Lt. Dr. Heinz Arnold (Observer)
Lt. Hermann Barth (Observer)
Oblt. Kurt Baumgartner (Pilot)
Hptm. Heinz Braun (Pilot) (LTS 290, det. to 1./KG 200)
Oblt. Hans-Georg (Heinz) Bretnütz (Pilot)
Lt. Clement (Pilot)
Oblt. Herbert Daubenspeck (Navigation Specialist)
Oblt. Eberhardt
Lt. Heinz Ernst (Pilot)
Oblt. Horst Degenring (Observer)
Lt. Fliege (Pilot)
Lt. Hans-Roger Friedrich (Pilot) (LTS 290)
Lt. Martin Glöckelhofer (Observer)
? Gudde (Navigator)
Hptm. Hasenberg
Lt. Lothar Hecker (?)
Lt. Hertel (Pilot)
Lt. Hermann Kersting (Pilot) (LTS 290)
Lt. Klose (Pilot)
Hptm. Hanns Kohmann (Pilot) (LTS 290)
Oblt. Otto-Karl Kremser (Pilot) (KG 40)
St.Int. Albert Manthey
Lt. Hans Mahs (Pilot)
Hptm. Helmut Miersch (Pilot)
Maj. Kornelius (Konrad?) Mildenberger (Observer)
Oblt. Motzkus (Pilot)
Oblt. Hans Münsterer (Pilot)
Oblt. Oskar Nau (Observer)
Oblt. Werner Nedala (Pilot) (KG.r.z.b.V.102)
Oblt. Günther Pfeiffer (Pilot) (3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr.Ob.d.L.)
Lt. Gottfried Sachse (Pilot)
Oblt. Reinhard Sigel (Pilot)
Lt. Robert Stein (Observer)
Lt. Scherp (Pilot)
Oblt. Karl-Heinz Schmidt (Pilot)
Hptm. Richard Schmoll (Observer)
Oblt. Karl Schöneberger (Pilot)
Hptm. Ernst Treskatis (Observer)
Hptm. Vermehren (Pilot)
APPENDIX 4: AIRCRAFT STRENGTH, JULY 1943 TO MARCH 1945
Total aircraft strength shown as at month’s end.
1943
July 2
August 5
September 6
October 9
November 9
December 10
1944
January 12
February 13
March 13
April 14
May 17
June 17
July 17
August 12
September 10
October 11
November 11
December 8
1945
January 8
February 8
March 8
APPENDIX 5: NAVIGATIONAL METHODS EMPLOYED BY FAGr 5
Leutnant Wilhelm Koitka served as a navigator with 1./FAGr 5 based at Mont de Marsan. On 26 May 1944, while on a convoy reconnaissance mission on board Ju 290A-4 Wk-Nr 0164 9V+GK, he was shot down over the Atlantic by Sea Hurricanes of 835 NAS operating from HMS Nairana. Koitka survived and was taken to England, where, as per common practice with captured enemy airmen, he was interrogated by British Air Directorate of Intelligence (Section K).
Section K described Koitka as ‘a man of considerable experience’. The following is an extract from ADI(K) Report No. 249/1944 which is based on Koitka’s description of the navigational methods used by the crews of FAGr 5. This information would clearly have been of interest to Allied airmen flying long-range operations, particularly navigators.
Navigation
Methods employed
Navigation is normally by track plot and the air plot is only used when a D.R. [dead reckoning] position is doubtful or when the aircraft is being chased by fighters. Distance is reckoned in kilometres.
No standard navigational drill has been formulated in the Gruppe, however, and observers are free to take drifts, find winds or obtain fixes in their own good time. On returning from sorties, the observers’ logbooks are analysed, although not marked or assessed in any way.
The observer of the 9V+GK, a man of considerable experience, described in some detail the methods of navigation in general use with FAG 5. These methods, including navigational aids used, are given in the following paragraphs.
Wind Finding
The usual method of wind finding employed by this observer was to take a quick drift on one-minute alterations of course 30° to port then 30° to starboard and to work out a three-drift wind on the Knemeyer (three-point calculator). In such cases it was not necessary to allow any additional flying time along the track flown. P/W [Prisoner of War] confessed however, that he often relied on wind estimation from wind lanes and the Beaufort scale, which in practice was accurate enough when helped from time to time with Sonne and astro fixes.
