Luftwaffe losses Feb 21, 1945

[Kaczmarek]

Hello Paul,

I know it from a former pilot of 10./301. He flew ground attack missions from Sagan (Silesia) mid of January 1945 against russian troop convoys on the Eastern Front with the Fw 190 A-8. He received strong AA fire and hits in his aircraft.

Rgds,
Kaczmarek

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Kaczmarek

Hello Paul,

I know it from a former pilot of 10./301. He flew ground attack missions from Sagan (Silesia) mid of January 1945 against russian troop convoys on the Eastern Front with the Fw 190 A-8. He received strong AA fire and hits in his aircraft.

Rgds,
Kaczmarek

Hello Kaczmarek,

Thank you! This confuses the situation somewhat, because at this point 3 Gruppen of JG 301 have been mentioned. For III./JG 301, Michael Holm's rather dated basing list seems to show only "19.2.45 - 10.4.45 Sachau" as possibly relevant to operations in the East. Can you comment as to the Gruppe's actual basing and operations at this time?

Regards,

Paul Thompson

[Erich]

one must look at the dispositions of all of JG 301's A/F's in 1945 as they fought both US formations as well as Soviet as the latter moved closer and closer to Berlin.....

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Erich

one must look at the dispositions of all of JG 301's A/F's in 1945 as they fought both US formations as well as Soviet as the latter moved closer and closer to Berlin.....

I agree, Erich, but it seems only the unit history has this information and I believe even that history has an uneven reputation. The final mentions of actions by JG 301 units in Caldwell's narrative are as follows:

15 March - II./JG 301
7 April - I and III./JG 301
10 April - Stab./JG 301

The book deals only with actions involving the 8th and 15th AF, so it's unclear whether JG 301's main enemy at this time was the VVS or the Allied tactical air forces.

Regards,

Paul Thompson

[Kaczmarek]

Hello Paul,

from his memories and my notes. The 10./301 flew from
Stendal mid of Oct. 44
Alteno b. Luckau begin of Jan. 45
Sagan/Schlesien mid of Jan. 45
Alteno b. Luckau end of Jan. 45 (the group received his first Ta 152)
Sachau b. Gardelegen mid of Feb. 45
End of March 45 ending my notes, he came into a hospital to the end of war.

The main opponents for the J.G. 301 and J.G. 300 was both the Russian and the Allied Air Forces.

Rgds,
Kaczmarek

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Kaczmarek

Hello Paul,

from his memories and my notes. The 10./301 flew from
Stendal mid of Oct. 44
Alteno b. Luckau begin of Jan. 45
Sagan/Schlesien mid of Jan. 45
Alteno b. Luckau end of Jan. 45 (the group received his first Ta 152)
Sachau b. Gardelegen mid of Feb. 45
End of March 45 ending my notes, he came into a hospital to the end of war.

The main opponents for the J.G. 301 and J.G. 300 was both the Russian and the Allied Air Forces.

Rgds,
Kaczmarek

Hello Kaczmarek,

Thank you, a very interesting list. Having looked at the locations of the various airfields, I think the Gruppe was probably concentrating on fighting the Soviets until mid-February. That would match the timing of the peak of the Soviet winter offensive. The summary of my ideas is below:

Alteno b. Luckau – 51.8665379N 13.7803691E; NW of Cottbus – possibly Eastern front
Sagan/Schlesien – 51.6120474N 15.327301E; SW of Zielona Gora, ex-Grünberg – probably Eastern Front
Sachau b. Gardelegen – 52.4735108N 11.2606322E, NW of Magdeburg – probably Western front

Regards,

Paul Thompson

[Delmenhorst]

You could order RL 2 III/1197 and 1199 from Freiburg as a microfiche. It would not ruin you completely and give you a list over Luftwaffe losses in february and march 1945.

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Delmenhorst

You could order RL 2 III/1197 and 1199 from Freiburg as a microfiche. It would not ruin you completely and give you a list over Luftwaffe losses in february and march 1945.

Thank you, Delmenhorst, I've sent you a private message.