1, 2 and 3./(H) 21 (Pz) December 1941

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Dear friends,

As I am no expert at all when it comes to all sorts of Aufklärer units, I would appreciate your help:

An inventory of aircraft from Feldluftpark 5 in Holland shows 24 Fw189 from I. Gruppe/(H) 21 (Pz) on Venlo airfield on 1th December 1941. This puzzles me because this airfield was mainly used by nightfighters. The number of 24 Fw189's perfectly matches with RL 2-III/716a (24 Fw189's on 29th November 1941).

Main question: has anybody info, perhaps from flight logs, when this unit arrived in Venlo and when it left ? Could re-equipment - Fw189 instead of Hs126 - be a reason ? Most veterans of the I./NJG 1 and groundorganisation never mentioned anything about double tailed Fw189's, their presence in Venlo may be short lived.

Any information is highly appreciated !

Best regards, Marcel

[Andy Mitchell]

Marcel,

This from Larry de Zeng's notes on 1.(H)/21:

West. (c.Aug 41 - May 42)

8.41: all available evidence indicates the Staffel was withdrawn from operations for conversion to the Focke-Wulf Fw 189, but it is not known with certainty where this occurred, although Venlo/Holland is a good candidate.

11.11.41: Fw 189 damaged in a crash landing at Fp. Smolensk-South while on a ferry flight, 20%.

1.12.41: Staffel at Fp. Venlo in Holland still in the process of re-equipping with Fw 189s.

References used - J.-P.Défieux - Répertoire des Unités Aériennes de la Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Reconnaissance Aéronavale (Nanterre, privately published, n.d. (c 1988-90?); K.Ries - Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939; Tessin, Georg, Deutsche Verbände und Truppen 1918-1939: Altes Heer, Freiwilligenverbände, Reichswehr, Heer, Luftwaffe, Landespolizei; G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, 16+ Bde., Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945; U.Balke - Der Luftkrieg in Europa: Die Operativen Einsätze des Kampfgeschwader 2 im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Teil I, p.398; AFHRA Maxwell decimal Karlsruhe Collection KC-Kl13.309-3/ v.1; PRO London: AIR 40/1965, 1982; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 25/77-78; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 40/Kart; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Flugzeug-Bereitstellungen (Aircraft Availability Status Reports – FzB) in: M.Holm-website (ww2.dk); U.Balke – “Luftversorgung im Kaukasus” in Jet & Prop 1/2004, p.52.

[JoMe]

Hi
The 1.(H)/AGr.21 appears to have been re-equipped with the Fw 189 earlier, as there are loss reports from September 26, 1941, October 31, 1941, and the aforementioned loss from November 11, 1941.
I am unaware of any presence in Venlo (my records of their locations are incomplete), but on January 26, 1942, the 1.(H)/AGr.21 appears to have been stationed in Laval, France.

best regards
JoMe

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Wooow guys,

That's a lot of stuff to chew on next days, thank you very much ! Some of the sources are new to me, great ! The stay in Venlo, except for its duration, is prooven. Unless I am able to find flight logs, I have to accept that the presence of this unit was rather brief, the unit may have stayed overnight during their transfer to Laval.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and healthy New Year !

Marcel