Luftwaffe WP/SB entries help needed

[soldon]

Hello All,
I've a couple of questions, perhaps someone could help me out with.
I'm researching a Luftwaffe Wehrpass / Soldbuch of a airman in Fliegerhorstkompanie Bissel - Flg. H. Kdfr. E 4/XI (Feldpost number L34231) stationed on western front June 1940 till April 1942 at Belgium / North France / West France, any ideas how I can find out, where exactly?
April 1942 - May 1944 the unit was in on the east front used within the area of Luftfotte 4. which was in April fighting at the Crimea (Krim Schild ) is entered in wp / sb. By October 1942 Luftfotte 4 was bombing Stalingrad, then later providing the air bridge to the Stalingrad pocket, could anyone tell me if the Bisssel unit was involved and where they were based. Looking through the data about the unit in the Lexikon der Wehrmacht, the luftwaffe section is a little sparse on information. Any information would be appreciated. Can anyone help me on this one.
Regards Alec

[Larry deZeng]

Here is virtually all that is known about it:

Fliegerhorstkommandantur E 4/XI
Formed February – March 1940 by mobilizing and renaming Fl.H.Kdtr. (E) Bissel.
20 Aug 40: at Boulogne – Le Portel/NE France under Koflug 8/III.
2 Mar 41: still at Boulogne – Le Portel. Other sources report it at Desvres/16 km SSE of Boulogne. Under Koflug 8/III (St-Omer).
23 Apr 42: 2 men reported KIA and 1 WIA during Russia attack on Fp. Eupatoria in western Crimea.
Jul 42: moved forward to Feodosiya/SE Crimea following the fall of Sevastopol.
24 Mar 43: at Kerch-IV under Koflug 6/VI (Sarabus).
18 Jun 43: still at Kerch-IV.
8 Apr 44: now at Bacǎu/NE Romania.
Jun 44: renamed Fl.H.Kdtr. E(v) 214/VIII (FpN changed 29 Jun 44).
FpN: (L 34231)
Kommandant:
Maj. Friedrich Stoetzer (22 Oct 42 - ? )


After 29 Jun 44, Fl.H.Kdtr. E(v) 214/VIII remained in Romania to late August 1944, then withdrew to Hungary and then to Austria at the beginning of 1945. Wherever it was, it managed an airfield.

There were probably 4 or 5 additional Kommandanten besides Stoetzer, but he's the only one we know about.

If you have additional information concerning this Fliegerhorstkommandantur, I would appreciate knowing about it. The entries from WPs and SBs can often fill in gaps in the history of these relatively small units for which there are no records at BA-MA Freiburg.

--Larry

[soldon]

Hello Larry,
You’re a gem, I never expected in my wildest dreams to get so much information so quickly, marvellous. I’ll give you the rest of entries in the wehrpass, most of them tally with your posting -1.6.44 – 28.6.44 Fl. H. Kdfr E (V) 214/VIII (renamed) – . 29.6.44 – 23.10.44 Flg. Ers Batl.XI Neumunster (unkown posting) – 24.10.44 – 5.3.45 Fl. H. Kdtr E (V) 210 /XV Horstkp. ( according to wehrpass during this period “fighting against a uprising movement in Serbo – Croatia area”) 6.3.45 – Fl. H. Kdtr E (V) 214 / VII ( einsatz in hungarian operations area).
A couple of points of interest, what does the (E) & (V) denote, I know (A) is ausbildung but the others? Also the gap from July’42 – March ’43 the wehrpass entry goes 4.4.42 – 31.5.44 “Einsatz in Operationsgebiet v. Ostfront. Verwendung innerhalb d. bereichs d. Lft. 4 dabei 245 Tg. mit feindseinwirkung” = Active in operations area east front. Used within the area of Luftflotte 4 with 245 days enemy influence, from April 1942 until the beginning of May 1943, Luftfotte 4 was involved with Stalingrad, I just wondered what else it could considering the 245 days enemy influence = 8 months approx, what else it could be.
Still Larry once again, many thanks for your information. With out wanting to make a pest of myself, I do have a few L.W. wehrpasses which I’ve only partial researched as I’ve hit the buffers on the unit entries, if you interested I can dig them out.
Best Wishes
Alec

[Larry deZeng]

Hello Larry,
You’re a gem, I never expected in my wildest dreams to get so much information so quickly, marvellous. I’ll give you the rest of entries in the wehrpass, most of them tally with your posting -1.6.44 – 28.6.44 Fl. H. Kdfr E (V) 214/VIII (renamed) – . 29.6.44 – 23.10.44 Flg. Ers Batl.XI Neumunster (unkown posting) – 24.10.44 – 5.3.45 Fl. H. Kdtr E (V) 210 /XV Horstkp. ( according to wehrpass during this period “fighting against a uprising movement in Serbo – Croatia area”) 6.3.45 – Fl. H. Kdtr E (V) 214 / VII ( einsatz in hungarian operations area).
A couple of points of interest, what does the (E) & (V) denote, I know (A) is ausbildung but the others? Also the gap from July’42 – March ’43 the wehrpass entry goes 4.4.42 – 31.5.44 “Einsatz in Operationsgebiet v. Ostfront. Verwendung innerhalb d. bereichs d. Lft. 4 dabei 245 Tg. mit feindseinwirkung” = Active in operations area east front. Used within the area of Luftflotte 4 with 245 days enemy influence, from April 1942 until the beginning of May 1943, Luftfotte 4 was involved with Stalingrad, I just wondered what else it could considering the 245 days enemy influence = 8 months approx, what else it could be.
Still Larry once again, many thanks for your information. With out wanting to make a pest of myself, I do have a few L.W. wehrpasses which I’ve only partial researched as I’ve hit the buffers on the unit entries, if you interested I can dig them out.
Best Wishes
Alec

Hi Alec,

Thanks for getting back with what you have.

First off, the "A" in Fliegerhorst terminology does not mean Ausbildungs, but rather "1. Klasse". The "A" Horste were the largest and had full services, workshops, etc. They usually had a complement of 400 to 750 officers, men and civilian employees. "E" was an Einsatzhorst. The (v) stood for verlegefähig.

Your "E(v) 210/XV" is actually E(v) 210/XVII. When your man was there from Oct 44 to Mar 45 it was located at Fp. Zirkle (Brezice)/35 km WNW of Zagreb.

Your 6.3.45 "E(v) 214/VII" should be E(v) 214/VIII. So it looks like he remained with the same Fliegerhorstkommandantur throughout the entire war, except for the Oct 44 to 3 Mar 45 period when he was detached for duty with Fl.H.Kdtr. E(v) 210/XVII.

Regarding Luftflotte 4, it was an air fleet that covered the entire southern sector of the Eastern Front from Kharkov to the Black Sea and North Caucasia. It provided air support to all Wehrmacht forces in that theater. It was in action on the southern sector of the Eastern Front every day from 22 June 1941 to 8 May 1945. Stalingrad was just one of of the battles it participated in.

Regarding your other Lw.- WPs, sure, I can help you with those. Post them or your questions here one at a time and I'll see what I can do.

--Larry

[soldon]

Hello Larry,
Once again many thanks for the additional information, your quite right the two mistakes are mine, afraid I copied the entries out wrong.
Regards
Alec