hucks216

Leutnant Joseph Springer of 8./NJG 4 is credited with one night victory and one day victory. According to the books I mentioned before, there were only 2 kills credited to NJG 4 on the night of 31st Aug/1st Sept 1943 and both were claimed by Major Wilhelm Herget of Stab I / NJG 4 for his 42nd & 43rd kills.

I've been able to find this colour profile for an aircraft belonging to 7./NJG-4 dated for 1943/44 from http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/318/2/0

According to www.ww2.dk II/NJG 4 were using Bf-110's at this time before also using Ju-88G's from August 1944 but obviously Jeremy will have far more details as he has the flugbuch. It might even be possible to find images of some of his aircraft (long shot perhaps but sometimes possible) if Jeremy could list some of the aircraft side numbers that should be listed in the flugbuch.

Happy to help. When does the Flugbuch go up to? If it goes up to wars end does it show any other kills (maybe he transferred to another crew?) Oblt. Richard Delakowitz seems to got off to quite a prolific start and then nothing from June 1944 even though he survived the war.

Just in case you don't have them, here are the details for those 7 kills... 1) 24 February 1944 - Lancaster - 5km N Tuebingen: Alt Unknown - Time 2240 - Unknown 2) 31 March 1944 - Lancaster - Malmedy-St Vith-Gahlem area: Alt Unknown - Time 0013 - 467 Sqdn LM376 or 550 Sqdn LM425 3) 31 March 1944 - Lancaster - 10km S Fulda: Alt Unknown - Time 0050 - Probably 460 Sqdn Lancaster ND361 4) 4 May 1944 - Lancaster - 12km SW-E Chalons-sur-Marne: Alt 2,800m - Time 0021 - possible 460 Sqdn Lancaster LM531 5) 4 May 1944 - Lancaster - 12km SW-E Chalons-sur-Marne: Alt 3,300m - Time 0022 - possible 460 Sqdn Lancaster LM531 6) 4 May 1944 - Lancaster - 20km SW-SE Chalons-sur-Marne: Alt 100m - Time 0031 - possible 460 Sqdn Lancaster JB741 7) 25 June 1944 - Lancaster - 1km E Senlis, or Abbeville-Doullens: Alt 2,500m - Time 0038 - Unknown An interesting tally with a couple of nights showing multiple kills including 2 on the night RAF Bomber Command suffered its highest losses of the war during a raid on Nuernberg. And it seems as if he had a grudge against 460 Sqdn!! It looks like with Kills 4 & 5, one of them is unknown as the same aircraft is listed for both and an interesting altitude for kill number 6. Source: Nachtjagd War Diaries Vol 1 & 2 by Theo E.W.Boiten

Very nice grouping indeed. You don't see many WP/SB's for NJG aircrew who were actually part of an 'Ace' credited crew.

As well as keeping the French Fleet out of Axis hands it was also an important action with regards to showing the watching world, noteably the USA, that Britain still had the will, and intention, to fight at a time when it would of been easy to doubt this after the setbacks in the Norwegian & French Campaigns and with the threat of an impending invasion.

Fantastic! :beer:

POLIZEI BATAILLON 303 Place of origin: Bremen-Oberneuland Formed in: Bremen, from the Polizei-Ausbildungs-Bataillon "Bremen" Activation date: November 1940 Battalion Commander: Maj. Heinrich Hannibal Disbanding/reorganization date: reorganized in July 1942 – it become II/Pol.-Rgt. 10 Involvement in Crimes: 1) Verified participations Stara Kostantinova area (*) Mop-ups, executions – 26-30 July 1941 – 814 victims – Jews, soviet soldiers Chudniv Slaughter – beginning of September 1941 – about 100 victims – Jews Zhitomir Slaughter – 18/19 September 1941 – about 3.145 victims – Jews Babi Yar Slaughter – 29/30 September 1941 – 33.771 victims – Jews Miropol and Zolotonosha Slaughters – October/November 1941 – about 1.000 victims – Jews Unspecified places 28 executions at least – Summer/Autumn 1941 – 2.583 victims – Jews Unspecified place Slaughter – Autumn 1941 – about 1.000÷1.500 victims – Jews 2) Alleged participation Baranovka, Dubrovka and Izyaslav Slaughters – 25 August 1941 – 1.342 victims – Jews Unspecified place, between Rovno and Zhitomir Slaughter – 27 August 1941 – 549¸ 914 victims – Jews Unspecified place, between Rovno and Zhitomir Slaughter – 28 August 1941 – 369 victims – Jews Unspecified place, between Rovno and Zhitomir Slaughter – 1 September 1941 – 88 victims – Jews Schepetowka Slaughter – 2 September 1941 – 45 victims – Jews Khazhin Slaughter – 4 September 1941 – 4.144 victims – Jews Unspecified place, between Rovno and Zhitomir Slaughter – 6 September 1941 – 144 victims – Jews Unspecified place, between Rovno and Zhitomir Slaughter – 11 September 1941 – 1.548 victims – Jews Unspecified place, between Rovno and Zhitomir Slaughter – 12 September 1941 – 1.255 victims – Jews (*) Not directly involved Source: http://www.ordnungspolizei.org/index...mid=55&lang=en

Einsatz slip image 5...

Einsatz slip image 4...

Einsatz slip image 3...

