Lehrgeschwader 1

Lehrgeschwader 1
Active	1936 – 1945
Country	Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Luftwaffe
Type	Multi-purpose Squadron
Role	Tactical and Direct Ground Support.
Size	Air Force Wing
Engagements	Polish Campaign German invasion of Denmark Norwegian Campaign Battle of the Netherlands Battle of Belgium Battle of France Battle of Britain German invasion of Yugoslavia Battle of Greece Battle of Crete Battle of the Mediterranean North African Campaign Eastern Front Western Front Battle of Normandy Western Allied invasion of Germany
Insignia
Identification symbol	Geschwaderkennung of L1

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. The unit operated most of the prominent German aircraft during the conflict, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Messerschmitt Bf 110, Dornier Do 17, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju 88 and Junkers Ju 87.

History

The unit was created to control the Lehrgruppe in the Luftwaffe. Stab/LG 1 was formed in July 1936, and on 1 April 1937 the Stab Gruppe was officially created along with I.(leichte Jagd), II.(schwere Jagd), III.(Kampf) and IV.(Stuka) Gruppen.

War Time Service

Poland

Main article: Polish Campaign

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. 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. 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 Equipped with the Ju 87 Stuka, the Gruppe supported the XI.Armee until withdrawn from operations on 29 September.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.

Scandinavia: The Invasions of Denmark and Norway

Main article: Operation Weserübung

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. II./LG 1 undertook missions against Allied shipping. On 1 May 1940, the Norwegian hospital ship Dronning Maud was sunk by this unit.

France and the Low Countries

Main articles: Battle of the Netherlands, Battle of France, and Battle of Belgium

The Geschwader lost 55 aircraft in the battle, 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 the 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.

Air Offensive over Britain

Main article: Battle of Britain

Messerschmitt Bf 110Cs of 1. Staffel/LG 1 in the Battle of Britain.

An attack on 15 August by 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 the 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.

Battles of Yugoslavia and Greece

Main article: Balkans Campaign (World War II)

I.(K)/LG 1 took part in the 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.

North African and Mediterranean Theatres

Main article: Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II

Ju 88A of Stab/LG 1 over North Africa, September 1941

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.

Russia

Main article: Eastern Front (World War II)

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.

Western Front: 1944–45

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. 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.

Commanding officers

Geschwaderkommodore

• Major Hans Jeschonnek, 1 October 1936 – November 1936
• Oberst Dr. Robert Knauss, 1 October 1937 – 17 November 1939
• Generalmajor Alfred Bülowius, 17 November 1939 – 21 October 1940
• Oberst Friedrich Karl Knust, 21 October 1940 – 18 February 1942
• Oberst Franz von Benda, June 1942 – 2 December 1942
• Oberstleutnant Hans-Werner Freiherr von Buchholtz, 24 March 1943 – 2 August 1943
• Oberst Joachim Helbig, 14 August 1943 – 2 March 1945
• Oberstleutnant Rudolf Hallensleben, September 1944 – January 1945 (acting)
• Oberst Joachim Helbig, January 1945 (acting)
• Major Richard Czekay, 2 March 1945 – 4 May 1945

Gruppenkommandeur

The Geschwader contained two different "I. Gruppen":

I. (Zerstörer)/LG 1

• Major Oskar Dinort 15 March 1937 – 31 August 1937
• Hauptmann Axel von Blomberg, 1 September 1937 – 1 April 1939
• Major Walter Grabmann, 1 April 1939 – 31 May 1939
• Major Dr. Ing. Ernst Bormann 1 May 1939 – 30 June 1939
• Major Walter Grabmann, 1 July 1939 – 8 October 1939

