2L

[BrianC]

Hi guys

There was a recent Forum post regarding Dietrich Weyergang, who was killed flying LN+ER. The remains of his aircraft has recently been discovered and shows 11 kill markings.

Robert says that he claimed at least 5 during the Battle of Britain (possibly 10); we also know of one whilst flying from Norway.

Cheers
Brian

[Larry deZeng]

Andy -

Maybe this might help?


Provided by edwest2 on TOCH, 11 May 2018:
I hope some of the following is helpful:

"On 24 March 1941, 7.(F)/LG 2 moved via Popest, Romania, to Krumovo in Bulgaria, and on 2 April to the Sofia-Vrazdebna airfield. There yellow identification markings were applied to the Staffel's Bf 110s, on the nose, elevators and rudders. The German forces attacked in 6 April 1941. After missions over Southern Yugoslavia and Greece, the Staffel supported the airborne invasion of Crete from Athens-Kalamaki. The Russian campaign saw the Staffel in action in the southern sector where, in the summer of 1941, it flew reconnaissance missions on behalf of Panzergruppe 1 with its few remaining Bf 110 E-3s and C-5s as well as several Bf 109 E-6s. In September 1941 the unit was briefly withdrawn from operations and sent to Breslau for a rest and refit. In December the Staffel returned to operations, flying from Mariupol on the Sea of Azov west of Rostov. In february it transferred to Stalino. In March 1942 the unit was renamed to 7.(H)/LG 2 and in May it was attached to Stab Nahaufklärungsgruppe 12 (NAGr 12). In November the Staffel was briefly combined with 3.(H)/31 to form NAGr Fleischmann (Tactical Reconnaissance Group Fleischmann). The Gruppe flew missions over Stalingrad from Golubinskaya (north of Kalach). On 11 December 1942 the airfield had to be abandoned in a hurry as Russian forces approached. Most of the unit's machines were lost, as only a few Bf 110s could be flown out. At the end of December, 7.(H)/LG 2 and 3.(H)/31 had just five machines between them! By January 1943 this number had been reduced to three. At the end of February 1943, 7.(H)/LG 2 disappeared from the Luftwafffe Order of Battle. Many of its ground personnel had been forced into the Stalingrad pocket when the Russians broke through, and on 3 February 1943 sixty men were reported missing there. There is no record of the disbandment of 7.(H)/LG 2, the unit probably just ceased to exist."


Source: Luftwaffe im Focus, Spezial No. 1

[Dan History]

Gentlemen, thank you all for excellent and informative contributions. I am pressed for time, so two brief comments follow below:

Originally Posted by BrianC

There was a recent Forum post regarding Dietrich Weyergang, who was killed flying LN+ER. The remains of his aircraft has recently been discovered and shows 11 kill markings.

Brian, there appears to be a Russian website dedicated to LN+ER, with images of the crashed aircraft - "Located 12 kilometres north of the town of Zaozersk in Murmansk oblast. Lifted out by helicopter in 1991 and appeared in England in 1992. Now possibly located in the Berlin Technik Museum."
https://ln-er.ru/


This is contradicted by the information below:



"BF110F-2 Werknummer 5052 served as LN+NR with 13./Zerstörergruppe JG 5 in Finland during 1943. On January 11, it was damaged by Flak flying a mission against railway lines between Murmansk and Leningrad. Pilot Helmut Ziegenhagen successfully executed a forced landing on a frozen lake, with all crew picked up by friendly forces the next day.


The comparably well-preserved wreck was salvaged in 1991 and shipped to the UK. In 1997, it was acquired by Deutsches Technikmuseum together with another wreck marked M8+ZE, which provided parts to the restoration."
http://www.b-domke.de/AviationImages...eum/26126.html

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Andy -

Maybe this might help?

Larry, you and Doug wrote in your book series that "Staffel disbanded (early February 1943)." So we can assume that there is no mention of this unit after the surrender at Stalingrad?



Warm regards,


Dan