NSG 9 badge

Fw 190s of III./KG 51: October/November 1944

 

Type

W.Nr.

Code

Reason unserviceable (date)

Fw 190 G-3

160032

red 5

45% damaged in crash on landing area, Bonn-Hangelar (11 Oct).

Fw 190 G-3

160477

red 10

30% damaged in crash on landing area, Bonn-Hangelar (11 Oct).

 

Fw 190 G-3

160623

green 5

Engine[?] trouble (17 Nov).

 

A signal on 22 October 1944 had reported that "green 5" was Major Kurt Dahlmann's aircraft.

 

Fw 190 G-3

160613

white 4

Alteration (13–16 Nov), trimming indicator (17 Nov).

 

This aircraft was destroyed during an operational flight by a fighter (possibly the Tempest of F/L Hibbert of No. 274 Squadron) on 1 February 1945; its pilot Ofhr. Erwin Janz was killed.

 

Fw 190 F-8

588220

white 11

Change over pump stop (17 Nov).

Fw 190 F-8

933074

red 5

Bonding (13 Nov).

 

This 2. Staffel machine was 25% damaged at Soesterberg, Holland on 14 February 1945, due to pilot error.

 

Fw 190 F-8

588222

red 9

Undercarriage, change of engine (16 Nov).

Fw 190 F-8

588230

red 12

Alteration (14 Nov).

 

 

 

 

New to strength (date)

[?]

84077

 

"Can be fetched in Giessen" (14 Nov).

 

Possibly Fw 190 F-8 WNr. 584077.

 

Fw 190 G-3

160_37

 

Acceptance test (17 Nov).

 

Possibly WNr. 160237, red 4: 100% damaged at Bonn-Hangelar on 14 February 1945 (non-operational flight); its pilot Ofw. Heinz Kollmann was killed.

 

 

On the evening of 1 November 1944, III./KG 51 was at Bonn-Hangelar with 37 (35) Focke-Wulf 190s.

At 22.30 hours on the 9th, Gefechtsverband Hallensleben warned its subordinated units to expect the codeword AZIMUTH. Everything was to be got ready and the men allowed to sleep but the time for issuing the codeword would depend on the weather and the military situation.

In fact the word was given only half an hour later, at least as far as III./KG 51 was concerned. Elements going by road and detachments of all formations were to move as soon as possible that night. The Gruppe's flying elements were to arrive at their new airfield at dawn on the 10th if at all possible. At this point, Allied Intelligence had no idea where they were going but a signal on the 12th from an "Advanced Signals Detachment" of III./KG 51 reported a move of W/T and construction personnel with heavy equipment to Germersheim. Another message indicated that NSG 1 had gone to Kirrlach, about 13 km to the east. Gefechtsverband Hallensleben was operating in support of Army Group G for the time being.

At 17.15 hours on the 10th, III./KG 51 reported a strength of 9 (8) Fw 190 G-3 and 8 (6) Fw 190 F-8 at Hangelar, suggesting that about 20 of the Gruppe's aircraft had moved south.

At 23.00 hours next day, Hangelar reported that 16 (13) Fw 190s of III./KG 51 were on the airfield and these figures were unchanged both on the 12th and the 16th.

On the afternoon of the 16th, orders went out to NSG 1, NSG 2 and III./KG 51 to transfer immediately to their former bases. This could be carried out by night or by day using cloud cover but they must be ready to operate again on the 17th. A reference in a postwar memoir of NSG 2 (Bundesarchiv RL10/507) to 14 days' operations in the Strasbourg/Vosges region probably relates to AZIMUTH although it overstates the duration of the deployment.

By the evening of the 18th Hangelar recorded 37 Fw 190s present, of which 7 were unserviceable. The following evening, the figure was 36 with 9 unserviceable.

By the 19th, the Gruppe had been redesignated as NSG 20 (although this does not appear to have changed the type of missions it flew) and at 22.00 hours on the 21st there were no fewer than 42 Fw 190s of NSG 20 at Hangelar, 17 of them unserviceable.


Information from a succession of salvage and serviceability reports deciphered by the British Government Code and Cipher School.

The first two aircraft were included in a report from Airfield Region Command 4/VI to the Luftgau Engineer.

Allied analysts noted that the other reports appeared to be from a detachment (Kommando?) of III./KG 51 to the Gruppe. The unit had been temporarily divided at this point between Bonn-Hangelar and Germersheim, around 200 km to the south.

All times are GMT.


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