1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 406

[Raponda]

My dad was a Merchant Marine midshipman on SS Cornelius Harnett in Convoy JW 52 in January 1943. As they rounded North Cape on the way to Murmansk, they were jumped by Lufttorpedostaffel 406 out of Kirkenes, Norway on 24 January. Thae Harnett's Armed Guard, commanded by Lieut. Richard Stone, shot down one of the 1/406's Heinkel 115 b/c's while a sister ship in the convoy badly damaged another. Both air crews perished the icy waters of the Barents Sea. On board 1864 K6+EH, were Oberfeldwebel Kurt Riedel (F), with Leutnant Hans-Georg Schmidt (B) and Unteroffizier Hans-Joachim Gottlieb (Bf); on the other plane (2733 K6+MH) were three squadron mates of Küstenfliegergruppe 406, Oberfeldwebel Hans Broy (F), Leutnant Arno Kratz (B) and Unteroffizier Kurt Kleismann (Bf). Can anyone help me to find more about the origins of these six German airman? Dad is writing his memoirs about these incidents. To watch an interview with him, go to Youtube.com and enter Herman Melton in the search box. On the return, his Convoy RA 63 was attacked by U-Boot 255 commander Reinhart Reche. In Dec. '44 Dad's Liberty Ship Antoine Saugraine was torpedoed in Surigao Strait near Leyte Gulf during MacArthur's return to the Philippines.

[Larry deZeng]

Inquiries about Luftwaffe enlisted personnel are always directed to WASt in Berlin as that agency is responsible for these records, what few may exist. Unfortunately, WASt can rarely come up with much beyond a very incomplete list of wartime assignments, DOB, POB, parents' names, decorations and military hospitalizations, if that. Since the six are all deceased, you would probably meet the access rules established by the German Privacy laws.

Since the above, assuming you even get that, will probably be insufficient to meet your father's needs, then your only recourse may be to try and track down surviving relatives, a tedious, time-consuming and potentially expensive proposition.

L.

[Raponda]

This is an important first step for us, and I'm grateful for the wise advice, Larry. both of my brothers are fluent in German and one of them knows Russian and Polish, so I hope they can help me navigate the archives. If anyone has advice about German bulletin boards related to Luftwaffe personnel and their families, I'd be grateful to know. In addition to the two Heinkels shot down on January 24, on the following day, a lone Junkers JU88 D-1 appeared over Convoy JW 52. It was also based in Kirkenes, Norway, as a member of the first squadron of Aufklarungsstaffel 124. It made it back to base, some 40% destroyed by ship's fire. Its pilot was Oberlfeldwebel Schmidt. Other crew members are not listed. 1.(F)/AGr 124 was a long range reconnaissance unit. The National Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bodø is well along in restoring a similar Ju88 D-1 (W.No.1203 4N+EH) that flew out of Kirkenes to attack the next convoy and which crash landed with no loss at the northernmost tip of Europe's mainland. The D-1's carried cameras in its bomb bay, but Convoy JW52 all along believed they had roughed up a bomber. For the JU88 project, go to: http://luftfart.museum.no Will

[Larry deZeng]

Will -

Regarding German-language Luftwaffe forums, here is the one with with heaviest use where your chances would be best for finding on-site assistance in tracking down those crew members:

http://www.luftwaffe-bullet-board.com/

Good luck and I hope you find them or their relatives!

L.

[Raponda]

You've been very helpful, Larry, and I'll pursue these first of all. Best wishes and thanks! Will

[DB601E]

Hi Will,
i have checked the easiest way for you, but without any result. I was looking in the war grave directory. But as you told in your message, i assume they have been given a "seamans" grave. I was looking too in phone directories. But as Larry already told you, this is a hard way to go. For my researches I did up to 1000 calls to get one person. The names are unfortunatly very common in germany. Only for Broy (about 130 hits) and for Kleismann (Try also Kleißmann) you may have a chance.
The best way to proceed for you is using the WASt in Berlin. as you know the unit and the names of the german crew. The Wast has documents acording to units and including mostly contact information for relativs. So you can get some information about their homeregion. But information policy for WASt is getting more and more difficult since about two years for reason of protection of personal data. But you may try it, you'll have a good chance to get info, because the persons you are looking for are dead more than 30 years.

Good luck and best greetings from bavaria

Lino