KG6 losses during Feb/June 1944

KG6 information requested regarding the circumstances surrounding the loss of Major FURHOP, on 29th February 1944 and Hauptm THURNER on 11th June 1944, especially crew listings for the two aircraft concerned. Thanks

[Brian Bines]

Hi There,

Info. that I have is that the unit were on a transfer flight from Chievres to Dreux for a proposed attack on Plymouth which did not in fact take place. While on the flight the aircraft flown by Maj. Fuhrhop and that of Uffz. Meyer were engaged by Typhoons of 609 Sqd. and both Ju 188's were shot down with the loss of all crewmen :-


1. Ju 188 3E+AB at Seboncourt 18 km. N/E St. Quentin at 13.30 hrs.

Ff. Major Helmut Fuhrhop Gp. Kom.
B Ofw. Alfred Schubert
Bf Ofw. Alfons Eichschmidt
Bm. Sfw Walter Rehfeldt
Bs Ofw. Wilhelm Schachtschabel
1.Wart Fw. Arnold Buttner


2. Ju 188 3E+KH at Bohain 18 km. N/E St. Quentin at 13.30 hrs


Ff. Uffz. Wilhelm Meyer
B Uffz. Eberhard Brautigam
Bf. Uffz. Rudolf Zimmer
Bs. Fw. Karl Priegler
Bs. Gef. Erich Pankratz
1.Wart Fw. Heinz Generlich
N.O Oblt Rolf Hailbronner


Maj. Fuhrhop was suceeded as Kom. by Hpt Thurner untill he was lost on 9th? June. 1944,

Regards
Brian

[Laurent Rizzotti]

609 Sqn Beligian pilot Desmoulins was involved in the 29 Feb 1944 and described it in his autobiography ("Mes oiseaux de feu" in French). My father has the book and what I remembered of it is that 8 Typhoons flying in clouds met suddenly both bombers and all pilots widly chased them without any disciplin. Both bombers crashed and the TYphoon formation reformed but one of their number was missing and no pilot had seen anything about his fate.
According to the Fighter Command War Diaries, the missing Typhoon was shot down by Flak near Douai.

[Chris Goss]

Brian is corrrect regards Fuhrhop-2 additional casualties were Furhop's dogs Chica and Ciro which were also in the aircraft. I have a good account of what happened from the 609 side and German side plus photos of the burials of both crews and photos of both pilots. As to Thurner, his crew was Uffz Gustav Thaeter, Uffz Joachim Booch and Fw Kurt Henning. Again, no Wk Nr but it looks as if he was flying 3E+EB. The 609 casualty was Typhoon MN211 shot down by Flak on Ramrod 603 near Douai; Fg Off M H Shelton killed

To Brian, Laurent and Chris. Thank you all very much for the speedy reply to my request. MOST interesting information! If any of you are interested in Big Week of Feb; '44, please don't hesitate to make contact.

[Brian Bines]

Glad the info was of help. Chris do you know if Fuhrhop flew in Spain with the Condor Legion ,there is a photo of the tail of a He 111 with a picture of a dog on it captioned in memory of 'Peter' (the dog). Apparantly killed while flying with his master Ltn. Fuhrhop on a bombing mission, if it was the same pilot his dogs did not have much luck. Another point I believe Tiny Rowland's family name was Fuhrop and a satirical magazine once referred to him as having bombed London while with the Luftwaffe, clearly impossible as I beleive he was in this country during the war. Was he related to Maj. Fuhrop by any chance?
Regards
Brian

[Chris Goss]

I have seen this photo but cannot confirm if Fuhrhop was in Spain-he does not have the Spanish Cross in the photos I have of him

[markr]

Chris and Brian,

Regarding Helmut Fuhrhop, I have a question!...

In Georg Brutting's "Das Waren die Deutschen Kampfflieger-Asse, 1939-1945", Helmut Fuhrhop is listed as serving with KG 51, on the Eastern Front, prior to flying with KG 6 in the west.

Per Brutting's book he sank a Cruiser, four Freighters (14,500 BRT), destroyed 16 trains and 30 aircraft on the ground.

Do you know what Gruppe/Staffel he would have served with?

Markr

[markr]

Brian and Chris,

Have a question regarding Helmut Fuhrhop...

According to Georg Brutting's book, "Das Waren die Deutschen Kampfflieger-Asse, 1939-1945", Helmut Fuhrhop flew with KG 51 on the Eastern Front prior to service with KG 6.

Sank a Cruiser, 4 Freighters, destroyed 16 trains and 30 aircraft on the ground.

What Gruppes/Staffels were he assigned to while with KG 51?

Many thanks!

Markr

[markr]

Sorry for the duplicate!!!

Didn't think that first one went through...problems with my internet connection this morning!

Markr