Fieldpost number help please. L73552.

[SMP]

Can anyone help me decypher a fieldpost number - L73552 , and also explain what kind of unit it represents ? The name that came with it was Hptwm Hagmeier. Thanks !

Regards,
Steve

[Larry deZeng]

Can anyone help me decypher a fieldpost number - L73552 , and also explain what kind of unit it represents ? The name that came with it was Hptwm Hagmeier. Thanks !
Regards,
Steve

There were no Feldpost numbers beginning with the number "7", so I am assuming it should be L 13552, which is:

5. Batterie/Flak-Rgt. 9.
(5th Battery of the 9th Antiaircraft Regiment).

The Battery belong to the I. Abteilung (I Battalion) of the Regiment:

I./Flak-Rgt. 9 (gem. mot.) “Legion Condor”

Formed 1 October 1935 in Münster with 1. - 5. Batterien and a Kolonne. Used the cover designation Fahr-Abt. Münster until 1 Nov 35. On 1 Oct 37 re-designated I./Flak-Rgt. 34. Reestablished 15 Nov 38 in Fürth from I./Flak-Rgt. 8.
History:
Oct 35 – Oct 37: under Höh.Kdr.d.Flakart. in Luftkreis IV. Participated in the Spanish Civil War with the German “Legion Condor” contingent.
Nov 38 – Aug 39: under Luftgaukommando XIII (HQ Nürnberg).
May – Jun 40: campaign in France - advanced with XXXXI. Panzerkorps to Epinal. After the armistice on 22 June, stationed on Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands.
Dec 40 – Jun 41: Berlin area.
Jun 41: campaign in South Russia under Stab/Flak-Regt. 91 and assigned to Koluft AOK 6. Campaigned across Ukraine via Brody, Dubno, Zhitomir, Korosten and points east to Kharkov in support of AOK 6 ground troops.
1 Feb 42: at Kharkov, and then from Jun 42 supported AOK 6 in the summer campaign toward Stalingrad..
Dec 42: Stalingrad area under Stab/Flak-Regt. 91 (9. Flak-Div.).
Feb 43: listed as destroyed at Stalingrad (363 MIA and most of the rest either killed or wounded).
May 43: being reestablished at Friedrichshafen/Bodensee (Lake Constance) in South Germany and then transferred to Yugoslavia in August.
26 Sep 43: moved into Albania with deployment at Tirana and Durrës (Durazzo) under Stab/Flak-Rgt. 40 (Feldluftgaukdo. XXX).
Dec 43: transferred to Podgorica airfield in Montenegro and now under Stab/Flak-Rgt. 40 (20. Flak-Div.).
14 Mar 44: now at Metković in the Naretva delta area 35 km S of Mostar.
20 Mar 44: transferred north to the Split-Trogir area.
8 Jun 44: ordered to transfer from the Split area to Mostar to relieve Flak-Abt. 550 and to defend the two airfields there.
Oct 44: withdrew from the Mostar area to Syrmia as part of the general pulling back of German troops from the Dalmatian coastal area.
Dec 44: Syrmia – South Slavonia area and still under Stab/Flak-Rgt. 40 (20. Flak-Div.).
Mar 45: deployed along the Drava in the vicinity of Donji Miholjac/45 km NW of Osijek.
Apr 45: in the Varaždin area withdrawing toward Austria. Reported to be at Wiener-Neustadt by the end of April.
FpNs: Stab (L 12385), 1. Battr. (not yet determined), 2. Battr. (not yet determined), 3. Battr. (not yet determined), 4. Battr. (L 07621), 5. Battr. (L 13552), Kolonne (not yet determined).
Kommandeur:
Obstlt. Rudolf Schulze (1 Oct 35 - ? )
Maj. Alexander Nieper (Nov 38 - ? )
Maj. August Sambach (9 Feb 40 - Mar 41?)
Maj. Kurt Bügelsack (Mar 41 - ? ) 6/42
Hptm. Wolfgang Heck ( ? - 13 Oct 42) WIA
Maj. Fritz Reinke (R) (14 Oct 42 - ? )
Hptm. Gerhard Schroeder (May 43 - 26 Jun 44?)
Hptm. Rolf Meyer (27 Jun 44 - 8 May 45)


The individual you mentioned was a Hauptwachtmeister, which was the equivalent of a Hauptfeldwebel which approximates as a First Sergeant.

BHS1956

[SMP]

Wow thanks !!
Great reply. I am very grateful. This label seems to confirm your theory.

Cheers,
Steve

[Larry deZeng]

Wow thanks !!
Great reply. I am very grateful. This label seems to confirm your theory.
Cheers,
Steve

Steve -

I should have added that this is the Abteilung that shot down and killed the famous USAAF P-51 Mustang ace Lt. Ralph "Kidd" Hofer of the legendary 4th Fighter Group on 2 July 1944, at least I think that's the right date. Hofer was returning to Italy from an escort mission over Hungary where he had been shot up. Slowly losing altitude, he passed over Mostar-South airfield on the Dalmatian coast at 800 - 1,000 feet and was shot down by 2.0 cm light Flak fire from I./Flak-Rgt. 9. I don't know which battery, but this was a gemischt (mixed) Abteilung in which 4. and 5. Batterie were equipped with 2.0 cm and 3.7 cm antiaircraft guns. So it's possible your 5. Batterie scored the hits. There is book on this:

http://misc.kitreview.com/bookreview...reviewbg_1.htm

Hofer was a "big deal" in the U.S. and his loss was front page headlines throughout the country and the subject of magazine articles.

--BHS1956