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Walter Erich Fenske |
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Name : Walter Erich Fenske Born : 22nd June 1911 Died : 28th March 1944 Air Victories : 13.00 |
09.39 in 2.(Z)/LG 1. 08.10.39 now in 14.(Z)/LG 1. 21.07.40 trf to 3./NJG 1. 10.40 Lt., assigned to 3./NJG 1. 11.02.41 Oblt., appt Staka of 3./NJG 1 (to 10.41). 10.41 appt Staka 9./NJG 2. 06.43 Hptm., Staka 11./NJG 5. †28.03.44 Hptm., KIA during operational mission or died at Brodenbach in Bf 110 G-4 test flight crash Brodenbach on 26.03.44 with 3./NJGr. 10. |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Squadron | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
unknown | unknown | 01st September 1939 | 01 Sep 1939 shot down a Polish PZL P-24 at 17:10± over Warschau | ||||
Known Victory Claims : | |||||||
Date | Rank | Squadron | Claimed | Location | Time | Aircraft Flown | Notes |
01/09/1939 | Oblt. | LG 1 | Warschau | 17.10± | |||
03/09/1939 | Oblt. | LG 1 | Warschau | - | |||
27/03/1941 | Oblt. | 1km W. sHertogenbosch | 23.5 | ||||
26/06/1941 | Oblt. | 3km W. Wittbrock | 0.53 | ||||
27/06/1941 | Oblt. | Adolf Hitler-Koog | 1.31 | ||||
27/06/1941 | Oblt. | NW St. Peter | 1.46 | ||||
30/06/1941 | Oblt. | S. Garding | 13.2 | ||||
30/06/1941 | Oblt. | SW Husum | 13.3 | ||||
09/08/1941 | Oblt. | 3km N. Heligoland | 3.22 | ||||
01/08/1942 | Hptm. | - | 1.37 | ||||
05/08/1942 | Hptm. | - | 3.5 | ||||
15/06/1943 | Hptm. | 12km SE Rennes: 2500m | 2.15 | ||||
28/07/1943 | Hptm. | 79 822: 2000m | 22.44 | ||||
| Squadrons for : Walter Erich Fenske | ||
| A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Walter Erich Fenske. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
| Squadron | Info | |
LG1 Country : Germany Fate : was ordered to disband on 22 April 1945, but was overrun by Canadian Forces at Varel 26–28 April Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of LG1 | LG1 Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1) (Demonstration Wing 1) formerly Lehrgeschwader Greifswald was a Luftwaffe multi-purpose unit during World War II, operating fighter, bomber and dive-bomber Gruppen. The unit was formed in July 1936 and operated the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Messerschmitt Bf 110, Dornier Do 17, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju 88 and Junkers Ju 87. On 25/26 August 1939 the unit mobilised. Assigned to Luftflotte 2, the Geschwader suffered light losses. I.(Zerstörer)/LG 1 lost only three Bf 110s in September.[1] II./LG also took part. Operating He 111s the Gruppe began operations with 39 He 111s (34 operational), and struck at targets in and around Warsaw. The unit also undertook naval strike missions against Royal Navy vessels off the Norwegian coast on 6 October III./LG 1 also took part, committing 39 He 111s to the battle.[3] Exact losses are unknown, but light. IV.(Stuka) unit, also began its military operations over Poland. Equipped with the Ju 87 Stuka, the Gruppe supported the XI.Armee until withdrawn from operations on 29 September During the campaign, the unit was transferred to Luftflotte 1 I.(K)/LG 1 undertook some armed reconnaissance missions along the Norwegian coast in late April 1940, without suffering casualties. The unit reported three losses. Whether these losses were inflicted as a result of enemy action is unknown.[5] II./LG 1 undertook missions against Allied shipping. On 1 May 1940 the Norwegian hospital ship Dronning Maud was sunk by this unit. The Geschwader lost 55 aircraft in the battle for France, 50 of them in combat. LG 1 records reveal the unit claimed seven Allied ships sunk and 23 damaged, along with 19 Allied aircraft shot down in aerial combat. I.(K)/LG 1 began the campaign with 30 He 111s, of which 22 were combat ready. The Gruppe took part in the Battle of Dunkirk, and spent the majority of its time heavily engaged with Allied Naval forces. II./LG 1, operating under Luftflotte 2, was tasked with direct ground support, Air interdiction, and logistical strikes against the enemy. Operating with 18 of its 26 He 111s at the start of the campaign, it hit the French airfields at Lille on 10 May. On 12 May a raid against Vlissingen harbour cost II. Gruppe two Heinkels. The Gruppe also took part in the Battle of Hannut, attacking Allied positions in Belgium, losing one He 111. The unit were withdrawn from the front-line for five days to convert to the Ju 88. During further operations against Allied rail targets, a further loss, a single Ju 88, was sustained on 20 May in the Amiens area. II. Gruppe was tasked the missions against Naval forces until the end of the Dunkirk evacuation. Several missions against Ostend and Dunkirk's harbours were flown from 25–31 May. This particular unit also took part in Unternehmen Paula, a 1,000 aircraft assault on French airfields in and around Paris on 2 June 1940, without loss. Missions over the Loire Valley continued until 22 June 1940. III. Gruppe also participated . Committing 12 He 111s and 37 Ju 88s it supported II. Gruppe and its operations. IV.