Kampfgeschwader 27

Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" (KG 27) was a bomber wing (German: Kampfgeschwader) of the Luftwaffe in World War II named in honour of the famous German fighter ace of the Fliegertruppe Oswald Max Boelcke.

Names

Heinkel He 111 of the KG 27

Lieutenant Colonel Kuno Heribert Fütterer, Commander of the 2nd Group/KG 27 in 1937

Hansgeorg Bätcher flew with the KG 27 during the Poland Campaign and the Battle of France.

Oberfeldwebel Oekenpöhler (center) with his crew (Ernst Willing and Albert Benz)

• 1 May 1934: Formation of Kampfgruppe 154 in Faßberg under the code name “Hanseatische Fliegerschule e. V.”; the Luftwaffe of the Reichswehr had not yet been exposed and de jure forbidden by the Versailles Treaty.
• 1 July 1934: Operational readiness reported
• 1 October 1934: Renamed to “Fliegergruppe Faßberg”
  • Structure: Group Staff, Staff Squadron and 1st to 3rd Squadron; aircraft types: Junkers Ju 52/3m and Dornier Do 11
• 3 April 1935: Fliegergruppe Faßberg receives the traditional name "Geschwader Boelcke"
• 15 May 1935: Conversion to Dornier Do 23 (32 aircraft)
• 1 March 1936: Parts of the Fliegergruppe Faßberg (Kampfgruppe 154) were used to form the staff of the Kampfgeschwader 254 (3 wing groups) which would be renamed Kampfgeschwader 54 on 1 May 1939
• 15 March / 1 April 1936: The Fliegergruppe was renamed Kampfgeschwader 154 "Boelcke" (1st Wing Group in Hannover-Langenhagen) and received a 2nd Wing Group in Wunstorf under Lieutenant Colonel Dipl.-Ing. Josef Hilgers, as of 1 April 1937 under Kuno Heribert Fütterer with Group Staff and 4th to 6th Squadron/KG 154
• 1 October 1936: 1st Wing Group/Kampfgeschwader 254 was renamed 3rd Wing Group/Kampfgeschwader 154 "Boelcke" with Group Staff and 7th to 9th Squadron/KG 154
  • According to some sources, the conversion only took place on 1 April 1937, first commander of the group was Colonel Otto Paul Sommer (⚔ 18 August 1940 in Kenley, Surrey)
• 1 April 1937: Staff of Kampfgeschwader 154 "Boelcke" was redesignated Staff/Kampfgeschwader 157 "Boelcke" in Hannover-Langenhagen and received Heinkel He 111
• 1 May 1939: Kampfgeschwader 157 "Boelcke" was redesignated Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" and equipped with Heinkel He 111 P
  • Wing Staff in Hannover-Langenhagen
  • 1st Wing Group in Hannover-Langenhagen
  • 2nd Wing Group Wunstorf
  • 3rd Wing Group in Delmenhorst
• 23 November 1944: Redesignated Kampfgeschwader (J) 27 "Boelcke"

History

At the beginning of the Poland Campaign, the Wing Staff and the I. Group moved to Werneuchen, the II. Group to Neuhardenberg and the III. Group to Königsberg in Neumark. The wing was subordinate to the 1st Aviation Division at Air Fleet Command 1 and was deployed in the northern sector of the German front. It flew attacks on the Polish headquarters in Warsaw-Mokotow and fought Polish supply lines northeast of Warsaw. This was followed by operations against Polish positions in the Narew arc, in the Lodz area, Lublin and Kholm. After the end of the Polish campaign, the wing was transferred to the Western Front. KG 27 spent the Phoney War refitting. I./KG 27 was involved in leaflet dropping and armed reconnaissance in the Amiens, Lille and Arras area. The 2. Squadron was involved in such operations on 19 November 1939. II./KG 27 and III./KG 27 also flew on such sorties. The latter also dropped leaflets on Bethune. The types of missions were flown until April 1940.

