hucks216

Hackl is the one on the left with his newly received RK.

Thank you. I do have those books but hadn't got round to scanning in the entry. The photo however is that of Helmut Benkendorff rather than Bellof. Here is an image of the two RKT of NSG-3, Hackl & Bellof...

Nachtschlachtgruppe 3 was formed in mid-October 1943 at Gatchina airfield which is located to the south-west of Leningrad and consisted of such aircraft as the Ar-66, Go-145 and He-46 and continued from where Störkampfgruppe Luftflotte 1 left off, NSGr-3 flew night operations, mainly in the area of Pskov. During the German retreat from the Leningrad area NSGr-3 saw its operations affected by the constant change of locations. In May 1944 Bellof won his next high award, the DKiG on 10th May 1944. By October 1944 NSGr-3 had reached Telsiai (north-west Lithuania) with 34 aircraft. A few days later it moved to Skrunda where it found itself cut off in the Kurland Pocket. In September 1944 Bellof was awarded the Bomber Clasp in Gold with Pendant and one month later received a telegram from Generalmajor Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein of 3. Flieger-Division with regards to completing 600 sorties. With its limited and diminishing resources it continued to support Heeresgruppe Nord/Kurland until the end of the war and in early February Bellof would, as an Oberfeldwebel, be awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. He was one of just two members of NSGr-3 to win the RK by wars end, the other being Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Leopold Hackl. His last award of the war was the Kurland Cuffband that he was awarded on 20th April 1945. Signatures seen on these items belong to Bruno Loerzer (DKiG), Karl-Franz Beushausen, Alfred Keller (RK), Major Boris von Maubeuge and Friedrich Rademacher. (Source used for unit details: Dive-Bomber & Ground-Attack Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945 Vol 2 by Henry L. de Zeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey)

It has been a fair while since I showed a grouping from my collection so here is one of the most recent. It consists of the Wehrpass, Citations and a few extras for a pilot in a night ground attack unit but not just any pilot. This pilot going by the name of Ludwig Bellof won the Knights Cross, German Cross in Gold & Ehrenpokal with 1./Nachtschlachtgruppe 3, a unit which flew 'nuisance' raids using such obsolete aircraft as the Ar-66 and Go-145 in a similar fashion to the well known Soviet Po-2 'Sewing Machine' of earlier war years on the Eastern Front. The only citations missing are the prelim RK & Kurland Cuffband examples but it is impossible to know if they were ever issued in the first place or have become lost/seperated over time. Ludwig Bellof was originally a member of the Heer before WW-2 which included a spell with Pz.Abwehr-Abteilung 36 but before the war he transferred over to the Luftwaffe and commenced his flying training. This was the time when the fuel & war situation was such that the Germans could afford to give pilots a full and thorough training and so it was that Bellof would attend numerous training schools and courses from the beginning of 1939 to the end of 1942, a full 3 years and more including time at Jagdgruppe Drontheim and Aufkl.Fl.Schule Brieg. Completing his training in November 1942 Bellof was assigned to 2./Störkampfgruppe Luftflotte 1. This unit was set up in October 1942 in the area of Leningrad to copy the Soviet tactics of sending small, slow aircraft over enemy lines at night to conduct nuisance raids keeping the enemy soldiers on edge and to deprive them of sleep. A lot of the time the pilots of such units would fly up to 4 or 5 sorties in one night with probably the best sortie ratio being achieved in March 1943 when the Gruppe flew 3,052 sorties in 22 nights - an average of 138 sorties per night for the Gruppe!! In October 1943 Störkampfgruppe Luftflotte 1 was renamed Nachtschlachtgruppe 3 with 2./Störkampfgruppe Luftflotte 1 becoming 1./Nachtschlachtgruppe 3. By this time Bellof had already been awarded both grades of the EK and up to the Bomber Clasp in Gold, and a few days after the renaming to 1./Nachtschlachtgruppe 3 he was awarded the Ehrenpokal.

I think groupings each deserve their own thread so the owner can present it properly and provide all the information they have (or seek) rather than one single thread which will eventually become clogged up. It has been a while since I presented a grouping so will do so shortly.

I'm just complying with the title of the thread. Where these examples are part of a set I have the other citations as well ranging from one extra citation to 9 or so.

