Combat Squadron 55

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Combat Squadron 55

Squadron emblem of Kampfgeschwader 55.jpg

Squadron badge
active May 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces air force
Branch of service Air force
Type Combat Squadron
structure Squadron staff and 4 groups
Location Staff Giessen
I. Group Langendiebach
II. Group Giessen
III. Group Neudorf
IV. (Supplementary) Group Dornstadt
Nickname Griffin Squadron
Aircraft type Heinkel He 111 , Messerschmitt Bf 109 , Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Second World War Invasion of Poland
Western campaign
Air battle for England
German-Soviet war
Squadron commodors
First commodore Major General Wilhelm Süssmann

The Kampfgeschwader 55 was an association of the Luftwaffe in World War II . Because of its coat of arms, it was also called the Greif Squadron.

Lineup

Kampfgeschwader 55 was created on May 1, 1939 from Kampfgeschwader 254, which was set up in Gießen ( Lage ) on November 1, 1938 . From the Geschwaderstab and the II./KG 254 the staff and the II./KG 55 emerged on May 1, 1939 in Giessen. The I. Group of the KG 55 formed on May 1, 1939 from the I./KG 254 in Langendiebach ( location ). III./KG 55 was created on November 1, 1939 in Neudorf near Oppeln ( Lage ) from parts of the other two groups. On April 1, 1940, the IV (supplementary) group was set up in Dornstadt ( Lage ). The squadron was equipped with the Heinkel He 111 . From September 1944 it was converted to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 . The squadron identification was G1.

history

At the beginning of the attack on Poland, Kampfgeschwader 55 was subordinate to the 4th Air Division of Air Fleet 2 . It was not used in the east. The ports of operation were Wesendorf ( Lage ) and Dedelstorf ( Lage ).

From May 10, 1940 to June 25, the squadron took part in the western campaign. For this purpose it was subordinate to the V Fliegerkorps of Air Fleet 3 . At the beginning it started from the air bases Leipheim ( Lage ), Baltringen ( Lage ) and Ehingen ( Lage ).

Shot down He 111 of the squadron staff

From June 25, 1940 to June 11, 1941, the squadron was involved in the Battle of Britain . It remained assigned to the 5th Air Corps of Air Fleet 3. It was initially on the places Villacoublay ( location ), Dreux ( location ) and Chartres ( location ). By October 31, it had lost 73 aircraft. In total, it flew 4,742 sorties over the British Isles . Target of attack were u. a. on August 26th Portsmouth , on August 28th Liverpool , on September 15th the Isle of Portland , on September 25th Bristol , September 26th Southampton , on September 13th and 14th. and 19./20. November Birmingham , on 14./15. November Coventry , on 3-4. January 1941 Manchester , and on 11/12. and 13./14. January London .

During the attack on the Soviet Union , the squadron was subordinate to the V Fliegerkorps in Air Fleet 4 and fought in the southern section of the Eastern Front. It was relocated to the central section at short notice only to take part in the air strikes on Moscow and then returned to the south. The fourth group, which remained in the west until February 1944, was an exception; She was stationed in Dijon ( Lage ).

At the turn of the year 1941/42, the entire squadron was on the French bases Melun-Villaroche ( Lage ), Saint-André-de-l'Eure ( Lage ) and Nantes ( Lage ) to be re-equipped . From April 1942, the I. Group from January, moved the squadron to the southern section of the Eastern Front. There it was subordinated to the 8th Air Corps of Air Fleet 4 and took part in the conquest of Sevastopol . Before the start of the German summer offensive in the southern section of the Eastern Front on June 28, 1942, the I. Group were in Stalino ( Lage ) and Charkow and the II. And III. Group in Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov. The squadron took part in the Caucasus campaign and the battle for Stalingrad until the beginning of 1943 .

In 1943 it took part in the air raids on Gorky and Yaroslavl from June 5th to 22nd . In night raids, together with other combat squadrons, the "Molotov" armored car plant and the Yaroslavl synthetic rubber plant were to be attacked. 282 people were killed in Gorki, 527 injured and 52 buildings of the plant were destroyed. In Yaroslavl, over 120 people were killed, around 150 others injured and over 200 buildings (including some of the rubber works) completely destroyed. Then the staff, the II. And III./KG 55 took part in the Citadel operation. Assigned to the 8th Air Corps under Luftflotte 4, they supported the southern attack wedge in the ultimately failed attack in the direction of Kursk . Group I was in Wiesbaden ( Lage ) from the end of May to the end of August to refresh .

