JG 54 loss on 18 August 1944

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Thanks Jan, 18 GIAP seems a more reliable opponent given the AC type and location.
And now the following strange JG 54 loss.

Rosipal lists Uffz Alfred Weyrauf killed on 21 August 1943 when his Bf 109 G-2 WNr 10469 was shot down by AA fire north of Mga.

In fact his name if Weyrauch. The Volksbund confirms the death date, but list the location and place as "Luftkampf Schüsselburg".

So they agree that he was lost in operations on the Northern zone of the Eastern front. All sources agree on the date and location (Schüsselburg is 20 km north of Mga).

The problem is that he is listed as belonging to 8./JG 54, a part of III. Gruppe that was then deployed in the West for some time.

A Google search led me to another forum where Charles Bavaroise suggested that he was lost one year before, in 1942, so the location could be good and the discussion was saying that in August 1943, III./JG 54 was using Bf 109 G-5/6 and no more G-2.

I use two other sources to try to solve this problem:

The Summary of Aircraft Losses of the Luftwaffe is showing no loss for III./JG 54 on 21 August 1942 and two total losses on 21 August 1943: one in an accident in a non-operational flight and one shot down by Flak.
So far confirming Rosipal list: Weyrauch shot down by Flak and another pilot killed in a ferry flight in Germany (where III./JG 54 was based).

The next source is interesting, it is the "Flugzeugbestand und Bewegungsmeldungen" of JG 54 on Holm's Luftwaffe website.

In August 1943, III./JG 54 lost 5 aircraft, all Bf 109 G-6. And it had no more Bf 109 G-2.

On the other hand, IV./JG 54 had 7 Bf 109 G-2 (and 20 Bf 109 G-6) and lost 1 G-2 to enemy fire and 2 G-2 and 1 G-6 in accidents.

Back to the other sources:

Rosipal had no loss for IV./JG 54, except some Fw 190 of 12./JG 54... And he list 10./JG 54 as a part of III./JG 54, but the location of the losses are the base of IV./JG 54.

And by the way Rosipal lists 7 total losses for III./JG 54 but this is including Weyrauch and a 100% loss on 26 August for Eisenach, but with the same aircraft number as another shot down two days before, with no pilot name... another question to be answered...)

In the Summary of Aircraft Losses there is no line for IV./JG 54 but reports are made directly by the Staffel. They confirm the Fw 190 losses of 12./JG 54, but show no loss to AA for 10./JG 54 (no loss for 11./JG 54 is listed).

The various sources are not coherent, but I think that 12./JG 54 was reporting its loss through another Gruppe of JG 54. By the way both "Flugzeugbestand und Bewegungsmeldungen" show more losses than Rosipal list (I./JG 54 28 and II./JG 54 26, while Rosipal had 24 for the first and 23 for the second, including lost and damaged aircraft. The 5 lost/damaged aircraft of 12./JG 54 reported by Rosipal will bring the figures closer).

My conclusion:
Weyrauch was flying with IV./JG 54 when he was lost. My impression is that the new IV./JG 54 had not yet the administrative structure to fill correctly the documents, or maybe was not deployed in the Northern zone (12./Jg 54 was somewhere else and 11./Jg 54 was ot yet operational). So maybe the staff in Siwerskaya base was still from III./JG 54, or the report was wrongly filled. Another possibility is that Weyrauch was detached from 8./JG 54 to another Staffel (10 ?) of JG 54, maybe to provide the new unit with some East front veterans ?

Any comments welcome again