Stab/NAGr. 2
Nahaufklärungsgruppe 2
(Unit Code J8+)
Stab/NAGr. 2
Formation and Background. (April 1942)
Ordered formed on or about 19 April 1942 at Vyazma on the central sector of the Eastern Front (ex-Gruppenfliegerstab 13) to provide tactical reconnaissance support to 3d Panzer Army.[1]
Staffeln (Aufklärungsstaffeln known to have been subordinated to NAGr. 2 with the approximate dates): 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 10 (2/43?); 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 10 (2/43, 3/43); 5.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 12 (2/43 to 3/43); 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21 (5/42 to 7/42); 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23 (5/42 to c.12/42); 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23 (1942?); 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 31 (12/44 to 5/45); 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 31 (2/43, 3/43); 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41 (5/42 to 2/43); 1./NAGr. 2; 2./NAGr. 2; 3./NAGr. 2.
[Note: unless otherwise stated, the aircraft losses noted below are those of the independently designated Aufklärungsstaffeln that were subordinated to NAGr. 2 at the time of the loss.]
Central Russia and East Prussia. (May 1942 - June 1943)
26 May 1942: Ln.Betr.Kp./NAGr. 2 ordered to transfer from Germany (Jüterbog-Damm?) and join the Stab at Vyazma.
May – December 1942: the Stab normally subordinated 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21, 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23, 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41 and possibly (at times) 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23.
8 June 1942: Stab at Vyazma-Gradina under Luftwaffenkdo. Ost in support of 3d Panzer Army.
14 August 1942: Hptm. Ultz Graf v./Kanitz of Stab/NAGr. 2 WlA by ground fire over
Temkino/south-east of Vyazma while flying in a Fw 189 belonging to 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 41.
December 1942: Stab ordered from Vyazma south to Voroshilovgrad/275 km south-east of Kharkov and reassigned to Luftwaffenkdo. Don following the powerful Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad and along the Don that began on 19 November.
22 February 1943: Stab/NAGr. 2 with 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 10, 5.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 12, 3.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 31 and possibly 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 10 ordered to transfer from the Voroshilovgrad-Gorlovka-Stalino area in the Donets Basin to Jesau/East Prussia for conversion to the Bf 109G.
1 June 1943: Stab reported 2 Bf 109 G-4 on strength.
Balkans. (July 1943 - November 1943)
July 1943: Stab together with 2. and 3./NAGr. 2 transferred to the Balkans for assignment to Luftwaffenkdo. Südost as reinforcements for an anticipated Allied invasion of Greece or Yugoslavia. Unconfirmed sources place the Stab at Argos in the north-eastern quadrant of the Peloponnesus Peninsula to August, and then at Araxos on the north-west tip of the Peloponnesus in September.
22 September 1943: Fi 156 C-3 belonging to the Stab attacked by Partisans east of Beleci (not located and probably misspelled) while the plane was on the ground, 100%, Oblt. Helmut Jenne.WlA.
30 September 1943: Stab now at Larrisa/Greece, having just moved.
9 October 1943: Junkers W 34 assigned to the Stab destroyed on the ground during bombing of Larrisa airfield by B-17s from XII Bomber Command, 100%.
20 November 1943: Stab now at Athens-Kalamaki.
26 November 1943: Stab transferred from Athens via Mostar/Croatia to Apostolovo-East in Central Ukraine for reassignment to Luftflotte 4. Its 1. Staffel was already based at Apostolovo and had been there since early October.
South Russia, Romania and South Poland. (December 1943 - January 1945)
December 1943: at Apostolovo until just before 6 February 1944 supporting AOK 6 defensive operations between Krivoy Rog and Nikopol. The Stab moved to an unidentified airfield in February and then to Kantakusenka/90 km north-north-west of Nikolayev about 13 March as AOK 6 was forced to take its line back some 125 km to the west due to heavy pressure from the Soviet 3d Ukrainian Front.
