Luftwaffe Luftwaffe Document Set

[Gordon Williamson]

As predominantly a KM enthusiast I don't usually look at Luft stuff, but for reasons that will become obvious, couldn't resist this set which is on its way to me now.

Award Doc for Bomber Clasp in Bronze

[Gordon Williamson]

Bomber Clasp in Silver

[Gordon Williamson]

Bomber Clasp in Gold

[Gordon Williamson]

Air Gunner

[Gordon Williamson]

EK2

[Gordon Williamson]

EK1

[Gordon Williamson]

Air Gunner Ausweis , so we know what he looked like too.

[Gordon Williamson]

So, apart from being a really nice set, why is it so interesting to a KM collector

Well, its the unit.

KG40 was equipped with the FW200 "Condor" which flew anti-shipping strikes, often in collaboration with the U-Boats.

In addition, this unit flew supply missions into Stalingrad !

His final unit 3/KG40, flew the Heinkel He177 ( the "Flying Coffin") equipped with Henschel guided bombs, and attacked the allied landings in Normandy around D-Day !

[Chris Boonzaier]

Nice group with interesting research potential.

As the British are so famous for soldiers nicknames... cant help wondering what his would have been if he had been serving in the RAF...

"So jerry came out of the sun and old Bunghole Bünger gave him a burst of rounds...."

[Simon Orchard]

Ah, so that's where the group went. Been with Weitze for quite a while, i kept thinking about getting it but something else always came up.

Actually, 3./KG 40 remained in Norway, at Trondheim Værnes and continued to operate the Fw-200, one of the last staffels to do so. sometime after July '44 and before Oct '44 it ceased to have that designation as airworthy aircraft and fuel restricted operations. By the end of the war it was reduced to the name of 2. aufklärungsschwarme Condor, there was also a Transport staffel Condor which i believe had most of the Norwegian condors in the final months.

Judging by the small note from June '45 which lists his awards and is included in the group he clearly survived the war, but i can't quite make out the de-nazified stamp. something like Kdo d. ........ d. LW. and Stab d. .... .... gr. ??

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Simon

Yeah, I was in the same position. Kept looking and thinking "Should I ?" Then I decided that if I didn't bite the bullet and do something, by the time I had decided, someone else would have taken it.

According to

http://www.ww2.dk/air/kampf/kg40.htm

3/KG40 was reformed in Fassberg in January 1943 and re-equipped with the He177. Perhaps the Aufklärungsschwarme you refer to was the remnants of the Condor aircraft of the "old" 3/KG40.

To be honest its the Condor that fascinates me, so I'm not too concerned if references to 3/KG40 using the "Greif" are wrong.

I've seen references to both the Condor and Greif being used on resupply missions at Stalingrad and for sure both 1/KG40 and 3/KG40 formed part of KGz.b.V. 200 under Major Williers, based in Stalino and flying supplies into Pitomnik. If 3/KG40 did re-equip with the Greif in Jan 43, it would explain references to these aircraft being used at Stalingrad.

Here's the stamp on the small typewritten sheet. The top part is "Kdo. d. Schiffe u. Boote d. Lw.". Can't make out the lower part. this unit was involved in mine clearing after the end of the war so he may well have been employed on this type of work after the surrender.

[Simon Orchard]

Hi Gordon

If you look through the various strength returns for the luftwaffe in Norway at www.luftwaffe.no you will find 3./KG 40 and it's successors. Also worth a look is the linked Nordic aviation losses site which tabulates all the LW losses in Norway\Finland.

I know the owner of the site, and i know that his information is straight from original LW returns.

Edited March 17, 2010 by Simon Orchard

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the info. Most interesting.

Certainly seems to be a lot of contradictory info out there.

Had a look at Nafziger which at one point also states

A new 1. and 3./KG40 began forming in Fassberg with He 177 bombers from 1.43

Then implies the whole of I/KG40 at Vaernes with the HE177 from July through to October 44

Then contradicts this with 3/KG40 at Vaernes from Nov 43 "probably still with the Fw200".

I suppose the determining thing is when he transferred from 2/KG40 to 3/KG40. The www.luftwaffe.no site shows 1 and 2/KG40 as being equippped with the He177 in the data for 1944 but no info for earlier than that.

I imagine he could have flown He177 while with 2/KG40 in early 43 after it re-eqippped but would certainly have been back on Fw200s by the end, when with 3/KG40

So he was either Fw200 - He177- Fw200, or simply Fw200 all the way.

Do you know of any German sources which list the actual aircraft codes, and crew allocated to them ? I know the unit code is F8.

