Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope -The Attack on Allied Airfields, New Year's Day 1945

306 Pages·2004·43.37 MB·English

by  John Manrho

BODENPLATTE
The Luftwaffe's Last Hope
The Attack on Allied Airfields
New Year's Day 1945
John Manrho and Ron Putz
PUBLICATIONS
In memory ofRon Piitz, a dedicated and passionate air war historian.
He will be sorely missed.This book is a tribute to his work.
Firstpublishedin2004by
HikokiPublicationsLimited
Friars Gate Farm
MardensHill
Crowborough
EastSussexTN6 1XH
England
Email:[email protected]
Web:www.hikokiwarplanes.com
ProjectEditor:RobertForsyth
ProductionManagement:ChevronPublishingLimited
Designandlayout:MarkNelson
Jacketdesign:ColinWoodman
Maps:ColinWoodman
ISBN 1902109406
All rights reserved.No part ofthisbookmaybe
reproducedortransmittedinanyfOIm orby any means
electronic ormechanical,includingphotocopying,
recordingorbyanyinformationstoragewithout
permissionfrom the Publisherinwriting.Allenquiries
shouldbedirected to the Publisher.
©Text:JohnManrho andRonPiitz
Printedby Ofiicine GraficheDeAgostini,Italy
Contents
Authors'Introductionand CHAPTER 10 221
Acknowledgements Of Pik As, Orange Tails and
Hell Hawks
Glossary 6 Jagdgeschwader53'sFrenchaffair
CHAPTER 1 7 CHAPTER 11 247
Prelude to the Offensive Lost over Antwerp
December 1944- The objectives- Jagdgeschwader77 orbitingAntwerp
Preparations for the attack- Pathfinders
CHAPTER 12 261
CHAPTER 2 12 Dawn of a New Era
The Battle of Gandawa Kampfgeschwader51 and
Jagdgeschwader1and the airfieldsin Kampfgeschwader76 buzzandbomb
western Belgium
CHAPTER 13 272
CHAPTER 3 43 Aftermath
Buzz Bomb Alley Anassessmentand evaluationofthe attack
Jagdgeschwader2andSchlachtgeschwader4
head for St.Trond APPENDICES:
1.Luftwaffe OrderofBattle:December
CHAPTER 4 67 31st 1944 275
B-78 Gets Clobbered 2.Luftwaffe StrengthReport:December
Jagdgeschwader3 hitsEindhoven 31st 1944 276
3.Germanfighterlosses onJanuary
CHAPTER 5 93 1st 1945 278
Raiders of the Lost Airfield 4.Ju 88 Lotselosses onJanuary 1st 1945 275
Jagdgeschwader4insearchofLe Culot 5.SummaryLuftwaffematerial!
personnellosses onJanuary 1st 1945 285
CHAPTER 6 119 6.Luftwaffe aerialcombatclaimsJanuary
Hunting for Volkel 1st1945 287
Jagdgeschwader6and problems 7.Allied OrderofBattle December
with Pathfinders 31st 1944 288
8.Alliedaerialcombat10sses:January
CHAPTER 7 140 1st1945 290
Dogfight over Asch 9.Alliedmateriallosses:January
The Massacre ofJagdgeschwader11 1st1945 291
10.Alliedaerial combatclaims:January
/ CHAPTER 8 168 1st1945 296
Brussels revisited 11.Claims ofAAA units onAlliedairfields:
Jagdgeschwader26and IIl.lJagdgeschwader54 January 1st1945 299
strikeatEvereand Grimbergen 12.Knownpersonnelcasualties on
the airfields 300
CHAPTER 9 198
Bull's-eye on Brussels Index 302
Jagdgeschwader27 and IV/Jagdgeschwader54
re-design Melsbroek
Authors' Introduction andAcknowledgements
O PERATION BODENPLATTE is an aspect ofthe Doorn, Siegfried Doppler, Alfred Dors, Michael F
1939-1945 air war that will never cease to Doyle,DRK-Suchdienst,PhilippeDufrasne,EdwardF
fascinate. What is so special about this Dziadzio, T. Ecker, Werner Eggert, Jochen Eickhoff,
operation? Is it the fact that it was the last full-scale Hans Eisen, Phil Evans, Peter Everard, Marco
attack by the Luftwaffe fighter force? Is it the sheer Fernandez-Sommerau,BenjaminFischer,PaulFischer,
numbers ofaircraft that were involved and lost? Is it Nikolaus Fischler GrafvonTreuberg,Len Fisher,Don
the fate ofthe manypilotswho went missinginaction Flowers,B. Foley,Alan Forbes, Robert Forsyth, Hugh
that day? Fraser,A. Freifrau von dem Bussche, P. French,Alfred
Eversince 1945writershavededicatedpagesto this Fritzsche,GeorgFureder,Klaus-DieterGabel,Anthony
operation. Most are to be found in magazines but Gaze, B.H. Gee, Bruno Genne, Albert Gerber, Ken
scarcelyahandfulofbookshavebeenwrittenaboutthe Gilham, RudolfGill,Tom Glenn,Jerzy Glowczewski, /
subject. Credit should go to the late German author Ron Goebel, Heinz Gomann, RudolfGammel,Josef
WernerGirbigwho hasdonesomuchimportantwork Gottschalk, Hubert Grabmair, Franciszek Grabowski,
in the clarificationofunsolvedLuftwaffelosses.Infact, Georg Graf von Keller, Haymo von Grebmer, G.
