pilot research

[Bagel]

I have this posted in the Luftwaffe area since this guy was a pilot, but someone suggested I post it here instead.

I managed to find some info on a particular pilot on a german site (http://www.blitzgeschwader.de/) that has flugbucher info on KG 3 and I think other Luftwaffe units, but I can't read German so it's hard for me to figure out what's there.

Anyone know what an FB number is?

The Unit(?) info is supposedly: A/B Weimar-Nohra, Sch/FAR 51, C Perleberg, C Sprottau, GKS 3, BFS 1

...which unfortunately means nothing to me. I thought the pilot was in KG 2, so this is either far more specific or pertains to something else... the flight dates are also two years before he was awarded his pokal, so I'm wondering if this only covers an earlier part of his career...

[JeremyJ]

pilot

Bagel

Do you mean FP??? If so this designates Feldpost number (FPN) (German: Feldpostnummer) which was an identification number for a German military unit during World War II used for military mail service which means when family members and friends wanted to send mail to the corresponding unit.

With regard to the Flugbucher if, which is the way it appears, you found a flugbuch on the KG3 site it is likely for his training flights, Pilots and crew typically had more than one flugbucher to list their flights. It appears that Walter does not have all of the flugbucher of the pilot you are researching.

If you give the pilots name it would be easier to respond with any information that might exist.

Regards

Jeremy

[Bagel]

FB-Nummer

No it's definitely FB-Nummer, #75-5 in this case... the pilot in question is Oberfeldwebel Georg Brendebach, who I believe was a Flugzeugführer in Kampfgeschwader 2 (later on I guess). He got the Ehrenpokal on 20-07-1942 and the DKiG on 02-11-1942.

And you're correct about the training flights, according to Pierre:

As Weimar-Nohra is a Fliegerhorst it should be the place where he got his A/B pilot's licence.
BFS 1 should be Blindflugschule 1
GKS 3 should be Grosse Kampffliegerschule 3
Sprottau and Perlberg are air bases where he got his C licence.

The website's doc is saying he did 662 flights in just over 8 months; I didn't think anyone did that many combat missions (certainly not in such a short amount of time) so training flights make sense. But then again, what do I know about how many missions people flew?

Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

[Pierre]

I forgot to precise that Sch/FAR 51 means Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 51 also based in Weimar-Nohra.
As for the DKiG awarding date I have a different on which is 15.10.1942.

Pierre

[JeremyJ]

pilot

Bagel

I did find a bit more about your flieger. Brendebach did it appears, serve with KG2 for most of his service, primarily 5th staffel Kampfgeschwader 2.

The only entries I found for him are:

04.03.42 his aircraft is damaged by shipboard flak about 1km east of Great Yarmouth during an anti-shipping mission. His aircraft was a Do.217 E-2 wrknmr 5322, U5+FN, % of a/c damage not listed but his crew was
FF Fw Georg Brendebach
BO Lt. Albert Hein
BF Uffz. Walter Lotz
BM Uffz. Herbert Weber

and...

20./21.04.45 his aircraft crash lands due to a faulty or damaged fuel line near Neubiberg. At this time he was with V./NJG 2 which was a former KG2 unit that was redesignated to night fighter service. His a/c was a Ju88 G 6c wrknmr unknown designated U5+??. His crew at that time was:
FF Ofw Georg Brendebach
BO Uffz. Hans-Joachim Urner
BF Fw Walter Lotz
BM Fw ? Steinhagen

So fairly good chance he survived the war.

Jeremy

[JeremyJ]

pilot

Bagel

Also found this, not great resolution however images of any kind are nice to have.

It would appear Brendebach was quite a prolific anti-shipping specialist and no doubt reasons for his high awards.

From left to right are:

BS Uffz. Weber
FF Fw Brendebach
BO Lt. Hein
BF Uffz. Lotz
IW Uffz. Buchner (1. Wart)

On the Do. 217 tail can be seen the fruits of their labor, i.e. ships sunk
15.08.1941 2,000 BRT sunk
19.09.1941 4,000 BRT sunk
11.11.1941 3,000 BRT sunk
10.12.1941 4,000 BRT damaged

Since these were all 1941 he must have been with the unit since early 41.

