looking to see where the German LW airfield was located in France well at least I think it is in France. anyone help with maps ? this request has something to do with my Avatar and ................. ? thanks all for any assistance
okay this is quite a challenge Erich. I have 4 possibilities to work on. 1) Saint Carné , south of Saint Malo, Bretagne near the town of Dinan. 2) Carne Island , north of Brest, Bretagne. 3) cannes , on the Riviera 4) Caen, Normandy. I'll check my Luftwaffe data, will be back in a minute.
Skip the unit I am researching is Recon unit 3.(F)/123 was based at : known here Rennes, 8.42 - 15.6.44 Corme, 15.6.44 - 27.6.44 Carne, 27.6.44 - 28.7.44 Cognac, 28.7.44 - 8.44 Jüterbog-Waldlager, 8.44 - 3.45 so I guess the question is were the French bases close to one another. the Aufklarungs unit served a purpose over the ocean co-ordinating with LW bomber units and the U-Boots. equipped with Ju 88A,D's and at least 4 of the rare H-1's with extended fuselage and fuel cells flying the typical Ferne missions.........
ok, this means the Carne Island would be a good start. It protected the Brest harbor and it makes sense 3.(F)/123 moved from Rennes (central Bretagne) to the coast and moved further down along the Atlantic coast to protect Saint Nazaire, Lorient, la Palisse and La Rochelle. Cognac is just east of those places and a strategic place to protect the U-Boote, the further liberation of the west coast foced the LW to move out. Note the August 1944 evacuation coincides with the destruction of the Km in this area.
you mention Cognac as the unit lost an H-1 on July 31, 44 shot down in the area over the ocean by a Mosquito of 248 squadron. any maps or fotos of Carne Skip ? am trying to get the full code of the /123 A/C and some more info on crews. also have another item and the unit you have helped me on in the past this concerns one Wekusta staffel flying with FAGr 5 out of Monte de Marsan in July of 44 before it was called back to Burg, Germany. will start another thread on that later ............... thanks for the help as always
gps location of the Ile de Carné. Ile Carne, Bretagne, France on world map, coordinates and short factsote this is north of Brest or Audierne where the Royal ambushed the Km in August 1944. Cognac location here : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognac_(eau-de-vie) . It's north of Bordeaux the Lw base was south of the city at a place called Parveaux. Mont de Marsan (not Monte) is south of Bordeaux .
through further investigation very late last night with a couple German researchers, ./123 had about 6 of the H-1 variants with remote cameras set-up. Self-defense arms varied mg 81 zwilling and possibly up to two mg 131 13mm mg's fitted in the upper rear camipoy though this may have been even replaced by the twin mg 81 installation. But as the upper profile suggest a forward single ? mg was fitted. The lower gondola was completely removed. an unusual a/c but effective in the lower altitude role over the Ocean west of France
So they switched from the DO tho the JU quite early in the war (1940?) .Any idea where this pics was taken. It must have been a large permanent base during the winter months (see snow)
Eric, the article you want appeared in Flugzeug magazine (issues 1 & 2/90) complied by Oliver Thiele and was entitled 'Die lange Ju 88' - unfortunately I don't have access to it. The H-1 above was coded DO+FS (?) WNr. 430931. Two more Werknummern 430841 and 430941 are H-1s positively identified according to this article. A 4th H-1 WNr. 430 898 was lost on 6 April 1944 on a test flight shot down by Typhoons over Rennes where 3.(F)/123 was based at that time (Thiele in Jet & Prop 6/97). Pierre Babin's two part 'Avions' article on Wekusta 2 (avatar pic) makes no mention of the Ju 88 H. The unit was flying He 177s during July 1944 and using them in ground-attack sorties against Maquis camps in the Gers...
The Gers makes sense. Considering flying to the coast was getting risky, they flew inland. The Gers is just east of Mont de Marsan and west of Toulouse in sout west France. gers - Google Maps m ore about the Maquis in the Gers maquisard32's blog - Les maquisards du Gers - Skyrock.com
this is my 4th time to post this info: what is going on ? Skip : [SIZE=+1]3.(F)/123:[/SIZE] Formed 1.10.36 in Grossenhain. On 1.10.37 redesignated 3./Aufkl.Gr.23. Reformed 1.11.38 in Würzburg from 3./Aufkl.Gr.25. Disbanded 3.45. Known bases: Grossenhain, 1.4.36 - 1.10.37 Würzburg, 1.11.38 - 8.39 Schweidnitz, 8.39 - 9.39 Gelnhausen, 10.39 - 5.40 Brest-Süd, 7.40 - 11.41 Lannion, 11.41 - 8.42 Rennes, 8.42 - 15.6.44 Corme, 15.6.44 - 27.6.44 Carne, 27.6.44 - 28.7.44 Cognac, 28.7.44 - 8.44 Jüterbog-Waldlager, 8.44 - 3.45 Wekusta 2 provided the recon and many meteorological duties for FAGr 5 and other units within France, first with D-1's and then moved back within Germany at Burg A/F with He 177A's
Wekusta 2 Formed 7.40 in Nantes from parts of Wettererkundungsstaffel 1/O.b.d.L. From 7.44 known as Wettererkundungsstaffel 2/OKL. Disbanded 9.44. Known bases: Brest-Süd, 7.40 - 7.42 Nantes, 7.42 - 3.44 Burg bei Magdeburg(?), 3.44 - 9.44 later in it's life operating A-3 and A-5 He 177's with a full staffel of 14-17. I can only imagine the tech headaches for the Black men due to engine fires and failures
since I have combined two little know units thought I would include the Wekusta link with some good reading and some interesting though darkened photos : Ein tragischer Flugunfall bei Dursey in SW-Irland. Auschner, Dmmler, Kuschidlo und Noth.
Hi Erich, Have just seen this - don't have any details for a 248 Sqn claim on 31 July, however according to Chris Goss two Mossies shot down H-1 430944 4U+BL (Fw Erwin Ellinger) on 13 June '44. Cheers, Mark
thanks for this Mark wish we could find a more thorough history of the LW unit to confirm all losses.
