JG 5 losses

[Phil L.]

Hi,

Does anyone know the real losses sustained by the JG5 on the following dates.

25 March 45: The 65 claimed 3 Fw190s as destroyed
05 April 45: The 65 claimed 4 Bf109s as destroyed and 2 more probable.
07 April 45: The 65 claimed 2 Fw190s as destroyed.

On the mission of the 25 March, who was the leading the German interception force? Any 'expert' in there?

Many thanks in advance

Phil

[andy bird]

Hi Phil,

As your probably appreciate German records are somewhat sketchy:

My notes for A Separate Little War are archived but I have sourced the losses for JG5 in the time frame you're looking at:

25 March 45: The 65 claimed 3 Fw190s as destroyed

26.3.45 Fw Hermann Jager III/JG5

05 April 45: The 65 claimed 4 Bf109s as destroyed and 2 more probable

5.4.45 Uffz. Erwin Angerer III/JG5
5.4.45 Uffz. Peter Wirz III/JG5
5.4.45 Ogfr. Wilhelm Ohage III/JG5
5.4.45 Lt. Keppler IV./JG5

07 April 45: The 65 claimed 2 Fw190s as destroyed

None Recorded for this date

Kind Regards

Andy Bird

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi.

On March 25. the 9. Staffel (at the time commanded by Oblt. Werner Gayko) and the 12. Staffel (at the time commanded by Oblt. Fritz Kohrt) from Herdla approached the Mosquitos of 333. and 248. Squadron and the P-51s of the 65 Squadron.

There were several Experten in the units at the time, provided you by Experten means pilots with more than 5 'kills', but noen of the real big hitters of JG 5 were present (they were mostly sent to the continent by then).

III./JG 5 lost 4 aircraft in aerial combat - but only one pilot (Oblt. Fritz Kohrt, Staffelkapitän 12./JG 5) were killed.

The additional losses from 12. Staffel:

Fhr. Friedhelm Büchler made a successful parachute jump but was wounded and Ofw. Heinz Birk made an emergency landing at sea and were subsequently rescued by a Norwegian fishing vessel.

The Staffelkapitän of 9. Staffel, Oblt. Werner Gayko, also started the bathing season early as he is stated to have said in an interview (I believe made by Eric Mombeek some time back) - and was also rescued by a Norwegian fishing vessel.

Birk made two claims for Mosquitos on this date - his 13. and 14. 'victory'.

Regards,
Andreas B

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi, Andy.

According to my information, Lt. Heinz Käppler, Staffelführer in 15./JG 5 was killed when his aircraft overturned on take off at Lister on March 24th, not April 5th.

The other three listed losses correspond with my information - Uffz. Erwin Angerer retrieved from the sea dead, while Obgfr. Wilhelm Ohage and Uffz. Peter Wirz are still missing.

Regards,
Andreas B