KG1 losses, feb 1943

[Larry deZeng]

Here are the final entries for II./KG 1 as recorded by Hptm. Spohr in his manuscript written in fall 1944 just after KG 1 was disbanded:

II./KG 1
6/44: transferred from Burg to Prowehren in East Prussia.
26.6.44: flew first He 177 mission — a day attack with 26 planes on the railway station and yards at Kalinkovichi/110 km W of Gomel, and then a similar raid on Velikiye Luki.
7/44: flew a number of missions against Soviet tank concentrations along the front, suffering heavy losses to AA fire.
28.7.44: further operations canceled due to the critical fuel situation brought on by Allied air attacks on the Ploesti refineries in Romania and Germany‘s synthetic fuel plants, and the Gruppe ordered to Brandis where the He 177s were to be put in storage.
25.8.44: ordered disbanded at Prowehren.

Spohr, Wolfgang (Hptm.) - “Kriegschronik des Kampfgeschwader 1 ‘Hindenburg’”, a 78-page manuscript c.late 1944/early 1945. Hptm. Spohr belonged to Geschw.Stab/KG 1 and used all KTBs and Anlagen. In: BA-MA Freiburg RL 10/529; NARA WashDC T-971 roll 50/f.965-1056; AFHRA Maxwell AFB Karlsruhe Collection K113.408-3.

Spohr provided no mission or loss details in his manuscript, which is in narrative style. He was the keeper of the KTB in the Geschwaderstab and he still had the KTB and all Anlagen in his possession at the time of his writing.

Larry
deZeng, Henry L. IV and Douglas G. Stankey. Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945: A Reference Source. Volumes 1 (ISBN 10 1 903223 72 5) and Volume 2 (ISBN 10 1 903223 87 3). Hersham (Surrey): Ian Allan Publishing, 2007 and 2008.