The Guy who shot my father down

My father, Lt. Thomas A. Parks, Jr. was first pilot on B-17 42-3546. He flew with the 96th BG, 339 Sq out of Snetterton Heath, England.

On November 29, 1943, on his 9th mission, he and his crew were shot down over Bremen, Germany sometime shortly after "Bombs Away". Bombs away was at 14:41 and I have come across information that at 14:52 Oberleutnant Walter Lardy (4./ZG 26) claims to have shot down a B-17 in the vicinity of Eystrup, Germany (SE of Bremen) This is the same area my father and his entire crew were captured after bailing out.

From all the information I have been able to gather, I am pretty sure Oblt Lardy is the guy but I am writing a book and I would to have as many details regarding Lardy as I can lay my hands on. It seems he was a Staffelkapitan and may have been awarded Iron Crosses (one first class and one second).

It also seems he flew with 3./JG 103 and it also seems that in his entire career during the war... Oblt. Lardy only shot down one plane... My father's. Dad would have seen the humor in that. He was that kind of guy.

Specifically, I would like to know, if it can be known, what airfield Walter Lardy flew out of that day.

Also I'd like to know what type of aircraft Lardy was flying that day. My father reported that after bombs away they were attacked from 12 O'clock level by an echelon of 10 ME110s or JG87s. His B-17 had been critically damaged by AAA just moments before the attack so I have always given him a break on not being able to provide an exact ID on the fighters. At that moment he was a really, really busy 21-year-old.

Other than that... Any and ALL tidbits are welcome.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

[Delmenhorst]

You could start with http://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html

Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey have been collecting a lot of information about Luftwaffe officers:

LARDY, Walter.
07.09.42 Oblt., appt Staka 16./KG 6 (to no later than 01.11.42).
29.11.43 Oblt., 4./ZG 26.
16.11.44 Oblt., appt Staka 3./JG 103 (to 27.02.45).
Credited with one victory.

Good luck with your book

[Larry deZeng]

Hello Tom -

4./ZG 26 belonged to II./ZG 26 along with 5. and 6./ZG 26. These three Staffeln (Squadrons) and the Gruppenstab (the staff personnel of II. Gruppe) were all based at Hesepe airfield, an operational airfield (Einsatzhafen) in Lower Saxony 22.4 km NW of Osnabrück, 5.6 km NW of Bramsche and 1.6 km NNW of the village of Hesepe. On 29 Novenber 1943, II. Gruppe was equipped with the Me 410 A-1 twin-engine heavy fighter. At the beginning of November they had 39 of them on strength and lost 4 in action during the month and 2 more in accidents.

The details of the air action from the German side can be found in the books by Dr. Jochen Prien, particularly the volumes covering JG 1 and JG 11, and if not there then in some of his other unit histories.

L.

Delmanhorst.... Thank you so much.

[Kutscha]

II./ZG 26

Disbanded 4.42, and was absorbed by ZG1 and ZG2.

Reformed 11.10.43 in Hildesheim from III./ZG1 with:

Stab II./ZG26 from Stab III./ZG1
4./ZG26 from 7./ZG1
5./ZG26 from 8./ZG1
6./ZG26 from 9./ZG1

http://www.ww2.dk/air/zerstorer/zg26.htm

Larry, the link says > 10.43 - 2.44 Hildesheim Me 410

Your stupendous work http://www.ww2.dk/Airfields%20-%20Ge...Borders%5D.pdf does not list ZG26 as being based at Hesepe.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

TOM,

Please contact me at: baumgartner_asv@yahoo.com.br
I am unable to send you a private message or e-mail through the Fórum..do not know why...

Yours,
Adriano

[Nick Hector]

Hi Thom,

If this is the source of your info:

http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html

Then I advise caution. Whereas it is the info that I myself currently have in my database, I have on occasion found the Joe Baugher website to contain information that I have come to disagree on after doing research of my own.

Nick

[Larry deZeng]

Hi Kutscha -

As you can see below, Gölucke, a Luftwaffe document in T-321 roll 10, and the Caldwell/Muller book all have it at Hesepe. Why the conflict with the Michael Holm website? Because it may have been using both Hildesheim and Hesepe at that time. But its operational missions were clearly launched from Hesepe. The only source that advocates Hildesheim through at least 1 Jan 44 is Dierich in a book he wrote 50+ years ago.

II./ZG 26 (2nd Formation)

Formation. (Oct 43)
Formed 13 October 1943 at Hildesheim near Hannover (ex-III./ZG 1) with Me 410s. An Me 410 A-1 crash landing at Hesepe (25% with 2 injured) reported in the Loss Reports for 26 August 1943 suggests that an advance party of former III./ZG 1 pilots was already receiving conversion training from the Me 210 to the Me 410 and that the formation of II./ZG 26 was planned, although the official date of re-designation was not until 13 October.

Germany - Air Defense of the Reich
14 Oct 43: intercepted 8th AAF attack on ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt by some 230 4-engine bombers losing 2 Me 410s shot down by return fire in the target area and 3 aircrew KIA.
30 Oct 43: II. Gruppe based at Hesepe.
13 Nov 43: intercepted 8th AAF attack on the port of Bremen with 115 bombers and 47 P-38 fighter escorts losing 4 Me 410 A-1s shot down and another damaged in the Diepholz-Lohne area/SSW of Bremen plus 3 aircrew KIA and 5 WIA.
6 Dec 43: II. Gruppe still based at Hesepe.
20 Dec 43: intercepted another attack on Bremen by 8th AAF, this time with 470+ bombers and an escort force of some 80 P-51s and P-38s - II. Gruppe lost 1 Me 410 A-1 shot down and a Bf 110 G-2 damaged (80%) with 2 aircrew KIA.
31 Dec 43: II./ZG 26 based at Hesepe.
Jan 44: II. Gruppe based at Hildesheim.
11 Jan 44: intercepted 8th AAF attack on aircraft factories in Central Germany claiming 3 B-17 Fortresses while losing 2 Me 410 A-1s.
“
“
“
…………………………..etc.

Footnotes
Dierich – Verbände der Luftwaffe; Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs).
BA-MA Loss Reports; Carter/Mueller – Combat Chronology: USAAF in World War II.
Golücke, Friedhelm, Schweinfurt und der strategische Luftkrieg 1943 (Paderborn, 1980).
BA-MA Loss Reports; Carter/Mueller – op cit.
NARA WashDC: RG 242 Microcopy T-321 roll 10.
BA-MA Loss Reports; Carter/Mueller – op cit.
Caldwell/Muller – The Luftwaffe Over Germany: Defense of the Reich (London: Greenhill, 2007), p.317.
Dierich – op cit.
Prien/Rodeike - Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945, p.677.

L.

[Kutscha]

Thank you for the clarification Larry.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

TOM,

Please do post your e-mail here, so I can contact you.
Thanks
Adriano