On the night of 22./23. June 1944 attacked the squadron, together with the Kampfgeschwadern 4 , 27 and 53 the Poltava airfield ( Lage ), on which 114 Allied B-17 bombers were parked due to Operation Frantic . They destroyed 43 B-17s on the ground and damaged another 26. In addition, an ammunition depot and 900,000 liters of aviation fuel were destroyed.

The squadron remained in the southern section of the Eastern Front until 1944, only interrupted by brief refreshment phases. On August 12, 1944, the last mission on the Eastern Front was flown and the squadron relocated back to Germany. From September 1944 it was converted to fighter aircraft and used under the designation KG (J) 55. On May 8, 1945 the squadron was disbanded.

Commanders

Squadron commodors

Rank Surname time
Major general Wilhelm Süssmann May 1, 1939 to March 6, 1940
Colonel Alois Stoeckl March 7 to August 14, 1940
Lieutenant colonel Hans Korte August 15, 1940 to January 31, 1941
Lieutenant colonel Benno Kosch February 1, 1941 to August 26, 1942
Lieutenant colonel Ernst Cool August 27, 1942 to August 7, 1943
Lieutenant colonel Wilhelm Antrup August 8, 1943 to October 1, 1944

Group commanders

I. group
  • Colonel Joseph Brunner , May 1, 1939 to July 2, 1939
  • Major Max Heyna , July 3, 1939 to January 10, 1940
  • Major Walter Marienfeld, January 11, 1940 to June 24, 1940
  • Major Joachim Roeber, June 25, 1940 to February 13, 1941
  • Captain Otto Bodemeyer, February 14, 1941 to April 9, 1941
  • Major Rudolf Kiel, April 10, 1941 to January 6, 1943
  • Captain Hans-Günther Nedden, January 6, 1943 to May 1, 1943
  • Major Walter Traub, May 2, 1943 to October 20, 1943
  • Major Richard Brunner, October 21, 1943 to September 7, 1944
  • Major Joseph Schirmböck, September 8, 1944 to May 8, 1945
II group
  • Lieutenant Colonel Otto von Lachemair, May 1, 1939 to July 27, 1940
  • Major Friedrich Kless, July 28, 1940 to October 27, 1940
  • Major Hans-Joachim Gabriel, October 28, 1940 to March 31, 1941
  • Major Ernst Kühl , March 31, 1941 to August 26, 1942
  • Major Hans-Joachim Gabriel, August 27, 1942 to November 20, 1942
  • Major Heinz Höfer, November 27, 1942 to July 2, 1944
  • Major Wilhelm Mylius, July 3, 1944 to December 29, 1944
  • Major Johannes Herrmann, December 30, 1944 to May 8, 1945
III. group
  • Major Hans Schemmell, December 2, 1939 to September 30, 1940
  • Captain Heinrich Wittmer, October 1, 1940 to September 1, 1941
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Freiherr von dem Bongart , September 2, 1941 to September 7, 1942
  • Lieutenant Colonel Wolfgang Queisner, September 8, 1942 to May 5, 1943
  • Major Wilhelm Antrup , May 6, 1943 to August 7, 1943
  • Major Alfred Bollmann, August 8, 1943 to November 30, 1944
  • Major Gerhard Schrödter, December 1, 1944 to May 8, 1945
IV. Group
  • Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Schirmböck, August 2, 1940 to December 31, 1940
  • Captain Rudolf Kiel, January 1, 1941 to April 10, 1941
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Freiherr von dem Bongart, April 10, 1941 to September 1, 1941
  • Major Herbert Furchtmann, September 2, 1941 to February 2, 1942
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hans-Carl von Linsingen, February 3, 1942 to January 16, 1943
  • Major Richard Brunner, January 17, 1943 to April 15, 1943
  • Major Joseph Schirmböck, July 1943 to July 31, 1944
  • Captain Egon Schmidt, August 1, 1944 to November 20, 1944