At the beginning of the Western Campaign on 10 May 1940, KG 27 flew reconnaissance flights over France as well as attacks on airfields and troops in the Lille, Antwerp, Brussels and Namur areas. It was subordinate to the IV Aviation Corps at Air Fleet Command 2. On 15 May 1940, the wing's II. Group was relocated to Reichenbach Airfield. The group with their He 111 P arrived at the square around 6 p.m. coming from Achmer. The following day, part of the group flew to targets in the Dijon area. The rest of the group flew to targets in central and western France. The planes were armed with SC 50 and SD 50 bombs. On 17 May 1940, flying was not possible due to bad weather. The flight took off shortly before 3 p.m. on 18 May 1940 with the destination Paris-Meaux. During attacks by French fighters, the group commander, Major Reinhold Tamm, was shot down and taken prisoner of war. The rest of the group returned to the airfield around 7:45 p.m. On 19 May 1940, the group launched at 9:45 a.m. with SC 50 and SD 50 bombs against the Paris-Meaux-Schateau Thierry-Trilport railway line. The planes returned shortly after 2 p.m. without any special incident. In the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. the group moved back to Achmer, from where they flew against targets on the Channel coast in the following days. The wing flew missions to support the army during the breakthrough to the English Channel and took part in the major attack by the German Luftwaffe on airports in the Greater Paris area on June 3rd. The group then flew missions against the Allied evacuation fleet off Dunkirk, Le Havre and Orleans. During the Battle of France, the wingflew missions on the Somme and army support in the pursuit battles to the Seine, across the Loire, through Normandy and Brittany.

From 24 June 1940, KG 27 flew 27 disruptive attacks against English airfields, against the aircraft industry as well as against port facilities in southern England and against convoys in the Channel area. It continued to be subordinate to the IV. Flying Corps, now under Air Fleet Command 3. From 12 July 1940 (Battle of Britain), the scheduled combat against the British Royal Air Force and its ground organizations in day and night operations followed. On 6 August 1940, the wing flew attacks against airports around London in day and night operations and between 7 and 13 August 1940 against English airports in southern England. From 14 August 1940, attacks against English ports followed, with a focus on Liverpool, Birkenhead and Bristol. Between 30 August and 16 October 1940, the wing took part in air raids on London and the major English cities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Coventry and Manchester. At the same time, the planned fight against the RAF, its ground organizations and the air force industry continued in night operations. This was followed by attacks on night airfields in the south-east of England and, from 28 October 1940, attacks on night airports in England and the major ports in the south and west of England. In July 1940, a supplementary group IV.(Erg)/KG 27 with three squadrons had been set up in Avord. On 24 November 1940, this group was reduced to a supplementary squadron (Ergänzungs-Staffel) and relocated to Hanover-Langenhagen at the end of December 1940.

At the beginning of 1941, Kampfgeschwader 27 was in northern France (staff and I. Group in Tours, II. Group in Bourges and III. Group in Rennes). The supplementary squadron was in Hanover-Langenhagen. The wing was deployed over England to carry out attacks against night airports and the major ports in the south and west of England. On 13 March 1941, the supplementary squadron was expanded again into a supplementary group with three squadrons. On 19 April 1941, the supplementary group was renamed the wing's IV. Group.

Operation Barbarossa

In mid-June 1941, the squadron moved to Romania to take part in the attack against Russia from 22 June 1941. For this purpose it was subordinate to the IV. Aviation Corps at Air Fleet Command 4 and flew missions in the Stanislaus, Balti, Kirovograd, Odessa and Dniepropetrovsk areas. The wing took part in the Uman-Pervomaisk encirclement battle and around the Stalin Line. From 23 August 1941, attacks against sea supply routes to Odessa and on the city of Odessa itself followed. From 12 to 28 September 1941, the wing supported the army in the Battle of Kiev and then in the Battle of the Sea of ​​Azov. From 26 September to 24 October 1941, the wing supported the army in its attacks on Kharkov and in October in the fighting for the Donets industrial areas. It also flew missions on troop transports and warships in the Black Sea and took part in the fighting in Crimea. In November 1941, the wing flew army support in the Rostov area and in December 1941 in defensive battles in the Rostov – Taganrog area, the Donets Basin and on the Izyum. The 1st Group flew missions over Sevastopol.

