG 1 left that town on March 5.

Greetings

You have right they escaped on beginig of March 1945 from this airfield near Kolberg (Bagicz = germ.: Bodenhagen):
http://www.polot.net/?p=109

"...W marcu 1945r. Niemcy ogłaszają ewakuację lotniska. Niszczą część obiektów; niektóre hangary, warsztaty, zbrojownię. W dniu 5.03.1945r. lotnisko zajmują czołgi sowieckie. Nienaruszone pozostały wszystkie budynki koszarowe, wieża lotów, kasyno oficerskie, dom oficera, budynek ambulatorium, budynek komendantury, kotłownie, stacje pomp. Informacje są niepewne, ponieważ po bytności sowietów nie zachowało się wiele dokumentów. ..."

" ... In March of 1945 . Germany announce the evacuation of the airport. They destroy some objects , some hangars , workshops, armory . On 5.03.1945r airport occupied Soviet tanks . Remained intact all the barracks , flight tower , casino officers , house officer , outpatient building , headquarters building , boiler , pump stations . the information is uncertain , because the Soviets did not stay preserved many documents. ... "

First attacked Russian with tank units but battle of Kolberg was made by Polish Army and finished on 18.03.1945 - Airfield Bagicz/Bodenhagen there is on East side of Kolberg (very near).

[Larry deZeng]

Hi Michael Schlageter -

Please be careful making assumptions about entire units based on the entries in several Flugbuecher, especially fighter and ground attack units and most especially during the latter part of the war. These units more often than not operated from more than one airfield at a time so identifying one particular airfield as the unit's "base" is often difficult to do, given the mass destruction of documents. In labeling a particular airfield as a unit's "base", it would be necessary to know with certainty that the Gruppenstab was there along with its administrative and signal facilities. Having a couple of Flugbuecher that show an aircraft and pilot from the Gruppenstab at an airfield on a given date doesn't cut it. This frequent lack of certainty is endemic with many Luftwaffe units and the researcher is forced to rely on secondary sources such as Flugbuecher, POW statements, published material, etc. Even ULTRA intercepts are shaky because an isolated signal stating that such and such unit "will be moving to Kolberg at 2100 hours" does not meant that it necessarily did.

L.

[Schlageter]

Hello Larry,

thanks a lot for your input! That is a very important fact you brought up which should taken into consideration when looking at Luftwaffe bases in the last months of the war.

Best

Michael