his book 'Start im ]v[orgengrauen' ('Six Months to Greenough,E. Grinm1,Alfred Grislawski,W Gunther,
Oblivion') dating back to the 1970s has been the Hans de Haan, Burkhard Hackbarth, Erwin Hackler,
springboard for many later works. When we started Heinrich Haeffner,James Hall, RolfHallenscheid,A.
research in earnest for this book (1993), we decided Hameister,BillHarle,].Hartkamper,JohannesHartlein,
to write the ultimate work on Unternehmen Karl-Heinz Hartmann,Theo Hartmann, Hans-Ji-irgen
Bodenplatte making use of all available historic Hauprich, Hermann Heck, Peter Heidel, Jurgen
documents, information from local air war historians, Heider, Hans Heinz,Lothar Hemmerich, G. Hempel,
butperhapsmostimportantlybylisteningto thosewho Helmut Heuser,Jan Hey,Werner Hilbert, Gordon M.
actually flew on that day or to those who were at the Hill, Marion Hill, M. Himpe,Werner Hoffi11ann, E.
receivingend. Hoffschmidt, Werner Hohenberg, Walter Homeier,
Inourquestforparticipantswesearchedalloverthe JohnHommes,H.vanHooven,JanHorn,JulianHorn,
world and despite the fact that many ofthese former ].Horsfall,M.Hott,W].van den Hout,Ron Howarth,
youngsters are now well into their seventies and RomanHrycak,BertrandHugot,FransvanHumbeek,
eighties, we managed to contact German, British, Herbert Huss, Dean Huston, Jesse V Jamieson, Ab
American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Jansen, MortonJessen, Nelson Jesup, Heinz Jirousek,
Norwegian, Dutch and Polish airmen, to name but a Alexius von Johannides, Charles Johnson, James K.
few.The list ofpeople who contributedwith personal Johnson,HughJohnston,Arie deJong,NormanJunes,
recollections, diary entries and photographs would Lothar Kabbe, Fritz Karch, G. Katz, Otto Keller, FH.
certainlyruntoseveralpages- nottomentionrelatives Kelley, G.H. Kendall, Barry Ketley, ].N. King, M.
of former airmen, the hard-working researchers in Kirbach-Emden, Arthur T. Kirk-Waring, James H.
official archives and institutions, fellow air war Kitchens,1.Klein,Otto Kleinert,Rainer Kliemann,Jan
historiansandthosewhocontributedindirectly.Special Kloos, Hermann Knon,WG. Knox, E. Kogler, Stefan
thanksshouldgo to thefollowingcontributors: Kohl, Walter Kohne, Jan Koniarek, Chris Konig, E.
Wilhelm Ade, S.Aickelin,William M. Baggs,WW Koppe, Gunter Kotschote, Dieter Krageloh, Heinz
Baird,EricBakker,MichaelBalss,B.Barion,Karl-Peter Kraschinski, Paul Krauter,Willi Krauter, G. Kroll,Joe
Bauch, John R. Beaman, Bart Beckers, R. Bedacht, Lagana, Ed Lambert, Ernst Lampferhoff, Herman P.
