Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

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tigre
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Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#1

Post by tigre » 06 Aug 2013, 18:38

Hello to all :D; a short new story, about a really dark and elusive unit ............

Aufkl.Gr. 156. A dark unit.

As early as January 1940, the XIX. AK (Mot) asked the Luftwaffe the support of airborne troops in order to secure the marching routes behind enemy lines, but these troops are already committed to operate in the Netherlands and northern Belgium, therefore liaison officer from the Luftwaffe proposed to the CoS of XIX. AK (Mot), Oberst Walther Nehring, the "poor man's solution" by using about 100 liaison aircraft Fi-156 "Storch". This solution was accepted and it was decided to use the elite troops of the IR GD.

By the XIX. AK (Mot) was appointed Oberstleutnant Eugen Garski with his III. / IR GD and by the Luftflotte III (General Sperrle) was appointed Maj. Otto Lutz Förster as Liaison Officer with the XIX. AK (Mot) and in charge of the aerial part of the operation.

For this was organized an ad hoc Storchgruppe called Aufkl. Gr 156 (I guess a cover name); it was disbanded after the action and almost there is no records about it.

It has written something about Unternehmen NIWI from the point of view of the ground operations but nothing about this strange aerial group: where its aircrafts came from, its pilots, its leaders and especially if they received medals.

Fuente: Der Zweite Weltkrieg. J. Piekalkiewicz
Cut of the Scythe. Florian K. Rothbrust.

Saludos. Raúl M 8-).
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image008.jpg
Fi-156 belonging to Gruppe Förster in Crailsheim..................
image008.jpg (28.13 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

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Prosper Vandenbroucke
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Re: Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#2

Post by Prosper Vandenbroucke » 06 Aug 2013, 20:05

Hello Raul,
I found also this:

In the book:Fliegerhorst Crailsheim, we can read, that there were young pilots which had to do the job with the"Elitedivision Grossdeutschland" until the Fi 156 came. Then they trained to fly the Storch. There was built the "Fi 156 Storchgeschwader" whitch did the operation NIWI. After op. NIWI the Storchgeschwader was disbanded.

and

there are 22 losses for Fi 156 C from Aufklärungsgruppe 156 reported to GQM for 10th May 1940.
8 were lost due to artillery-fire at Foetz (??) and Nives and most of the rest due to crash-landings at Nives.
Fw Albert Faulhaber was taken POW at Gemündel (??) after being shot at by AA. There are two additional names: Uffz Richard Will taken POW at Fauvillers and Uffz Leonhard Brodka (or Boidka) WIA at Fauvillers. Faulhaber and Will returned from POW.
There is also a report filed 14.05.1940 at Genst. Gen. Qu. 6. Abteilung (IA) on losses of flying units from 5th to 11th of May 1940. Acording to this document Aufkl.Gr. 156 lost 22 Fi 156 and two pilots dead and one wounded.
So the number of losses for a/c seems to be quite clear, but there is still some confusion regarding the crews.
Aufkl.Gr. 156 does not appear on Luftwaffe files on readiness of flying units. These reports were usualy very detailed and thorough. Perhaps the Gruppe was established "auf dem Kommandowege" for a single mission only and disappeared almost "at once" again.


Both informations me from here.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archive/i ... 21801.html

Sorry for my poor english and kindly regards
Prosper :wink:


Orwell1984
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Re: Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#3

Post by Orwell1984 » 08 Aug 2013, 17:31

Cut of the Scythe by Rothbrust is available as a free PDF download here:
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADB125547

Site can take a while to respond so patience is necessary.

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tigre
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Re: Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#4

Post by tigre » 08 Aug 2013, 18:38

Hello to all :D; Prosper and Orwell1984 thank you very much for your help :wink:. Cheers. Raúl M 8-).

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tigre
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Re: Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#5

Post by tigre » 09 Aug 2013, 15:39

Hello to all :D; a little more............

Aufkl.Gr. 156. A dark unit.

The airborne assault detachment was divided into two assault groups and would fly in three waves:

Northern Group of Hauptmann Krüger (a reinforced infantry company - 11./ IR GD) would be transported in 42 Fi-156 and would land in Nives, departing from Bitburg.

South Group of Oberstleutnant Garski (HQ of III./IR GD and a reinforced infantry company - 10./ IR GD) would be transported in 56 Fi-156 and would land in Witry, departing from Deckendorf.

The objectives of Operation NIWI were: 1. Disruption of communication lines between Neufchateau - Bastogne and Neufchateau - Martelange. 2. Prevent that Belgian troops can occupy defensive positions in Neufchateau and 3. Attack the fortified position in Bodange from the west.

