Do 217 from Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht - 25.02.1945 - MIA

[samgamgee]

Hello everyone.
I am new to the forum and please be patient.

I'm close to finding the remains of an airplane Do 217 M-1 from Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht. The plane did not return from a combat mission on the day 25 february 1945.
pilot – Ofw. Werner Jauß (MIA),
observer –Oblt. Alfred Voll (MIA),
radio operator – Fw. Fritz Vogeln (MIA),
flight engineer – Uffz. Hans Geib (MIA)

I am interested in all the details of this flight. Any information about the crew?
Thank you in advance for any help

[Rottler]

Hello samgamgee,

in the Gen.Qu. loss report from March 3, 1945 neither details of the flight nor cause and place of the crash are called.
Apart from the missing crew and the unit is noticed: Do 217 M-1 WNr. 326340.

Regards
Leo

[samgamgee]

Thank you Leo.
I wonder if it is possible to reach the unit's combat log? Can there still be any other documents? And some literature on this subject.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

I can find two of your crew easily on the Volksbund database: Ofw Werner Walter Jauss and Uffz Hans Geib are both listed as being killed on 25 February 1945 at Zobten, Breslau area (apparently now Sobotka, Poland).

The two other men may be the two following cases I found on Volksbund:
1) Feldwebelleutnant Albrecht Voll killed on 25 February 1945 in Zobten. This rank is unknown to me, but it could your "Oblt Alfred Voll".
2) Fw Friedrich Franz Vogl killed on 25 February 1945 in Zobten. This could be your "Fw. Fritz Vogeln"

From a quick Google search, Zobten was on the frontline during the Breslau siege by Soviet forces, at least from 24 February to April if not May.

So the crash might have been on both Soviet and German held area. From the Volksbund entries, it seems that all four men above are listed as KIA rather than MIA, so were found and buried, even if their graves are now lost. This could indicate that the crash occured on German held ground.

PS: according to a map I found, on 6 May 1945, Zobten was on the frontline of the external ring of Soviet forces surrounding Breslau (ie not facing the city but the German front) and was in Soviet hands in the morning but was retaken by the Germans in one of the last big-scale (several divisions) German counter-attacks of the war.

[samgamgee]

Thank you Laurent !!!
From the conclusion that the plane of which the remains were found was not Werner Jauss.

My plane was shot down on February 25 in Szprotawa (Sprottau). There was a Soviet airport. In the Soviet documents it is mentioned that at night Do 217 bombed the airport and was shot down. Due to date compatibility, I thought it was Jaussa's plane.

I was wrong. Sobótka (Zobten) is located 100km from Szprotawa (Sprottau). It's hard. Once again thank you very much for your help. Leo too.

PS. Then, on February 25, two planes Do 217 were shot down? The question is whether the other was also from Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht?

[Chris Goss]

I would be very surprised if this unit's war diary still exists especially as this ac was lost so close to the end of the war

[samgamgee]

I will ask otherwise, because I am very much interested in identifying the plane that I found the rat.
Is it possible to determine the loss of aircraft Do 217 M-1 in the months III-IV 1945?
On the eastern front, in the area of fighting in Lower Silesia, the only unit that had such aircraft was the Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht. By 9 February 1945, they were stationed at Sprottau Airport. So the plane at night bombarded its former base.

I will add that the area of the catastrophe from mid-February was already in the hands of the Soviets. According to the stories of the local population, next to the wreckage of the plane there were 2 graves with German helmets. Probably two aviators died during an emergency landing. Then the bodies were exhumed. The plane was in good shape. Then he was dismantled by the local people in 1946 and sold to the steelworks.
Is it possible to fix a crew?

[samgamgee]

Very, very thank's Leo !

I hope, it's my crew. I regret, that we can not know the plans of this flight. It's hard!

Regards
Jarosław

[samgamgee]

Leo, I would have asked you for one more favor.

Based on ww2.dk, Aufklärungsstaffel 4.(F)/Nacht in December 1944 still had Do 217 types E-4 and K-1. Perhaps February 25th one of these machines was shot down?

It is no coincidence that on February 25 the Soviet units shot down in the area of Do 217. In the following days it did not happen. Yet only 25.02 over the airport Szprotawa recorded a flight one Do 217.

[Rottler]

Hi Jarosław,

in the Gen.Qu. loss reports for February and March 1945 furthermore I have found three losses of the 4.(F)/Nacht, but no Do 217 E and K:

25.1.45 Do 217 M 326257 Notlandung Verorientierung, Vrieschow 60%

27.1.45 Ju 88 A-4 2337 Bauchlandung infolge Brennstoffmangel, Guben 50%

17.2.45 Do 217 M-1 6179 Absturz, Aufschlagbrand 100% crashplace ?
Crew 4 dead:
F Fhr Wilhelm Heinricht
B Lt Bernhard Hilke
Bf Uffz Hans Spring
Bs Ofw Georg Dölle.

Regards
Leo