(Stuka)/LG 1 undertook ground attack operations with 37 Ju 87 Bs, without being involved in any notable actions. V.(Zerstorer)/LG 1's responsibility was escort duties. Equipped with 33 Bf 110 Ds, the unit lost 8 Bf 110s from 10 May to 16 June 1940, when it was withdrawn for rest and refitting. During the battle of Britain the squadron attacked on 15 August with 12 Ju 88As of I//LG 1 against RAF Middle Wallop destroyed several Spitfires, but the unit lost five aircraft to defending fighters. The Geschwader suffered a cripplingly high loss rate during the battle. From 8 July 1940 to December 1940, LG 1 lost 94 aircraft, and a further 13 were destroyed after returning with damage. LG 1 lost 119 crews and pilots killed, 102 missing and 36 captured. V. (Zerstörer)/LG 1 sustained particularly high losses, losing 25 Bf 110Cs between 4 July and 16 September. It was reduced to just 10 Bf 110s, but on 7 September 1940 it lost a further seven 110s, as a result the unit was withdrawn from operations. It was designated I.NJG 3 on 29 September. .(K)/LG 1 took part in the Balkan campaign. It sank the Allied transport vessels Ellenis on 20 April, in Piraeus harbour, and Pennland (16,000 grt) on 24 April. It continued anti-shipping missions throughout the remainder of the conflict. On 21 May 1941 the gruppe damaged the Royal Navy Leander-class HMS Ajax. During 22–27 May 1941, HMS Barham and HMS Warspite were damaged by LG 1s attacks. Notable actions of the Geschwader during the two-year stint in North Africa included I.(K)/LG 1s sinking of three large transport vessels Clan Campbell, Clan Chattan and Rowallan Castle from the convoy MW 9, during attacks on 13–14 February 1941. III./LG 1 also damaged the Australian destroyer Waterhen on 9 July 1941, and sinking it on 11 July. The Geschwader supported the Afrikakorps until 1942. Bombing raids were made the Suez Canal, Cairo during this time. On 11/12 May I.(K)/LG 1 led by Hauptmann Joachim Helbig were responsible for sinking HMS Kipling, HMS Jackal and HMS Lively in the Gulf of Sollum. The Geschwader also took part in the Siege of Malta during October 1942. IV.(Erg)/LG 1 and III./LG 1 (disbanded and reformed in May 1943) were based in Greece and Italy for the remainder of the war, striking at Allied Shipping. The units were bombed continually. Hangars and workshops that held vital spare parts were destroyed. The fuel crisis in July 1944 forced most of the two units to withdraw to Austria. On the Eastern Front Only III. Gruppe and IV.(Stuka)/LG 1 were the only Gruppen of the LG 1 to operate in the Soviet Union. III./LG 1 moved to Nikolayez in the Ukraine from 23–24 March 1942. The units took part in the Battle of Sevastopol and the Battle of Stalingrad. It also conducted anti-shipping missions against the Soviet Navy and Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea. IV. Gruppe operated the Ju 87 from northern Norway and Finland at the start of Operation Barbarossa. It flew a variety of ground attack missions, and anti-shipping missions around Murmansk. According to its records, the Gruppe lost 26 Stukas, 21 crews killed, seven missing, 6 wounded and three captured between 3 September 1940 and 27 January 1942. Later, just prior to the Battle of Berlin, the Geschwader took part in Operation Eisenhammer, striking at the Oder bridges to prevent their use by the Red Army. The Geschwader attempted to support the German Army in France. However, due to Allied air superiority it was restricted to flying at night. From 1 July 1944 to 31 August 1944 I.(K)/LG 1 lost 19 aircraft in the failed Normandy Campaign. The Gruppe also supported German forces during the Battle of the Bulge offensive. Operating at night to avoid Allied fighters, the unit attacked troop concentrations and marshalling yards in Belgium and France. On the night of 16/27 December 1944, the unit lost five Ju 88S-3s out of nine in a raid against Namur, Belgium.[18] The Gruppe was ordered to disband on 22 April 1945, but was overrun by Canadian Forces at Varel 26–28 April. II./LG 1 also lost 19 aircraft in these operations (Ref Wikipedia) | |
NJG1 Country : Germany Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of NJG1 | NJG1 Full profile not yet available. | |
