Aircraft flown to Norway 5 May 1945

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello,

According to http://www.luftwaffe.no/SIG/1945/5MAI.html many airrcaft were flown to Norway on the day of the partial capitulation on 5 May 1945.

Does anybody know what the source for this information is? I am asking since some of the W.Nr. and type designation are obviously incorrect, e.g. Ju 188 F-1 281927 (there was no 281xxx Ju 188 as far as I know) or Ju 188 S-1 280041 (there was no S-1, this was an F-1).

Therefore, I am not sure how trustworthy the information in general is. Was the list compiled based on photos or wartime documents or ULTRA?

Regards,

Roger

[ju55dk]

It's based on two list prepared by Luftwaffe to RAF in Norway. One shows aircraft present 5. may 45, inclusive aircraft that landed that day. And another showing aircraft still in Norway 10 may 45. Off course one can not rule out clerical errrors.
Junker

[Seaplanes]

I am afraid that it is me to blame for this. Many years ago I was permitted as the first person since 1945, to get access to the records of the Leitende Ingenieur b. General d. deutsche Luftwaffe in Norwegen. This was a kind of "Abwicklungsstab" whose purpose was to report the status of all Luftwaffe material in Norway at the time of capitulation and up to the autumn of 1945.
Among the many documents was a list of nearly all Luftwaffe planes flown to bases in Norway on 5 May 1945. Exceptions seems to be aircraft that made forced landings before reaching their intended bases. I did double check the lists and I still have a xerox-copy (this was way bafore digital cameras) of the lists. It is dated 7 Mai 1945 O.Qu./Ltd.Ing. Br.B.Nr. 6977 geh. "Aus Dänemark am 5.5.1945 zugefuehrte Flugzeuge. For all multi-engined aircraft it give: Unit, Standort, Muster u. Baureihe, Werk-Nr., Funk-Ausrüstung, Funkmess, Abwurf-W., Sonstiges, Verwendungsmöglichkeit, Bemerkungen. For all single-engined aircraft no previous unit is given. The provenience of the documents is the Riksarkivet (National Archives) in Oslo.

[ju55dk]

Both are clerical errors done by LW. List clearly states Ju 188 S 1 Wnr 280041 and Ju 188 F-1 Wnr 281927.
Junker

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello ju55dk and Seaplanes,

Many thanks for your replies. I have seen a Germany list dated June 1945, but it did not state what the date of the inventory was. From your replies I assume there was an earlier document that stated that the inventory was made on 10 May 1945.

I have not seen the 5 May 1945 list, so thank you for sharing the details. It is interesting that the aircraft came from Denmark and that you could confirm the W.Nrs. and unit reported in the original document.

I was asking as I am researching the history of Ju 188 D-2 W.Nr. 230133 that was one of the aircraft that went to Norway on 5 May 1945, but left Norway again before 10 May 1945. It was later photographed in Germany and based on its markings F2+SM was an aircraft of 4.(Nacht)/Erg.FAGr. In January 1945, the Staffel was redesignated 6.(Nacht)/EAG 1, which was disbanded in March 1945. So, possibly the aircraft went on strength of 3.(F)/22 as it was listed under that unit in the 5 May 1945 list. It would not be surprising if they did not bother anymore to change the tactical markings that late in the war.

Roger