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  #1  
Old 21st November 2015, 23:13
sidney sidney is offline
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Kette Eberhardt

Gentlemen, I wonder whether someone on the TOCH help me with the query below.

Following the delivery of six He-51 aircraft in early August 1936, and their assembly by the German tehnicians and pilots by 12 August, three of the newly delivered aircraft were crashed by Spanish pilots.

The German pilots were allowed to fly the combat missions on 23 August, and the first victory was reported by Oblt. Trautloft on 25 August 1936. His aircraft was coded "Black 4". The three-aircraft flight was to become known as Kette Eberhardt, after its leader Oblt. Krafft Eberhardt, while the pilots dubbed themselves as the Hunters of Guadarrama.

The query is as follows:

What were the codes of the remaining two He-51 aircraft of the Kette and who flew them? One of the early survivors I believe was coded "Black 5".

Any assistance will be highly valued.

Regards,
Sinisa

Last edited by sidney; 22nd November 2015 at 21:08.
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Old 23rd November 2015, 15:54
GuerraCivil GuerraCivil is offline
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Re: Kette Eberhardt

Eberhardt did not command only a three-plane Kette of his own but the whole flight/squadron/staffel of six Heinkel 51´s (two Kettes) flown by Germans (Sonderstab W) during the late summer/early autumn 1936. The first six Heinkels were coded "2-1" to "2-6" so the planes of Eberhardt Kette were coded between 2-1 to 2-6.

One should not blame the Nationalist Spanish pilots (Escuadrilla Rambaud) for the written offs of first Heinkel 51´s - two of them were indeed damaged in less happy landings but were repaired and later put in action by the Germans.

The first recorded Heinkel 51 loss was the "2-4" which was was shot down on 30.8.1936 by enemy Dewotine 372 (Ramón Puparelli Francia being most likely the pilot who shot Trautloft down although his claim has been recorded on 2.9.1936 by Republicans). A second Heinkel 51 was lost on 28.9.1936 in flight accident when Ekkerhard Hefter crashed his plane to the townhall of Vitoria while displaying aerobatics at low level and he was killed - but I do not know what was the number of that plane. The third Heinkel loss - I guess - was the plane piloted by Eberhardt himself which was lost during the famous air battle over Madrid on 13.11.1936 but again I do not know the number of the plane.

When it comes to the three pilots of Eberhardt Kette, they were Eberhardt himself, Hannes Trautloft and Herwig Knüppel. So at least Knüppel´s name can be added to the list of pilots flying Heinkel 51´s of Eberhardt Kettel. Other fliers of the first German He 51 detachment were Wolf-Heinrich Houwald, Ekkehard Hefter and Alfons Klein.

Ten more German fighter pilots came to Spain by October with a new batch of Heinkels when the strength of German fighter detachment grew to 14 planes. Probably some of them flew also the planes of "the original Eberhardt Kette".

I would advice to look for more details from Håkans Aviation Page (if you have not already checked it): http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/scw.htm
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Old 23rd November 2015, 22:21
sidney sidney is offline
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Re: Kette Eberhardt

Thank you for your exhaustive reply, it is great to have someone so knowledgeable on the subject to discuss with.

I am aware that Oblt. Kraft Eberhardt did command the whole flight/squadron/staffel of six Heinkel 51´s (two Kettes) flown by Germans (Sonderstab W) during the late summer/early autumn 1936. In his book, Luftwaffe at War – Gathering Storm 1933 – 1939, page 51, E.R. Hooton referred to this Staffel-strong unit as Gruppe Eberhardt - have you ever come across this designation in any other book on the subject?

I suspect that the first six Heinkels were initially coded "Black 1" to "Black 6" so the planes of Kette Eberhardt were coded between "Black 1" to "Black 6". This is reasonably well documented. If you so wish I can provide you the photographic evidence from the literature. My question was quite specific though - Trautloft flew "Black 4", there is a photo of the He 51 coded "Black 5", but I am not sure who flew it, either Kraft Eberhardt himself, or Herwig Knüppel.

Regards,
Sinisa
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Old 2nd December 2015, 14:01
GuerraCivil GuerraCivil is offline
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Re: Kette Eberhardt

Quote:
Originally Posted by sidney View Post
I am aware that Oblt. Kraft Eberhardt did command the whole flight/squadron/staffel of six Heinkel 51´s (two Kettes) flown by Germans (Sonderstab W) during the late summer/early autumn 1936. In his book, Luftwaffe at War – Gathering Storm 1933 – 1939, page 51, E.R. Hooton referred to this Staffel-strong unit as Gruppe Eberhardt - have you ever come across this designation in any other book on the subject?
So far the Eberhardt Gruppe is unknown definition to me and I have not encountered it earlier. German sources (= Herwig Knüppel) refer the German Heinkel 51 unit led by Eberhardt as Jagdstaffel Eberhardt and Eberhardt as Staffelführer.

I do not know how official definition Jagdstaffel Eberhardt actually was. Anyway after Eberhardt´s command Herwig Knüppel became the new Staffelführer until the Legion Condor and Jagdgruppe 88 (J/88) were formed in late November 1936 (the date of this reorganization is probably 18.11.1936). The "veterans" (first batch of German He 51 pilots in Spain) were organized into 4th Staffel of J/88 led by Herwig Knüppel.
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Old 3rd December 2015, 11:57
sidney sidney is offline
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Re: Kette Eberhardt

Thank you for the additional notes.

The Gruppe Eberhardt is the title that refers to the German fighter entity in Spain over a brief period of time in September, October and, say, first half of November 1936. I have only come across it in the aforementioned E.R. Hooton's book Luftwaffe at War – Gathering Storm 1933 – 1939. I was hoping to find out about more references that would confirm it. Thus far I found none.

If I remember correctly, in their book The Legion Condor 1936-1939, Karl Ries and Hans Ring refer to the same entity over the same period simply as the Jagdstaffel of the German volunteers in Spain.

It seems to me that your reference to Jagdstaffel Eberhardt can be dated to the onset of its operations (i.e., 23 August 1936), although taking into account losses in accidents and combat losses (Oblt. Trautloft, 30 August 1936), it could not have been more than three aircraft strong at any given time until a still unspecified date in September* 1936, when the additional batch of the He 51 aircraft was delivered, and the entity actually became a Staffel strong (i.e., 12 or more aircraft on strength).

For the aforementioned period I use the term Kette Eberhardt. This reference I believe, because I do not have their book at hand, I found in the aforementioned Ries/Ring book on the subject.
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