Leonhard Beitler, Herbert R. Benson, Ernst-Dieter Ledger, A.G. Lee, RV Leetham, Harald Lehmann,
Bernhard, Siegfried Binger,A. Blasius, 1. Bobsien, K. Richard Levy, Hans Helmut Lindner,Ad van Lingen,
Boenigk, Oscar Boesch, Siegfried Bohmer, Richard Jean-Yves Lorant, Diether Lukesch, Bert Lunt, CH.
Bollwerk,NevilleBoswell Filby,Eric Bowden,Robert Lunt,Samuel Lutz,M.Mackenthun,Rod MacKenzie,
W Bowen, Rolf Braband, Rudolf Braun, George IanMaclaren,E.Manz,HorstMarscheider,].H.Marsh,
Brooking, David E.Brown, Hermann Bruch, Rob de Michael Matthies, B. Mauch-von Fassong, H. Mayer,
Bruin, Robert V Bmlle, H. Buck, Bundesarchiv Ace McGuire, Armin Mehling, Karl Meinert,
Militararchiv Freiburg, Bundesarchiv-Zentral Friedrich-Karl Meinhof,H.G.Merriman,Hans Merx,
nachweisstelle Aachen, Helmut Bunje, Eberhard Helmut Metze, Erich Miedl, Wilhelm Mittag, Kees
Burath,Pawel Burchard,Ewald Bi-isscher,Steve Butte, Mol, Eric Mombeek, G.J. Morgan, Michael Mucha,
Donald Caldwell, Pie op den Camp, S.A. Carkeek, SiegfriedMuller,PaulMungersdorff,FritzMunninger,
Francis Carrodus, Ralph Caskey, Peter Celis, James RagnvaldMyhre,Theo Nau,Gerhard Neumann,Peter
Chaney, Carl E. Charles, Johannes Clemens, John Nolde, Otto Noth, C Nussle, Gerhard Ohlenschlager,
Clopick, Max Collett, CE. Collier, 1. Collin, Bill Frederick Ollett, Ignacy Olszewski, Frank Olynyk,
Cooper, Jacob L. Cooper, Johnnie Corbitt, Coen Hans Onderwater, Karl-Heinz Ossenkop, Wayne
Cornelissen, Arthur Cossey, Geoffrey Coucke, Luc Owens, Melvyn Paisley, Axel Paul, George Payne,
Cox, Eddie Creek,]. Dalzell, Chuck Darrow,WE.R. MartinPegg,RichardPerkins,JamesL.Perry,WintonP.
Day, Cynrik De Decker, Richard]. DeBruin, Regis Perry,M. Peschel, G. Peters,L. Phieler, Gert Poelchau,
Decobek, Frederick Deeks, Deutsche Dienstelle Robert Powell, Sam Prince,E.J. Pritchard, C Prollius,
(WASt),G.Dickinson,JeanDillen,H.Dolzer,Johanvan John Prooi, Sherman Pruett, Ludwig Purth, Charles
Queen, Gerhard Querengasser, Oliver Randle, Len the huge concentration of aircraft (both Allied and
Read, Richard L. Reeves, Wolfgang Reschke, James Luftwaffe) within a geographically limited area and
Rice,WalterRiedel,Alden Rigby,I.Rischbieter,Jean restricted by merely a couple ofhours ofoperations,
Louis Roba, JM. Robertson, N.J. Robinson, Joe chronology could not always be strictly followed. In
Roddis,Adrie Roding,HansW Rohde,Hans-Joachim addition, for reasons of clarity, some events taking
Rose, Don Ross, Sandy Ross, Robert Roubin, Ron place at the same point oftime or location are not
Rowley,E.Ruhmland,D.R.Russell,NeilG.Russell,L. necessarily dealt with within the same chapter.Think
Rutkowski, Huub van Sabben, Kemal Saied, Frank ofaircraft from different units showing up over one
Salomon,RobertK.Sandager,FrankSayer,S.Schaupp, and the same target. Sources have, where possible,
Ernst Scheufele, Lothar Schmidt, A. Schmieder, M. been mentioned in endnotes and detailedappendices
Schmieder, Fritz Schmitt, N. Schopper, H. Schulz, are includedat the endofthebook.
