Looking for information about Ar 234 pilot Hauptmann Miersch / Mierisch

[Huib Ottens]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for this additional information.
This confirms that:

• That Miersch/Mierisch was indeed employed for a longer time by Eric Brown.

• That Miersch/Mierisch was an experienced pilot who proved himself in difficult situations. First the Ar 234 emergency landing at Eelde and then this forced-landing with a Do 335.

If he already had experience with the Do 335 during the war, this might indicate that he was not a regular pilot.

Every bit of info leads to further questions... :-)

[Larry deZeng]

1.(F)/Fernaufkl.Gr. 1
Code: (9V + )

Formed February 1945, probably at Burg near Magdeburg, but in the ensuing confusion resulting from the planned renaming of FAGr. 5 as FAGr. 1 that was then cancelled, it is exceedingly likely that this tiny Einsatzkommando equipped with two or three Arado Ar 234s retained its original designation as Einsatzkdo. 1.(F)/FAGr. 5 (see there) until 1 May 1945, when Einsatzkdo. 1.(F)/FAGr. 5 was renamed Einsatzkdo. 1.(F)/FAGr. 1, this occurring at Stavanger-Sola in Norway. On 8 May 1945 Einsatzkdo. 1.(F)/FAGr. 1 was reported at Stavanger-Sola with two Ar 234s, 7 officers and 35 men, and surrendered to the British there on 10 May.

FpN: Einsatzkdo. 1.(F)/FAGr. 1 (L 55985 B(?)).

Staffelkapitän:
Maj. Josef Augustin (?) (May 45 - May 45)

© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2007)


A possible source other than BA-MA may be the records of the RAF Disarmament Wing that flew to Norway beginning 10 May 1945 to disarm all of the Luftwaffe units there. Having seen some of these records years ago, I know that they thoroughly interrogated all of the captured officers over the course of the following months. The Disarmament Wing's complete records can be found at BNA, Kew/London. Someone living in or close to London should be able to go there and examine these documents. Or, you could hire a professional researcher who is a member of TOCH (this website) to do it for you and order copies at the same time.

L.

[Steve Coates]

Interesting thread. In the RAE Flight Log (AVIA 1/18) this gentleman is clearly recorded as Hauptmann Miersch. He conducted 15 minute test flights in a Do 335 (no Air Min number given) on 9/12/45 and 12/12/45 presumably for familiarisation purposes. The transfer flight a day later is recorded as taking 30 minutes. Brown also flew from Rheims to Merville in an Si 204 (AM 28) with three POWs as passengers.

[Steve Coates]

Larry de Zeng posted:

A possible source other than BA-MA may be the records of the RAF Disarmament Wing that flew to Norway beginning 10 May 1945 to disarm all of the Luftwaffe units there. Having seen some of these records years ago, I know that they thoroughly interrogated all of the captured officers over the course of the following months. The Disarmament Wing's complete records can be found at BNA, Kew/London. Someone living in or close to London should be able to go there and examine these documents. Or, you could hire a professional researcher who is a member of TOCH (this website) to do it for you and order copies at the same time.

I've been through a lot of the ADW material. It's incredibly patchy but every now and then you hit a gem. I've never seen any interrogation reports with this material so I'm not sure where these might be.

[Larry deZeng]

ADI(K) or CSDIC had a large contingent of interrogators in Norway 1945 to early 1946, some of which were attached to the RAF Disarmament Wing. I have seen may of these reports at NARA, as a few U.S. commands were addressees for distribution. It was a long time ago (the late 1980's) and a topic such as this would not have been of interest to me at the time, so I do not recall what was included. But for those intimately familiar with Allied intelligence interrogation efforts 1945-49, any German engineer tied to the development and testing of the Ar 234 would have been interviewed repeatedly and copies of these interviews are at both BNA and NARA today. If copies are not to be found in the ADW records themselves, then they are in separate files having to do with interrogation report serials on technical matters.

L.

[Steve Coates]

Larry - Thanks. There's the rub. I've been through a heap of 'interrogation reports' of various types at Kew. A few more to go through mind you.

[Karl]

what a wonderful thread.

The name/rank is Hauptmann HELMUT MIERSCH.

He was an ex member of FAGr 5. Karl Koessler writes in his well researched book (only available in German) "Die großen Dessauer, Ju 89, Ju90, Ju290, Ju390", Aviatik Verlag, on page 187, that on 26th May 1944 the Ju290, WNr. 0187, 9V+GK, with Hauptmann Helmut Miersch as "Kommandant" and Oberleutnant Günter Pfeiffer as pilot were on a reconnaissance mission west of Portugal. The Ju290 also participating on this mission, 9V+FK, with the crew of Oberleutnant Hans-Georg Bretnütz was shot down by enemy aircraft after - according to radio messages - defending for 5 hours.
The Miersch / Pfeiffer crew returned unharmed.

Karl Kössler cites Helmut Miersch as one of the many persons, who gave input to his book (see page 260).


Regards, Karl

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Karl

Nice to get a first name to this guy!
I hope your family name is not Miersch, by the way....

Cheers
Stig

[Larry deZeng]

So now we have 1 or 2 Karl MIERISCH, 1 Kurt MIERISCH and 1 Helmut MIERSCH? We have made some headway with this but there is still not enough information to determine which one flew the Ar 234 from Norway to Farnsborough? I hope some additional information comes along so we can track down this mystery pilot and get some career details on him.

L.

[Huib Ottens]

Hi Karl,

Thanks for pointing to “Die großen Dessauer, Ju 89, Ju90, Ju290, Ju390”.
On page 196 there is some very interesting additional information regarding FaGR.5.

"On the 10th of January 1945 FaGR.5 was withdrawn from operations and earmarked for transition to the Do 335. Only the Gruppenstab FaGr.5 remained operational as an Einsatzstab with the following operational tasks appointed by the General der Aufklärungsflieger and the OKL / Chef TLR:

• Reconnaissance with Ar 234’s for the U-boat war against Northeast England;

• Preparations for the reconnaissance of the wide sea territory as far as approximately 25° West with the Ar 234, the Do 335Z (Do 665) and other types to be taken under consideration in conjunction with the Chef TLR.

At the end of January several pilots from 1./FaGR.5 were trained at Burg near Magdeburg to fly the Ar 234. They operated from 25th of February as Einsatzkommando 1./FaGR.5 and from the 1st of March as 1./FaGR.1 from Stavanger Sola with 3 Ar 234’s. Several reconnaissance flights to the east coast of England were carried out by the Ar 234’s of Lt. Hetz and Lt. Eduard Schmitt."

This sequence of events makes it plausible that Hauptmann Helmut Miersch was one of the pilots that was trained on the Ar 234 and took part in the late war operations of FaGr.5 / FaGr.1. He is therefore in my opinion at the moment the main candidate to have been the pilot who landed the Ar 234 at Eelde (Holland) on the 3rd of October 1945.

Still no (definite) proof, but the plot thickens.... and yes it is a fun thread!