Deployment of Ju 88 P-1 with III./KG 1

[Tim O.]

Hi all

I am currently researching a Flugbuch for Oscar Müller who was Operations Officer (1a) for III./KG 1 from late 1943 to early 1944. On 27th November 1943 he records his first flight out of Flensburg with a Junkers 'Ju 88 P1 7.5cm PacK L' (I think he should have written PAK), coded V4+1D. He also flew a 'P3' on 2nd December, which he flew to the tank proving ground at Putlos. He records the following missions out of Flensburg flying the Ju 88 P-1:

19 Feb 1944 - Maritime Reconnaissance in V4+4D over the 'Great Belt' (the seaway between the islands of Fünen & Seeland, Denmark)
21 Feb 1944 - Maritime Reconnaissance in V4+4D looking for submarines in the Kattegat
23 Feb 1944 - Another Maritime Reconnaissance in V4+4D looking for submarines in the Kattegat

Strangely, as 2nd Pilot Oscar Müller accompanied Hauptmann Werner Kanther (Pilot), the Gruppenkommandeur of III./KG 1, on a flight to Lemburg on 9 Mar 1944 in Ju 88 P-1 V4+2D. Kanther and Müller undertook two missions over the following days but in He 111s, not the Ju 88 P-1! They flew Ju 88 P-1 V4+2D back to Rangsdorf on 12 Mar and swapped to a Heinkel He 177, which Kanther flew to Burg on 13 Mar with Müller as 2nd Pilot.

Returning to Flensburg, Oscar Müller flew two more missions in Ju 88 P-1s:

15 Mar 1944 - Maritime Reconnaissance out of Flensburg in V4+2D
1 April 1944 - Maritime Reconnaissance out of Aalborg in V4+3D

On 25 April 1944 Hauptmann Werner Kanther wrote to Müller, thanking him for his contribution to the Gruppe and confirming the dissolution of III./KG 1. The letter is typed on headed III./KG 1 paper, bearing the yellow Gruppenwappen. I know that the planned conversion of the Gruppe to the Ju 88 P-1 was abandoned but there seems to be very little information available online or in my reference books.

I wondered if anyone else here could add anything to assist my research for this period. For example, did other crews go to Lemburg with P-1s and were they tested there? Why did Kanther go to Lemburg for just a few days? Did multiple crews fly P-1s on Maritime Patrols out of Flensburg?

After the disbanding of III./KG 1 Oscar Müller went to Burg to convert to the He 177 with II./KG 1 and then to Rechlin to convert to the Arado 234 jet bomber so I think he was a capable pilot. He flew his first missions in the Battle of Britain so was also a survivor. He went on to retire from the post-war Luftwaffe as an Oberstleutnant.

Any help welcome!