Oblt. Gustav Siemon and Ju 88D-1 T5 + EL

[EF1943]

Hello everyone,
While doing research on German Aerial Photo Reconnaissance on the Eastern Front I came across a Soviet document that appears to shed some light on the last flight of Oblt. Gustav Siemon and his crew abord Ju 88 T5 + EL that was lost in Russia on 6.12.1942. This document, titled "Interrogation Protocol of captive pilots from downed German Ju 88 plane", is written in Russian and in my translation I tried to stay as close to original Russian meaning as possible. Below are just portions of it so please let me know if there is any interest in further translation.

Also, it appears that Oblt. Siemon's Ju 88 T5 + EL belonged to 3(F)/Ob. d. L. According to https://asisbiz.com/luftwaffe/obdl.html it's known bases were as following:
Jüterbog-Damm, Sep 1939 - Apr 1940
Stavanger-Sola, Apr 1940 - Jul 1940
Berlin-Tempelhof, Jul 1940 - Sep 1941
Nikolayev, Oct 1941 - Nov 1941
Mariupol, Nov 1941 - Jan 1942
Gosstkino, Jan 1942 - Oct 1942
Seschtschinskaja, Oct 1942 - Jan 1943

Gosstkino (Jan 1942 - Oct 1942) is near Leningrad while Oblt. Siemon in this document states that when he was sent to the unit in the middle of September 1942 it was located at Pskov. He then states that on 12.10.42 his unit was transferred to Kharkov's eastern airfield.

Interrogation Protocol
of German captives from downed plane "Ju-88" - Commander (Pilot) of the plane Oblt. Gustav Siemon, flight engineer Uffz. Albert Gerlach and observer Fw. Horst Fritzsche and who belong to 1st Long Reconnaissance Group (I Gruppen?) of 1st Avia Corps (I Fliegerkorps ?), captured on 6.12.42 in the area of Izmalkovo.

1. BIO and service details of all 3 airmen (not translated)

Circumstances of capture.
Due to low clouds encountered on the return flight from the mission from the area of Michurinsk on 6.12.42, the Pilot was forced to fly at the height of 100 m. After passing Elets, the plane flew along the rail road line in the direction of Verkhov'e with the mission to reconnoiter the rail road. Before reaching Izmalkovo the plane was hit by AA fire and immediately pulled down. The Pilot had to perform forced landing without landing gear which resulted in some damage to the plane and no injuries to 4 crew members. Exiting the plane the crew decided to reach front line to cross to the friendly side. Not knowing their exact location they traveled south for about an hour. The stop at the forest clearing and hid in the trench till the evening. They couldn't leave because of several civilians getting firewood. In the evening the trench was surrounded by Red Army soldiers who probably followed them. The soldiers started shooting and screaming in Russian. None of the captives could understand what Red Army soldiers were saying. Radio operator was the first to leave the trench. He then tried to make a run for the forest and was killed. Other pilots threw out their weapons, raised their hands and surrendered.

2. Composition and armament of the unit
1st Airgroup (I Gruppen?) has 15 Ju-88 planes D-1. The group is not divided in Staffeln. (This is followed by the description of cameras and processing of the film)

3 Command and staff (not translated)

4. Organization and operation of the Group.
(Detailed description of Unit Operation from receiving an order for an aerial coverage to planning all aspects of the mission - not translated)

5. Winter preparations (not translated)

6. Chemical preparedness (not translated)

7. Equipment of the unit (not translated)

8. Political morale (not translated)

EF1943