Hello, I also posted this to the "Minor Axis" section under Hungary, but thought it might get a better chance of being answered here, since it really pertains to the Luftwaffe.
Hello all. I found in Google Books online in James Mrazek, "Airborne Combat: The Glider War" a tantalizing reference to a major resupply effort by glider into besieged Budapest (well, by that time just Buda, Pest had fallen by January 18). It says:
"One of the most spectacular, and at the same time, tragic missions took place on 9 February. Ju52s, Do17s, and He111s towed 48 gliders toward Budapest. Before they could get to their release point, 12 gliders had been shot down or had aborted because their tow planes had crashed. Thirty-six gliders managed to reach the field and land successfully. However, by this time, Russian guns had the range of the tow craft and downed all..."
And at that point, frustratingly, it goes to the next page and I get one of those "pg. 262 is not part of the preview of this book" messages. So before I rush out and seek the book in question, I'm wondering why I can find no other reference online to this large-scale glider resupply mission. Also, other sources say the last successful resupply to Budapest by air came on February 8, and amounted to only four tons air-dropped by parachute. That's a far cry from 36 fully-laden gliders reaching the landing point, supposedly Feb 9. Other sources also say that the last gliders reached Buda on February 5: and in this case, six of seven gliders managed to get down without a catastrophic crash (most of the gliders were disabled, but their cargo was recoverable). Also, that day gliders and parachuted supplies reached a high point, delivering 97 tons of ammo, 10 tons of fuel, 28 tons of food, and four tons of motor oil and spare parts-- one of the most successful supply days of the siege. So if 36 gliders got down in Buda that figure should have been far exceeded, nevermind that the dates don't match if Feb 8 was the last successful resupply flights.
Finally, I have to wonder where 36 gliders could have put down in Buda at that time. The last-ditch landing field for gliders was Vermezo meadow, a flat green space about 800 meters long fronting a row of apartment buildings, in no way (I would think) capable of accommodating 36 gliders coming in close together. Usually landings (also sometimes of small planes) at Vermezo were carried out at night, due to Soviet fire, and rarely involved more than four to seven gliders at a time. I know of no other operational landing areas in the shrinking Buda perimeter as late as Feb 9 (the Axis forces would attempt a breakout on Feb 11, so the game in "Fortress Budapest" was about up by that time).
So can anyone fill in the blanks from Google Books and tell me if they ever heard of this fairly large-scale resupply mission that Mrazek cites? It would seem to be a considerable effort for the Luftwaffe at that stage of the war. Or is it possible that the mission did not go to Budapest, but to Axis troops in the vicinity outside the city? It would be strange for Mrazek to have just invented the whole thing, so I doubt that's the case...
Or do I have to find and buy that damn book just to read the omitted sentence or two?
Regards and thanks for any help.
Mike Yaklich
Glider resupply to Buda on February 9, 1945?
Re: Glider resupply to Buda on February 9, 1945?
Also see:
Schlaug, Georg. Die deutschen Lastensegler-Verbände 1937-1945: Eine Chronik aus Berichten, Tagebüchern, Dokumenten. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, 1985. ISBN: 3-613-01065-8. Hb. Dj. 296p. Illus. Maps. Appendices. Glossary of abbreviations. Bibliography.
Especially: "Deutsche Lastensegler in der letzten Kriegsphase - Budapest 1945, s. 216-23."
Schlaug, Georg. Die deutschen Lastensegler-Verbände 1937-1945: Eine Chronik aus Berichten, Tagebüchern, Dokumenten. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, 1985. ISBN: 3-613-01065-8. Hb. Dj. 296p. Illus. Maps. Appendices. Glossary of abbreviations. Bibliography.
Especially: "Deutsche Lastensegler in der letzten Kriegsphase - Budapest 1945, s. 216-23."
Re: Glider resupply to Buda on February 9, 1945?
Thanks, Larry. Alas, I don't really read German very well. I have since found further information through another forum (citing USAF historical studies no 167, German Air Force Airlift Operations, by Generalmajor Fritz Morzik) which suggests that the source I originally quoted, James Mrazek: Airborne Operations, The Glider War... may have somehow mistaken a cumulative count of gliders dispatched and those reaching Buda with a single large-scale mission. I find it hard to believe a mission that scale isn't easily researchable online, and the fact that I can find zero mention of it outside of Mrazek's book makes me very suspicious. I also managed to get the rest of the cut-off part I was looking for, and got the entire passage of the quote I had from Mrazek, also courtesy of another online forum in which I participate, several members there possessing that book. Plus, I've seen pictures of Vermezo meadow in early 1945-- complete with three grounded DFS-230 gliders in the foreground, looking rather the worse for wear-- and there's just no way 36 gliders could have tried landing there in the same mission, the park is about a city block wide and maybe 800 meters long. The only other landing ground mentioned was the drill field on Castle Hill, and that was abandoned as too small after one try (couldn't even get a Fieseler Storch down there, apparently).