24 March 1944: Stab now at Iasi in eastern Romania under I. Fliegerkorps and from there continued its support of AOK 6 and other forces retreating rapidly through southwestern Ukraine into Bessarabia during April.
May 1944: Stab transferred to Lvov/south Poland and reassigned to VIII. Fliegerkorps to support Heeresgruppe Nordukraine and Pz.AOK 4 operations.
1 June 1944: Stab reported 2 Bf 109 G-6, 3 Bf 109 G-8 and a few unspecified liaison aircraft on strength.
26 June 1944: Stab at Strunybaby/40 km north-east of Lvov under VIII. Fliegerkorps.
July 1944: withdrew rapidly through south Poland to Krosno/south-east of Krakow, still under VIII. Fliegerkorps, as the massive Soviet summer offensive (Operation Bagration) rolled into eastern and southern Poland.
August – December 1944: Stab at Krakow since the end of July in support of Army Group Heinrici, 17th Army and 1st Panzer Army, and probably remained there until the beginning of January 1945. Until the Soviet winter offensive and advance to the Oder commenced on 12 January 1945, south Poland was relatively quiet and NAGr. 2 was able to reduce the pace of its activity.
1 December 1944: Stab had 4 Bf 109 G-8s plus a few unspecified liaison aircraft on hand.
Silesia and Czechoslovakia. (January 1945 - May 1945)
10 January 1945: Stab/NAGr. 2 under Luftflotte 6 and reported a total of 35(30) Bf 109s and Fw 190s on strength.
5 February 1945: Stab now at Neisse/75 km south-south-east of Breslau under Luftflotte 6 - from February to the end of the war, Stab/NAGr. 2 generally subordinated: 1. and 2./NAGr. 2 and Nahaufkl.St. 1./31 (Nacht).
11 March 1945: Fi 156 belonging to the Stab shot down by a fighter over Kunzendorf (Konczyce)/Silesia while on a liaison flight, 100%, Hptm. Gert Friedrich WIA + 1 KIA.
26 March 1945: Stab at Glatz/83 km south-south-west of Breslau under 3. Fliegerdivision/Luftflotte 6.
9 April 1945: NAGr. 2 reported 30(20) Bf 109s on strength.
3 May 1945: Stab at Olmütz-West (Olomouc)/western Czechoslovakia under 3. Fliegerdivision. This was the last reported location for NAGr. 2 and German forces surrendered five days later.
FpNs:Stab/NAGr. 2 (L 19780), Stabskp./NAGr. 2 (L 42955), Ln.-Betr.Kp./NAGr. 2 (L 06971).
Kommandeur:
Obstlt. Heinz Heinsius (8 June 1942 - April 1943)
Hptm. Henning von Kamptz (20 March 1943 - ? ) 10/43
Maj. Kurt Schulze-Wiehenbrauck (19 July 1943 - ? ) 2/44
Hptm. Eugen Armbruster ( ? - 1 October 1944)
Maj. Adolf-Friedrich Schöne (4 February 1945 - 8 May 1945)
or Maj. Wolf-Friedrich Schöne (March 1945 - 8 May 1945)[2]
© 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-311 roll 179/656, 688), (T-312 roll 568/314-19, document Genst.d.Heeres/Org.Abt.(II) Nr.1483/42g.Kdos., 19 Apr 1942 detailing the creation of the Nahaufklärungsgruppen), (T-313 roll 95/025, roll 253/685), (T-321 roll 50/876); AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113.309-3/v.1 Karlsruhe Collection; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation ADI(K) 564/44; PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA, “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 40/Kart; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 20/274-77; H.Plocher - The German Air Force Versus Russia, 1942. USAF Historical Studies: No. 154 (New York, 1968); M.Rauchensteiner - Der Krieg in Österreich, 1945. (Wien, 1984), p.359; Archiv Gruppe 66 magazine, No. 6/vol. 2, p.25 and No. 7/vol. 2, p.23; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.
- ↑ Both Maj. Adolf-Friedrich Schöne and Maj. Wolf-Friedrich Schöne are identified in various lists as the last Kommandeur of NAGr. 2.