Informations needed about lost FW 190 in Latvia

[Wast1991]

Hello everyone,

my name is Sebastian. I registered here because i am trying to find out something about a family member of mine that got lost during world war two.

I am looking for informations about a FW 190 fighter, that got lost in Latvia around the 4th of August 1944. The 19 year old pilot was my great uncle. His name was Paul-Heinz Friebel, his rank was "Oberfähnrich".

As far as i know, the serial number of the plane was 560208 and some documents i found say that it was an A8 version.

My great uncle was member of the 1. Gruppe, I. Staffel, Jagdgeschwader 54.

His brother (my grandfather) is now 90 years old and he never found out what happened to Paul-Heinz. So right now i am doing research on this case and i really hope, you can help me. It would be great to let my grandfather know about his brothers fate.

And this is, where all of you might help:

I need to find out, in which area he got lost. Or any informations about his unit. Maybe there is something like a war diary that recorded all battles and involved pilots? Or maybe some members of his unit are still alive? This summer i will take a trip to Latvia and try to find out more but before that, i need to collect as much informations as possible.

So, if anyone of you knows something or somebody that could help, i would be so grateful! I already figured out, that there are a lot of professional collectors and historians on this board so maybe there is a chance to find out more.

As far as i know, there are people that are also doing research on lost planes in Latvia. One of them found another FW 190 wreck near the town of Ergli. If anybody knows somebody that is also looking for wrecks in Latvia, please tell me. Every information could help.

Thank you very much in advance. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Best regards

Sebastian

[Andreas Brekken]

Hello,

as family members you are entitled to get information from the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) which at least should be able to provide you with the form called Namentliche Verlustmeldung - containing the information about the fatal crash of your great uncle.

There are several books written about the JG 54 also, as this is a bit off topic for me, I can't provide you with specific information about your great uncle in any of them.

I./JG 54 lost an aircraft on August 5th 1944 - the summary loss record list the aircraft as missing - did not return.

It would be interesting to see if you get further information on where this happened - the aircraft operated (where stationed) at Jekabpils and Riga in August 1944.

Good luck with the further hunt!

Regards,
Andreas B

[Andrew Arthy]

Hello Sebastian,

Your great uncle was lost on a mission beginning at 17:40 on 5 August 1944. He and his comrades were on a fighter sweep and clashed with twelve Soviet fighters near Mitau (now Jelgava, Latvia). I have more information about this combat and your great uncle, and will contact you offboard in the near future.

If you'd like to contact me, my email address is: bookie190@hotmail.com

All the best,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles

[Karsten]

Hello Sebastian,

your graet-uncke was shot down in a Fw 190 A-6 weiße 1 + Wnr. 550 208 near Mitau/ Elley in a dogfiht with russ. fighters.

KR Rüdiger

[Wast1991]

Dear Karsten,

thank you for your reply. Please contact me because I am not yet able to send you a personal message here on 12 OCH.

Best regards

Sebastian

[Wast1991]

Hello everyone,

please edit your posts and delete all informations about the possible crash location of my great uncle. I was told, that some people also might be interested in finding the wreck...just with another motivation than mine. Thank you!

[Johannes]

Hi Sebastian

I do have a question, what was Paul-Heinz's date of birth....I have just the year as 1924.

Can't help with the death, but Paul-Heinz made one single claim a Jak-9 at 1630 hrs 400 metres altitude on 24th July 1944. Also he would around this time have been flying at 1./JG 54 with:-

Fritz Tegtmeier
Bruno Tezzele
Ulrich Wohnert
Herbert Kreibich
Karl-Heinz Schmude
Eugen Streck
Rudolf Rademacher
Ludwig Boes
Helmut Wettstein
Erich Schwadtke
Georg Ritzel
& Josef Heinzeller

Kind regards

Johannes

[Wast1991]

Hello Johannes,

Paul-Heinz was born on 9. November 1924. Thank you for the list of his comrades, I will check if anyone of them is still alive.

Best regards,

Sebastian

[Johannes]

Hi Sebastian

Many thanks for the Date of Birth information. I'll check his comrades, but I should think there are none left alive. In May 1944 Tegtmeier got his "100"th confirmed claim, maybe Paul-Heinz was in the celebrations?

Kind Regards

Johannes

[Johannes]

Hi Sebastian

Details of comrades as follows(total confirmed claims in brackets). Sorry no details of Kreibich(2+) or Schwadtke(18+), hopefully some kind person can enlighten us.

Wohnert(83+) 23/10/1914-14/08/1947
Tegtmeier(146) 30/07/1917-08/04/1999
Rademacher(93) 19/06/1913-13/06/1953
Schmude(30) 28/09/1922-30/10/2000
Richter(8) unknown-29/10/2006
Heinzeller(35) 10/06/1915-09/11/1989
Ritzel(10) 19/11/1914-28/10/1944
Tezzele(13) 07/10/1919-14/09/1944
Streck(10+) 19/01/1918-22/12/1999
Boes(9+) 29/04/1925-26/01/1945
Wettstein 25/08/1913-unknown, survived the war, but unlikely to be still living.

Kind Regards

Johannes