PRO AIR40 ADI(K)& AIR16 Fighter Command Reports

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'clock High!:

Simon Parry
'K' Reports
Fri Jun 2 16:18:41 2000


Sorry to seem flippant Andears, I really do hope someone can find the 1944 losses.

As for the ADI(k) files. After years of being locked away a complete set was released a few years back at the PRO under the AIR40 Class. Prior to that some early
reports had been released in AIR16 (Fighter Command) but were closed almost immediately. It has been said this was after the publication of the book 'The Great
Coupe' as it gave information about the Ju88 crew that defected to Dyce. Although the AIR40 stuff is available, the AIR16 copies are still closed!

At the end of the war ADI(k) carried on issuing reports into 1946 as scientists etc. were interrogated. Post war almost all the work of ADI)k) was burnt or otherwise
destroyed as was the material collected by AI(g), whose collection of aircraft and component ID plates was unearthed at Kenley where it had been buried in a tip.

Simon

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'clock High!:

Richard Aigner
Camouflage of Puttfarken's Me410
Wed Aug 2 17:19:08 2000


In the course of II/KG51's highly successful intruder mission on April 22, 1944, the Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Puttfarken went missing. According to "Intruders over
Britain", he was flying an Me 410A-1, WNr. 420314, coded
9K+MN. If you have got reasonnably firm information on the plane's camouflage, please let me know!
Greetings, Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Nick Beale
Me 410 intruders
Sun Aug 6 00:36:54 2000


Public Record Office file AIR40/45 contains reports on 410s (and Luftwaffe aricraft in general) that fell on British soil, including some basic remarks on camouflage.
There is also a file in class AIR40 devoted to the 410 (check the www.pro.gov.uk (http://www.pro.gov.uk) website for the reference). I know the files are there but I don't have notes of the
information you want and whether you are within reach of London is of course another question entirely!

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'clock High!:

Franek Grabowski
interrogation notes
Mon Sep 25 15:49:08 2000


Hi
I suppose many of you have met descriptions of interrogations performed on POWs. Very often IOs had cosiderable knowledge of events in units of interrogated airmen,
both official as well as personal, and used that to make impression that they know everything.
I think this knowledge could be great source of info regarding Lw, so I'm very curious if anyone of you have met any documents or intel notes covering those subjects. I
suspect all that info has been carefully written down, although still could be regarded as classified.
Franek

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Artie Bob
Interrogation reports
Mon Sep 25 17:27:28 2000


ADI(k) setion of RAF intelligence was responsible for interrogation and collection of captured enemy documents (tactical, not intelligence exploitation). There are yearly
sequences of the interrogation reports, with much useful information on LW personalities, organization, tactics, etc. An incomplete set is at Maxwell. I'm would imagine
that the complete set is available in GB. Also, the USSBS teams produced many interogation reports, some of them with high ranking LW personnel. I believe a complete
set of these is at USNA, College Park.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOH!:

Chris Goss
Re: Interrogation reports
Mon Sep 25 21:16:30 2000


Franek: Complete set held by AHB (I will be consulting them tomorrow) and the PRO. Many other people have parts of the complete set.

Chris

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Frederik
Encounter 18 September 1944
Wed Sep 26 22:41:07 2001


P-51’s of the 369th FS of 359th FG were flying area support for Market Garden in the Apeldoorn area on September 18, 1944, when two separate combats took place. I quote from the mission summary:

“Blue and Red flight encountered ME-262 at 15.00 coming from NE in their rear, same altitude 10,000 ft. Plane passed close by, they attempted to follow and Blue flight was almost immediately bounced by 35 gray coloured FW-190’s”

This bounce, which occurred between Apeldoorn and Arnhem, resulted in one claim, by Lt. Parsons at 15.15 hrs, and two losses: Lt. Sjoblad and Lt. Deen , also at 15.15 hrs. Lt. Gaines broke away from the FW-190’s but was supposedly bounced by a 4th FG Mustang! Then, at 15.20 near Dusseldorf, “Yellow flight” encountered “6 scattered ME-109’s with Zebra striped spinners, resulting in one claim by Lt. Crenshaw”

For the Luftwaffe experts: what units did the German ME-262, FW-190’s and ME-109’s belong to? Is there any information on the names of the German pilots involved? The FW 190 loss doesn’t seem to tie in with the loss listing given in Zwanenburg’s appendix to “en nooit was het stil”, so I am curious....

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Dennis Peschier
Re: Encounter 18 September 1944
Thu Sep 27 09:57:20 2001


Frederik,
There is some info on the luftwaffen in “Facetten van de slag om Arnhem “ door Willem H. Tiemens ISBN909-269-4570-1. Pag.114-116.
On 18-9-44 JG11 (71 a/c) machine-gunned the landing areas west of Arnhem and a column moving towards the city. They were not intercepted. The formation that followed them probably was. II/JG300 was part of this formation. The combat report of 21-9-44 has an addition for 18-9-44 ”Uffz Gehrich’ein weitere Mustang’”

On Tony Woods luftwaffen claim list you can find Uffz Gerich III/JG300 mustang Nieuwkerk 3500 meter 16:26

Me262 units at the time were Ekdo262 and I/KG(J)51. The last one is the most probable.

Groetjes,
Dennis

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

frederik
thanks dennis, but..
Sun Sep 30 21:43:38 2001


..the time and location (if "Nieuwerkerk" is meant) of the II./JG300 claim don't seem to match.. SO I am still looking for a FW-190 unit operating gray aircraft that claimed TWO Mustangs in the afternoon..

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Nick Beale
Me 262s in Holland
Sat Sep 29 22:58:43 2001


EKdo 262 was based down in Bavaria, so I think you can exclude them from consideration.

There never was a KG(J) 51, it was plain KG 51 (unless someone finds a wartime source that says different): it was a bomber unit, not s fighter one. In September 1944, translated Luftflotte 3 documents I have seen still talk of Kommando Schenk but this may officially have been absorbed into 3./KG 51 by this point. They were certainly bombing targets in Holland at this time.

The Me 262 recon detachment Kdo. Panther (aka Kdo. Braunegg) also operated over British lines in the autumn/winter of 1944. Possibly later than September however - I'd need to look up the date.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!

Nick Beale
18 September 1944
Fri Oct 5 18:33:24 2001


PRO file AIR20/7704 (Translation of Luftflotte 3 War Diary, September 1944) says that 3 aircraft of I./KG 51 (i.e. Me 262s) and 12 of III./KG 51 (i.e. Fw 190s) attacked targets in the Neerpelt area on this date.

re Kdo. Panther, I checked my notes from PRO file AIR40/2046: an advance detachment of Panther arrived at Rheine (NW Germany) on 6 November 1944. before that it was apparently at Lechfeld in Bavaria.