Seeking info on when Lt Otto Kath joined Stab I./JG20 early in 1940?

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

For profile purposes, I'm trying to determine when Otto Kath transferred from 3./JG2, where he was in Sept., 1939, to the Stab of I./JG20, where he became Gruppen Adjutant, and reportedly the frequent wingman to Hannes Trautloft, the Gr Kdr. I have photos of his a/c with the later unit during the spring of 1940, carrying the black cat emblem of 2 Staffel on the cowling and the Adj Chevrons on the fuselage. Does anyone know why he would have been carrying a 2 Staffel insignia on the side of his fuselage?

Who can help?

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[Chris Goss]

22 Feb 40

[ouidjat]

Hi Gents,

I'm not sure to understand. Does it mean this is NOT Otto Kath machine?

http://www.me109.info/display.php?a=e&fid=1496

According to Prien, this photo has been taken in 1939, "Frühherbst".

Regards, Franck.

[Larry Hickey]

Chris/Franck,

Chris:

Since I posted this query, I've been able to consult with Kath's FB. His first flight with Stab I./JG20 was on 15.11.39 at Döberitz, in <I+. Nine days later he started flying <+, which he regularly flew thereafter. I./JG20 transferred from Brandenburg-Briest on 09.09.39, so Kath apparently joined the unit around the time of this transfer. This means that from 01.09.39 until around mid-November, someone else was Adj of I./JG20, a unit which had been formed shortly before the war. There was not yet a 3 Stafffel a/o 01.09.39.

The photo that Franck posted from the David Waiss 109 website, says that this was taken at Brandenburg-Briest and has early war top-wing crosses. This all being the case, it cannot be Kath's a/c at the time of the photo, but that of his predecessor, who I think was Hermann Reifferscheidt. I'm waiting for confirmation of that info from a source in Germany. I'm also awaiting any possible info that would confirm this was an E-3 with the W.Nr. 5205. Christian Kirsch, the source of this PK photo on the website, says that 5205 is only a possible interpretation of what is painted on the fin. This matters because it is one of our profile a/c for the EoE Project. We have other photos of this same a/c in our DB.

We are planning a color profile for Kath's a/c, but for the Phoney War period, and after the change-over to 1940 camouflage. We're going to do the one that has the 2./JG20 black cat insignia on both sides of the engine cowling, which makes no sense to me for Kath, as he couldn't have any history with 2 Staffel given his career. This may have just been a replacement cowling from a 2 Staffel a/c for one that had been damaged. This idea is possibly supported by the rudder being the old two-tone green one on a 1940-camouflaged a/c, which obviously had recently been replaced. If anyone has any other information that would shed light on this, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Also, any further confirmation that the a/c of the initial Gr Adj was W.Nr. 5205, would also be appreciated. It may well have been that Kath inherited that a/c from his predecessor, and continued flying it. His FB does not provide W.Nr. during this period, only a/c Stab symbols, so the W.Nr. can't be verified from that source.

Trying to do hundreds of photographically accurate 109 color profiles with emphasis on named pilots and known W.Nr. is one hell of a challenge.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[ouidjat]

Thanks Larry for this precision.

Regards, Franck.

[Chris Goss]

What puzzles me is if he transferred from one unit to another why wasn't his FB signed off from the previous unit? It was signed off 31 Jan 40 after which he moved to Boninghardt?

[Jim P.]

Per the FB of vom Hofe, he flew this machine once in Jul-40, still coded '<| +'. The Kath FB as I recall is coupled with the H.E. Bob FB which is a known flawed re-construction. I've not heard the same about the Kath FB.

Bf 109E-4, 5205, Hofe, Ltn. Werner Pichon Kalau vom, , III., Stab III., JG 51, schwarzes, <| + , BA+FM, , 09-Jul-40, T.O. Werkstattflug., , FR, FB W. vom Hofe; Prien, et al, Die Jagdfliegerverbände, III, p.190 photo?, , St. Omer, -, H, , ,

[Larry Hickey]

Chris,

I don't have an explanation for this, but as far as I know, I./JG20 was the only fighter unit at Döberitz at that point, I./JG2 having left just prior to I./JG20's arrival.

Further points regarding this line of research is that the personnel file of Lt. Hermann Reifferscheidt at Freiburg confirms that he was the Gr Adj of I./JG20 at the beginning of the war, and probably until Kath took over in November.

And finally, the report on the David Waiss (Falcon) website that the photo of the I./JG20 Adjutant at Brandenburg-Briest AF circa Sept., 1939 was W.Nr. 5205 is bogus. WNr 5205 didn't come off the WNF production line until February, 1940. It is known to have flown with III./JG51 (the successor unit to I./JG20), as there is a reference to that W.Nr. in the Pichon-Kalau vom Hofe FB in mid-July as <I+ (another of our profiles). I'm not sure who the regular pilot was, but it may have been Lt. Herbert Wehnelt, the NO. If anyone knows what plane he flew, I'd appreciate knowing this.

Does anyone know what Stab position a Capt. Haase on the Stab of I./JG20 held in late-June, 1940?

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[Larry Hickey]

Jim,

Thanx for your input. I was writing my above post when your item posted, and I didn't see it until after I'd sent mine.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[ouidjat]

Hi Jim, Larry

If Jim can suppose (with ?) that <I we see on two photos page 190 is 5205 noticed later in III./JG 51; why not, to be complete, include the photo page 198, same volume??

This is the full Stab taken in May 1940 with an amazing feature:
Prien writes Winkel Kreis, Winkel Balken, Winkel and Winkel Dreieck. Well, it seems that Winkel should be "read" Winkel plus two little Balken. What do you think?

Regards, Franck.