Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

Discussions on all (non-biographical) aspects of the Luftwaffe air units and general discussions on the Luftwaffe.
Post Reply
Glider42
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: 04 Apr 2019, 05:40
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#1

Post by Glider42 » 26 Jun 2019, 07:47

Hi all,

I am trying to find out what Luftwaffe units (if any) were stationed at the Dünaburg-Griva airfield in July 1941 (Dünaburg = Dvinsk = Dinaburg = Daugavpils in Latvia).

From ww2.dk, I can only find Staffel 2.(H)/Aufklärungsgruppe 13 in July (and Staffel 8.(H)/Aufklärungsgruppe 32 in June) based in Dünaburg. But these may have been based at the other two Dünaburg airfields (East and West), not necessarily Griva. Griva was apparently an emergency airfield.

I am also interested to know if there might have been some NSFK or school units based at Griva airfield at that time.

Thanks in advance for any information you may have,

Glider42

GregSingh
Member
Posts: 3877
Joined: 21 Jun 2012, 02:11
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#2

Post by GregSingh » 26 Jun 2019, 11:18

Perhaps you are after units at Notlandeplatz Dünaburg-Griwa ?


Larry D.
Member
Posts: 4103
Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 00:03
Location: Winter Springs, FL (USA)

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#3

Post by Larry D. » 26 Jun 2019, 14:46

Luftwaffe Units at Dünaburg; either at one of the airfields or garrisoned in or around Dünaburg:

Dünaburg VI (LAT) (a.k.a. Dünaburg-Griva, Daugavpils, Daugavpils-Grïva, Dvinsk) (ZNr. 10-1990) (c. 55 54 06 N – 26 26 23 E) (AFHRA)

Operational Units (specific airfield identified where known):
Gruppenfliegerstab 23 (Jun/Jul 41); 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 12 (Jun/Jul 41)?; 8.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 32 (Jun/Jul 41); 4.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 33 (Jun/Jul 41); Stab/JG 54 (Jun/Jul 41); II./JG 54 (Jun/Jul 41); III./JG 54 (Jun/Jul 41); Gruppenfliegerstab 13 (Jul 41); Nachtaufkl.St. 3 (Jul 41); Wekusta 1 Luftflotte 1 (D/Ost, Jul-Aug 41); II./KG 77 (D/West, Jul-Aug 41); III./KG 77 (D/West, Jul-Aug 41); part of 6./Luftlandegeschwader 1 (Jul-Sep 41); KGr. z.b.V. 106 (Aug 41); KGr. z.b.V. 8 (Mar-Apr 42); 1. Ostfliegerstaffel (D/West, Nov 43 – Mar 44); Stab/NAGr. 5 (Jul 44)?; Stab/JG 54 (Jul 44); I./JG 54 (Jul 44); Stab/SG 4 (Jul 44); I./SG 4 (Jul 44); II./SG 4 (Jul 44); III./SG 4 (Jul 44); Nachtschlachtgruppe 3 (Jul 44).

City and Station Garrison (specific airfield identified where known – not complete): forward command post Luftflottenkdo. 1 (D-Waldlager, Jul/Aug 41); Stab/3. Fliegerdivision (Jul 44); Koluft Panzergruppe 4 (Jul 41); Luftgaustab z.b.V. 10 (Jul 41 - ? ); Koflug 5/VI (D/West, Jul-Aug 41); Werft-Kp. 34 (Aug 41); Wintersondergerätetrupp 7 (D/West, Mar 44); I./Flak-Rgt. 51 (Jul 44); elements of gem.Flak-Abt. 127 (Jul 44)?; elements of gem.Flak-Abt. 219 (Jan 44); le.Flak-Abt. 753 (D/West, Jun/Jul 44); III.(Funkh.)/Ln.-Rgt. 1 (Jul 41); elements of Ln.-Rgt. 10 (Jul 41); elements of Ln.-RV-Betr.Personal-Kp. z.b.V. 4 (1942-44); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 2/VI (D/Ost, ? – Apr 42); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 8/VI (D/Ost, Jul 41); Lw.-Bau-Btl. 10/XVII (Apr 42 - ? ); Trsp.Kol. d.Lw. 144/III (D/West, Mar 44 - ? ); Sanitätsbereitschaft (mot) d.Lw. 7/VII (fall 41); Sanitätsbereitschaft (mot) d.Lw. 2/XIII (D/West, Dec 43 – 1944).

L.

Glider42
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: 04 Apr 2019, 05:40
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#4

Post by Glider42 » 27 Jun 2019, 08:17

Larry and Greg, thanks very much for your replies.