Johan Schuurman, U. Schwartz, H. Schwerdtfeger, Losses mentioned within the context ofthis book
Malcolm Scott, Mike JA. Shaw, Bodo Siegfried, and in the Appendices are solely in relation to
LudwigSiegfried,JackSinar,MartinvanSleeuwen,Ted Unternehmen Bodenplatte and do not coverJanuary
Smith,L. Soltau,WarrenW Sorensen,Paul Sortehaug, 1st1945ingeneral.BothAlliedandLuftwaffelossesare
Peter Spoden,Thomas Stanton, Cees Steijger,D.A.W given as accurately as possible. However, with 55-plus
Stewart,Henry Stewart,G.Strobel,HennigStrumpell, years since the event, losses suffered by the Allies
I. Swoboda, Siegfried Sy, Tadeusz Szlenkier, Henk particularlycannotbereconstructedwithanydegreeof
Talen, C.E. Tansley, H.J.S. Taylor, Friedrich Tazreiter, comprehensiveness. For example, losses suffered by
WalterTepperis,E.Thomas,Ernst-AloysiusThome, G. already damaged USAAF bombers on the Continent
Trager,Billy M.Traylor,Dr. Norman L.Traylor,Ewald cannot be traced back to January 1st specifically.
Trost,G.Tscheliesnig,JohannTwietmeyer,D.Tyler,Axel Besides,the numbers gameis not really thatinteresting
Urbanke, G. Uzuber, EtienneVanackere,AlexVanags from a historical point ofview.Success and failure are
Baginskis,ThomasEVance,VDK-Kassel,LucVervoort, not the result ofa simple equation and in the case of
MichaelVogl,GuntherVowinckel,GVowinckel-Uroye, Bodenplatte it is common knowledge that personnel
DavidWadman, Gustav-AdolfWaldau, RudolfWalter, losses suffered by the Luftwaffe were disproportionate
Graham Warrener, Robert Webb, Fritz Wegner, compared to the damage caused and the useful,lasting
MichaelWetz,I.Weyert,TroyWhite,WilhelmWichardt, effect of this damage. It is the fate of the individual
Wilhelm Wieschhoff, H. Wiese, Philippe Willaume, participants we have focussed on. Not without pride,
WimWillemsen,DaveWilliams,JohnWilliams,Robert wecansaythatasasideeffectofourresearchthefate of
Williams, Andrew EWilson, Henk Wilson, Guy de 15 - missing Luftwaffe pilots - have been resolved.
Win, L.Wohrle, HermannWolf, GuntherWolf,Jaap Eight of them were Bodenplatte pilots. Family
Woortman, John B. Wray, David Wright, K. members finally have a headstone to visit. In a similar
Wunderlich,WillyWuschke,WimWust,HansWyssola, manner, with this book, we hope to have erected a
Jan in 't Zandt,Ad van Zantvoort, Karl-JosefZeidler, monument for all those who "were in it" on that cold
FranzZimmennann,R.J.E.M.vanZinnicqBergmann, morning ofJanuary 1st 1945. It is to you and your
A.Zoli. comrades who did not live to see the end ofthe war,
Our gratitude goes to all those who contributed thatwededicate thisbook.
butalso thosewho havefailed toseetheircontribution We believe,we have exhaustedmost ofthe known
inprint.Be sure thatwe carefullyevaluated everything sources ofexpertise and experience onthe subject,but
we receivedfromyou andbesureweappreciatedit. for reasons not known to us,there maybe peoplewho
One ofour goals was to describe as accurately as have additional information on Unternehmen
possible, the events taking place in the morning of Bodenplatte who have notyetsoughtcontactwith us.
January 1st 1945. Aggregating all these individual This book does by no means imply that we have
stories- takingplace in merely acouple ofhours over stopped researching the subject.We encourage anyone
The Netherlands,Belgium,Franceand Germany- has who thinks he canadd to- orcorrectany aspect ofthe
notbeenaneasytask.Wehadto refrainfromgoinginto story,to contactus.
the nightfighterattacks ofDecember31st1944andfor Our thanks also to Hikoki Publications,a devoted
reasons ofbrevity we also had to let go ofany other aviation publisher, for its beliefin this project and to
bomber or escort missions ofthe Allied air forces on RobertForsythatChevronPublishingfor his editorial
( January1st. commitmentandguidance.
