1./NAG 1 (page 1)

10 December 1944

The Aerodrome Command at Lagendiebach reports to Luftgau XIV in Wiesbaden that four officers and 68 other ranks of 1./NAG 1 (formerly 1.(F)/121) have that day left Grosskrotzenburg (11 km. south of Langendiebach) for Herzogenaurach.

10 January 1945

Strength return from 1./NAG 1 at Herzogenaurach:

Bf 109 G-5	2 (1)
Bf 109 G-6	6 (6)
Bf 109 G-8	1 (1)
Ar 96 B-7	1 (1)
Crews: 3 (1), none of them operational.
NOTE: Stab, 1. and 2./NAG 6 also file reports from Herzogenaurach on this date: the Stab has one unserviceable Me 262 amongst its complement of aircraft.

22 January 1945

Gen.d.A. notes that Hauptmann Werner Wilke is being transferred from commanding NAG 12 in Yugoslavia to take over as Kommandeur of NAG 1.

18 February 1945

Stab NAG 1 is ordered to transfer to Hennef near Bonn..

21 February 1945

An entry in the War Diary of the General der Auklärungsflieger notes that Oblt. Knoll, Staffelkapitän of 1./NAG 1 has been killed in a crash near Lechfeld.

NOTE: The General Quartiermeister 6. Abteilung recorded Knoll’s rank as Leutnant and his unit as Stab/NAG 6. His aircraft was Me 262 A-1 W.Nr. 110565 and the location of the crash was south west of Landsberg am Lech (so probably within about 15 km. of Lechfeld aerodrome). Regarding his rank, in October 1944, Knoll was an Oberleutnant with 1.(F)/121, which became 1./NAG 1 that November. According to German War Graves records, Oberleutnant Wilhelm Knoll is buried at Schwabstadtl, just south of Lechfeld.

2 March 1945

Gen.d.A. notes Stab NAG 1’s destination as Hennef-Sieg.

4 March 1945

Gen.d.A. records a change of destination for Staffeln re-equipping [presumably with the Me 262]: Stab NAG 1 is to go to Lippe.

9 March 1945

Gen.d.A. notes that 1./NAG 1 is to be brought up to Rhein-Main.

14 March 1945

Gen.d.A. diary entry: 1./NAG 1 is to transfer from Herzogenaurach to Rhein-Main.

15 March 1945

Luftflotte Reich signals that that ground elements of 1./NAG 1 are being transferred from Herzogenaurach to Rhein-Main. On arrival, the Staffel is to be subordinated in all respects, to Luftwaffenkommando West. Flying elements will be brought up later after conclusion of their training and allocation of their Me 262s.

Reading this signal, Allied Intelligence notes that 1./NAG 1 has apparently not been operational since being renamed from 1.(F)/121 in November 1944 and that this is the first intercepted reference to its impending equipment with Me 262.

20 March 1945

Gen.d.A. records that 1./NAG 1’s destination is now Fritzlar-Nord.

23 March 1945

Gen.d.A. notes that Stab NAG 1 and 1./NAG 13 are to be re-equipped with the Me 262 in Lechfeld and that the Chief of Supply will be asked to make the first allocation of equipment.

25 March 1945

Gen.d.A. notes that 1./NAG 1 is expected to transfer to its new operational base at Fritzlar-Nord today.

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navtag

AUTHOR'S NOTE

A chronology drawn mainly from the surviving pages of the General der Aufklärungsflieger's War Diary and deciphered German signals traffic.