Larry: wow, there were a lot more units in Dünaburg in June-August 1941 than I had managed to find out. I am intrigued by 6./Luftlandegeschwader 1. What particular role might a glider unit have had there at the time? Troop transport? Paratroops drop? Reconnaissance flights? I ask because I am particularly interested in glider activity out of the Griva airfield.

Greg: Yes, Notlandeplatz Dünaburg-Griwa has got to be the same place. But I can't find any references to it. Do you have a source?

Cheers,

Glider42

Larry D.
Member
Posts: 4103
Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 00:03
Location: Winter Springs, FL (USA)

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#5

Post by Larry D. » 27 Jun 2019, 14:50

Well, 6./LLG 1 with 10 DFS 230 gliders from Halberstadt were assigned to Luftflotte 1 for the attack on Russia. By July 1941, about half of them were based at Dünaburg-Griva from where they were used to help move replacement engines and other vital aircraft components and parts from depots and supply points to forward airfields. Operating from D-Griva, 6./LLG 1 took part in the capture of Saaremaa Island (Ösel) off the coast of Estonia on 14 September 1941. The "Bible" on Luftwaffe glider operations in World War II is:

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.

L.

Glider42
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: 04 Apr 2019, 05:40
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#6

Post by Glider42 » 28 Jun 2019, 08:33

Thanks again, Larry. This information is gold to me. I will try to get my hands on the book you mention.

Glider42

Glider42
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: 04 Apr 2019, 05:40
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#7

Post by Glider42 » 08 Sep 2019, 08:20

Hi all. I am trying to reconcile the various pieces of information I have collected so far about wartime airfields at Dünaburg in July 1941. Not that simple because there are conflicting indications and locations.

As per Larry's post above, there definitely was a Dünaburg VI airfield located at coordinates 55 54 06 N – 26 26 23 E. This location matches this aerial recce photo from June 1941:

http://uploads.ru/AJTtu.jpg

There was also a Dünaburg II airfield, located at 55°52'23.51"N - 26°37'41.28"E. This matches this aerial photo:

http://uploads.ru/8dOMi.jpg

From online discussions of current Daugavpils inhabitants, it seems that Dünaburg VI was located at a place called Rendene, West of Dünaburg and South of the Daugava river (see http://dinaburg.ru/viewtopic.php?id=3079 in Russian). Dünaburg II was located at a place called Rugeli (Rudeli in German), located East of the city and North of the river.

Rendene is still used as an airfield, but Rugeli has disappeared.

Where the plot thickens is that I have read another post of Larry's (http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=39799) that mentions 3 Lw airfields in Dünaburg: Dünaburg-East; Dünaburg-West and Dünaburg-Griva.

Dünaburg-East is most likely Rugeli. I think we can discount the airfield at Lociki ( 55°56'30.00"N - 26°40'6.00"E), which was built after WWII.

Dünaburg-West is the same as Dünaburg VI (I think). To add to the confusion, this location is sometimes called Griva (see e.g. https://forgottenairfields.com/airfield-greeva-720.html and http://myairfields.com/?p=161).

But where was the Dünaburg-Griva emergency airfield? Larry's 12 o'clock post puts it at 55 51 N – 26 29 E, therefore much closer to the township of Griva. However, I can't find any reference to it online and see no trace of it on Google Earth.

If anybody (Larry?) has any further information on this conundrum, I'd be very grateful.

Glider42

Larry D.
Member
Posts: 4103
Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 00:03
Location: Winter Springs, FL (USA)

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#8

Post by Larry D. » 08 Sep 2019, 15:00

Glider42 -

Here is what I have so far.

23 Jun 41: bombed - Sov. docs ref. “57th SAD at Dvina (airports Dvinsk large, Dvinsk small and Liksna).” This suggests 3 airfields here: a large one (Dünaburg/West Randene), a small one (Dünaburg II Rugeli) and an aux. field at Liksna/15 km NW of Daugavpils (Dünaburg-Liksna). The Russians claim one of these was a.k.a. Dvinsk-Randene, just 1 or 2 km W of Griva. The Jun 41 Daugavpils aflds mentioned as being “Randene (bombers), Rugeli, Liksna Station (fighters).”