The contents ofthe book have been divided into
chapters dealing with the individual attacks of the
Luftwaffe Geschwader.As a result, the subject matter JohnManrhoandRonPutz
isdealtwithprimarilyfrom aLuftwaffepointofview. The Netherlands2003
After all, it was a Luftwaffe operation. However, we
have endeavoured to create a balanced view ofeach
attack, showing in just as much detail the Allied
perspective. At the end of each chapter, we have
drawn our conclusions, carefully evaluating all
available Luftwaffe and Allied points ofview. Given
Glossary
AAA Anti-AircraftArtillery
AAAAwBn ArtilleryWeapons Battalion
Abschuss Aerial combatclaim
ADLS AirDispatch LetterService
DFC Distinguished Flying Cross
Fliegerdivision Flying Division
FG FighterGroup
FS FighterSquadron
GCS GroupCommunicationSquadron
Gefechtsstand Field Control Post/Headquarters
General derJagdflieger Commanding General oftheFighterArm
General derSchlachtflieger General oftheGround-AttackArm
Geschwader Wing
Gruppe Group
Gruppenkommandeur GroupCommander
JafO(JagdfOhrer) Area FighterCommander
JagdabschnittsfOhrer SectorFighterCommander
Jagddivision FighterDivision
Jagdgeschwader FighterWing
Jagdgruppe FighterGroup
Jagdkorps FighterCorps
Jagdverbanden FighterUnits
JG Abbv. forJagdgeschwader
Katschmarek Wingman
KIA Killed inAction
Luftwaffenkommando LuftwaffeCommand
MIA Missing inAction
Nachtjagdgeschwader NightFighterWing
Nachtschlachtgruppe NightGroundAttackGroup
NFS NightFighterSquadron
NSFO National Sozialistischer
FOhrungsoffizier Political Officer
OberkommandoderWehrmacht High Command oftheGerman Armed Forces
PSP Pierced Steel Planking
RP RocketProjectile
R&SU Repairand Servicing Unit
Rff RadioTransmitter
Schlachtgeschwader Ground-AttackWing
Schwarm Elementoffouraircraft
SchwarmfOhrer LeaderofaSchwarm
SG Abbv.forSchlachtgeschwader
StabdesGeneral derJagdflieger StaffoftheGeneral ofthe FighterArm
Stabsschwarm StaffSchwarm
Staffel Squadron
Staffelkapitan Squadron Commander
TAC Tactical AirCommand
TacJR Tactical Reconnaissance(Mission)
Unternehmen Operation
Zerstbrer DestroyerAircraft
Zerstbrergeschwader DestroyerWing
zurVerfOgung Atdisposal
CHAPTER 1
Prelude to the
Offensive
December 1944 - The objectives
Preparations for the attack - Pathfinders
By the beginning ofOctober 1944 the front line in
theWest was relatively stable.The Allied advance was
losing its momentum and simultaneously, when they
reached the Reich's borders, the German defence
was stiffening.
O VERthe comingmonths the German In the autumn of1944AdolfHitler had initiated
Army would be able to hold their the plan to launch an offensive in theWest,which
positions. Also at this time, the was to take place in theArdennes.Preparations for
Luftwaffe had withdrawn several ofits Luftwaffe participation began on September 16th
fighter units fi'om the front and was re-equipping when Adolf Hitler informed Generalleutnant
them in Germany. More fighter units were Werner Kreipe, the Luftwaffe Generalstabschef,
1
established by equipping former Zerstorer units about the planned offensive.' On October 21st
with single-engined fighters. In these days GeneralKreipeorderedLuftflotteReichtoprepare
also, the idea evolved of a massive attack on the transferofsixto sevenJagdgeschwaderandone
the US Eighth Air Force with some 2,500 single Schlachtgeschwader to Luftwaffenkonunando
engine fighters. This plan, called the 'Grosse West.' On November 14th, Goring gave the
Schlag'or'GreatBlow',was developed by the Stab following orders for the forthcoming attack in
des General del' Jagdflieger under conunand theWest:"
of Gen.Lt. Adolf Galland. Although this
plan seems to have been further discussed during a.An attackoJII.Jagdkorps,with 3.Jagddivision
meetings within the Stab and within 1.Jagdkorps attachedto it,onenemyfighter-bombers at
the following month, it was already clear aiifieldsnearthefront line.
by that titne that this attack would not take b.Aneven moreimportant task ojII.Jagdkorps is
place, as the re-built fighter forces would be toflyfightercoverJor theArmy togive itfreedom
neededelsewhere. ojmovement.
