Burchard Flakowski

[Chris Goss]

Chris: Be careful about jumping to conclusions! There is no rank given so he could be Army and I have no obvious mention of him in the Luftwaffe Losses fiche. Perhaps Remi might like to search his database? By the way, if they were missing, some times they were still recorded in the rank list!

[RT]

Hello Chris,

Good choice he is listed, Falkowski Brughardt hptm MIA it was the pilot, during a mission over Staritza for an unknown reason, IIST.KG76 JU88A-4 F1+AC, looks like the plane of the kdr, 8.jan 1942

Rémi

[ChrisM]

Very many thanks, Chris Goss, FrankieS and Remi, for all your help on this.

Over the next week or so I’ll pull together what I now know about Burchard Flakowski and post it within this thread, for the record and in his memory.

Chris

[steve sheridan]

Hi Remi,
Following on from this tread, and given your loss information on Falkowski,
do you have the W.Nr of this a/c and other crew details?
Many thanks,
Steve.

[Chris Goss]

Ju 88 A-4, Wk Nr 2609. Lt Dankmar Meyer, Uffz Hans Mewes & Ofw Friuedrich Wegner also missing

[steve sheridan]

Fantastic Chris, many thanks.

Steve.

[ChrisM]

I have collected as much as I can - with a lot of help from members of this forum - about the life of Hptm. Burchard Flakowski of KG76 and summarise it below, for the record and in his memory.

1910
March 28th
He is born in Königsberg, East Prussia. His surname is most appropriate for his later career, literally "son of anti-aircraft fire".

1930s
As an adult he is over 6ft tall and unmarried. He lives in England for almost a year in 1930 where he becomes an amateur light-heavyweight boxing champion. At some stage, he joins the Luftwaffe whose existence, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, is announced in 1935. He trains as a pilot.

1939
Appointed Hauptmann (captain) in the Luftwaffe. His role and affiliation immediately after the outbreak of war on September 1st are unknown.

1940
April 9th
Participates in the Norwegian campaign. Awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class for commanding 'only the third Luftwaffe aircraft' to land at Oslo. This is a Ju-52 of I/KG76, loaded with six squadron ground crew and ammunition and it lands whilst the airfield of Oslo-Fornebu is still being defended by Norwegian troops. Only later in the day when further Ju-52s arrive laden with airborne troops will the area be secured by the German forces. At this time Flakowski is described as an "instrument flying instructor".
Summer
He takes part in daylight attacks on many British aerodromes and is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class for his role in these operations.
Summer/autumn
He participates in raids on many British cities including London, Bristol, Coventry, Southampton and Birmingham, flying either Do-17 or Ju-88A aircraft.
Early December
He is brought to Paris from his base (either Cormeilles-en-Vexin or Creil, both some 50/60km north of the city) to be interviewed by CBS for a short-wave broadcast to the American nation. He is described as a "commander of a bomber group" which could mean a Gruppe comprising some 60-70 aircraft or a Stafel of 10-15. In the interview he talks of the challenge of night flying and navigation, of what can be seen from above during night attacks on British cities especially Birmingham, the frequency of operations for individual aircrew, the quality of the Luftwaffe bombsight, the size of the bombing fleets used on British targets and attacks on marine targets. His most recent operation was the previous Saturday, against Southampton – probably that of November 30th which had particularly devastating effects on the city. A record of this conversation which was scripted and of course tightly censored, survives. Another pilot, Lt. Peter Hinkeldeyn, from Schwerin, is similarly interviewed by a second US radio network.

1941
Unknown but at some stage, possibly from the beginning, he is involved in the Russian campaign which begins on June 22nd 1941.

1942
January 8th
Operating from Orscha-Süd, midway between Minsk and Smolensk, he is posted missing in action near Staritsa, some 300km south-west of Moscow, together with his three crew members, Lt. Dankmar Meyer, Uffz. Hans Mewes and Ofw. Friedrich Wegner. He is flying a Ju-88A-4, ser. no. 2609.
February 14th
Whilst still missing he is awarded the DkiG (German Gold Cross, one rank up from the Iron Cross First Class) as a member of II/KG 76.

1945
He appears, still as a Hauptmann, on the Luftwaffe list of serving officers, since his fate has not been confirmed.

1945 – 2007
He remains missing.

Im Gedenken.

(Sources of the above information to whom acknowledgement is gratefully made:
"Assignment to Berlin" by Harry W. Flannery - Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1942; contributors to this forum, "Chris Goss", "FrankieS" and "Remi"; the Volksbund and several other websites. The information is not based on original research and therefore cannot be regarded as definitive but is believed to be mainly accurate).

Chris

[Chris Goss]

9 Apr 40: There was a Hptm Flakowski who flew into Oslo-Fornebu in a Ju 52 and was said to be with 1/ZG 76's ground crew. I have no record of a Flakowski on I/ZG 76 but believe he was a pilot with 1/KGzbV 103; KG 76 was definietly not involved in the Norway Campaign

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by ChrisM

His surname is most appropriate for his later career, literally "son of anti-aircraft fire".

Beg me pardon?

[ChrisM]

Sorry, Franek, but I thought that was correct - "son of flak". Can you put me right please?

Thanks for your response, Chris............I think there is little doubt that the pilot bringing into Fornebu a Ju-52 and a plane load of equipment and ground crew is the Flakowski who later acted as a bomber pilot in the Battle of Britain and the night bombing on England. The man interviewed in connection with the latter is stated by Flannery to have been previously honoured for his exploits on that occasion. And if he were in fact bringing in I/ZG76 personnel and equipment would it be a mere coincidence that he later appears in II/KG76?

What I don’t know, and perhaps you can advise me, is how unusual it would be for a pilot of a wholly different Geschwader to be involved in something like this; whether a bomber pilot would ever have been co-opted into a role of this type; and/or whether it would have been unusual for a Ju-52 pilot to have transferred to medium bomber duties – and in a responsible role - at this early stage of the war.

There is a dramatic description of the Oslo incident in a Spanish forum (not surprisingly written in Spanish, but I imagine based on an original German or English source) mentioning Flakowski and a number of other Luftwaffe personnel. (…..El capitán Flakowski, profesor de vuelo instrumental del I Grupo de la 76 Escuadra de Caza Pesada……..) I’m clearly wrong in assuming that the ground crew was of I/KG76. I/ZG76 is as you state much more likely, in that there seem to be Me-110s already on the airfield and the arrival of mechanics appears to have been a source of rejoicing. (On reflection, ‘Caza Pesada" means literally I think ‘heavy hunting or chasing").

But it still doesn’t explain to me how or why someone who might belong to one Geschwader is involved in a transport operation on behalf of another and only two or three months later is commanding some sort of bomber group over England. All I am confident about is that it is the same man in each case.

Please tell me if I am talking rubbish (as will no doubt Franek) or asking stupid questions – I probably am!

Chris