KG 51 fighter ops (page 1)

KG 51 fighter operations: late November–December 1944

26 November 1944

At 09.45 hrs. Rheine was informed that 9K+KH (Fw. Voauch) and 9K+CH (Uffz. Mayer) had taken off from Gieblestadt, bound for Rheine; 9K+EH and 9K+PH were ready for take-off in Giebelstadt; 9K+FH was having its port jet engine changed; and 9K+GK was in the workshop ready for an engine ground test. Schwäbisch Hall (home of II./KG 51) asked to be notified when they landed. Oddly, this same report was sent again on the next two days.

28 November 1944

At 09.21 hrs., once ground mist had cleared, two of I./KG 51’s Me 262s flew a met recce of Aachen and the Dutch border area. Bad weather around Aachen led them to drop their bombs on the alternate target, Helmond. Hauptmann Rösch failed to return from a weather reconnaissance over Holland; he had been lost to view while attacking through clouds south of Nijmegen and even on 9 December there was still no news of him. According to the British, he was brought down at Helmond by AA fire and his aircraft was W.Nr. 170122, 9K+KL. Another pair set out at 11.20 hrs. for a further weather reconnaissance over Aachen, finding conditions too bad for an operation by the Gruppe.

The strength of I./KG 51 on the evening of the 28th stood two aircraft and two pilots fewer than on the previous day: 48 (36) aircraft with W.Nr. 170299 and 110397 declared off strength. Five other Me 262s were away from their home base: three in Giebelstadt, one in Lippstadt and another in Düsseldorf-Unterrath.

There is no indication of Hptm. Rösch’s disappearance in that day’s strength return but more light is perhaps shed on the two quoted Werk Nummern by a report whose meaning is not altogether clear; other such eight-point messages in December clearly deal with lost aircraft but the order of the items differs.

From KABUS IT [Technical Officer of the I. Gruppe], Personnel and QM report stamped 13.15 hours, 28 November:

1) 26/10/44

2) Commercial

3) Unknown

4) Drops out [i.e. lacking]

5) Föhre-Kantor [Me 262 A-2] 170299 marking 9K+JK and 110397 marking 9K+PK

6) Oblt. Heinz Lehmann, Uffz. Horst Sanio.

7) Missing

8) Unknown

This could mean that these pilots and their aircraft had gone missing on (or since) 26 October but probably 26 November was intended given that Me 262 flown by Sanio is recorded in Netherlands Defence Ministry records as coming down at Wildenbroch near Lochem (in German-held territory) on the latter date.

NOTE: Through his researches into the history of Helmond aerodrome, Jaap Woortman has been able to resolve the question of Sanio’s fate: his Me 262 (W.Nr. 170120) was damaged by the guns of No. 2875 Sqn., RAF Regiment on 26 November 1944: “the plane was last seen losing height with smoke pouring from it …” German records show that Sanio crashed 5 km SW Lochem and died of his injuries in the military hospital at Almelo four days later.

Japp has also established that Lehmann was killed after apparently running out of fuel on 26 November and crashing near Kirchwistedt, SE of Bremerhaven; he is buried in the Stade Garrison cemetery. A message was picked up by the Allies, saying that W.Nr. 170299, 9K+PK had left Rheine on an operation and that a search was to be made for its pilot, Oblt. Lehmann. This message was deciphered on 6 January 1945 and was understood to be dated 24 December 1944, almost a month after Lehmann’s demise.

continued on next page …

navtagtn

PART ONE OF FIVE

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The original idea of this article was to document a short series of operations where I./KG 51 used its Me 262s in the fighter role. In the event, I’ve enlarged on that by including other things that were going on in the Gruppe and in II. and IV./KG 51 at the same time.

(All times are GMT)