At the beginning of 1944, the wing's I. Group returned to the Eastern Front, fully equipped with Heinkel He 111 H-16s. The group flew missions from Nikolayev Air Base. The II. and the III. Group had meanwhile moved to the Lemberg Air Base. On 20 January 1944, the squadron had none, the I. Group had 25, the II. Group had 11 and the III. Group of over 15 operational bombers. Their focus remained the southern part of the Eastern Front in the area of ​​the 4th Air Fleet. In April 1944, the new He 111 H-20 was delivered to the units in large numbers for the first time. In this case, the upper defensive position was replaced by a power-operated rotating tower.

Battle of Stalingrad

The 5th Squadron of Kampfgeschwader 27 was under the command of Hans-Henning Freiherr von Beust. By the end of November 1942, three to four combat missions (Feindflüge) were the order of the day for the entire 5th Squadron (including Ludwig Havighorst) of the II Group. On 28 November 1942, all available machines were sent into the pocket to supply the 6th German Army, only 12 machines made it, the others iced up and had to turn back. They tried again on 30 November 1942, and now all the planes arrived at the Pitomnik airfield. This important delivery was thanks to the fighter protection, but above all to the field protection squadron (Platzschutzstaffel „Pitomnik“), which successfully repelled all Russian attacks.

Defence of the Reich

In the fall of 1944, the entire wing moved to Raffelding, Hörsching and Wels in the Alpine and Danube Reichsgaue (Austria). Renamed there on 23 November 1944 to Kampfgeschwader (J) 27 (the J stood for Jagdflieger or fighters), it converted to fighter aircraft of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-9. The Bf 109 K-4 was a single-engine fighter with a 12-cylinder V-engine Daimler-Benz DB 605 DC with 1010 kW (1370 hp) takeoff power which reached a top speed of 715 km/h. The Fw 190 A-9 achieved 2000 hp and 656 km/h with its BMW 801 S engine. At that time, it was subordinated to the IX. Fliegerkorps, renamed the 9th Flieger-Division from 26 January 1945, with the 10th Air Fleet. After completing re-equipment and re-training, it began combat against incoming US bombers from the 8th and 15th US Air Fleets in March 1945 (Reichsluftverteidigung). The 14th (Railway) Squadron, which had 14 Heinkel He 111s on 10 January 1945, was excluded from the conversion. On 8 April 1945, the wing was disbanded.

Commodores

Fliegergruppe Faßberg

• Oberst Alfred Keller, 1 May 1934 – 31 March 1935
• Major / Oberstleutnant Johannes Fink, 1 April 1935 – 1 April 1936
• Oberstleutnant Dr. rer. pol. Robert Knauß, 1 April 1936 – 1 April 1937

KG 157

• Oberstleutnant / Oberst Richard Putzier, 1 April 1937 – 31 January 1939
• Oberst Hans Behrendt 1 February 1939 – 30 April 1939

KG 27

• Oberst Hans Behrendt, 1 May 1939 – 21 June 1940
• Oberstleutnant Bernhard Georgi, 22 June 1940 – 17 July 1940 (KIA)
• Oberst Gerhard Conrad, 26 July 1940 – 6 October 1940
• Major / Oberstleutnant Gerhard Ulbricht, November 1940 – December 1941
• Oberst Hans-Henning Freiherr von Beust, January 1942 – 25 November 1943
• Major Karl-August Petersen 29 September 1943 – 4 November 1943 (Deputy Commodore)
• Oberstleutnant Rudi Kiel, 5 November 1943 – 10 April 1945

Knight's Cross recipients (excerpt)

• Walter Grasemann
• Reinhard Günzel
• Ludwig Franziskus Havighorst
• Gerhard Krems
• Johann Oekenpöhler
• Helmut Putz
• Walter Schalles
• Wolfgang Skorczewski

Further reading

• Walter Waiss: Chronik Kampfgeschwader Nr. 27 Boelcke, 7 Volumes, 1997–2010