3./NAGr. 14
3./NAGr. 14
(Unit Code M9+)
Formation. (May 1944)
Ordered formed on or about 1 May 1944 at Bayreuth-Bindlach in Bavaria using personnel from 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 33 as cadre and new pilots from the operational training groups I. and II./NAG 102. Equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs and 183 officers and men. The Staffel’s actual formation may have taken place at Herzogenaurach.[1]
France and Germany. (May 1944 - December 1944)
April 1944: began the month with 7 Bf 110 G-3s but one of these was lost in action and the other 6 were turned in before the end of the month and replaced with 2 Bf 109 G-6s.
25 May 1944: at Herzogenaurach/Bavaria temporarily attached to Stab/NAGr. 8 forming up and training with its two G-6s.
15 Jun 44: effective immediately on arrival in W France via Mourmelon, ordered to move forward and collaborate directly with LXXXI. Armeekorps and it subordinate units. (CX/MSS/T217/2 and 3)
17 Jun 44: ordered by Luftflotte 3 to transfer to Chartres for subordination to Stab/NAGr. 13. (ULTRA KV8461)
26 June 1944: after receiving 12 new Bf 109 G-8s from the factory, transferred from Bayreuth-Bindlach to Chartres/80 km south-west of Paris in France - flew photo and visual reconnaissance missions over the Normandy invasion area and beachhead.
10 July 1944: at Chartres attached to Stab/NAGr. 13.
25 July 1944: as previously for 10 July. Operational losses for July totaled 5 Bf 109 G-8s.
3 August 1944: Staffel lost 3 Bf 109Gs west of Laval, probably shot down by Allied fighters, Staka Hptm. Taulien KIA, 1 MIA and 1 WIA.
18 August 1944: now at Haute Fontaine/c.15 km east of Compiègne attached to Stab/NAGr. 13.
27 August 1944: with the Allies now in full breakout mode and driving rapidly toward eastern France, the Staffel was ordered to return to Germany immediately, handing over all pilots assigned to the Staffel since 6 June 1944 to 1. and 3./NAGr. 13.
18 September 1944: back at Bayreuth-Bindlach resting, re-equipping and training. From 1 September to 31 December, 3./NAGr. 14 reported no operational losses and just 3 to non-operational crashes and accidents.
8 December 1944: ordered to transfer from Bayreuth-Bindlach to Csákvár/46 km west-south-west of Budapest where Stab/NAGr. 14 was then located. Axis forces in central Hungary were engaged in a desperate struggle to prevent a Russian encirclement of the Hungarian capital. A few weeks later the city was effectively surrounded and it finally fell to the Red Army on 13 February 1945 after a bitter and courageous defense.
Hungary and Czechoslovakia. (December 1944 - May 1945)
20 January 1945: Fi 156 belonging to the Staffel destroyed on the ground in Budapest by artillery fire, 100%.
14 February 1945: Bf 109 G-8 shot down in an air battle - no details, 100%, pilot MIA.
17 February 1945: Bf 109 G-6 failed to return from a mission - no details, 100%,
pilot MIA.
20 February 1945: Bf 109 G-6 damaged taxiing at Györ (Raab)/110 km north-west of Budapest, 50%.
26 March 1945: still at Györ (Raab) under Stab/NAGr. 14. A few days later, the Staffel pulled back to Münchendorf/18.5 km south of Vienna (Wien). By then, the rapidly advancing Soviets had driven the German and Hungarian forces out of western Hungary and into eastern Austria and were pushing their armor toward Vienna which fell on 13 April.
April 1945: no longer needed in eastern Austria, 3./NAGr. 14 was ordered to join up with the Stab at Budweis in south-west Czechoslovakia.
3 May 1945: at Budweis (České Budĕjovice)/120 km south of Prague under Stab/NAGr. 14. The personnel surrendered to U.S. forces a few days later.
FpN:3./NAGr. 14 (L 42219).
Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Willi Taulien (May 1944 - 3 August 1944) KIA
Hptm. Josef Stierstorfer ( ? - 8 May 1945) 4/45
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ W.Dierich - Die Verbände der Luftwaffe 1935-1945: Gliederungen und Kurzchroniken – Eine Dokumentation; G.Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945, 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); NARA WashDC: RG 242 (Microcopy T-971 roll 18); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation ADI(K) 387/44; PRO (British National Archives) London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals HP627, HP8993 plus 3 others; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; M.Rauchensteiner - Der Krieg in Österreich, 1945. (Wien, 1984), pp.358; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.
[[Nahaufklärungsgruppe 1]