NJG2 Country : Germany Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of NJG2 | NJG2 I./NJG 2's initial role was unlike the other units of the Luftwaffe night fighter arm; as a Fernnachtjagd Gruppe they were tasked with long-range intruder missions over the UK, disrupting night flying training and harassing the returning Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers over their own airfields. Luftflotte 3's radio intercepts of Bomber Command's transmissions helped pinpoint the operational airfields in Eastern England. I./NJG 2 aircraft could then scramble to be over the airfields at the predicted times of the bomber's return. The technique employed was to mix with the returning bombers, orbit the bases, and either shoot down targets that presented themselves or drop 50 kilograms (110 lb) bombs across the runways Based at Gilze-Rijen in the Netherlands, operations commenced using just 7 JU 88 C-1 night fighters. Although most missions were carried out using the Junkers Ju 88C-1 and C-2, a few Dornier Do 215B-5 fighter conversions were trialled in the spring of 1941. The offensive over the UK yielded promising results- some 143 victory claims were made, and over 90 RAF aircraft were indeed lost between October 1940 and the start of 1942. There was also the additional disruption to RAF operations and the psychological effects on the RAF crews By October 1941 however night intruder sorties were curtailed, due to the inadequate number of aircraft available (I Gruppe never had more than 20 JU 88s operational) and the High Command's perceived lack of results; it was thought shooting down RAF bombers over the German homeland had a far greater morale effect than over the UK Among the most successful of the unit's pilots was Ufz. Heinz Strüning, who flew 66 intruder missions over England. He recorded his first night victory on 23/24 November - a RAF Vickers Wellington bomber and by the end of 1941 he had 9 victories. Leutnant Alfons Koster had, by October 1941, some 11 intruder victories. Lt. Hans Hahn was credited with 12 victories, all over England.[2] He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross In July 1941, but was killed in action in October 1941, colliding with an RAF Airspeed Oxford trainer he was trying to shoot down. II./NJG 2 flew more conventional operations at this time, based at Leeuwarden on the Dutch coast. In November 1941 4./NJG 2 moved to Catania, and would remain there until February 1942, when it transferred back to Leeuwarden and joined the rest of II./NJG 2. In November 1941 2./NJG 2 moved to Benghazi as part of Fliegerführer Afrika, and returned to Catania later in the month. The first 'kill' was claimed on 13 December, Obfw Sommer downing a Bristol Beaufighter over Crete. On 19 November 1941 the unit escorted Ju 88 bombers raiding shipping off Malta, Lt. Laufs shooting down a Hurricane of No. 126 Squadron. Early in 1942 both 2. and 3./NJG 2 was based at Benghazi until March 1942. Various demands for night cover meant from April onwards I./NJG 2 was scattered over the Mediterranean, with detachments based at Benina, Berca, Derna, Benghazi, El Quasaba and Crete. On 1 October, 7./NJG 2 was redesignated as 4./NJG 2. The unit's Leutnant Heinz Strüning was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October for 24 victories. One of this unit's Ju 88G-1 night fighters, from the 7th Staffel, with Geschwaderkennung style aircraft code 4R+UR, was landed at RAF Woodbridge by mistake on July 13, 1944, giving the Allies their first chance to examine a working example of the VHF-band Lichtenstein SN-2 airborne intercept radar, and Flensburg radar detector gear. This event resulted in a longer-wavelength deployment of Window to jam the SN-2 gear, and general removal of the Monica tail warning radar from all RAF Bomber Command heavy bombers By the end of the year NJG 2 were covering the night defence of the industrial Ruhr area, flying from Düsseldorf, Kassel, Gütersloh, and Köln. In the final weeks of the conflict, the unit began receiving the night fighter variant of the Junkers Ju 388 - thus making NJG 2 the first and only Luftwaffe detachment to use the nachtjager variant operationally. It is likely these machines were 388J-0 pre-production prototypes, as the 388 programme was cancelled before manufacture of the J-1 production series had begun. Given the haphazard and incomplete conditions of training in those final days of war, and the almost total depletion of aviation fuel stocks throughout what remained of the Reich, it is doubtful whether more than a handful of combat missions were flown by this new type. NJG 2 claimed approximately 800 air victories during its period of operations. | |
NJG5 Country : Germany Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of NJG5 | NJG5 Full profile not yet available. | |
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