The W/T operator [Feldwebel Wilhelm Meyer], who was fairly knowledgeable on navigation, and himself sometimes took shots of the sun, said that the standard method of wind finding was by taking drifts on 60° and 120° alterations of course for two minutes with compensation for flying time.
The drift sight installed in the Ju 290 is a simple circular drift recorder built into the port side of the aircraft behind the observer’s seat. In this instrument there are no cross-lines or height scale to enable the navigator to obtain the ground speed with the use of a stopwatch; there is no backward scanning mirror and tail drift cannot, therefore be obtained.
No drifts were taken at night, neither were flame floats carried for this purpose; astro and Sonne fixes were, however, considered sufficient means for keeping on track and finding ground speed.
Sonne
The present observer considered Sonne accurate out to 20° W. – as far as the aircraft of FAG 5 flew – except under certain circumstances which had to be watched carefully. These were when the mountains of Scotland interfered with the beam from Sonne 1 in Norway, and the mountains of North-West Spain obstructed the Sonne at Corunna in an area west of Portugal. P/W had heard that Sonne 6 in the Brest peninsula had been interfered with by the British.
A sketch taken from the British Intelligence report, ADI(K) No. 249/1944 from June 1944, showing the Astronomisches Rechen Gerät (astro calculator) used by the crews of FAGr 5 to take a navigational fix from two stars when undertaking astro-navigation.
In general, an accuracy to within ten kilometres was accepted, provided the angle of intersection was not too acute, no mountains intervened, and atmospheric conditions were not too bad. A reliable fix was possible a long way out by obtaining a near right angle of intersection from Sonne 1 and the Sonne at Corunna.
Sonne beacons could also be D/F’d and this was occasionally done by observers who were in doubt of their position, particularly when approaching the French coast; a D/F plot gave the sector of the Sonne pattern in which the aircraft was flying, and thus a rough check on position.
Broadcasting stations at Lisbon, Bordeaux, Rennes and in Ireland were also used for obtaining bearings, but were not very reliable; P/W related that once a 90° error had been found when using Lisbon.
Astro-Navigation
When taking a shot the octant is usually held in the hand and the sight is taken through the clear vision panel of the astrodome, which can be fully revolved. In the Ju 290 there is also a means of hooking the octant onto the roof of the astrodome to ease the taking of a sight, but in practice this is not steady, in addition to which the varying heights of individuals make it impracticable.
The present observer was shown a British Mark IXA sextant and his comparison between the latter and the octant in use in FAG 5 is not without interest.
He considered the German octant to be lighter, tidier and more elegant looking, in addition to which there is no obstruction to prevent the left eye from viewing the star directly; he stated that the control nut of the octant is larger and easier to adjust finally than that of the sextant.
The automatic averaging of shots is possible for three different periods of 40, 80, or 120 seconds; P/W stated that he usually made use of the full two minutes.
The average time taken for working out a fix from two stars was estimated as being eight to ten minutes; the actual calculations could, however, be reduced to two minutes by using the ARG 1 (Astronomisches Rechen G
erät – astro calculator).
ARG 1
The present P/W was able to describe the operation of this instrument more fully than his predecessors; it is about 14 inches in diameter, and non-automatic. A ground glass plate is geared to the adjusting screw on the circumference of the ring, and extends under the latter so that its edge passes underneath the fixed eyepiece on the left, which contains a magnifying lens.
On the plate, which can be lighted from underneath for use at night, is a zenithal projection of the lines of latitude and longitude upon a plane surface. An hour-angle scale is marked along the lines of longitude from 0° on the left to 180° on the right and back to 360°, the hours being marked off at 15° intervals.
The declination is shown on a latitude scale, the lines curving outwards towards the Pole. This is marked from 0° at the centre to 90° at the Poles, but for purposes of reading off the declination the first 23 degrees are the ones used. The latitude is also marked on the circumference of the plate underneath the ring, but not on the same scale as that on the zenithal projection.
Any part of the plate can be viewed through the central eyepiece, which is on a movable arm. This eyepiece contains a graticule, a magnifying lens, and there is a screw for fine adjustment.
Operation:
1.The latitude is set at the neutral position of 90° on the outer scale against the pointer underneath the fixed eyepiece. When in this position the North of the zenithal projection is at 12 o’clock.
