Crew of the Fl. Abt. 21

[vikinn]

Hi ,

I am searching added information about crew of the Fl. Abt. 21 , captured on the Eastern Front.

I only know that

28.10.1915 ( ns ) German airplane LVG from Fl. Abt. 21 shot down by Russian AA-fire near Pinsk .
Crew 2 POW - leutnant and fahnrich.


Probably, someone has an information about names of crew from Fl. Abt. 21.

Perhaps the Sonderband can give the actual airfields of Fl. Abt. 21 in June - November 1915 ?


Cheers vikinn.

[rammjaeger]

Vikinn,

sadly, I can not help here. The 3. and 8. Sonderband only cover the year 1914. The production of the series which should cover the whole WW1 was stopped in 1944/45 by the Luftwaffe researchers because of the bad war situation.

Additional hint:
If you are publishing your findings (I hope so) then do not forget to write Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 21. That is the correct name for 1915. Later, with the great restructuring (end 1916/ early 17) of the Luftstreitkräfte this unit became Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) 258. With this great change of names and numbers surely a Flieger-Abteilung 21 was created (which had nothing to do with Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 21).
That is a real trap for all researchers of German units, e.g. you can find German aviators in "Abteilungen" (plural) like Festungs-Flieger-Abteilung 1, Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 1, Flieger-Abteilung 1 and the Turkish (Ottoman) Flieger-Abteilung 1.

oops, I forgot the Bavarians had an own unit number 1 too - bayerische Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 1!

VBR
Rammjaeger

[vikinn]

Hello Rammjaeger,

Thank you for help.

Cheers vikinn.

[Rick]

Vikinn,

There is a remote possibility that the crew were Ltn. Hans Dietlof von Arnim and Offz.Stv. Franz Wegener. They are given in the Deutschen Verluslisten (DVL). But, one must be aware that the DVL does not provide dates, locations of loss, nor units, only names and what happened (KIA. KIC, IIC, MIA, POW, etc.). The date of loss must be inferred from those known dates of death taken from the von Eberhardt necrology.

That said, another crew reported MIA around this time were Oblt. Hans Heinrich Klevemann and Offz.Stv. Franz Wegener. However, the rank of Oblt. leads me to believe this crew might not be a candidate.

Sorry for such a wishy-washy answer. R.

[vikinn]

Hello Rick,

Thank you for help and information.


The first missed crew – Ltn. Hans Dietlof von Arnim
Offz.Stv. Franz Wegener

The second missed crew - Obltn. Hans Heinrich Klevemann
Offz.Stv. Franz Wegener

May be , Offz. Stv. Franz Wegener was only in one crew ?


Cheers vikinn.

[Rick]

Oops. I goofed. von Arnim was paired with Sgt. Ernst Boesener, not Wegener. Wegener was paired with Klevemann. Sorry, sometimes the brain and fingers go off in different directions. R.

[vikinn]

Hello Rick,

Thank you for information.

Cheers vikinn.

[rammjaeger]

Hello Vikinn,

now I have a request to you.

On 28 September 1914 the one and only German K-Flak (Kraftwagen-Flak) on the Russian front
was lost in combat (on the river Neman?).
Flak-crew tried to support German infantry but advancing Russian cavalry (Kossaks) fired. The K-Flak (still called BAK = Ballon-Abwehr-Kanone in this time) fell in a trench because the driver was hit and killed. The crew tried to rescue the Flak under fire but lost its commander Ltn. Adami (dead) and some men wounded. All tries to rescue the Flak failed. Therefore the Germans destroyed the Flak when they had to retread.

Does Russian sources say anything about the capture of this - for its time - high-tech weapon. Did you accidently see any Russian report or photograph?

VBR
Rammjaeger

[vikinn]

Hello Rammjaeger,

The Russian official report from 01.10.1914 (ns) shows that in region Osovets some automobiles were seized.

The Russian official report from 03.10.1914 (ns) shows that some guns of artillery, automobiles,
motorcycles and charge boxes were seized. One automobile had gun of artillery.

The dates of Russian official reports can differ from correct dates for 2-7 days.

I saw the mention about seized Flak- Kanone 77-mm, but without firm dates of an event.


From Warchron.com. :

On 28 September, on the Northwest Front, the only German anti-aircraft unit (Ballon- Abwehr-Kanonen) (BAK) on the Russian Front was lost in ground fighting near Kopziowo in the vicinity of Gumbinnen.

In region Osovets - Gumbinnen - river Neman advanced the troops of Russian
10-th Army and 1-th Army.
The trophies were at troops of Russian 10-th Army.


Cheers vikinn.

[rammjaeger]

Thank you for your response, Vikinn!