Awards

Surname Rank unit Knight's cross Oak leaves
Kless, Friedrich major II./KG 55 October 14, 1940
Thurner, Hans lieutenant III./KG 55 0August 6, 1941 September 17, 1944
Karbe, Adalbert First lieutenant 3./KG 55 November 12, 1941
Wittmer, Heinrich Captain III./KG 55 November 12, 1941
Bliesener, Fritz lieutenant 5./KG 55 December 20, 1941
Kiel, Rudolf Captain I./KG 55 December 20, 1941
Cool, Dr. jur. serious Colonel of the reserve KG 55 October 17, 1942 December 18, 1943
Antrup, Wilhelm Captain 5./KG 55 November 13, 1942 November 18, 1944
Koller, Albert First lieutenant 4./KG 55 November 13, 1942
Lipp, Karl Sergeant Major 4./KG 55 November 16, 1942
Barth, Eitel-Albert First lieutenant 4./KG 55 March 24, 1943
Oberländer, Werner First lieutenant 2./KG 55 March 24, 1943
Mushroom, Walter sergeant 5./KG 55 March 24, 1943
Rudat, Horst First lieutenant 2./KG 55 March 24, 1943
Müller, Philipp Captain 1./KG 55 0April 2, 1943
Luxenburg, Josef First lieutenant 4./KG 55 0April 3, 1943
Mylius, Wilhelm Captain 6./KG 55 0April 3, 1943
Placzek, Franz Sergeant Major 2./KG 55 0April 3, 1943
Baumgartl, Erich First lieutenant 3./KG 55 July 31, 1943
Schmidt, Franz First lieutenant III./KG 55 August 19, 1943
Höfer, Heinrich Captain II./KG 55 0September 3, 1943 November 18, 1944
Boos, Johann Sergeant Major 9./KG 55 0October 9, 1943
Seib, Robert First lieutenant 6./KG 55 0October 9, 1943
Meyer, Otto Sergeant Major III./KG 55 February 29, 1944
Schmidtmann, Fritz Captain 4./KG 55 February 29, 1944
Bennemann, Hans First lieutenant 7./KG 55 March 26, 1944
Brennecke, Wilhelm Sergeant Major Staff II./KG 55 March 26, 1944
Bermadinger, Matthias First lieutenant 14./KG 55 0April 5, 1944
Braun, Willi Flagship Sergeant 4./KG 55 0June 9, 1944
Dietrich, Gerhard Flagship Sergeant Bar / KG 55 0June 9, 1944
Schmidt, Werner Captain 9./KG 55 August 19, 1944
King, Viktor sergeant 14. (ice.) / KG 55 0October 6, 1944
Veith, Alfred First lieutenant 5./KG 55 October 24, 1944
Bollmann, Fred Major d.Res. III./KG 55 October 29, 1944
Thoss, Werner First lieutenant 5./KG 55 October 29, 1944
Herkner, Erich lieutenant 14. (ice.) / KG 55 0December 6, 1944
Banholzer, Alfred Captain 1./KG 55 January 14, 1945
Dettke, Oskar Captain 9./KG 55 0April 7, 1945
Südel, Heinrich First lieutenant I./KG 55 0April 7, 1945
Shepherd, Karl Sergeant Major 14. (ice) / KG 55 April 16, 1945

Known squadron members

literature

Web links

Commons : Kampfgeschwader 55  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Wolfgang Dierich, p. 128.
  2. Bernhard R. Kroener : The German Reich and the Second World War , Volume 5/1, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-421-06232-3 , pp. 718-719.
  3. Ulf Balke: The aerial warfare in Europe 1939-1941 . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-591-6 , p. 408 (1057 pp.).
  4. a b c Wolfgang Dierich, p. 129.
  5. Leo Niehorster : German Air Force, Order of Battle, 4th Air Fleet, V Air Corps, June 22, 1941. October 28, 1999, accessed on January 8, 2017 (English).
  6. Horst Boog : The German Reich and the Second World War , The German Reich on the Defensive , Volume 7, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-421-05507-6 , p. 347.
  7. AV Fedorčuk: Jaroslavl'. Istorija tvoego goroda , Akademija Razvitij, ISBN 5-7797-0630-1 , p. 79
  8. ^ Karl-Heinz Frieser : The German Reich and the Second World War , Volume 8, The Eastern Front 1943/44 , Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , p. 91.
  9. Horst Boog: The German Empire and the Second World War. Volume 7. 2001, p. 364.