4th Staffel Aufklarungsgruppe 21

[David P. Williams]

I would like to find details of the movements and operations concerning 4th Staffel of Aufklarungsgruppe 21 (Reconnaissance) during May - June 1940 ie: the Battle of France.

Does anyone have this information or are able to give me guidance as to where I might find it. The unit were operating Henschel HS 126s at the time.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

David

[Larry deZeng]

This is all I have for this time frame.

4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21

10.5.40: probably deployed at Pirmasens - instead of advancing into France with the opening of the offensive on this date, the Staffel supported a holding action along the Maginot Line in Saarland until 14 June, when XXIV. AK and the other elements of 1st Army broke through south of Saarbrücken to encircle French forces in Alsace. The first loss was incurred on 26 May when a Hs 126 was shot up and damaged near A1bert/NE of Amiens. It was not until 15 June that another Hs 126 was reported lost near Troyes followed by another the next day, both crews being wounded.
6.40: after the armistice on 22 June, the Staffel carried out routine training and several Hs 126Bs were damaged in accidents or by autumn storms at Cherbourg-Theville on 31 October and at Le Havre-Octeville on 14 November. It has not been possible to track the Staffel’s movements between November 1940 and May 1941, but there is some reason to believe that it returned to Germany.

[Sources: J.-P.Défieux - Répertoire des Unités Aériennes de la Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Reconnaissance Aéronavale (Nanterre, privately published, n.d. (c 1988-90?); K.Ries - Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939; Tessin, Georg, Deutsche Verbände und Truppen 1918-1939: Altes Heer, Freiwilligenverbände, Reichswehr, Heer, Luftwaffe, Landespolizei; G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, 16+ Bde., Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945; U.Balke - Der Luftkrieg in Europa: Die Operativen Einsätze des Kampfgeschwader 2 im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Teil I; AFHRA Maxwell decimal Karlsruhe Collection KC-Kl13.309-3/ v.1; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-312 – several references in the 18. Armee records); BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs).


Nothing found in ULTRA HW5 concerning this Staffel.

L.

[robert]

Hi,

on 9.5.40 4.(H)/21 was under AOK18 at Wissel-Lalcar.

Regards

Robert

[Merlin]

David,

according to a Flugbuch the unit was based:
from 21.03.40 Borkenberge
from 13.05.40 Wissel
from 14.05.40 Gilze-Rijen
from 26.05.40 Auxi Le Chateau
from 04.04.40 Vaux les Amiens
from 13.06.40 Rocourt
from 16.06.40 Theil
from 19.06.40 Saint Imbert until 13.07.40

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by Merlin

David,

according to a Flugbuch the unit was based:
from 21.03.40 Borkenberge
from 13.05.40 Wissel
from 14.05.40 Gilze-Rijen
from 26.05.40 Auxi Le Chateau
from 04.04.40 Vaux les Amiens
from 13.06.40 Rocourt
from 16.06.40 Theil
from 19.06.40 Saint Imbert until 13.07.40

Yikes! This is in total conflict with the information I got, especially from the T-312 Koluft AOK 18 records..................talk about the fog of war! But these pesky (H) Staffeln have always proved difficult for movement information without a complete set of Flugbuecher.

I guess it would be necessary to plot out each of those locations to see just how much they are incongruent with the Saarland and the movements of XXIV. Armeekorps. The Staffel must have had a change of orders, but this should have been mentioned in the AOK 18 records.

L.

[Jaap Woortman]

In my research project about German a/c losses in the Netherland during May 1940 I am working on the Hs 126 losses.
At May 10th 4.(H)/21 was operating for XXVI. A.K. part of 18.Armee and flying from Wissel near Kalkar and moved at May 14th in
the afternoon to Gilze-Rijen. See appendix.
It was then flying for XXVI. A.K. and XXXIX. A.K.

Jaap

[Larry deZeng]

Ah ha - the plot thickens. It seems then that XXVI. AK got transposed into XXIV. AK. I've seen transpositional errors in the original German records countless times, but that is not to say that the typo wasn't made by me, even though I always double and triple check everything.

L.

[David P. Williams]

Gentlemen,

Thank you all very much so far!

Merlin: I am back to writing my biography on Martin 'Tino' Becker who operated with this unit before going on to fighter training, and then night fighting.

He was with this unit and flew approximately 27 missions. I do not have his Flugbuch for this period. Are you able to say who the aircrew member was from whose Flugbuch you have obtained these details?

This is a bit of a hole in my research material for Becker and any assistance will help to fill in the gaps.

Thank you all again,

David

[Jaap Woortman]

David,

The flights of Becker I have seen sofar are:
P2+EM, Becker – van Rossum, 13-05-40 11.40 – 14.30
P2+BM, Becker – Uebe, 14-05-40 11.50 – 14.30
P2+MM, Becker – Homberg, 15-05-40 17.20 – 19.10
I will check May 11th and 12th, 1940 most probably in Jan. next year.


Jaap

[David P. Williams]

Jaap,

That's brilliant.

I appreciate your offer to check the others for May.

As I said it really helps to fill in the gaps and assist me in producing as accurate a biography as i possibly can.

Thank you again, all the best,

David