2.The declination and hour angle is obtained from tables, and the graticule of the movable eyepiece set over the intersecting point of those on the plate.
3.The plate is then revolved by means of the control screw until the latitude of the observer is set against the pointer underneath the other (fixed) eyepiece.
4.The new point beneath the movable eyepiece will now show the calculated altitude of the star for the position of the observer on the scale of the declination and the azimuth of the star on the hour-angle scale.
5.The error is then noted between the calculated altitude and azimuth, and the shot altitude of the star. The result is a position line, which is then plotted on the chart.
The time taken for the calculation of each shot can with practice be reduced to two minutes. An apparent advantage of using the ARG 1 is that astro tables are eliminated and it is only necessary to carry an almanac.
S.D. Felkin
Wing Commander
ADI(K)
9 June 1944
ENDNOTES
AUTHOR’S NOTE
1Conyers Nesbit, Roy, Elliott, Peter, Fowler, Simon and Goulter, Christina, RAF Records in the PRO, PRO Publications, London, 1994, pp. 63–64
CHAPTER ONE
1UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
2See Supf, Peter, Das Buch der deutschen Fluggeschichte, Band 2, Drei Brunnen Verlag, Stuttgart, 1958.
3Padfield, Peter, Dönitz: The Last Führer, Harper & Row, New York, 1984, p. 28 et passim.
4Terraine, John, Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars 1916–1945, Leo Cooper, London, 1989, p. 194.
5UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
6Wadman, David, Aufklärer, Vol. I: Luftwaffe Reconnaissance Aircraft and Units 1935–1941, Classic Publications, Hersham, 2007, p. 71.
7Ibid., p. 71, and see also Gould, Winston A., Luftwaffe Maritime Operations in World War II: Thought, Organization and Technology, Air Command and Staff College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, 2005, p. 13 and Das Seewesen in der deutschen Luftwaffe 1933–1945 [website],
8Hessler, Günter, The U-Boat War in the Atlantic 1939–1945, Vol. I: 1939–1941, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1989, p. 62.
9Claasen, Adam R.A., Hitler’s Northern War: The Luftwaffe’s Ill-Fated Campaign, 1940–1945, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 2001, pp. 159–60.
10UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705 and Thompson, Adam, with Wadman, David, Seeflieger: Luftwaffe Maritime Aircraft and Units 1935–1945, Classic Publications, Hersham, 2009, p. 15.
11ADI(K) Report No. 377/1945.
12Hessler 1989, Vol. I, p. 63.
13Ibid., p. 67.
14Ibid., p. 69.
15UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
16Ibid.
17Gould 2005, p. 21.
18Terraine 1989, p. 355.
19UK National Archives, AIR 20/7700.
20Hessler 1989, Vol. I, p. 80.
21UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
22Ibid.
23UK National Archives, AIR 20/7700.
24UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
25Ibid.
26Ibid.
27UK National Archives, AIR 20/7700 and 7705.
28Terraine 1989, p. 442, 450.
29Claasen 2001, p. 208.
30Mallmann Showell, Jak P., Dönitz, U-boats, Convoys: The British Version of His Memoirs from the Admiralty’s Secret Anti-Submarine Reports, Frontline Books, Barnsley, 2013, p. 87.
31Terraine 1989, p. 461.
32Gannon, Michael, Black May: The Epic Story of the Allies’ Defeat of the German U-boats in May 1943, Harper Collins, New York, 1998, p. 113.
33Ibid., p. 113.
34UK National Archives, AIR 20/7700.
35Cited in Roskill, Captain S.W., The War at Sea 1939–1945, Vol. II: The Period of Balance, The Naval & Military Press Ltd, Uckfield, 2004, p. 210.
36Ibid., p. 201.
37Ibid., p. 206.
38Terraine 1989, p. 485.
39Ibid., p. 433.
40Ibid., p. 462.
41Roskill cited in Terraine 1989, p. 514.
42Roskill 2004, Vol. II, p. 218
43Werner cited in Terraine 1989, p. 524.
44UK National Archives, AIR 20/7700.
45Blair, Clay, Hitler’s U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1999, p. 173.
46Terraine 1989, p. 528.
47Mallmann Showell, Jak P., Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs 1939–1945, Greenhill Books, London, 1990, p. 311.
48UK National Archives, AIR 20/7700.
