Frontreparaturbetrieb GL 2565 Junkers

[edNorth]

Need confirmation this was located at Kalinowka, Ukraine, or if it was sub-branch from other FRB.

Need statistis on how many aircraft were "processed" there, for Luftflotte 4, Hungary and Romania. Also when it was established and when closed, how large it was (personell employed) and if doc´s on this FRB exist in the BArch or elsewhere.

5776 Ju 88 A-4 Frontreparaturbetrieb GL 2565 Junkers (Lw.Befh.Mitte) Non-OPS (S) engine failure and crash (100%) at Kalinowka 23.08.1943 (F Ofw. Fritz Giehl of Flg.Sonderkommando Ob.d.L killed) (ref: GQM losses.)

All info greatly appriciated.

Best regards
ed

[Larry deZeng]

Frontreparaturbetrieb GL 2565 (J.F.A. later Junkers)
1941-42 as Frontreparaturbetrieb 12 GL then renamed as above. Apr 43 and Aug 43 FRB GL 2565 (Junkers) at Kalinovka airfield in Ukraine. Jan 44 at Kaunas/Lithuania. No personnel details. Existed to the end of the war. (FpN: L 49356).

This is all I have. Typically, the number of personnel employed by an FRB was dictated by the workload and ran from a low of 127 to 2,787. Over the course of the war, the number of FRBs ranged from 60 to 100. I doubt if you will find a folder on 2565 at BA-MA because the FRBs were civilian-run and the German staff of a dozen to 100 were all German civilians. They came under one of the Amtgruppen in Generalluftzeugmeister/RLM. You might find some correspondence about FRBs at BA-MA but no files and folders on the individual ones.

[edNorth]

Great thanks Larry.

That was QUICK! Very good for novices like me to start from!

Here is how airfield looked 2.6.44 from 2.(F)/100 aircraft.

http://www.wwii-photos-maps.com/targ...%20%20029.html

[Larry deZeng]

A very interesting photo map, Ed. I'm not a photo interpreter, but it looks like the destruction of virtually every hangar and workshop building was the work of demolitions by the Germans as they withdrew in November 1943. There are few if any bomb craters around any of these buildings.

[edNorth]

Larry, I agree on all likely not destroyed by bombing, and ground photo(s) currently on eBay.de (below) shows what appear as wooden ones, likely all burned upon the German retreat as you say. Ground fighting is also a possibility.

I find KG 3 was probably there, also some Recce units accidents but does anyone know if this was old Soviet base or built by Germans?

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Orig-Foto-Flu...item1e6c2ce72d

Any FB´s out there detailing flight-test work performed there?

[edNorth]

http://www.janssen-militaria.com/osc...oducts_id=4519

This names Flh.Kdtr. E 28/III Kalinowka "Poland" (1943)!

[Larry deZeng]

Hey, Ed - here are some additional details on Kalinovka airfield. Descriptive information on the airfields in the former USSR that were used by the Luftwaffe is hard to come by. The Allied PR aircraft did not fly over them for the most part, and nearly all the Luftwaffe records were destroyed between August 1944 and the end of the war. But as you can see, nearly all of the Luftwaffe ground elements there at one time or another were aircraft repair and airfield construction units.