Anyway, a flight with 48 supply gliders seems like it would have been a big deal for the Luftwaffe in early February 1945 (although I know that during the second half of the war they did undertake resupply of cut-off units by air drops on the eastern front, so maybe the scale wasn't unusual), the fact that I find no other reference to this mission raises red flags. I've only seen a short summary and a few quotes from the Morzik/USAF book (pending a file with the entire relevent 8 pgs being supplied to me via e-mail in the next few days) and it says: "During the operational period a total of thirty-six freight gliders, DFS-230's -- landed supplies inside the target area. Because of the technological difficulties involved, no attempt was made to tow them out again." The 'operational period' being from January 9 until the end of the siege, presumably. Apparently Morzik also says that 12 gliders were lost on their way in, for a total of 48 lost or abandoned during operations. Those numbers being exactly what Mrazek (too bad those two author names are so similar, this e-mail could get confusing!) has for one mission, presumably February 9-- 48 total, 12 lost on the way in, 36 succeed in landing-- that I doubt it's coincidence... But I do suspect Mrazek of misinterpreting the numbers... (also since other sources indicate the last successful glider mission being Feb 8, so Feb 9 would thus presumably constitute the end of the "operational period" in Morzik, rather than the date of a single major mission as in Mrazek...)
Of course, I'll hopefully know more once I have a copied pdf of the entire eight pages from the Morzik/USAF book. That said, if you'd feel inclined to summarize what's in the text you recommended regarding resupply of Buda in February, I certainly wouldn't mind!
Regards and thanks
Mike Yaklich
Anyway, a flight with 48 supply gliders seems like it would have been a big deal for the Luftwaffe in early February 1945 (although I know that during the second half of the war they did undertake resupply of cut-off units by air drops on the eastern front, so maybe the scale wasn't unusual), the fact that I find no other reference to this mission raises red flags. I've only seen a short summary and a few quotes from the Morzik/USAF book (pending a file with the entire relevent 8 pgs being supplied to me via e-mail in the next few days) and it says: "During the operational period a total of thirty-six freight gliders, DFS-230's -- landed supplies inside the target area. Because of the technological difficulties involved, no attempt was made to tow them out again." The 'operational period' being from January 9 until the end of the siege, presumably. Apparently Morzik also says that 12 gliders were lost on their way in, for a total of 48 lost or abandoned during operations. Those numbers being exactly what Mrazek (too bad those two author names are so similar, this e-mail could get confusing!) has for one mission, presumably February 9-- 48 total, 12 lost on the way in, 36 succeed in landing-- that I doubt it's coincidence... But I do suspect Mrazek of misinterpreting the numbers... (also since other sources indicate the last successful glider mission being Feb 8, so Feb 9 would thus presumably constitute the end of the "operational period" in Morzik, rather than the date of a single major mission as in Mrazek...)
Of course, I'll hopefully know more once I have a copied pdf of the entire eight pages from the Morzik/USAF book. That said, if you'd feel inclined to summarize what's in the text you recommended regarding resupply of Buda in February, I certainly wouldn't mind!
Regards and thanks
Mike Yaklich
Re: Glider resupply to Buda on February 9, 1945?
M.Y. -
The Schlaug book gives the same figures and dates as Morzik, both taken from the official Wehrmacht after-action report on the re-supply operation. In addition, Schlaug provides statements and correspondence from numerous veteran glider pilots who flew these mission into Buda, e.g., Hptm. Herzog, Hptm. Klaus-Dieter Reich, Ofhr. Mütter, Hptm. Faè, Uffz. Jäger, Fw. Filius, Ogfr. Schiermeier, Albert Schlüpmann - all from Staffel z.b.V. Reich and Schleppgruppe 1, these being the two glider units that flew the missions. He also gives the names of the 49 pilots from these units who were listed as MIA in the Budapest re-supply mission between 17 January and 11 February 1945.
The glider air supply missions flowing into Breslau during March and April 1945 were considerably larger and more encompassing than the Budapest operation.
L.
The Schlaug book gives the same figures and dates as Morzik, both taken from the official Wehrmacht after-action report on the re-supply operation. In addition, Schlaug provides statements and correspondence from numerous veteran glider pilots who flew these mission into Buda, e.g., Hptm. Herzog, Hptm. Klaus-Dieter Reich, Ofhr. Mütter, Hptm. Faè, Uffz. Jäger, Fw. Filius, Ogfr. Schiermeier, Albert Schlüpmann - all from Staffel z.b.V. Reich and Schleppgruppe 1, these being the two glider units that flew the missions. He also gives the names of the 49 pilots from these units who were listed as MIA in the Budapest re-supply mission between 17 January and 11 February 1945.
The glider air supply missions flowing into Breslau during March and April 1945 were considerably larger and more encompassing than the Budapest operation.
L.