My missions in Stalingrad.

[tigre]

Hello to all ; review of the flight operations of a 24-year-old gefreite.............

My missions in Stalingrad. Report on the combat missions of the (at that time) 24-year-old Gefreite, in the Stalingrad area and the supply flights to the Stalingrad pocket - Mr. Deimel belonged to the Bomber Wing (KG) 55.

My missions in Stalingrad.

After my training from December 1939 to March 1940 at the large bomber pilot school (Kampffliegerschule) 4 in Thorn/West Prussia and in the supplementary combat group (Ergänzungskampfgruppe) 3 in Krakow as a gunner and then as a flight mechanic, I was on Kampfgeschwader 55, "Greifengeschwader" from April 1, 1940 to September 30, 1944. My first crew:

Flugzeugführer (pilot) Leutnant Müller
Beobachter (observer) Oberfw Rüggebrecht
Funker (radio) Feldwebel ??
Bordmechaniker (mechanic) Gefreiter Deimel (author)
Bordschütze (gunner) Gefreiter Bauer

I flew 20 missions against France and 9 against England. This crew was fatally shot down by English fighters during operations against England in the spring of 1941, causing them to fall into the English Channel. Since I was hospitalized at the time in the air force hospital in Munich/Oberföhring due to suppuration of the middle ear, I was replaced by Feldwebel Simon, who therefore died in my place.

After my recovery, I returned to Kampfgeschwader 55 on October 1, 1941 for my deployment to Russia. Here I joined III. Gruppe, 7. Staffel and met up with a new crew. My second crew was made up of:

Pilot Oberfw Dietrich
Observer Fw Zantke
Radio operator Uffz Biermann
Flight Mechanic Uffz Deimel
Gunner Uffz Kummer

With this I began my operations in Russia on October 7, 1941 from the Kirovograd airfield, being my 30th operational flight. Due to my numerous front-line missions (there were 387 flights against the enemy), it is no longer possible for me to comment on each of them.

Sources: http://feldpost.mzv.net/body_zeitzeuge1 ... 1___1.html
http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/3557_01.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.............

My missions in Stalingrad. Battle for Stalingrad.

Finally, after the Caucasus and other missions in the Stalingrad area on my 139th operational flight. On August 21, 1942, we carried out two attacks at 6:30 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. from the Kramatorskaya airfield in the area west of Stalingrad, attacking Russian troops. After several daily missions, on August 23, 1942 we moved to the Morozovskaya airfield.

August 21, 1943: Kramatorskaya. 411. Deployment
Mission: Attack on the village of Karpowka and the road junction 3 km north of it.
Number of machines: 28 He-111H-6 Takeoff: 6:25-6:33 a.m. Landing: 9:35-10:30 a.m. Attack time: 8:10-8:30 a.m. Attack altitude: 3-4000 m.
Success: 22 aircraft attacked Karpowka. The bombs fell in the area with good results. To the south of the train station, two large train station sheds are burning. Great destruction is expected in the area. Six aircraft scored seven direct bomb hits at a road junction 3 km north of Karpovka. More bombs in field positions at the road intersection to the northeast. 3 houses destroyed at the crossroads. Between the Donets and the Don, cloudiness at 500-300 m. Clear in the target area. Visibility 15 kilometers. Reconnaissance: 15 km north of Kalatsch, crossing of own troops on the Don.

On August 24, 1942, the concentrated bombing of Stalingrad began. We (my crew) flew from Morosovskaya airfield at 6:30, 11:30 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. on 3 missions in a high-level attack on Stalingrad, including the railway station.

August 24, 1942 - Morozovskaya. 420. Deployment
Mission: Attack on Stalingrad, objective no. 40175
Number of machines: 12 He-111H-6 Takeoff: 6:40 a.m. Landing: 9:20-10:00 a.m. Attack time: 9:00-9:15 a.m. Attack altitude: 6100-6200 m.
Success: 11 aircraft attacked the ordered target area and target number 6564. Most of the attacks occurred on the train station and nearby houses and streets. Between 4 and 5 new fires were started. At target number 6,564 oil containers exploded. 1 plane broke down due to engine failure and landed on Kramatorskaya with bombs.

August 24, 1942 - Morozovskaya. 421. Deployment
Mission: Attack on Stalingrad, objective zone II
Number of machines: 19 He-111H-6 Takeoff: 10:50-11:15 a.m. Landing: 1:30-1:45 p.m. Attack time: 12:45-1:10 p.m. Attack altitude: 6300-6700 m.
Success: 17 aircraft attack the ordered target area. Bomb hits the train station and surrounding neighborhoods. The effect was not observed up close, as the station could only be seen from the front diagonally, under the cloud cover. 2 planes due to technical reasons, malfunction or engine failure... have aborted and landed on Kramatorskaya with bombs. Reconnaissance: large concentrations of vehicles around the city and at the train station. Very intense traffic in the valley on the dividing line between objective zones I and II.