Kalinowka (UKR) (e. Kalinovka; ukr. Kalynivka) (49 29 08 N – 28 32 18 E)
General: airfield in W Ukraine 23 km N of Vinnitsa. Rated for bombers. History: developed into a major overhaul and repair center by the Luftwaffe with numerous hangars, workshops and other infrastructure.
Remarks:
1942: major construction work under way from Apr 42 with little use prior to that date.
1943: designated a winter base airfield on 15 Oct 43.
4 Mar 44: Soviet spring offensive commenced with 1st Ukrainian Front forces aimed directly at Kalinovka and Vinnitsa, these being liberated by 20 March.
Operational Units: II./JG 77 (May 42); Stab, I./KG 3 (Oct-Dec 43); I. and III./TG 2 (Oct 43); II./SG 77 (Oct 43 – Feb 44); NAGr. 6 (Nov 43); II./KG 51 (Nov 43 – Jan 44); Stab/SG 77 (Nov 43 – Jan 44); III./SG 77 (Nov-Dec 43).
Station Commands: Fl.H.Kdtr. E 8/IV (Jul 42, Dec 42, Jan 43); Fl.H.Kdtr. E 28/III (c. Mar – Nov 43).
Station Units (on various dates – not complete): Feldwerft-Abt. (mot) z.b.V. 1 (Apr 43); 25. Flgh.Betr.Kp. z.b.V. (Apr 43); Frontreparaturbetrieb GL 2565 (Junkers) ( ? – end of 1943); Wintersondergerätetrupp 16 (1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 5/IV (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 112/IV (K) (Aug 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 6/VII (Jul 42, 1 Jan, Apr 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 8/VII (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 106/VII (K) (Aug 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 12/XI (Jul 42 - ? ); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 7/XII (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 10/XIII (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Gerätezug 16/IV (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Gerätezug 14/VII (Jul 42, 1 Jan, Apr 43); Lw.-Bau-Gerätezug 10/XII (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Gerätezug 3/XIII (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Lw.-Bau-Gerätezug 5/XIII (Jul 42, 1 Jan 43); Startbahnbauzug 8 (1 Jan 43); Hallenbau-Kp. Ma 12/XI ( ? – Jul 42, Jan 43); Nachschubkolonnen-Abt. d.Lw. 1/VIII ( ? – Dec 42); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 54/III (1 Jan 43); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 68/XI (1 Jan 43); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 69/XI (1 Jan 43); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 20/XVII (Jan, Apr 43); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 21/XVII (1 Jan 43); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 22/XVII (1942 – Apr 43); Kdo. für Raupenschlepper 1/XVII (5 Apr 43); Traktorenzug 7/XII (5 Apr 43); Kfz.Werkstattzug d.Lw. 102/VIII (Jul 43); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 29/II (5 Apr 43); Ldssch.Zug 64/IV (1 Jan 43); Ldssch.Zug d.Lw. 179/VI (5 Apr 43); Ldssch.Zug d.Lw. 333/VI (1 Jan, Apr 43); Ldssch.Zug d.Lw. 107/XI (Jul 42 – 1943); Ldssch.Zug d.Lw. 327/XI (5 Apr 43); 27. Ldssch.Kp./Feldluftgaukdo. XXV (Nov 43).
[Sources: AFHRA A5263 p.1728 (mid-1943); chronologies; BA-MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]

L.

[edNorth]

Larry,
Thank you again for the Airfields History overview. It answers and explains a lot for me on the matter and is very useful. Similarities are, as I have seen from looks into RAF Station records some years ago.
Wikipedia might be of interest to some - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werwolf_%28Wehrmacht_HQ%29 - This airfied probably also served as a partial base-link for flights to/from Germany. Some leaders, f.e. AH staying in one of his secret HQ only 20 km away to the south, an Fw 200 (CE+IC) known have visited Kalinowka, likely connected to General´s transport.

My question aim was towards Junkers activites there, particularily if them Romanian Ju88s were perhaps repaired/overhauled there or if somebody might have FB´s of pilots ferrying of them in/out of there.

Question remains if records of Fl.H.Kdtr. E 8/IV (Jul 42, Dec 42, Jan 43); Fl.H.Kdtr. E 28/III (c. Mar – Nov 43) are somewhere and mention this transfers. I can not check in BA-MA myself (too far away/cost of travel too much) but wonder if some one already have already notes/pages from there.

Best regards
Ed

[Larry deZeng]

Question remains if records of Fl.H.Kdtr. E 8/IV (Jul 42, Dec 42, Jan 43); Fl.H.Kdtr. E 28/III (c. Mar – Nov 43) are somewhere and mention this transfers. I can not check in BA-MA myself (too far away/cost of travel too much) but wonder if some one already have already notes/pages from there.

No records from E 8/IV or E 28/III survived the war. HOWEVER, the records of Koflug 4/XIII (Kommando Flughafenbereich) did survive. This Koflug was the airfield regional command HQ for all Luftwaffe airfields in western Ukraine, 1941-44, and both E 8/IV and E 28/III came under it. Its records are at BA-MA with file Signatur RL 20/300-302. That means there are 3 full folders of documents. There should be ample correspondence in those folders on Kalinovka airfield.

L.

[edNorth]

Ah! Have some BA-MA indexes (saved from Internet); partial RL 20 index (I have) seems not listing these particular folders. Online search produced these:

http://startext.net-build.de:8080/ba...ize=20#Treffer


http://startext.net-build.de:8080/ba...gliederung.htm

http://startext.net-build.de:8080/ba...4110/index.htm

Now, how to use this for effective results... Any suggestions?