Me-321 units in the Baltics, 1941

[Arvo L. V.]

Esteemed forum members;

As can be imagined, after 22 June 1941, German military forces quickly advanced into the Baltic States and many of these forward-based combat units all too often outran their regular supply depots. This was true for German ground forces as it was for the Luftwaffe.

Specifically, I am trying to track down some additional data re the Luftwaffe's use of Me-321 gliders, which were used as mobile supply stations for German fighter units of JG-45 (or others if known). For example, one known use of an Me-231, Kennzeichen W1+SS, as a mobile gas-station and supply depot was on Estonia's Saaremaa (Oesel) Island in August/September of 1941 by I./JG-54. I am encountering some challenges in obtaining more data on this Luftwaffe capability.

Thank you in advance for any assistance efforts, which may be rendered.

Regards;

Arvo L. V.

[Robert Hurst]

Hi Arvo

The specific Sonderstaffeln (Grossraumlastensegler) that you are looking for is Staffel (GS) 1., each staffel comprised five Me 321 gliders and fifteen Bf 110C tow-planes.

The history of this unit is as follows; the Me321s were towed to Merseburg, from there to Schroda, near Posen, and from here Staffel (GS) 1 was sent to Riga.

The Gigant gliders of Staffel (GS) 1 at Riga, participated in the seizure of the Baltic islands of Muhu, Saaremaa, and Hiiumaa, west of Estonia in the Gulf of Riga. On September 14, 1941, Me 321s landed an assault troop company on Saaremaa in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the coastal fort at Kubassaare.

Subsequently, operating from the Estonian mainland, the Me321s suported a staffel Bf 109 fighters of JG 54 deployed at the Monnuste airfield on Saaremaa, also supplying ground forces engaged in the operation with ammunition, fuel and rations.

The above was taken from 'The Warplanes of the Third Reich', by William Green.

I hope that this is of some use to you.

Regards

Bob

[Arvo L. V.]

Esteemed Robert;

Thank you for your response, every piece of information helps. I am familiar with the materials cited in William Green's book as well as the Dabrowski publication on the Me-321/323's. One of my goals is to see if I can learn a bit more about the individual a/c, their Kennzeichen numbers, their tow-aircraft and their Kennzeichen numbers, how long they remained in the region, which specific a/c participated in those operations, successes/failures, etc. There are two books written by Schlaug on the German Lastenseglers (copies are located at the Library of Congress (LOC) in Washington, D.C.); these books, I understand, are quite authoritative on all matters dealing with German military gliders and glider operations during the war.

Again, many thanks.

Regards;

Arvo

[Jason Pipes]

Arvo, you may be interested to know that I came across two resources that may be of some help. Not sure, but you never know.

The first is a copy of a chapter of a book I was sent sometime ago on the attack on the Baltic Islands. The chapter happens to be called "Die Luftlandung auf der Insel Osel am 14.9.1941 and includes discussion of the airlanding of troops and materials by GS 1 - according to the article and the map included, 4 Me321 gliders landed on Osel as a part of GS 1. Sadly, it's not clear to me what book these copies are from, and worse still, the last page of the copies includes a subheading entitled "Me 321-Staffeln im Herbst 1941 an der Ostfront" - I'm not sure if it continued onto the following pages but was simply not included in the copies or not. Either way, if this sounds useful I can send a copy to you.

Secondly, I checked the book "Luftwaffe Codes, Markings and Units 1939-1945" by Barry Rosch and he lists the Me 321s of the Grossraumlastenseglergruppe as possibly using W2 as their Luftwaffe unit code. According to Rosch:

"The construction series for the Me 321 used the operational codes W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, and W8 which was very unusual. It was possible that each code in the construction series served as a staffel. However, later four staffeln of Me 321 were established (GS 1, GS 2, GS 4, and GS 22) and these collectively could have been designated the Grossraumlastenseglergruppe."

GS 1 used field post number 24803 and was commanded by Olt Melzer, 6.41 - 1.42, if that's of any help to you.