August 24, 1942 - Morozovskaya. 422. Deployment
Mission: Attack on Stalingrad, objective zone II
Number of machines: 20 He-111H-6 Takeoff: 3:15-3:30 p.m. Landing: 6:04-7:05 p.m. Attack time: 4:35-5:05 p.m. Attack altitude: 4200-5500 m.
Success: 14 aircraft attacked the ordered target area. Bomb hit train station at target 40175A. Good impact zone. Numerous major fires were observed, including in the northern part of Stalingrad.
Three planes dropped over the northern part of the city due to a storm. Three planes dropped over Beketowka due to a storm. Several fires there. Reconnaissance: heavy ferry traffic on the Volga from east to west. points E474 to S750.

Sources: http://feldpost.mzv.net/body_zeitzeuge1 ... 1___1.html
http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/3557_01.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.............

My missions in Stalingrad. Battle for Stalingrad.

As usual, we had to face strong anti-aircraft defenses. So my crew (Dietrich) and I flew missions in the Stalingrad area, including the city area, almost daily from Kramatorskaya, Morosovskaya and Tasinskaya airfields until October 3, 1942.

From August 21, 1942 to October 3, 1942 (6 weeks) there were 58 flights against the enemy, during which we were in the air from 2 to 4 1/2 hours per mission. Our mission was to drop bombs on the target areas. There were many ravines in the Calmuk steppe. We had to repeatedly attack a particularly large one, we called it "Gratschital" northwest of Stalingrad, both to combat the troops and to fight them.

The Russians were firmly entrenched in the Gratschital (Gratsch Valley). To support our ground troops, we were often deployed to fight Russian troops; Generally operations during the day. With our operations we attack targets in the urban area, train stations, industrial facilities and airfields east of the Volga, both day and night. We were repeatedly fired upon by anti-aircraft guns and fighter pilots, and our plane was hit several times. Fortunately, no crew members were injured during these operations.

I would also like to mention the last flight to the enemy with my second crew (Dietrich); It was my flight against enemy number 196:

From the Kramatorskaya airfield we took off with our He-111 aircraft, registration No. G1+BD, on October 2, 1942 at 8:45 p.m. Around eleven o'clock at night our night attack on the airfields east of Stalingrad, across the Volga, took place. With searchlights trained on us, we received fire from anti-aircraft guns; but we were not hit. Due to the failure of our “short” and “long” FT system radio receiver, we were unable to determine the location. But our ground station heard us because both of our transmitters were still working. As we later learned, we flew close to our operational airfield. We flew at night without any guidance. Among other things, we decided to fly south to reach the Sea of ​​Azov, because at night you can distinguish between water and land and then orient yourself along the coast. Since we didn't know where we were, we were also worried about entering Russian-occupied territory. So the observer, Leutnant Winkler, shouted several times to the pilot, Ofw Dietrich: Willi fly west, otherwise we will reach the Iwan. At that time, Russians were generally feared.

After coming and going, we continued south because fuel was becoming increasingly scarce and we could still orient ourselves on the coast. Around 4:30 a.m. we reached the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. As we moved into the still very gloomy dawn, we were no longer able to fly to the nearest airports of Nikolayev and Mariupol due to lack of fuel. So we had to make an emergency landing immediately due to lack of fuel; We made a belly landing in a field 15 km northeast of Berdiansk. During the landing, as planned, at a speed of 150 km/h on the ground we entered a low country road that was not visible from above, which would have caused our death if the plane capsized and would have had more consequences. We then walked in stages back to our operational airfield, where we arrived after a few days.

Sources: http://feldpost.mzv.net/body_zeitzeuge1 ... 1___1.html
http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/3557_01.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.............

My missions in Stalingrad. Battle for Stalingrad.

In October 1942, Ofw Dietrich was transferred to the IV. Group of KG 55 (Replacement Group) as a flight instructor and so my 2nd crew was disbanded, the other members of us were transferred to other crews to replace those lost. At first without a crew and after a leave I returned to my squadron in Russia in December 1942. Our group operated from the airfield at Nowotscherkask, as a replacement in the crew of Uffz. Püschel I flew on January 8, 1943 to carry out a low-level attack against enemy troops south of the Don east of Nowotscherkask.

I then joined the crew of Uffz. Adrian, this was my 3rd crew. Since November 22, 1942 our troops were surrounded in Stalingrad and we then flew on supply missions; We dropped supply bombs and bread bags and landed in the pocket to evacuate wounded or rescue downed crews.

On January 12, 1943, I flew my first mission with my 3rd crew, this was my 198th flight to the enemy. With the He-111 code G1+DS we took off at 7:45 a.m. from Nowotscherkask and landed at 9:55 a.m. at Pitomnik airfield within the Stalingrad encirclement. There we found masses of wounded soldiers, as well as old comrades from the Todt Organization; they had been left in the pocket while working on a supply route between Kalatsch and Stalingrad. We also transported an Obergefreite from an army unit who was bringing some spare parts for a piece of equipment from his unit from Germany. After unloading the supplies we also left 20 sacks of bread there.