Jeremy

[Bagel]

That's really sweet to see, where did you find that picture? Some of you guys have resources and info that really make me jealous :P I don't know if it's because you live closer to the sources, or just have been doing it longer and network/know people in the right places, or do it for a living or what, but it's certainly good at making me feel worthless when it comes to this sort of info, heheheh.

[JeremyJ]

pilot

Heah Bagel

No need to feel worthless, we all learn from various sources and there are other researchers better than myself whom I am always learning from. Just glad in this instance I could help.

In terms of the source all of this information/image was in Ulf Balke's "Der Luftkrieg in Europa 1941-45". The two volumes under the same title deal with the unit history of Kampfgeschwader 2. Since I collect Luftwaffe documents I am always seeking out/ purchasing unit histories when they come on the market and as a result have a fair library to choose from.

I will say that if you are anticipating collecting/researching additional LW personnel it is well worth the money to keep a good resource libray on hand. While the internet is helpful for certain areas, crew listings and loss listings/returns are not available on line.

All the best.

Jeremy

[Bagel]

Did you mean "Luftkrieg uber Europa", band 1&2? That's the only thing I could find from a quick search... not an easy set of books to find apparently...

[JeremyJ]

pilot

Yup those are the volumes.

You can sometimes check on Amazon to see if any are floating about otherwise the most likely location to find them is thru German book dealers.

Jeremy

[Bagel]

DKiG

Well I now officially have Flugzeugführer Oberfeldwebel/Stabsfeldwebel Georg Brendebach's DKiG. If anyone has any more information, anything else belonging to him or even just related to Kampfgeschwader 2 (Holzhammer), I would greatly appreciate it if you would send me a PM.

This would of course include his Ehrenpokal, Ehrenlistes with his name on them, photos, his soldbuch, wehrpass, awards, award docs, etc. etc.

If someone has his Do.217 or Ju88 parked in their backyard, gimme a buzz and maybe we can set up a payment plan

[Spurlaut]

Pilot

Guten Abend,

mein englisch ist sehr schlecht!

ich bin neu hier und lebe in Deutschland, ca. 40 Kiometer von Frankfurt am Main. Per Zufall kam ich auf dieses Forum und fand ein Foto
Ich bin die Schwiegertochter von Walter Lotz.
Er war Flieger beim KG2 und flog während des Krieges mit Georg Brendebach, Hein, Buchner, Weber und Heinz Steinhagen.

Da ich noch einige Dinge von Walter besitze, möchte ich euch eine Freude machen.

@ Bagel
I have not D217 or Ju88 in the garage but a logbook of cross-country flying.
Sie flogen auch Ju52 und Di17z

I hope I manage to put the photo in the forum

Grüße aus Deutschland
Spurlaut

[Spurlaut]

Good evening,

my english is very bad!

I'm new here and I live in Germany, about 40 Kiometer from Frankfurt. By chance I came across this forum and found a picture
I am the daughter of Walter Lotz.
He was flying in KG2 and flew during the war with George Brendebach, Hein, Buchner, Weber and Heinz Steinhagen.

Nice to see that you have not forgotten them.
Greetings from Germany
Spurlaut

[Spurlaut]

[QUOTE=Spurlaut;5748464]Guten Abend,

mein englisch ist sehr schlecht!

ich bin neu hier und lebe in Deutschland, ca. 40 Kiometer von Frankfurt am Main. Per Zufall kam ich auf dieses Forum und fand ein Foto
Ich bin die Schwiegertochter von Walter Lotz.
Er war Flieger beim KG2 und flog während des Krieges mit Georg Brendebach, Hein, Buchner, Weber und Heinz Steinhagen.

Da ich noch einige Dinge von Walter besitze, möchte ich euch eine Freude machen.

@ Bagel
I have not D217 or Ju88 in the garage but a logbook of cross-country flying.
Sie flogen auch Ju52 und Di17z

I hope I manage to put the photo in the forum

Grüße aus Deutschland
Spurlaut

[Bagel]

Wir haben nicht vergessen.