Bodellplatte
THE LUFTWAFFE'S LAST HOPE
c. Schlachtgeschwader 4is to operate mainlyduring Handrick and various staffofficers.Here Peltz told
thecrossingsoftheMeuse. his audience ofthe plan to attackAllied airfields in
d.3.Fliegerdivision istoattackairfieldswiththeirjet the near future and a master map, showing the
bombersandotherta/gets with bombersand frontline as it then stood, was handed to each
Nachtschlacht units.Nachtjagdgeschwader2was KonunodoreTheoperationwasthendiscussedand
also tooperateasaNachtschlachtunitwithitsJuS8s. plannedinminutedetail.Itwas arrangedthatevery
airfield should be attacked simultaneously. The
The preparations were to be completed by following code words for the operation were
November 27th and units were to be operational agreed upon:"
within three days.At that stage it was clear that a
large attack on the Allied airfields was planned in 'U!rus': Indicating that the operation was on and
conjunction with the offensive in the West. On thatitwouldtakeplacewithin24hours_
November 18th, this was confirmed by the
guidelines for 'UnternehmenWacht am Rhein' as 'Teutonicus': Authority to brief the pilots and to
initiatedby the Oberkommando del'Wehrmacht: arrange for aircraft to be armed and ready at the
edgeofthe airfield.
"...When the weather improves the main task of the
JagdverbandenwillbetoflycoverfortheadvancingPanzer 'Hermann': Giving the exact date and time ofthe
unitsand theirmarchingroutes.Also,asurpriseattackon attack.
thefront line airfields ofthe enemy tactical airforces is to
beexecuted.JJ5 'Dorothea':Indicatingadelayin theattack.
Gen.Maj.DietrichPeltz, These orders were incorporatedin the operational 'Spatlese':Cancellingtheattackaftertake-off.
CommandingOfficerofII. orders of Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model for
Jagdkorps,presidedover Heeresgruppe B ofDecember 9th 1944.6 By that In the early evening the Konunodore and
themeetingon time the commanding officers of the Kommandeure returned to their units, probably
5December1944at
]agdgeschwader had also been informed. On withvaryingthoughts aboutthe mission.
Flammersfeldduringwhich
December 4th, LuftwaffenkommandoWest issued On December 4th, one day earlier than the
heoutlinedtheplanto
an order that the conmlanders of all conference held at the IL]agdkorps headquarters,
attackAlliedairfields.
]agdgeschwader and ]agdgruppen, except]G 300 the first preparations for the mission had
Heisseenhereinthe
and ]G 301, were to attend a meeting at the conunenced. On this day L]agdkorps sent orders
springof1944whilsthe
wascommanderofIX headquarters ofII.]agdkorps on the afternoon of to II.!N]G 100, I.!N]G 101 and II.! JG 101 to
FIiegerkorps. thefollowingday.7Theheadquarterswassituatedin provide]u 88s to several]agdgeschwader to act as
aninn at Flanunersfeld,some 10kilometressouth Lotsen" for the next two weeks.The Lotsen were
westofAJtenkirchen.The meetingwaspresidedby to ensure efficient assembly ofstrong day fighter
Gen.Maj.Dietrich Peltz,who had been appointed formations in difficultweather.The crewswere to
Fw190A-8,WNr.173943
commandingofficerofII.]agdkorps onNovember report to the Gruppenkom.mandeur or the
'Black12'of2.1JG1seen
atGreifswaldinNovember 15th.Otherspresentwere Obst.WalterGrabmann, commanding officer of their advance
1944.(Roding) Obst. Hanns Triibenbach, Obstlt. Gotthardt detachment.111 The same day similar orders were
given by 7.]agddivision
to II.!N]G 6.The next
day 3. ]agddivision
ordered II./N]G 1 and
III.!N]G 1 to provide
Lotsen for ]G 1."
/
Fortunately, the war
-
diary of N]G 6 has
survived, and a few
details are known about
the transfer of the
II.!N]G 6Lotsen.
In the late afternoon
of December 4th, Stab
N]G 6 received a
telephone call from the
Ia ofthe 7.]agddivision,
ordering II./N]G 6,
based at Schwabisch
Hall, to prepare 20
nightfighter crews for
PRELUDE TO THE OFFENSIVE
transfer to other airfields
(which will be identified
later) for a period of two
weeks, for a special mission
by day fighters.At 17.20 hrs
the order was given to
Hptm. Helmuth Schulte,
Kommandeur ofII./NJG 6,
to prepare his crews.
