Transport squadron 5
|
Kampfgeschwader zbV 323 |
|
|---|---|
| active | August 1942 to July 1944 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | air force |
| Branch of service | Air force |
| Type | Transport squadron |
| structure | Squadron staff and 3 groups |
| equipment |
Messerschmitt Me 323 Junkers Ju 52 Arado Ar 232 |
| Squadron commodors | |
| First commodore | Colonel Gustav Damm |
The Transportgeschwader 5 was an association of the Luftwaffe in World War II . It was originally set up as Kampfgeschwader zbV 323 from August 1942 .
Lineup
The I. Group of the Combat Squadron for Special Use 323 (KG zbV 323) was reorganized in August 1942. In November, the II. Group of KG zbV 323 was formed, from the formerly independent combat group zbV 104. As the last in February 1943, the III. Group from the combat group zbV 900 set up. A Geschwaderstab KG zbV 323 did not exist. All three groups flew with the Messerschmitt Me 323 .
In May 1943 the three groups were assigned to I. to III. Group of the Transportgeschwader 5 renamed and a corresponding squadron staff set up. The three groups continued to fly mainly with the Messerschmitt Me 323 and a few Junkers Ju 52s . Only the second group flew in April / May 1944 with five Arado Ar 232s , which then had to be returned.
The squadron identification was C8. The squadron was disbanded in July 1944.
history
The combat group zbV 900 moved in October 1942 to the Tazinskaja airfield ( Lage ) in the south of the Eastern Front. There she was subordinate to Luftflotte 4 and served with her around 50 Junkers Ju 52 from November to supply the units encircled in the Battle of Stalingrad .
The formation of the squadron is closely linked to the delivery of the Messerschmitt Me 323, which began in September 1942, and was the largest land-based transport aircraft of the Second World War .
The machines were used from November 1942 in the Mediterranean area from the Pomigliano d'Arco air base ( Lage ). From there they carried out supplies for the German and Italian troops fighting in North Africa . This often happened in larger groups of up to 100 machines (together with Junkers Ju 52 / 3m ), which were accompanied by Messerschmitt Bf 110 . Since the Allied air forces gained air superiority in this area, there were sometimes heavy losses. On April 22, 1943 alone, 14 Me 323s were shot down during a fuel transport at Cap Bon . Until September 1943, the operations took place in the Mediterranean area. About 65 Me 323 were lost and another 25 were damaged. From October 1943 the squadron was relocated to the Eastern Front.
From Warsaw ( Lage ) and from Biała Podlaska ( Lage ), it flew transports to Odessa , Tiraspol , Jasionka , Galatz and other places in the south of the Eastern Front. On April 13, 1944, it moved to Ziliştea ( Lage ) in Romania . Above all, Sevastopol was approached, with constant hunting and bombing attacks by the enemy. On the way there, day and night, it was mainly ammunition, food and supplies, while the wounded were transported back. The evacuation of the Crimea was completed on May 12th.
Commanders
Squadron commodors
| Rank | Surname | time |
|---|---|---|
| Colonel | Gustav Damm | May 1943 to 1944 |
| Colonel | Guido Neundlinger | 1944 to July 1944 |
Group commanders
- I. group
- Major Günther Mauss, May 1943 to August 1944
- II group
- Captain Werner Stephan, May 1943 to June 5, 1943
- Captain Fritz Bartel, June 5, 1943 to January 1944
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).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45, Russia (incl. Ukraine, Belarus & Bessarabia) , pp. 718-721 , accessed on May 29, 2020.
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45, Italy, Sicily and Sardinia , pp 184-185 , accessed on 30 March 2020th
- ↑ War diary of the Wehrmacht High Command (Wehrmacht Command Staff), Volume I 1943, study edition, Herrsching 1982, pages 373, 419 (reports from the General Staff of the Air Force, April 22 and May 2, 1943).
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Poland , pp. 58-59 , accessed on March 30, 2020.
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Poland , S. 4-5 , accessed on June 28 of 2019.
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Luftwaffe Airfields 1935–45 Romania , pp. 53–54 , accessed on June 24, 2019.