Ju 87 loss(es) on 6 April 1945

[Laurent Rizzotti]

On 6 April 1945 Flg Off Cornelius J Sheddan of 486 Sqn claimed two Ju 87 shot down in Stolzenau area. I am interested in identifying his opponents and potential victims.

By the way I have a short note from a local historian (whose mail is no longer working) that this same day a Ju 87 crashed at Mardorf, some km east of Stolzenau) and one crew was killed. It is fairly possible that both stories are linked.

Thanks in advance

Laurent

[Nick Beale]

9 Ju 87 of 14. Flieger Div. attacked Stolzenau on 6 April (ULTRA BT 9959), so almost definitely they'd be from NSG 1's northern elements. The Gruppe had been split up by the Allies crossing the Rhine, part going to Bavaria and part to Northern Germany.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello,

I found the original source of my correspondant:

In the evening of 6 April 1945 Lt H Köhler of NSGr. 1 (Nord) attacked the bridgehead of Stolzenau in an attempt to destroy the Bailey bridge that was about to be completed. His Ju 87 Stuka was hit by AA fire and caught fire. It finally crashed at 2000 hrs at the NW littoral of Steinhuder Lake between Rehburg and Mardorf. The corpse of Köhler was found in a meadow near Leese. He was buried at the Kriegsgräberstätte Leese, grave 21.

Source:
http://www.avres-neustadt.de/crashsites/ (the crash site the more southwest on the map)

So confirming the Ju 87 was of NSGr. 1 (Nord), well done Nick !

[Laurent Rizzotti]

By the way I checked the German war dead buried in Leese to see if I could find another crew for this Ju 87. My source is http://www.weltkriegsopfer.de/Namens...ls_1_3304.html

There are 83 war graves in Leese, and 51 names in the above webiste, most dated from 6 April 1945 or April 1945 without a precise day, but one name is interesting:

Flieger Hans Gering, born in Bochum on 28 June 1920, died on 6 April 1945, buried in Leese

A Flieger is a sure member of Luftwaffe, while other casualties on the 6th are Grenadier or bear SS specific ranks.

Then the next question is: was Hans Gering an aircrew or was he fighting on the ground? Flieger is a low rank for an aircrew but at this stage of the war a Flieger could have been directed directly from a school to a front unit, especially as a Ju 87 gunner.

So, I try again a long shot: does someone have something about this guy in their loss databases or lists ?

Thanks in advance

Laurent

[Matti Salonen]

1945-04-06, 10./KG 200, FW 190F-8, 581770, 7 schw, Stolzenau, 16 km nordöstlich Petershagen/Weser, Unbekannt. Bruch 100 %.
Flugzeugführer Lt Gering, Hans, +

Matti

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Matti Salonen

1945-04-06, 10./KG 200, FW 190F-8, 581770, 7 schw, Stolzenau, 16 km nordöstlich Petershagen/Weser, Unbekannt. Bruch 100 %.
Flugzeugführer Lt Gering, Hans, +

Matti

III./KG 200 lost a number of Fw 190s in the attacks on this bridge head. The late Geoff Thomas got the NVMs for his book on KG 200 \(completed by Barry Ketley after Geoff died).

[Karsten]

Hi
Lt. Hans Gering was born 28.06.1920

Rüdiger

[Karsten]

Hi
I Have some more losses this Day:
Fhr. Walter Hassel 24.02.1921 KIA
10./ KG 200 Fw 190 F-8 schwarze 4 + 932 189 Nienburg

Stimmler Ludwig Uffz. KIA
10./ KG 200 Fw 190 F-8 schwarze 2 + 582 179 Wiedensahl

Fuchs Alois Fw. KIA
10./ KG 200 Fw 190 F-8

Regards

Rüdiger

[RT]

Alois Fuchs was lost on 5.April

Rémi