At 08.00 hrs on December
5th II./NJG 6 confirmed
that 20 crews with their
Ju 88s would be sent to
ten Jagdgruppen of
II. Jagdkorps, where they
would be used as Lotsen.
Each Jagdgruppe would
receive two Ju 88s and the
transfer was to be reported
by 18.00 hrs. At 14.00 1m
the transfer was postponed,
as only 14 Ju 88s were
ready. Lt. Lothar
12
Hemmerich, one of the
pilots of II./NJG 6, remembers: "The order to All unitswere to receive twoJu88s.Thus72Ju 88s
55Panzer-Grenadiers
transfer from Schwabisch-Hall came as a surprise were tobe usedasLotsen.Furthermoreatleastone from1st55Panzer
andwas to beexecutedassoonaspossible.Mostof Ju88 ofIV/N]G 1andoneJu88ofI.lN]G4were Divisionleibstandarte
the crews did not like the idea at all and also usedasLotsen.TheseJu88swere transferredto AdolfHitler'attachedto
consequently spirits were not high. I believe that Drope (II.IJG 1) and Altenstadt (III./JG 2) KampfgruppePeiper
some crews delayed their transfer flight, which respectively. These two may have been a late advancethroughthe
was to take place on the same afternoon, by replacement. Belgianvillageof
Honsfeldandpastan
reporting theirJu 88sunserviceable." Little is known about any special preparations
13
abandonedU5M3
However, several Ju 88s took off in the the Ju 88 Lotsen may have taken at their
halftrackduringthe
afternoon of December 5th and by December destinations or about preparations by the
initialstagesofWacht
12th a total of 18 Ju 88s had departed for their Jagdgeschwader too. Secrecy was apparently well
amRheinonDecember
designatedJagdgruppen.14These included several maintained.In ULTRA transcripts we find only a 16th,1944.Itwascrucial
crews of 5./NJG 6, which had been based at few indications that sonlething was planned.The that,astheadvance
Echterdingen since November 7th.Among them first indication was on December 4th when extended,German
was Hptm.Fritz Griese,Kapitan of5./NJG 6.15 II.Jagdkorps issued orders for stockpiling visual groundforceshadair
The following Nachtjagdgeschwader were navigational aids as 'golden-rain'rocket-flares and supportfromthe
ordered to provide Ju 88 Lotsen for the smoke bombs at several designated pinpoints. Luftwaffe's
Jagdgeschwader: Orders for use would be given in good time,and Jagdgeschwader.
16
the length ofoperation was scheduled to last one
hour.17 No written observations were made by
II.1NJG 1 2Ju885to III.1JG 1
Allied Intelligence and it seems that no
III./NJG 1 4 Ju 885to I.lJG 1and II.1JG 1
importance was attached to II.Jagdkorps' orders.
III./NJG5 8Ju885to I.lJG 6, II.1JG 6, III.lJG
The next signal came on December 12th when
6and IV.lJG 54
thefirstinstructionswere givenbyII.Jagdkorps to
II./NJG6 20Ju885to I./JG 26, II.1JG 26,
theJu 88 Lotsen regarding the use offlares when
111.lJG26, I.lJG 27, II.1JG 27,
leading fighter formations.18 The next day the
III./JG 27, IV.lJG 27, I./JG77,
same and other instructions on the use oftheJu
II./JG77and III./JG77
88 Lotsen were given by Stab JG 27 to its
II.1NJG 100 12Ju885toI./SG4, II.1SG 4, Gruppen.19 Allied Intelligence concluded that
III./SG4, II.lJG 53, III.lJG 53and pilot aircraft were to lead formations in the
IV./JG 53 tactical support role rather than on an
I.lNJG 101 16Ju885to II./JG 11,III./JG 11, interception basis, with a take off at first light.
I.lJG 2, II./JG 2, III./JG 2, I.lJG 3, How more accurate could they be! However up
III.1JG 3and IV.lJG 3 to then, no indications on the possible targets
II.1NJG 101 10Ju885to I.lJG4, II.lJG4, were intercepted. On December 20th, a message
111.lJG4, IV.lJG4 and I./JG 11 from 3.Jagddivision was intercepted in which it