When landing in the encirclement, our aircraft was hit by numerous anti-aircraft shell splinters, but was still airworthy. However, as it was not a transport aircraft but a bomber, we were only able to carry 8 wounded soldiers and a war correspondent. At 10:50 a.m. we took off from Pitomnik and landed at 12:10 p.m. in Nowotscherkask.

After Pitomnik was captured by the Soviets on January 15, 1943, the Gumrak airfield was available to us, but due to the numerous obstacles present, landing there was associated with great danger. The operational flight units were subordinated to the Führer's special representative, General Milch, and were ordered to land there no matter what. Due to the ongoing losses, the crews of III./ KG 55 dropped from 27 to 12.

Sources: http://feldpost.mzv.net/body_zeitzeuge1 ... 1___1.html
http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/3557_01.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.............

My missions in Stalingrad. Battle for Stalingrad.

For the mission of January 18, 1943, following the order "Landing at Gumrak", of the twelve existing crews, only three were ready to fly. The others either had damaged aircraft or were sick, so the following three crews were enlisted for the operation:

1. Flugzeugführer (pilot) Leutnant Leipold Georg
Beobachter (observer) Oberfw Lochner Johann
Funker (radio) Unteroffizier Jakob Fritz
Bordmechaniker (mechanic) Unteroffizier Potrenik Robert
Bordschütze (gunner) Unteroffizier Schindelarsch Ernst

2. Flugzeugführer (pilot) Unteroffizier Adrian Peter
Beobachter (observer) Obergefr König Willi
Funker (radio) Obergefr Schubert Werner
Bordmechaniker (mechanic) Unteroffizier Deiml Michael
Bordschütze (gunner) Unteroffizier Deiters Werner

3. Flugzeugführer (pilot) Obergefr Danz Heinz
Beobachter (observer) Unteroffizier Rinne Heinz
Funker (radio) Unteroffizier Schäfer Eugen
Bordmechaniker (mechanic) Unteroffizier Malzburg Ewald
Bordschütze (gunner) Gefr Schnöter Heinz

The three crews travelled from the accommodation to the airfield in a small truck. It was freezing cold, minus 20° C, with temperatures as high as minus 40° C. During the journey, Ofw Lochner told us that he had a bad feeling about this operation. While at the airfield the ground crew had warmed up the engines of our aircraft with hot air heaters. After waiting with the engines idling, the aircraft were ready and after boarding the aircraft we headed to the runway head.

Sources: http://feldpost.mzv.net/body_zeitzeuge1 ... 1___1.html
http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/3557_01.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.............

My missions in Stalingrad. Battle for Stalingrad.

With our He-111 code G1+AR we took off on January 18, 1943 at 8:45 p.m. from the Nowotscherkask airfield and returned after the operation at 11:35 p.m. Around 10:00 p.m. we reached the Gumrak airfield ready to land, but we were unable to do so because we encountered obstacles across the runway. We repeated this process 8 to 10 times, always having to extend and retract the landing gear. But as the obstacles were not removed; there was a stopped aircraft (supposedly damaged) at the third light of the runway and it did not move. Despite the orders, we were unable to land.

We then dropped our bombs with supplies there and then opened the access hatch in the lower part of the fuselage and threw the 20 bags of bread we had brought to our comrades, who were standing on the ground below in the middle of the icy stream. The Russian fighters flying nearby did not represent any danger to us. The Danz crew did exactly as we did. The Leipold crew did not return from this mission and was declared missing ever since. It will never be known whether they were shot down by the Russian planes or made an emergency landing somewhere.

The same obstacles were encountered on the next mission on January 20, 1943, again a night flight. We took off with the He-111 code G1+ZR at 1:30 a.m. from Nowotscherkask. We flew for about an hour and a half around the Gumrak airfield without being able to land. We again dropped our supply bombs and landed back at Nowotscherkask at 5:55 a.m. after flying for 4 and a half hours. Since we did not land in defiance of the orders given, we had to submit a written report, to which we never received a reply.

I would like to point out that during a daytime mission there, with an overview of the entire airfield, we would surely find a landing site. But we never operated at Gumrak during the day. I would also like to point out that of the three crews mentioned above, I was the only one who survived the war. The Leipold crew remains missing since January 19, 1943. The Danz crew was shot down and killed on August 10, 1943 and as for my crew, it was shot down by Soviet fighters on March 5, 1943 at Marefa, near Kharkov. Due to illness I was not on that flight and was replaced by Ofw Fritz Ramsberger, who died in my place.

Sources: http://feldpost.mzv.net/body_zeitzeuge1 ... 1___1.html
http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/3557_01.html

Cheers. Raúl M .