Unit code 9H?

[Larry deZeng]

Hi Roger,

I have a history of it compiled by me from all available sources and I can try and answer any questions you might have. Unfortunately, I'm an operations guy and not a hardware guy. So if you have detailed questions about the Staffel's aircraft other that it's 1943 losses and its beständigen Meldungen as given on the Michael Holm web site, then I probably can't answer those.

More specifically, there is no known published or manuscript history of the Staffel, and I have no photos of it. The Bundesarchiv in Koblenz might have some, though.

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hi Larry,

Do you have any information about a Ju 88 9H+SL? Perhaps it appears in some log book. Judging from the name this unit only had one Staffel. If so, I guess a code like 9H+SL wouldn't make much sense (L was the Staffel letter). Or were there other aircraft of this unit with similar tactical markings?

Do you know where the unit was based during the last months of the war?

Cheers,
Roger

[Larry deZeng]

Roger -

NASt. Kroatien, code (9H+ ), was a single Staffel that fluctuated between 9 and 17 aircraft in all. It had a total of 8 Gen.Qu. loss report entries between 19 May 1943 and 12 November 1943, plus at least one for 1945, and they are all for Hs 126s, Do 17Zs and Fi 156s. I don’t have any loss information for 1944, of course. In October 1944, a single Bf 109 was acquired and tests were carried out on a Ju 87. The documents and personal correspondence with a Staffel member who served with it for nearly its entire existence make no mention of a Ju 88 ever being in the hands of the Staffel.

The Staffel was based at Zagreb-Lučko during its entire existence, although it operated from other airfields in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as needed, and here are the historical entries for its last three months:

"Reconnaissance operations from December 1944 to April 1945 were limited to only a few sorties a day as the weather allowed, mainly due to the critical fuel situation.
19 February 1945: Hs 126B-l flipped over on landing at Zagreb-Lučko, 60%.
14 March 1945: Staffel ordered disbanded, but this either cancelled or delayed.
9 April 1945: reported 17(16) Bf 109Gs and Hs 126s on strength under 17. Fliegerdivision.
3 May 1945: still at Zagreb-Lučko and the general withdrawal north to Austria from Zagreb area was carried out on 7 May. Just prior to the evacuation of Zagreb, all remaining aircraft belonging to the Staffel were ordered handed over to Croatian officers and then the personnel of NASt. Kroatien (all German Luftwaffe), both flying and non-flying, headed north by truck and surrendered to Allied forces at Mauerkirchen/ Austria a few days later."

Hope that helps a bit!

Larry

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hi Larry,

Thanks a lot for the information. Perhaps there were only so few Ju 88 (based on the list at www.ww2.dk until end of 1944) that the Staffel members didn't explicitely mention the Ju 88 ?

Or of course, based on your information it seems more and more probable that I read the unit code wrongly and that instead it was 8H for (F)33. Since (F)33 had 4 Staffeln the code 8H+SL would make more sense than 9H+SL. 1. and 3. Staffel had Ju 88 on strengh (at least until end of 1944 according to ww2.dk). 3. Staffel had the Staffel letter 'L'. So 8H+SL would fit perfectly.

3./(F)33 operated in Greece and Hungary under Luftflotte 4 before it went back to Germany just before the end of the war. So, the yellow fuselage band would make sense as well.

Regards
Roger

[Larry deZeng]

As you can see from the following, 3.(F)/33 was at Zagreb-Pleso from mid-November 1944 to mid-January 1945. Zagreb-Pleso is just a stone's throw from Zagreb-Lucko where NASt. Kroatien was based at the same time.

3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 33
Code: (8H + )
Last 7 months of entries:
10.10.44: transferred from Salonika-Sedes to Skopje/Macedonia on or about this date; still under FAGr. 4, the Staffel had 9(5) Ju 88s and Ju l88s, the former being the high-altitude T-l and T-3 variants.
22.10.44: Ju l88 D-2 (8H+AL) crashed in Greece due to engine failure, or possibly shot down by a RAF Beaufighter, while on a long-range day reconnaissance flight to check shipping between Greece and Crete and then along the approaches to the Dardanelles on the return leg, 100%, 3 KIA and 2 captured.
2.11.44: now at Szombathely/W Hungary with a Kette detached at Skopje and still under FAGr. 4.
29.11.44: now at Zagreb-Pleso/Croatia with 6(2) Ju 88s and Ju l88s under Fliegerführer Nordbalkan.
1.12.44: Staffel reported 4 x Ju 188 D-2 and 2 x Ju 188 F-1 on strength.
10.1.45: Zagreb-Pleso with 13(10) Ju 88s and Ju l88s under FAGr. 4.
16.1.45: transferred from Zagreb-Pleso to Szombathely.
20.2.45: Ju 188 D-2 damaged landing at Fp. Szombathe1y, 10%.
26.3.45: Szombathe1y under FAGr. 4.
9.4.45: transferred to Kirchham/c.30 km SSW of Wels in Austria with 10(10) Ju 88s and Ju 188s.
10.4.45: ordered disbanded this date by OKL.
3.5.45: Kirchham in the process of being disbanded under FAGr. 4.

Larry

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for this detailed information about 3./(F)33. Do you possibly have the same kind of information for 1./(F)33 as well?

I have a photo of a 1./(F)33 ME 410 that may have yellow lower engine cowlings. However, as far as I know 1./(F)33 operated only in the west and I don't know if yellow cowlings would make sense. What do you think?

Regards
Roger

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi.

The unit sustained 26 aircraft damaged or destroyed during 1944. I can give a list of numbers and dates if you are interested?

Regards,
Andreas B

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by Roger Gaemperle

Hi Larry,
Thanks for this detailed information about 3./(F)33. Do you possibly have the same kind of information for 1./(F)33 as well?
I have a photo of a 1./(F)33 ME 410 that may have yellow lower engine cowlings. However, as far as I know 1./(F)33 operated only in the west and I don't know if yellow cowlings would make sense. What do you think?
Regards
Roger

Yes, I do Roger, but what time frame are you interested in?

As for the yellow cowlings, I can't really say except that it did operate on the central sector of the Eastern Front from June 1941 to February 1942. If the photo is from a later period, it may have been an aircraft seconded from another Staffel. The Luftwaffe practice of swapping aircraft from one unit to another was quite routine.

Larry