The Seenotdienst in Tunesia

[Petrusja]

Dear forum,

I am researching Dornier Do 24 operations and I have collected a fair bit of of information about the Seenotstaffeln, including the German books by Kühn and Born, and the Luftwaffe Verband articles bij Gerhard Stemmer.

However, I have surprisingly little information about 6. Seenotstaffel operations in Tunesia from November 1942 to May 1943.

Some transport missions seem to have been flown into Bizerte, in particular, early on, and a local rescue command was apparently set up, On 19 November, Do24N KK+UM was lost off Sicily with ten people, including the Staffelkapitän, Oberleutnant Fritz Wölke, apparently on a return flight from Tunisia. The unit seems to have suffered quite a few losses in the months after that, but there is little information relating to Tunisia, which seems strange in view of the major sealift and airlift operations going on.

When 14 Me323s where shot down on 22 April, the only rescue action was apparently by Fi156s dropping dinghies, and boats. Does anyone have information about Seenotdienst fllying in Tunisia, either in the resuce or transport role?

Thanks,

Peter

[Larry deZeng]

Here are some primary source references for you. The K113 Karlsruhe Collection Seenotdienst studies have some information on operations in Tunisian waters as well as the CSDIC interrogation reports. There are also a few intercepts on the subject in the ULTRA HW5 material.

PRO London: AIR 40/British Air Ministry (A.I.3.(E)) “Organisation of the Air/Sea Rescue Service in the G.A.F.", 31 January 1944; Air Ministry (A.I.3.(E)) "Numbered Units of the G.A.F. Air/Sea Rescue Service", 30 October 1944; DEFE 3 ULTRA signals; British Air Ministry publication S.D.431 (Secret) The Organisation of the German Air Force (January, 1943); AFHRA Maxwell AFB: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection Seenotdienst studies; decimal 512 various Air Ministry intelligence reports; decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18, interrogation report CSDIC/CMF A.446; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.

Larry