flugplatz Lemonsky

[edwest]

I would try Lemonski. It is likely Polish.



Ed

[Pesel##]

Sounds like a drink, but it's not Polish.

[Artur PK]

I think it's Leoniszki (lit. Leoniškės), 5 km E of Bujwidze (lit. Buivydžiai).
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leoniszki

[edwest]

Originally Posted by Artur PK

I think it's Leoniszki (lit. Leoniškės), 5 km E of Bujwidze (lit. Buivydžiai).
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leoniszki

In Lithuania?



Ed

[Artur PK]

Before war in Poland, now on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.

[oquaig]

Yes, what is it about II./JG 53 that is so hard track down? What we do know is that the Group was at Neusiedl until 25 June when it moved to Lemonsky. The 25th was also the last day they scored any kills for the remainder of June. In John Weal's book he states that the Group "were employed primarily on uneventful freie ]agd patrols along the Baltic coastline (when not being scrambled in response to yet another Red Air Force bombing raid)."

First, I don't think they went to Vilnius. That was VIII Fkiegerkorps zone of operations and if they had they would have seen a lot more action. Now, correct me if I am wrong, when all the fighter groups displaced forward in June and early July they moved to former Soviet airfields. I attached a map showing where JG 54 Groups moved to. If II./JG 53 was patrolling the baltic coastline, it seems logical that it would have moved closer to the coast, that leaves out Kaunas and Kedainiai. I have looked at Siauliai but can not find any VVS air fields with towns or villages with names resembling Lemonsky or could be garbled into a germanized form. Then I thought maybe they went to Liepaja (Libau, now Klaipeda), but that airfield was in artillery range of the Soviet garrison and the port didn't fall to the 291st Infantry Division until 29 June.

My working theory at the moment is that they went Memel. At the time II./JG 53 moved the VVS was launching day and night raids against Memel and Koenigsberg. (See the second attached map). If you look at the map Memel had three landing at Memel and the civilian airfield. Maybe one of those three landing fields is Lemonsky, then again maybe not. We won't know until we get information about them, and maybe someone knows. Otherwise I am fairly certain II./JG 53 moved North with JG 54 and remained under Fliegerkorps I control and if not in Memelland it was in Lithuania.

[RolandF]

I'm convinced the solution can only be found in an original german military map from 1941. The German maps dated back to WW I and were strongly influenced by the population of this area. Lithuania of 1918 was a part of Russia with the official language Russian, 2nd most common language Lithuanian with strong minorities Polish and Baltic German.
So there will be no misreading or misunderstanding of the name "Lemonsky" but it is the German transcription of a location which is not used any more. Just remember Vilnius-Wilna-Wilno. Lemonsky seem to me to be situated in the southeast of Lithuania, where Polish was common at that time. The Polish name might be "Lemonski, Limonski" or similar and isn't used anymore; the Lithuanian name nowadays might be quite different.
A good example example in this region: Šalčininkai (lith.), Sassenicken (ger.), Soleczniki (pol.)

Regards

RolandF

[Andy Mitchell]

No help but of interest by association from (Akte 902. Militärgeographische Angaben über die Baltischen Länder (Estland, Lettland, Litauen)

[oquaig]

Originally Posted by Andy Mitchell

No help but of interest by association from (Akte 902. Militärgeographische Angaben über die Baltischen Länder (Estland, Lettland, Litauen)

Thanks Andy,
Actually this is a very informative little book. It lists all the towns that have Military assets (Bridges, roads, railroad yards, military kasernes, airfields, factories, etc...). Interesting to know that Siauliai Airfield was 127.4 hectares in size and had a 30,000 liter aviation fuel storage tank. It also gives the German and Russian alternate names of these places in addition to their Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian names. It does not mention all the airfields shown on the map you provided and alas no town named Lemonsky.

I have also found Maps on line that cover the Baltic States in great detail for the period 1893 to 1944...Russian Maps, German Army Maps, Latvian and Lithuanian maps down to 1:25000 scale: But I did not find Lemonsky.

Deutsche Heeres Maps Eastern Europe 1938-1944
http://igrek.amzp.pl/mapindex.php?cat=ME300