I./KG27 & Stalingrad Air Supply

[Richard Mills]

Does anyone know of any information pertaining to the date in which I./KG27 both commenced and ceased re-supply mission into and over the Stalingrad pocket?

If at all possible I would also be interested in any loss data / general information about the Gruppe in this period.

Any help will be gratefully received.

Regards Richard.

[eslima]

Hi,

I don't have the book you're looking for but I have a book called The Luftwaffe War Diaries by Cajus Bekker, which has a few words to say about KG27. I don't know if this is of any use to you. he says

I./KG27 - deployed 20.11.42 to 30.01.43
II./KG27 - deployed 29.11.42 to 30.01.43
III./KG27 - deployed 18.01.43 to 30.01.43 under Major Thiel

for the Stalingrad airlift under the overall command of Transport Commander Oberst Ernst Kühl.
KG 27 was under the command of Oberstleutnant Hans Henning von Beust and was based at Millerowo about 160miles west from Stalingrad. This airfield was overrun sometime between 16th Dec and 24th Dec. I can't find an exact date as yet

[Brian Bines]

Richard, I did try to extract the Stalingrad losses from the GQM but the quality of some of the records was often poor so this is the best I could make out:-

7-12-42 He111H 4/KG27 7844 crew of Fw. Mich missing.

3-1-43 He111 3/KG27 crew of Fw Wunderlich missing, fell to fighters coming down in Soviet territory, crew and 8 Officer passengers captured.

3-1-43 He111H6 3/KG27 4591 45% damage following fighter attack Fw. Dieter safe 2 crew inj. and 2 + location Pl.Qu. 9836.

4-1-43 He111 4/KG27 landed Novo. with 25% damage following fighter attack.

7?-1-43 He111 ?/KG27 4426 crashed on T/O Novo. Ltn Vachta plus 2inj. 2k.

11-1-43 He111 1/KG27 Crash landing Pitomnik 40%

11-1-43 He111H6 4/KG27 4291 crash landing Pitomnik 60% Fw Erbinghaus plus 3 inj.

11-1-43 He111H6 4/KG27 4553 crashed on approach to Pitomnik Oblt
Gropp plus 2 k, 2inj.

12-1-43 He111 4/KG27 crash landing Gumrak 25%

12-1-43 He111 4/KG27 7670 30% in T/O accident Gumrak in poor visibility

13-1-43 He111H6 6/KG27 4978 crashed on T/O Novo. Crew of Ofw. Thiele all killed

15-1-43 He111H6 4/KG27 4869 shot down by fighters Pitomnik area crew of Oblt. Robbing all missing

18-1-43 He111 7/KG27 8207 40% damaged following fighter attack Gumrak crew of Hpt. Thiel returned by Ju52

19-1-43 9/KG27 Bm Stfw. Herar? killed in ground action

23-1-43 He111H6 I/KG27 7360 Crashed on T/O Novo. Oblt.Herzog and 3 killed Bs Ofw Zimmermann inj.

24-1-43 He111 8/KG27 8220 landed Novo. with 40% damage due to AA fire

24-1-43 He111 9/KG/27 hit by AA landed Novo. with 30% damage Ff Oblt. Gunther Schult w-+

31-1-43 He111 I/KG27 4688 crashed landed Taganrog 35 %

As this is taken from poor copies of the GQM list I cannot be 100% about the accuracy but it might help you as a basis for further research. I do not have any copies of the KG27 history so if anyone who has a copy any corrections welcome,

Regards

Brian Bines

[Juha]

Hello Richard
Not exactly what you want and less info than in Brian's answer but you can find the number of monthly losses suffered by I./KG 27 here:
http://www.ww2.dk/oob/bestand/kampf/bikg27.html

Juha

[Richard Mills]

Gents, thank you very much indeed for your replies, it is much appreciated (the GCM returns are excellent I have to say!)

While I have been able to find many details and statistics of the air supply itself as a whole, finding any concrete evidence of I./KG27 involvement is proving difficult.

The excellent 'Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945: A Reference Source: v. 1' by Henry de Zang & Doug Stankey says: I./KG27 'probably' carried out supply drops into the Kessel in December-42 - January-43.

