Luftwaffe units active in Magdeburg - Barby a/d Elbe area April 1945

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Dear all,

Does anybody know which Luftwaffe units (apart from I./KG66) were involved in the attacks against the American (9th US Army) pontoon bridges and bridgeheads over the Elbe in the Magdeburg - Barby an der Elbe area between 14 - 20 April 1945?

I would be very grateful for any info, in particular in the bombing results and the own losses suffered.

Best regards,

Marcel

[Nick Beale]

The quick answer about units involved seems to be Gefechtsverband Helbig but I'll email when I've been able to take a closer look at the material I have.

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Thanks Nick! Just heard from a reliable source that we can exclude LG1, they were not active in that area. Does anybody know something about units such as KG200 or the Nachtschlachtgruppen?

Thanks,

Marcel

[Nick Beale]

Barby seems to befall into a gap between information I have on operations to the north and south of it. It was probably too distant from the bases of NSGr. 20 and III./K 200 for them to attack it. NSGr. 2 and the southern element of NSGr. 1 were operating in the areas of Bamberg, Karlsruhe, Jena and Erfurt at first, then Nürnberg and Bayreuth. Elements of NJG 11 attacked south of Würzburg on the night of 19/20 April.

According to the Seekriegsleitung: on the 19/20th there 63 Nachtschlacht sorties in the area Dessau-Barby but no details are given of the units involved.

[Marcel van Heijkop]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Barby seems to befall into a gap between information I have on operations to the north and south of it. It was probably too distant from the bases of NSGr. 20 and III./K 200 for them to attack it. NSGr. 2 and the southern element of NSGr. 1 were operating in the areas of Bamberg, Karlsruhe, Jena and Erfurt at first, then Nürnberg and Bayreuth. Elements of NJG 11 attacked south of Würzburg on the night of 19/20 April.

According to the Seekriegsleitung: on the 19/20th there 63 Nachtschlacht sorties in the area Dessau-Barby but no details are given of the units involved.

Thanks Nick, that confirms the picture that's building up in my mind of the whole situation. Looks like in some cases I./KG66 and Gefechtsverband Helbig are synonymous..However, according to RL2 II/389 (great stuff BTW!) units such as NSGr.20 and I./KG66 worked closely together wherever possible, such as the attack agains the British pontoon bridge over the Aller river near Rethem (Aller) on 15 April 1945.

Regards,

Marcel

[Marcel van Heijkop]

For those interested in an American perspective of the situation, here's an excellent site: https://www.17th-engineers.nl/nl/tre...il-13-14-1945/

Regards,

Marcel