Question regarding loss of 2 Bomber Gruppenkomandeure on 22 April 1943

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the kind comments!

There doesn't seem to have been anything of note going on during 11 April. But KTB/OKW does state that the port of Poti was hit the evening of 22 April by a large force of bombers under Luftflotte 4. Several fires in the harbor and numerous hits in the inner basin were observed.

There are several members here who have all Luftwaffe losses in easily accessible data bases in which they could look up 11 April and 22 April for you and list all of the losses in the North Caucasia area. Unfortunately, my data is all on microfilm and it would take more hours than I have to dig it out.

Hopefully, one of these fellows will step forward and answer your questions for 11 and 22 April.

Larry

Dear Larry,

You're welcome! Thank you for the additional information about Poti, it looks like Jungklaus and Thiel were lost on an important mission, which makes things even more interesting! Having tried to remember other instances when two bomber Kommandeure were lost on the same day, I could only think of Paepcke and Kollewe over Malta on 17 October 1942. Do you know of any other cases? If there were only these two, it would make the Kuban incident all the more remarkable.

I understand the microfilm issue very well, my limited experience of reading them greatly increases my respect for researchers who wade through them!

Originally Posted by Matti Salonen

Loss info on Hptm Jungklaus' crew:

Matti

Dear Matti,

Thank you for stepping in once again! A comparison of the loss locations indicates that the aircraft were lost a long distance from one another. It’s interesting that the cause of the Jungklaus loss is listed as “unknown”, yet a precise time is given. Is this a common occurrence in the records and if so, could it suggest a non-combat loss?

May I ask if you have other Luftwaffe losses listed for the 11 or 22 April in this area? I’ve had a look at Andreas Brekken’s summary loss lists and they state that 5 aircraft were lost by Jagdgeschwader 3 and 52 on 11 April, but there is no information for the 22nd.

Regards,

Paul Thompson