A google search reveals several results which quote full aircraft codes include the names of some crew so presumably the info is on record somewhere, probably the Bundesarchiv.

[J Temple-West]

A very nice set, G

Found quite a nice doc' of (Stab) Kampfgeschwader 40.

Also, a link that may be of interest.

http://www.9thflottilla.de/9kg40.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqly1pHyZ5E

[Gordon Williamson]

Cracking film clip John, thanks for that. Some really interesting shots of the Air Gunner in the ventral gondola !

[nesredep]

A very nice set, G

Found quite a nice doc' of (Stab) Kampfgeschwader 40.

Also, a link that may be of interest.

http://www.9thflottilla.de/9kg40.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqly1pHyZ5E

Hello!

John

Interesting. :jumping:

All the best

Morten.

[Simon Orchard]

Gordon

When it comes to the LW in Norway, i'd go with the Norwegian researchers, like Olve Dybvig, Andreas Brekken and several others. These guys are seriously good. I could ask, occasionally you can find crewmembers. Years ago an Icelandic researcher provided me with operational reports from a crew from KG40 based on an EKI document i have, so it's not impossible.

If you note the stamp on the FFS in gold doc, Fliegerführer Nord (west) you can see he's clearly in North Norway in feb. 44 and as the staffel remained here, its not unreasonable to assume he did too, the june 45 doc is quite typical of post-may 45 'norwegian' documentation, though not exclusive to it of course.

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Simon,

I do indeed trust the information provided by the Norwegian researchers !

So, I am now working on the basis that this guy was still serving on one of the few remaining Condors right through to the end.

If any of your reseracher contacts could provide any additional info on this guy I'd be most grateful.

My ultimate goal would be that if the aircraft code for any aircraft he served on could be found, then I could try to find a photo of his actual aircraft.

All I know at this point is that KG40 aircraft had F8 as the first part of the code.

Never really tried researching Luftwaffe units to any great degree so wouldn't know where to start, though I did once own an RK grouping to a Luftwaffe night fighter pilot on Me110s and was able to find the tail gunner of a Halifax bomber he shot down during the action that won him his RK !.

[Simon Orchard]

Now i'm home i can add a little more from the book 'Flyalarm, luftkrigen over Norge 1939-1945' which includes a chapter on the Condor in Norway. It states that 3./KG40 was the only remaining staffel from KG40 that remained behind in Norway from Nov.43, it continued with the armed recce flights out to Iceland and close to Greenland (which ties in with his FFS in gold). In June '44 KG40 transferred from France to Norway with 23 Fw200 going to Værnes and 28 He177 to Gardermoen (which is Oslos main airport today. The 5th Aug.44 saw 3./KG 40 dissolved followed on the 27th Oct by the rest of KG40 with the exception of the 8 staffel, being sent back to Germany for conversion to the Me262. whilst all the He177 were also transferred, all the Fw200 were left in Norway and concentrated in 8./KG40, around 30 aircraft. They were used as transport aircraft as part of the German pull out from Finland. On the 28 Dec. 44 the airfield at Våler had 28 Fw200. Over time these were transferred away from Norway and were used for example in the evacuation of Kurland, so that Transportfliegerstaffel Condor was dissolved on the 3 March '45 and only a handful Condors remained.

[spanferkel]

Very nice document grouping Gordon and interesting back story.

Jeremy

[Taurus454]

Absolutely fantastic set. I really love sets like yours. I don't understand why sellers want to break up sets like that. I also love those old German films. That was one bad ass crew, didn't recognize the four engine aircraft, what was it?

Good hunting,

Tom

[Paul R]

I agree! This is the perfect airgunner set! I am glad that you decided to pick it up.

[Gordon Williamson]

Absolutely fantastic set. I really love sets like yours. I don't understand why sellers want to break up sets like that. I also love those old German films. That was one bad ass crew, didn't recognize the four engine aircraft, what was it?

Good hunting,

Tom

Tom,

The aircraft in the film clip is a Focke-Wulf Fw200 "Condor", exactly the type the guy in this document set served on. The aircraft in the clip is actually from his unit, KG40 with the distinctive ringed globe emblem below the cockpit and at one point you can just make out his squadron code F8 ahead of the cross on the fuselage. Who know, he may be one of the gunners you see in the clip !

[stgeorge64]

As the new owner of this set of documents, I was pointed to this thread by a fellow document collector.

I have a question relating to the 3 Frontflug-Spange citations which all bear the same signature, can anyone identify the signatory on these citations?

Any help at all will be very well received.

Regards Richard.

[speedytop]

Hi Richard,

Oberstleutnant/Oberst Hermann Busch.

Uwe