Dünaburg I (LAT): see Dünaburg/West.
Dünaburg/West (LAT) (a.k.a. Daugavpils/West, Dvinsk/West, Dvinsk-Randene, Dünaburg I?) (ZNr. 10-947) (c. 55 54 N – 26 26 E)
General: landing ground and later an operational airfield (E-Hafen) in SE Latvia 190 km SE of Riga and 3.6 km WSW of Daugavpils city center.
Dünaburg II (LAT) (a.k.a. Dünaburg/Ost, Daugavpils, Dvinsk-Rugeli) (ZNr. 10-949) (c. 55 52 21 N – 26 36 36 E)
General: operational airfield (E-Hafen) in SE Latvia 180 km SE of Riga, 4.65 km ESE of Daugavpils city center and paralleled the N bank of the Daugava River. Rated for fighters.
Dünaburg III (LAT) (a.k.a. Daugavpils, Dvinsk) (ZNr. 10-2065) (c. ?? )
General: landing ground (Landeplatz) in SE Latvia 180 km SE of Riga. No other information found re location. Measured 800 x 800 meters.
Dünaburg IV (LAT) (a.k.a. Daugavpils, Dvinsk) (ZNr. 10-2066) (c. ?? )
General: landing ground (Landeplatz) in SE Latvia 180 km SE of Riga. No other information found re location. Very small.
Dünaburg V (LAT) (a.k.a. Daugavpils, Dvinsk) (ZNr. 10-948) (c. ?? )
General: landing ground (Landeplatz) in SE Latvia 180 km SE of Riga. No other information found re location. Very small.
Dünaburg VI (LAT) (a.k.a. Dünaburg-Griva, Daugavpils, Daugavpils-Grïva, Dvinsk) (ZNr. 10-1990) (c. 55 54 06 N – 26 26 23 E)
General: civil airfield (Zivilflugplatz) in SE Latvia 187 km SE Riga and 6.75 km WNW of Daugavpils city center. By 1 July 1944, it was marked on German maps as now being a field airstrip (Feldflugplatz). Rated for fighters.
Dünaburg VII (LAT) (a.k.a. Daugavpils, Dvinsk) (ZNr. 10-2584) (c. 55 57 02 N – 26 40 33 E)
General: operational airfield (E-Hafen) in SE Latvia 194 km SE of Riga city center and 12 km NE of Daugavpils city center.
Dünaburg-Liksna (LAT) (a.k.a. Līksna, Daugavpils, Dünaburg-Tilti) (ZNr. 10-2407) (c. 55 58 40 N – 26 24 36 E)
General: field airstrip (Feldflugplatz) in SE Latvia 178.5 km SE of Riga and 14 km NW of Daugavpils city center betweens the villages of Aužgulāni and Līksna.
Dünaburg/Ost (LAT): see Dünaburg II.

Here is another book crammed with finite details about the airfields at Dünaburg during the Soviet occupation:

Timin, Mikhail. Air Battles Over the Baltic 1941: The Air War on 22 June 1941 – The Battle for Stalin’s Baltic Region. Warwick (U.K.): Helion & Co., Ltd., 2018. ISBN 978-1-911512-56-1. Hb. Dj. 400p. c.200 photos. 37p. Of color aircraft profiles (3 or 4 per page). 9 color maps. 12 tables. 4 appendices. Index.

L.

Glider42
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: 04 Apr 2019, 05:40
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#9

Post by Glider42 » 09 Sep 2019, 08:48

Larry, many thanks for your comprehensive and detailed reply. The list of WWII airfields is even longer than I suspected! I had not seen mention of the Liksna airfield before, or of Dünaburg III-IV-V. Regarding the latters, we will have to hope for more info regarding location. The location of Dünaburg-VII is the same as the current cold-war airfield at Lociki, so maybe a WWII airfield formed the basis of the USSR one.

The main remaining question, to my mind, is the difference between Dünaburg/West (I) and Dünaburg-Griva (VI). We know from aerial photos where the latter is, but coordinates given for Dünaburg/West are identical. Could they be one and the same? I have seen references to Randene being the name of a famous manor (destroyed during WWII) located precisely where Dünaburg-Griva is. On the other hand, Google maps puts the Randene township quite some distance to the South, due West of the Griva township.

Larry D.
Member
Posts: 4103
Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 00:03
Location: Winter Springs, FL (USA)

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#10

Post by Larry D. » 10 Sep 2019, 15:15

Good question re D/West and D-Griva and I see two possibilities: (1) West may have been a satellite dispersal field for Griva that had nothing more than a rolled grass strip or perhaps no strip at all. One of the things that can make this confusing is that it was the Luftwaffe bureaucrats, i.e., officialdom, who used the designations I, II, III, IV. V. VI. VII, etc., while Luftwaffe flying personnel, front units and front staffs up to and including Luftflotten almost without exception used the West, Nord, Ost, Süd, Südwest, Nordost, etc., designations, and for obvious reasons, such as ease of reference for air crew. (2) So, Dünaburg VI Griva may have been the official name used on the maps produced in Berlin, but front personnel may have called it Dünaburg/West.