Feldpost Numbers: 38101B - 1./Pol.Btl 303 36524 - Stab/Pol.Rgt Sud 41265 - Wasserschutzpolizei Asowsches Meer I have been able to identify some of the signatures that relate to Polizei Btl 303 & Polizei Rgt Sud either on the Einsatz slips or in the Dienstpass: 1st Kompanie Pol.Btl 303 – Kompaniefuhrer: Oberleutnant Oswald Altendorf Hauptmann d. Schupo Walter Lindeck Polizei Rgt Sud: Hauptmann d.Sch Hermann Berentsen

Two of the separate slips of paper show that Karrasch participated in 'Cleaning' operations in Kiev between 23/09/1941 & 15/10/1941 thereby proving that he was with Polizei Btl 303 during the Aktion at Babi Yar although it is impossible to know whether he was one of the 'Packers', shooters or whether he took part in some other related task. Karrasch's performance with Pol.Btl 303 was assessed as 'Very Good'. He was awarded the Eastern Front Medal.

After Babi Yar, the unit continued to murder Jews in numerous towns and villages including Vinnitsa, Poltava & Dnepropetrovsk. By the end of January 1942 they were executing Jews in the region around Kharkov. In August 1942 Karrasch finally left Polizei Btl 303 and in November was posted to the Wasserschutzpolizei training school at Stettin. After completing his training he was assigned to a variety of Wassershutzpolizei units, first in Russia and then at various locations around the Adriatic, including Trieste conducting anti-partisan operations. It is very possible that he was involved in further Holocaust related activities as his unit came under the overall command of HSSPF Trieste Odilo Globocnik who transferred a number of those involved in Aktion Reinhard to the region with him. What happened to him after May 1944 is not revealed by the Dienstpass and if he survived the war why he would keep such an incriminating piece of documentation is anyone's guess..

The following is taken from Masters Of Death: The SS Einsatzgruppen by Richard Rhodes (ISBN: 1-903985-56-0) (Pages 174-178): Jeckeln had planned the Babi Yar Aktion along the same basic lines as the Kamenets-Podolsky massacre. When the first Jews approached the Jewish cemetery on the morning of 29th September 1941, Sonderkommando 4a, two commandos of Polizei Rgt Sud [Polizei Btl’s 45 & 303] and Ukrainian militia were waiting for them. Testimony from a truck driver (name of Hoefer): “Once undressed, the Jews were led into Babi Yar. Two or three narrow entrances led to this ravine through which the Jews were channelled. When they reached the bottom of the ravine they were seized by members of the Schutzpolizei [the Polizei Btl’s] and made to lie down on top of Jews who had already been shot. This all happened very quickly. The corpses were literally in layers. A police marksman came along and shot each Jew in the neck with a submachine gun at the spot where he was lying….There was a ‘packer’ at either entrance to the ravine. These ‘packers’ were Schutzpolizisten whose job it was to lay the victim on top of the other corpses so that al the marksman had to do as he passed was fire a shot.” An Einsatzgruppen report on 2nd October 1941 summarized the Babi Yar Aktion brazenly, not even bothering to justify it as retaliation [for the recent explosions in Kiev after German forces had occupied the city]: Sonderkommando 4a in collaboration with the group staff and two commandos of Police Regiment South on 29th & 30th September 1941 executed 33,771 Jews in Kiev.

Erich Karrasch was an NCO in Polizei Btl 303 which he had joined on 9th September 1940 at a time when it was stationed in the Generalgouvernement. Two days after the start of Operation Barbarossa Polizei Btl 303 was sent to Russia as part of Polizei Regiment Sud (the other two battalion's in this regiment were Pol.Btls. 45 & 314). Polizei Regiment Sud was assigned to Einsatzgruppen C and participated in the numerous Aktions against the Jewish populations of the newly conquered lands. Reports show: 25 August: Pol.Rgt Sud shot 1,324 Jews 27 August: Pol.Rgt Sud shot 1,463 Jews ...and so on through the remainder of August & September including shooting 3,145 Jews at Zhitomir on 19th September. However it was on the dates of 29 & 30th September that Pol.Rgt Sud firmly placed its name in the history of the Holocaust with the massacre of over 33,000 Jews at Babi Yar.

And now another one of my favourite acquisitions of the year although it is connected with the darker side of WW 2 history. It is a Polizei Dienstpass to a member of Polizei Btl 303 which as part of Polizei Rgt Sud participated in the Jewish massacre at Babi Yar, and as the dates & Einsatz slips show, this man was there at the time although in what capacity he participated is not known as far as I am aware.

Thank you for translating that. His luck might not of been so good after all!

And finally - of the 15 or so photos that came with the group this is my personal favourite and is a rare photo of Teifke wearing an assault gun type wrapper with his GD & Sturmboot Pionier insignia...

Photo 3 - Teifke in a more formal pose taken sometime between March & August 1942 seeing as he is not yet wearing his Infantry Assault Badge...

Photo 2 - a good image of Teifke wearing the Sturmboot Pionier insignia on his upper left arm...

Photo 1 - Guenter Teifke is the soldier sitting on the left of the image (as you look at it)...

Teifke's insignia...

And the wound tag that saw Guenter Teifke evacuated away from the fighting in the East and escape Russian captivity, or death, in the final battles in East Prussia.