I./JG 1 in France – June 1944

[Henofred]

Bonjour,

I am looking for the circumstances of the loss of these three flyers.
Uffz Gehrard BOCK – June 4, 1944
Uffz Josef MAYER – June 8, 1944
Fw Josef TAUBER – June 8, 1944
I find these names in a list of graves from the former German military cemetery of Bourges, France and in spite of the hard writing it seems me to decipher 1 Staffel JG 1. This unit fought in Normandy at the time and used the airfields of Montdidier, LeMans and Alençon.

Regards,
Fred

[Bruce Lander]

Hi,

04.06.44 Lt.Gerhard Bosse 8/JG.1 killed when his Bf.109G-6/AS Black 12
collided with Bf.109G-6 Black 4 flown by Lt.Wolfgang Kiefer at
Paderborn.

Source "Defending The Reich" E.Mombeek - no mention of the other pilots you mention, or indeed any losses on 08 June 44

Regards
Bruce Lander

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi.

Eric Mombeek and Jochen Prien would probably be best suited to answer your questions, they both frequent this board and will probably help you out.

However - the summary loss records show that the unit was hammered on the ground on June 8th, losing 6 aircraft in all (3 destroyed and 3 damaged) to strafing attacks. No flying personnel was injured or killed according to what was reported to GenQu.

My conclusion would thus be that the Mayer and Tauber was killed during this attack, but were ground personnel.

Regards,
Andreas B

[Henofred]

Thanks a lot to both for your answers.

I also thought about this probability (ground crew). But Bourges is far from Coulommiers (…where a Ju52 was shot down on June 6) and LeMans (…strafing of the airfield by fighter-bombers on June 7.) Why to have buried these men there?

It should be said that I can also read 1./TG 1 so much it is hard to decipher and bad written. But it is impossible because this Transportgeschwader was not in France at this time there. Right?

Best regards,
Fred

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi.

I see that you also asked this question three years ago, assuming then that it was TG 1 that was the unit for these men.

I can see that I./TG 1 lost 4 crewmembers killed and 3 crewmembers wounded on 8.6.1944, these were crewmembers of two separate aircraft
noted as total losses on this day. In the first aircraft 1 crewmember was killed and 3 wounded, in the second one all three crewmembers mentioned was killed.

I do not have further information on these losses, but I believe that for example Georg Schlaug may be able to give further information.

Regards,
Andreas B

[PhilippeDM]

Perhaps and if it is a crash concerning fighter aircrafts, another source of information is:

La Luftwaffe face au débarquement allié - Messerschmitt Bf 109 G et Focke Wulf 190 A au combat en Normandie et en Provence - 6 juin 1944 au 31 août 1944
Jean-Bernard Frappé
Editions Heimdal - 1999

I can not consult it right now 'cause I'm at work...

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi again, Fred

Is the text you are trying to decipher on paper or directly on a headstone at the cemetery?

Is it possible for you to either scan the document or digitally photograph the headstone?

Regards,
Andreas B

[Henofred]

Bonjour Andreas,

Merci for these details about the Transportgeschwader 1 losses.

So, the text comes from a list because there are no more German graves in the cemetery. This list was doubtless written by a French (A town hall clerk I suppose) because there are many errors regarding spelling of the names and units. I have attached the excerpt.

Georg Schlaug is a member of this forum?

Best regards,
Fred

I forgot: Philippe there is nothing in the book La Luftwaffe face au débarquement allié.