Lt Luma*of 418 Sqn

[George 118]

Hello,
Lt J F*Luma*of 418 Sqn claimed a Ju W(34) and a Ju 52 over Luxeuil airfield on 21 March 1944. From the Ju 52 8 was killed, and also transporting Coffee that recovered by the population afterwards.

Does anybody has more details ? Can someone give me some information about the crew and from which unit the Ju W(34) and a Ju 52 came?

Kind regards
George

[barkas]

Hallo,


I found this three cases:
778/2_43 44.03.21 3 FFS A 2 Bei Luxeuil Jägerbeschuß (Feinbeob.) Ar 96 B6 430161 100 Uffz. Hoffmann, Kurt 1/-/-
Gefr. Dettmering, Karl-Heinz 1/-/-
778/2_43 44.03.21 3 FFS A 2 Bei Luxeuil Jägerbeschuß (Feinbeob.) Bü 131 B3 0404 100
Gefr. Labouvie, Hans 1/-/-
778/2_45 44.03.21 3 FFS B 15 Bei St.Genis Jägerbeschuß (Feindbeob.) He 111 P5 1993 100
Gefr. Kuhlow, Friedrich -/1/-
Gefr. Freyback, Josef 1/-/-
Fw. Faschang, Dominikus -/1/-
Gefr. Straub, Heinz -/1/-
Uffz. Zache, Hans 1/-/-

[Brian Bines]

The joint combat report for Lt James Luma Nav. F/O Finlayson on a day ranger with F/L MacFadyen Nav. F/O Wright shows Luma's claim for a Ju W34 was 1835 hrs while his claim when he rejoined MacFadyen 10miles S/W of Luxeiul for a Ju 52 was at 1850 hrs . A French article refers to the loss of the Heinkel of FFS B-15 as being at Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge around 1345 hrs falling to the 4th Fighter Group USAAF (my French needs Google Translate support) . It would seem the Ju 52 claimed by Luma and seen to crash and explode in wooded country was probaly not from a training unit . If any one has a copy of the Balss Luftwaffe Losses and claims for March 1944 it might throw more light on this

Regards
Brian Bines

[Brian Bines]

Further to my last post it would seem the Ju 34 clamed by Luma was in fact the Arado 96 at Luxeuiil the crew of this and the pilot of the Bu 131 now buried at Andilly . A claim on the 24th March for a Bf109 with its undercarriage down was later confirmed as a Ju 34 showing mis identification as a possibility . The two crewmen killed in the He 111 crash are buried at Berneuil on the west coast of France which would confirm the 4th FG claim .
Further to the Ju52 shot down by Luma a friend checked the Balss losses for March 1944 and could not find an entry to match this . However on the VDK site the following two servicemen are shown as being killed at Vernois on the 21st March and now buried at Andilly :-

Ogef Eduard Bartl born 01.02.1921
Oberzahlmeifer Franz Kraus b 30.01. 1913

If the location is Vernois les Mance this is quite close to the Frence site ( https://www.ju52archiv.de/Ju52.pdf ) giving the crash location as Bois de la Ferne . If connected to an aircraft loss would these two names names help to identify Luma's claim

Two More names ;-

Fw Günther Fuchs 21.03.1944 + at Vernois born 01.12.1916 buried Andilly
Hpt Günther Hartwig 21.03.1944 + at ? born 14.09.1913 buried Andilly on Officers Careers Summaries as a Staff Officer

[George 118]

Hptm HARTWIG, Günter (DOB: 14.09.13) was the Kdr of Luftnachrichten-Abteilung 41 (XI. Fliegerkorps)
The Ju 52 that Lt J F Luma claimed over Luxeuil airfield on 21 March 1944 is it possibly to belong to Transportstaffel XI. Fliegerkorps ?
Any connection with the Junkers Ju 52/3 mg8e RV+IZ, 131478 lost on 21 March 1944 ?