L.

Glider42
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: 04 Apr 2019, 05:40
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#11

Post by Glider42 » 01 Oct 2019, 05:16

Still on the subject of Dünaburg in July 1941.

The book Foreign Planes in the Service of the Luftwaffe by Jean-Louis Roba shows photographs of a Russian Po-2 captured intact at Dünaburg airfield on 6 July 1941. See this link (search for Dünaburg):

https://erenow.net/ww/foreign-planes-se ... affe/6.php

It then shows the same plane being inspected by members of the Brandenburgers unit and, the next day, being crewed to land beyond Russian lines by pilots masquerading as Moujiks (Russian peasants).

I find this intriguing. I know that Brandenburgers were involved in the capture of the bridges over the Dvina at Dünaburg on 26 June. But this author suggests that they were also involved in flying undercover missions into Russian-controlled territory. If correct, a Russian plane piloted by Russian speakers would obviously be handy.

Does anyone know more about these activities? Especially flying out of Dünaburg?

Glider42

oquaig
Member
Posts: 84
Joined: 04 Jul 2012, 20:41

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#12

Post by oquaig » 12 Aug 2020, 05:36

Hi everyone,

Too bad I don't know how to post photos here but the are Luftwaffe pictures of Grivas (aka Dünaburg west, aka Dünaburg VI) and Rudeli (aka Dünaburg II 5 km east of Dünaburg on the north bank of the river and now covered with suburban homes north of Rudeli). Liksna is 7 km north west of Grivas, again on the north bank of the river. These were the three airfields used by the 49th IAP in June 1941. Timin, by the way, is an excellent and very reliable source.

I have a question for you Larry, were Me 321 gliders ever used to bring supplies into Grivas in July 1941? I believe someone I know is mistaking 6./LLG 1 with 10 DFS 230 gliders for a different unit in a different period of the war...

Regards
oquiag

Larry D.
Member
Posts: 4103
Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 00:03
Location: Winter Springs, FL (USA)

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#13

Post by Larry D. » 12 Aug 2020, 15:35

Hi oquiag,

I'll check the few sources I have that might shed some light on the Me 321s and get back to you.

L.

Larry D.
Member
Posts: 4103
Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 00:03
Location: Winter Springs, FL (USA)

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#14

Post by Larry D. » 14 Aug 2020, 00:15

Hi oquiag - back to you. Here is what I have:

Me 321s at Dünaburg 1941

The history of glider operations in the Baltics and North Russia is well laid out in:
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. Pages 56-66.

6./LLG 1 with DFS 230’s transferred from Halberstadt to Seerappen on 5.7.41 and from there to Dünaburg. They departed Dünaburg with 10 DFS 230’s on 22.7.41 and moved to Ostrow and Pleskau. From there, they were towed to Pernau/Estonia on 13.9.41 for the Luftlande attack on the island of Ösel the next day. (Schlaug, pp.58-62)

Sonderstaffel GS 1 (Oblt. Melzer) began moving from Obertraubling to the Baltic area at the beginning of July, the He 111 and/or Me 110’s along with a single Ju 90 towed them via Schroda and Prowehren to Riga. The first Me 321 mission was flown on 21.9.41 and consisted of 3 Me 321’s towed by 3 Me 110’s. The gliders all landed successfully but it was a one-way trip as they could not be towed back to Riga. A fourth Me 321 towed to Ösel the next day with the same cargo also landed successfully but had to be left where it landed. Sonderstaffel GS 1 departed Riga in November 1941 and returned to Obertraubling by way of Merseburg. No other missions are known to have been carried out by GS-1 in the Baltics in 1941 and no other bases are mention other than Riga. (Schlaug, pp.62-63)

Comment: Georg Schlaug used documents at Freiburg, Flugbücher and interviews with survivors when he compiled his research material for the above between 1975 and 1984.

L.

oquaig
Member
Posts: 84
Joined: 04 Jul 2012, 20:41

Re: Units at Dünaburg-Griva in July 1941?

#15

Post by oquaig » 14 Aug 2020, 05:57

Thanks for the reply Larry.

It is as I thought, the Me 321's didn't come in until later. The Book is also readily available here in the US.

Thanks Again
Oquaig

Post Reply

Return to “Luftwaffe air units and Luftwaffe in general”