On 3 May, Luftflotte 6 recorded 1.(F)/100’s location as Hörsching in Austria. Karl Nitschke, had evacuated T9+NL, a partially-equipped Ar 234 night fighter, there from Riem on 29 April before carrying on to Praha-Ruzyne and thence to Zateč. It is not clear whether this was part of a general move by the Staffel or an individual task. Walter Carlein recounted to Adam Thompson that as 1.(F)/100’s last Staffelführer he disbanded his unit on the Czech/Bavarian border on 8 or 9 May before making his way home.

Although I believe this is a more extensive account of 1.(F)/100’s time with the Ar 234 than has been available so far, it is still patchy by virtue of the fragmentary source material. The picture that emerges is of a unit whose effectiveness was hampered by a run of bad weather and by declining rates of serviceability. The progress of the war was such that longer-range “strategic” reconnaissance soon gave way to shorter missions to establish the whereabouts of both hostile and friendly forces and to spot imminent threats to the Staffel’s own airfields.

1. Sources.

2. Hptm. Holert shot down?

3. Order of battle.

4. Aircraft and pilots.

PART SEVEN AND FINAL