Battle group Kuhlmey

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A Ju 87D-5, the 1./SG 3 in Immola (June 21, 1944)

The detachment kuhlmey (named after Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Kuhlmey , the former commodore of the squadron battle 3) was in the Second World War, one of several units of the Air Force compiled a battle group that existed from June to August 1944, and in Finland operated. He supported the Finnish armed forces in repelling a major attack by the Red Army on the Karelian Isthmus ( Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation ). The Finnish name of the association is: Lento-osasto Kuhlmey .

When the attack by the Red Army began on June 9, 1944, Marshal Mannerheim asked Germany for help because of the critical situation. As a result, Adolf Hitler sent the battle group to Finland on June 12th, where it arrived on June 16th at the airfield in Immola (now part of Imatra ). The association was supplemented by associations already stationed in Petsamo . Thus, the entire airfield was available to the battle group. The aircraft operated around the clock, 10–15 km behind the Russian battle lines. The Finnish leadership set the target. During the five weeks of fighting on the Karelian Isthmus, the unit carried out 1242 Stuka and Jabo missions and the hunter component 702 free hunting missions. 577 tons of bombs were dropped, about 150 enemy machines were shot down, and about 200 tanks, bridges and supply transports were destroyed. 23 of the unit's pilots died and 24 were seriously injured. The unit itself lost 41 machines, 27 of which were destroyed in battle.

The flight association usually consisted of 60 to 70 aircraft, but the exact strength in the individual missions varied depending on availability due to losses as well as supplies and troop strength. The following departments and machines were added to the association from Finland:

  • I./SG 3: 33 St. Junkers Ju 87 D5 Stuka
  • II./JG 54 (4th and 5th season): 29-62 St. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 fighter pilots from Estonia .
  • I./SG 5 (1st season): 16 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F-3 and F-8 fighter-bombers from Alakurtti.
  • Parts of NaGr 5 (close-up reconnaissance group 5): 8 Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-8 reconnaissance machines
  • The unit included a TGr transport machine group. 10, which consisted of 35 Savoia Marchetti SM.81 / AR , as well as a number of transport, liaison and reconnaissance machines.

Most of the squadron was withdrawn from Finland on July 23, 1944. I./SG 5 stayed until August 13, 1944.

A memorial stone was inaugurated on July 23, 1994 in memory of the Kuhlmey battle group at the Immola airfield.

literature

  • Lena Schön: Combat group Kuhlmey . German-Finnish Rundschau June 2005
  • Hannu Valtonen: Lento-Osasto Kuhlmey. Saksan Air Force suomen tukena kesällä 1944 . Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo, Tikkakoski 1991, ISBN 951-95688-1-6 , ( Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseon julkaisuja 2), (2nd corrected edition: ibid. 2007, ISBN 978-952-999890-6 , ( Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseon julkaisuja 2 B)).
  • Kari Stenman: The short saga of Battle Unit Kuhlmey . In: AIR Enthusiast Thirty-four, September - December 1987, pp. 1–6

Web links

Commons : Detachment Kuhlmey  - collection of images, videos and audio files