Another excellent book, 'Stopped at Stalingrad: Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942-43' by Joel Hayward has no specific mention of I./KG27 on air supply missions.

'Kampfflieger, Vol. 3: Bombers of the Luftwaffe January 1942-September 1943: 1942-1943 v. 3' by Dr Alfred Price mentions KG27 as a whole and no mention of specific Gruppen.

He 111 Kampfgeschwader on the Russian Front by John Weal makes no specific mention of I./KG27 carrying out supply missions in the Kessel.

Is anyone able to help further with this?

Regards Richard.

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Why not try Chronik des Kampfgeschwaders Nr. 27 Boelke by Walter Waiss. That should yield more specific answers.

Norbert

[Richard Mills]

Originally Posted by Norbert Schuchbauer

Why not try Chronik des Kampfgeschwaders Nr. 27 Boelke by Walter Waiss. That should yield more specific answers. Norbert

Norbert, unfortunatly, I do not have the book you listed in my collection, and as my understanding of the German language is limited, I am not sure exactly how much I would gain from reading it myself.

However, if anyone does have the book mentioned in their collections, I really would appreciate their help.

Regards Richard.

[Brian Bines]

Richard, the KG6 History vol.2 by Jan Horn in the chapter Hilfe fur Stalingrad shows the following under the Lufttransportfuhrer Stab/KG55,I/KG55,III/KG55, I/KG27.II/KG27, III/KG27 and I/KG100. It also shows 5 He111's of 15/KG6 taking part in the latter stages of the airlift. The use of KG55 and KG100 are covered in the histories of these units if anyone has the KG27 history, as Norbert's post, perhaps this would confirm for you the part played by KG27. In my previous post it shows several KG27 losses over or on the airfields in the pocket used for supply flights,

Regards

Brian Bines

[Richard Mills]

Thank you for that Brian!

It is reassuring to see I./KG27 mentioned in the KG6 work as being a part of Lufttransportfuhrer 1, and as you say there is also a GCM return for a machine crash landing at Pitomnic prior to its capture on 16-January.

I am hoping that someone can confirm the same from Chronik des Kampfgeschwaders Nr. 27 Boelke by Walter Waiss.

Hopeful in anticipation, Richard.

[Larry deZeng]

I did not have Band IV at the time we wrote our Bomber books.


Chronik:
Almost all missions by I. and II./KG 27 from 21 November to 30 December were combat missions with bombs and armed reconnaissance against targets along the Don Bend in the breakthrough area Kletskaya-Oblivskaya-Kalach, the Chir River, in the Buturlinovka-Kalach area, Povorino, Chigla and Talovaya railway stations and against armor spearheads and troop columns wherever found. That was on the infrequent days they could fly because of the foul weather, fog and low-lying clouds.

06.12.42: 5./KG 27 flew a He 111 from its base at Millerovo into Pitomnik, the crew remained overnight in a bunker, and the next morning flew out Gen.Maj. Friedrich Schulz (RK mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern).
07.12.42: II./KG 27 flew rations and ammunition into Pitomnik and returned with wounded.
24.12.42: I. and II./KG 27, operating from Urasov and Millerovo, flew a re-supply mission to German troops surrounded at Chertkovo/52 km N of Millerovo.
30.12.42: H. Reif, a member of 3./KG 27, wrote: “Up to now, we had not participated in the catastrophic situation at Stalingrad. We were alerted early in the morning of 30.12. to transfer immediately to Novocherkassk. We landed there around 9:40 and then took off around 13:00 for our first supply flight to Pitomnik, where we landed about 14:20. For the entire following month we bomber crews dropped no bombs; only supplies.” Along with I./ KG 27, II./KG 27 also transferred to Novocherkassk on 30 December and flew the same missions for the next month.

So, to answer your question, I. and II./KG 27 flew supply missions to Stalingrad from 30 December 1942 to the city fell on 2 February 1943.

[Source: Waiss, Walter – Chronik Kampfgeschwader Nr. 27 Boelcke, Band IV, Teil 3: 01.01.42 – 31.12.42. Aachen: Helios Verlags- und Buchvertriebsgesellschaft, 2005. Pages 149-175.