Another NKSiS variant from GD.

A large sized variant from StuG.Abt GD...

I can't say that I have ever seen such a citation printed as a mirror image like that. I wouldn't be comfortable with it being a genuine WW-2 item.

Very nice example and as mentioned, very rare. I wonder what the provision was for issuing such citations instead of the normal EK citation, i.e. why single out a particular soldier for this issue when others received the normal variant of citation for a posthumous issue? Interesting that it was issued a full year after the mans deeds.

Very nice example. I have a couple of SB to these Admin type guys and they are always chock full of entries, sometimes far more than those carried by combat troops. The signature of the Generalmajor on page 15 is Kurt Marlow who commanded Artillerie-Regiment 614 at the beginning of the war.

A great set of photos. They did indeed have camels in the Soviet Union, in the southern regions I believe.

Yep, my mistake. I did actually put Btl for the Pinkernell entry so 1 out of 2 isn't bad! : D

SS-Hauptsturmführer Friedrich Pinkernell. Born: 08 Oct 1912 Highest rank reached: SS-Sturmbannführer 9./LSSAH IVa SS-Pz.Pi.Btl 12 'Hitlerjugend' Image: Soldbuch

SS-Obersturmführer Herbert Bischoff. Born: 06 Mar 1910 Highest rank reached: SS-Hauptsturmführer 18./LSSAH Chef 4./SS-Pz.Pi.Btl 12 ' Hitlerjugend' Image: Soldbuch

Can anyone help to identify this signature of a Hauptmann and Kompanie-Chef of 1./Pz.Abw.Abt 36 dated for 1937 please? I have checked the 03-Jan-1939 listing on the off chance he still held the same position but can not see anything that fits.

Thanks, it is a nice set indeed!

I can't say as I only have the Wolf Keilig version in its entirety that contains 408 Pages and only goes down to Major. However there is a version that goes down to the rank of Hauptmann which may well account for the extra pages but for that one I only have the Hauptmann listing and not the whole publication.

Hauptmann Friedrich Rademacher. Kdr NSGr 12 (Lettisch) Staffelkapitän 1./NSGr-3 Image: Wehrpass

Generalmajor Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein. Born: 14 Sep 1903 Died: 02 Jun 1972 Chef Ausb.Abt.(3.Abt.)/Gen.St.d.Lw Gruppenkommandore I./KG 27 Gen.stabs-Offizier im OKW Abt.Landesverteidigung Chef des Gen.stabs des X. Fl.Korps Chef des Gen.stabs des Lw.Kdo. Südost Chef des Gen.stabs des Lw.-Bef.Mitte Chef des Gen.stabs der Lfl. Reich Kdr 3.Flieger-Div (Details taken from LW Officer Career Lists by Larry & Doug) DKiG - 19 May 1943 Image: Citation

It is possible that it was another NSKK unit but also possible that the admin staff never got around to putting in the entry. Some pictures of the item in question would be good to see.

Major Boris von Maubeuge. Born: 1902 Highest rank reached: Oberstleutnant Staffelkapitän 1./KG-2 Kdr Störkampfgruppe Luftflotte 1 Stab/General der Nahkampfflieger Inspekteur d.Inspizient der Nachtschlacht beim General der Schlachtflieger Kdt Fliegerhorst.Kdtr. A(o) 104/XI (Details taken from LW Officer Career Lists by Larry & Doug) Image: Citation

Generalmajor Hans Jeschonnek. Born: 09 Apr 1899 Died: 18 Aug 1943 - committed suicide Highest rank reached: Generaloberst Generalstabschef der Luftwaffe Chef des Luftwaffen-Führungsstabs RK - 27 Oct 1939 Image: Citation

Generaloberst Alfred Keller. Born: 19 Sep 1882 Died: 11 Sep 1974 Kdr 4.Flieger-Division Kdr IV Fliegerkorps Befehlshaber Luftflotte 1 Führer-Reserve des OKL Korpsführer des NS-Flieger-Korps RK - 24 Jun 1940 Pour le Mérite Combined Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamond Image: Citation

All three grades with an additional Gold mit Anhänger citation to a Knights Cross, DKiG & Ehrenpokal winner...