Combat Squadron 55
Combat Squadron 55 |
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Squadron badge |
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active | May 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945 |
Country | 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 ).
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 |
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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 |
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Kless, Friedrich | major | II./KG 55 | October 14, 1940 | |
Thurner, Hans | lieutenant | III./KG 55 | August 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 | April 2, 1943 | |
Luxenburg, Josef | First lieutenant | 4./KG 55 | April 3, 1943 | |
Mylius, Wilhelm | Captain | 6./KG 55 | April 3, 1943 | |
Placzek, Franz | Sergeant Major | 2./KG 55 | April 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 | September 3, 1943 | November 18, 1944 |
Boos, Johann | Sergeant Major | 9./KG 55 | October 9, 1943 | |
Seib, Robert | First lieutenant | 6./KG 55 | October 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 | April 5, 1944 | |
Braun, Willi | Flagship Sergeant | 4./KG 55 | June 9, 1944 | |
Dietrich, Gerhard | Flagship Sergeant | Bar / KG 55 | June 9, 1944 | |
Schmidt, Werner | Captain | 9./KG 55 | August 19, 1944 | |
King, Viktor | sergeant | 14. (ice.) / KG 55 | October 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 | December 6, 1944 | |
Banholzer, Alfred | Captain | 1./KG 55 | January 14, 1945 | |
Dettke, Oskar | Captain | 9./KG 55 | April 7, 1945 | |
Südel, Heinrich | First lieutenant | I./KG 55 | April 7, 1945 | |
Shepherd, Karl | Sergeant Major | 14. (ice) / KG 55 | April 16, 1945 |
Known squadron members
- Wilhelm Antrup (1910–1984), was in 1966, as Brigadier General of the Air Force of the Bundeswehr , head of the Air Force University of Applied Sciences
- Hermann Josef von dem Bongart (1897–1952) was a marksman and vice world champion in clay target shooting
- Hans-Wolrad Dölling (* 1916), Brigadier General of the German Air Force
- Karl Düsterberg (1917–2014) founded the company apetito in Rheine in 1958
- Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942), was SS-Obergruppenführer and general of the police , head of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) and Deputy Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia
- Gerhard Jungmann (1910–1981), was a member of the German Bundestag for the CDU from 1961 to 1972, where he was Deputy Chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Health Care
- Ernst Kühl (1888–1972), was a member of the expert committee for the restructuring of the federal territory and personnel expert committee in 1955
- Horst Rudat (1920–1982), was from 1977 to 1980, as major general of the air force of the German armed forces, commander of the air transport command
- Heinz-Bernhard Zorn (1912-1993) was as Major General of the National People's Army (NVA) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) 24 years in the development and expansion of the air forces of the NVA involved
literature
- Wolfgang Dierich: The air force associations 1935-1945 . Outlines and short chronicles one document. Ed .: Wolfgang Dierich. Verlag Heinz Nickel , Zweibrücken 1993, ISBN 3-925480-15-3 (703 pages).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Wolfgang Dierich, p. 128.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Ulf Balke: The aerial warfare in Europe 1939-1941 . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-591-6 , p. 408 (1057 pp.).
- ↑ a b c Wolfgang Dierich, p. 129.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ AV Fedorčuk: Jaroslavl'. Istorija tvoego goroda , Akademija Razvitij, ISBN 5-7797-0630-1 , p. 79
- ^ 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.
- ↑ Horst Boog: The German Empire and the Second World War. Volume 7. 2001, p. 364.