49Griehl, Manfred, Luftwaffe over America: The Secret Plans to Bomb the United States in World War II, Greenhill Books, 2005, p. 92.
50Griehl, Manfred, ‘Das “Bananaenflugzeug” – Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Me 264 – Teil 1’, Flugzeug, February 1996.
51Terraine 1989, p. 545.
52Roskill 2004, Vol. II, p. 358.
53UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
54Ibid.
55Terraine 1989, p. 566.
56Ibid., p. 582.
57Hessler 1989, Vol. II, p. 86.
58Terraine 1989, p. 466.
59Churchill, Winston S., The Second World War, Volume V: Closing the Ring, Cassell & Co., London, 1952, p. 7.
60Terraine 1989, p. 594.
61Mallmann Showell 1990, p. 334.
62Gould 2005, p. 36.
63Kington, John A., and Selinger, Franz, Wekusta: Luftwaffe Meteorological Reconnaissance Units and Operations 1938–1945, Flight Recorder Publications, Ottringham, 2006, p. 175; Thompson 2009, p. 46; and Seeaufklärungsgruppe 129 [website],
64Mallman Showell 1990, p. 339.
65Gannon 1998, p. 59.
66UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
67Lewin, Ronald, Ultra Goes to War, Grafton, London, 1988, p. 220.
68Terraine 1989, p. 640.
69UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
70Bennett, G.H., and Bennett, R., Hitler’s Admirals, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2004, p. 92.
71UK National Archives, AIR 20/7701.
72UK National Archives, AIR 20/7705.
73Ibid.
74Ibid.
75Schmidt, Oskar H., Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5 Atlantik: Eine Aufzeichnung von Oskar H. Schmidt, private publication, Melle, May 1990, p. 1.
CHAPTER TWO
1Mahncke, Alfred, For Kaiser and Hitler: From Military Aviator to High C
ommand: The Memoirs of Luftwaffe General Alfred Mahncke, Tattered Flag Press, Pulborough, 2010, p. 128.
2Vajda, Ferenc A., and Dancey, Peter, German Aircraft Industry and Production 1933–1945, Airlife, Shrewsbury, 1998, p. 14.
3Homze, Edward L., Arming the Luftwaffe, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1996, p. 123.
4Budrass, Lutz, Flugzeugindustrie und Luftrüstung in Deutschland 1918–1945, Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1998, p. 388, 485.
5Zindel, Ernst, Die Geschichte und Entwicklung des Junkers-Flugzeugbaus von 1910 bis 1945 und bis zum endgültigen Ende 1970, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Köln, 1979, p. 88.
6Kössler, Karl and Ott, Günther, Die großen Dessauer: Junkers Ju 89, Ju 90, Ju 290, Ju 390 – Die Geschichte einer Flugzeugfamilie, Aviatic Verlag, Planegg, 1993, p. 30.
7Budrass 1998, p. 528.
8Kössler and Ott 1993, p. 74.
9Ibid., pp. 73–75.
10Hitchcock, Thomas H., Junkers 290 (Monogram Close-Up 3), Monogram Aviation Publications, Boylston, 1975, p. 8.
11Kay, Antony L., Junkers Aircraft & Engines 1913–1945, Putnam Aeronautical Books, London, 2004, p. 199.
12Lerche, Hans-Werner, Luftwaffe Test Pilot: Flying captured Allied Aircraft of World War 2, Jane’s, London, 1980, pp. 39–40.
13Kössler and Ott 1993, pp. 151–55.
14CSDIC (Air), CMF, Rep.No.A.579.
15Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries by Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey [website],
16Morzik, Generalmajor a.D. Fritz, German Air Force Airlift Operations, USAF Historical Division, Arno Press, New York, 1961, pp. 367–68.
17Mallmann Showell 1990, p. 311.
18Kössler and Ott 1993, p. 84.
19Ibid., p. 84.
20UK National Archives, AIR 20/7701: AHB.6 Translation No.VII/35, 20.7.74.
21Kössler and Ott 1993, p. 236, and Felkin, W/Cdr. S.D., ADI(K) Report No. 249/1944.
CHAPTER THREE
1Citino, Robert M., Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, 2007, p. 252.
2Wadman, David, Bradley, John and Ketley, Barry, Aufklärer: Luftwaffe Reconnaissance Aircraft & Units 1935–1945, Hikoki Publications, Aldershot, 1997, p. 10.
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