On Friday May 10, 1940 at 04:20 hours the first wave took off with 196 soldiers; at 05:35 hours flew over the Luxembourg border and across the Belgian border, against expectations there was not AA fire. Half hour after the flight landed at around Traimont with just five Fi-156 of the southern group; all others had followed the northern group deviated from its original path and landed in Leglise.

Fuente: Der Zweite Weltkrieg. J. Piekalkiewicz
Cut of the Scythe. Florian K. Rothbrust.

Saludos. Raúl M 8-).
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image010.jpg
Around Witry - May 10, 1940..........................
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tigre
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Re: Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#6

Post by tigre » 12 Aug 2013, 14:03

Hello to all :D; a little more............

Aufkl.Gr. 156. A dark unit.

Hans Jüngel was there: "This was a dangerous undertaking, flew at low altitude in the valley and a shot went through the steel helmet. At right and left we see the flak, which is fired at us. Behind enemy lines have unloaded the two or three pioneers and flew back quickly to carry the next wave. All this took a couple of hours. (Surely it was the North group that was diverted south because Flak fire and dragged most of the South group) .............

Paul Barthelmeß reported: .. "Everything went very well, and almost all planes arrived undamaged. Only one was so full of holes you could hardly believe that the soldiers were unharmed. When all landed, we flew back to Crailsheim. Upon the successful support of opeation "NIWI" the unit returned to the aerodrome of Crailsheim. As a welcome for the crews was a large sign reading "Welcome to stork's Nest." Altogether 16 Fi-156 were lost in the operation; other sources told 22.

Source: Der Zweite Weltkrieg. J. Piekalkiewicz
Cut of the Scythe. Florian K. Rothbrust.
http://www.schatzsucher.de/Foren/archiv ... 24578.html

Cheers. Raúl M 8-).
Attachments
image008.jpg
Two Fi-156 of the Aufkl. Gr 156 flying back to Crailsheim ..................
image008.jpg (24.63 KiB) Viewed 1392 times

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tigre
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Re: Aufkl. Gr 156 - May 1940.

#7

Post by tigre » 14 Aug 2013, 14:55

Hello to all :D; last part............

Aufkl.Gr. 156. A dark unit.

At 08:00 hours the second wave finally reinforced Oberstleutnant Garski and by 08:05 hours the second wave of the northern group ( Leutnant Obermeier and Leutnant Blankenburg) landed at Nives.

At 10:00 hours took places the first battles with French and Belgian elements. In Léglise Group Krüger was attacked by the 10. Company (motorcycle) of 1. ChA from the North (2 Platoons) and from the south (1 Platoon). At 10:30 hours the Germans retreated to Witry, while the Belgians dug in Léglise.

Group Garski was attacked by Lieutenant Schweicher's Patrol (2 T-13 and a dozen of hunters) of the II. / 1. ChA from the direction of Fauvillers, the Belgians were repulsed and retreated slowly toward Fauvillers.

Group Obermeier was attacked by the 10. Company (motorcycle) and 4 T-13 of the 2. ChA from the north and Lieutenant Simonet's Patrol, of the 2. Company 1. ChA from the east. The Simonet's patrol was blocked by fire of automatic weapons but the Germans left Cobreville and withdrew, establishing two strongpoints, one due north of Nives and one in Petit-Rosieres. But between 14:30 and 15:00 hours the Belgians were ordered to retreat and abandoned the fight.

The Group Krüger and the Group Garski finally joined forces and around 17:30 hours established liaison with the spearhead of the 1. Pz in Fauvillers. Group Obermeier had to reject several attacks of the French 5. DLC until it joins the 2. Pz next day.

Source: Der Zweite Weltkrieg. J. Piekalkiewicz
Cut of the Scythe. Florian K. Rothbrust.
http://www.schatzsucher.de/Foren/archiv ... 24578.html

It's all folks. Cheers. Raúl M 8-).
 
 
Attachments
image018.jpg
Fi-156 damaged around Petit-Rosieres (2nd wave North Group) ....................
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/9945-some-photographs-crashed-aircraft-etc/
image018.jpg (40.8 KiB) Viewed 1378 times
image020.jpg
Another view of the Fi-156 No. 16 .............................
image020.jpg (39.35 KiB) Viewed 1378 times
image023.jpg
One of the soldiers killed in action ....................
http://wo2forum.nl/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=29409
image023.jpg (50.22 KiB) Viewed 1378 times

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