II./NJG 102 in the last months of war

[ChristianK]

Gentlemen,
I am trying to check something - is it reliably known at which bases II./NJG 102 spend the last months of the war? Michael Holm has all three Staffeln at Ohlau (although with a question mark) or Schönfeld-Seifersdorf until January 1945, and afterwards at Copenhagen-Kastrup. Do flight logs or any other documents say anything more reliable about this units last movements?

Is it mentioned anywhere whether this group left some of its planes at Aslau and/or if it did trade its Bf 110s for Ju 88s before it was disbanded?

Regards,
Christian

[GaraiB]

Hello Christian,

please check the following mentioned page’s:

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...ighlight=Ohlau

http://www.ww2.dk/air/njagd/njg102.htm

There you can find info the last monts for NJG102 unit.

Best regards,

Balazs Garai

[ChristianK]

Hi Balazs, thanks for your effort! But I already checked those sites, both are not clear about the bases of II. Gruppe during early 1945 and its movement afterwards. For example: ww2.dk is not sure about Ohlau and Schönfeld-Seifersdorf, and from what I know, II./NJG 102 went to Denmark after January 1945, not to Prague. I was hoping for any evidence that verifies the bases and/or relocations of this unit (flight logs, loss lists etc.).

Regards,
Christian

[Doug Stankey]

According to Carlsen and Meyer: Die Flugzeugführer-Ausbildung der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1935-1945 Band II page 278 states:

The bases were:

Stab II./NJG 102:
Stuttgart-Echterdingen (24.12.43 - 10.06.44).
Insterburg (11.06.44 - 30.08.44).
Schönf.- Seifersdorf (01.09.44 - 15.01.45).
Kopenhagen-Kastrup (01.01.45 - 15.03.45).

4./NJG 102:
Stuttgart-Echterdingen (24.12.43 - 10.06.44).
Insterburg (11.06.44 - 06.44).
Gross Schiemanen (06.44 - 08.44).
Ohlau? (08.44 - 15.01.45).
Kopenhagen-Kastrup (01.01.45 - 15.03.45).

5./NJG 103:
Stuttgart-Echterdingen (24.12.43 - 13.06.44).
Wormditt (14.06.44 - 29.07.44).
Ohlau? (1944 - 15.01.45).
Kopenhagen-Kastrup (16.01.45 - 15.03.45).


6./NJG 102:
Stuttgart-Echterdingen (24.12.43 - 05.44).
Insterburg (05.44 - 29.07.44).
Ohlau? (1944 - 15.01.45).
Kopenhagen-Kastrup (16.01.45 - 15.03.45).



I hope that this helps


DGS

[ju55dk]

It's correct that the unit went to Kopenhagen/Kastrup. I have a flight of a Si 204 and a loss of a Ju 88G-6. It was equipped with different Ju 88 and Si 204. No Bf 110. Allthough ordered disbanded it was still in Kastrup may 1945, and walked to Schleswig-Holstein to be interned.

Junker

[ChristianK]

Thank you both - so the Gruppe went to Denmark and it re-equipped with Ju 88s. And now I see where Martin Holm got his "Ohlau?" information from...

I was asking because I tried to localize this location and the unit(s) this rather well-known group of Bf 110s had belonged to: http://visualrian.ru/en/site/gallery/#42329?print=true

There were some photos of this group already known and published, e.g. in "Trofei vosdushnych bitv 1941-1945" (Frontline Illustrations) and "German Aircraft in Russian and Soviet Service 1941-1951" by Alexandrov / Petrov (Schiffer). The RIA Novosti shot was new to me.

I figured which unit would have had a large and varied assortment of earlier Bf 110s during early 1945 in Eastern Germany - the answer was NJG 102.

The location this planes were parked at features (what I think is) an Autobahn in the background. The cut-out in the forest is too wide for any other kind of road in my opinion and it looks exactly what I am used to from german Autobahns. So this Bf 110s had likely arrived on an airfield with highway connection, maybe to get dismantled or recycled.
A perfect match in the region where NJG 102 was stationed till January 1945 is Aslau, which had an Autobahn connection as well as an aircraft factory. All the last operational airfields of NJG 102 where located in the same area.
Ivan Shagin, photographer of the RIA Novosti pic had definitely been in the immediate vicinity of Aslau at a time during February 1945. Another photo of him in the same data base shows the commander of a junior soviet army unit which did operate between Liegnitz and Bunzlau (The photo date is given as 26 April 1945, however. This makes it harder to hold my theory, but not impossible).

Now the RIA Novosti pic came up and revealed a Bf 110 coded ??+EM in the very same style in which NJG 102 marked at least some of their aircraft (white aircraft letter with thin black outline - not so common on late-war Bf 110s; compare: "Luftwaffe over Czech Territory 1945" (JaPo), page 155.

To conclude: I think this group of Bf 110s did belong to II./NJG 102 (or any of the other Gruppen, but if ??+EM was indeed a NJG 102 plane (7J+EM then), it should have belonged to 4. Staffel). These planes were flown to Aslau when their crews left the region with the aim to convert to Ju 88s and were parked at a forest cut-out near the Autobahn where they were discovered by soviet forces.

I might be wrong of course, but I like my theory. Any opinions?

Christian