I.(k)LG 1

• Major Eduard Teske, 1 November 1939 – 1 July 1940
• Hauptmann Wilhelm Kern, 1 July 1940 – 7 October 1940
• Hauptmann Kuno Hoffmann, 7 October 1940 – 1 October 1941
• Hauptmann Siegfried von Eichhorn, (acting) October 1941
• Hauptmann Karl Vehmeyer 1 October 1941 – 4 November 1941
• Major Joachim Helbig, 5 December 1941 – 24 January 1943
• Major Hans-Werner Freiherr von Buchholtz, 25 January 1943 – 24 March 1943
• Major Karl-Heinz Schomann, 24 March 1943 – 4 October 1943
• Major Richard Czekay, 16 May 1944 – 1 July 1944
• Heinz Ott 7 October July 1944 – November 1944
• Hauptmann Paul Hecking, 26 December 1944 – 23 January 1945 (MIA)
• Hauptmann Siegfried Freiherr von Cramm, 12 February 1945 – April 1945
• Oberstlt (promoted) Joachim Helbig – 30 April 1945

II. Gruppe/LG 1

• Oberstleutnant Hans-Detlef Herhudt von Rohden, 1 November 1938 – 1 July 1939
• Major Kurt Dobratz, 1 July 1939 – 6 August 1940
• Hauptmann Heinz Cramer, 6 August 1940 – 17 September 1940 (POW)
• Hauptmann Arved Crüger, 1 October 1940 – December 1940
• Major Gerhard Kollewe, December 1940 – 17 October 1942
• Major Gerhard Richter, 17 October 1942 – 20 January 1943
• Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Schomann, 21 January 1943 – 24 March 1943
• Major Gerhard Richter, 25 March 1943 – 9 September 1943
• Hauptmann Leopold Köck, 10 September 1943 – unknown
• Major Dieter-Hans Clemm von Hohenberg 16 May 1944 – 30 June 1944
• Hauptmann Karl Peters, 24 July 1944 – 4 May 1945

III. Gruppe/LG 1

• Major Karl-Eduard Wilke, April 1937 – unknown
• Oberstleutnant Hans Seidemann, April 1938 – 30 November 1938
• Major Dr. Ernst Bormann, 1 December 1938
• Hauptmann Karl-Friedrich Knust, 19 July 1940 – October 1942
• Hauptmann (first name not known) von Grothe, October 1940 – December 1940
• Hauptmann Hermann Hogeback, January 1942 – 31 August 1942
• Hauptmann Hans-Günther Nedden, May 1943

IV. (Stuka)Gruppe/LG 1

• Obstlt Hans-Hugo Witt 1 April 1937 – August 1937
• Major Günter Schwartzkopff 1 November 1938 – 1 June 1939
• Hauptmann Peter Kögl, 1 June 1939 – 22 June 1940
• Hauptmann Bernd von Brauchitsch, 22 June 1940 – 31 July 1940
• Hauptmann Erwin Röder, 1 August 1940 – 21 December 1940
• Hauptmann Walter Klemme 21 December 1940 – 31 May 1941
• Hauptmann Arnulf Blasig 1 July 1941 – 27 January 1942

IV.(Erg)Gruppe/LG 1

• Major Karl Vehmeyer, 17 April 1941 – 25 February 1942
• Hauptmann Hans-Karl Stepp, (acting) 28 January 1942 – unknown
• Hauptmann Gerhard Richter, 26 February 1942 – 17 October 1942
• Major Erwin Schulz, 18 October 1942 – 21 November 1942
• Major Hans-Werner von Buchholtz, 22 November 1942 – 21 January 1943
• Major Heinz Ott, 1 February 1943 – 4 October 1943
• Major Karl-Heinz Schomann, 5 October 1943 – 5 July 1944
• Majot Richard Czekay, 6 July 1944 – 11 January 1945

V. (Zerstörer)/LG 1

• Major Walter Grabmann, 8 October 1939 – 11 April 1940
• Hauptmann Horst Liensberger, 11 April 1940 – 27 September 1940 (KIA)

Bibliography

• Bergstrom, Christer (2007). Barbarossa - The Air Battle: July–December 1941. London: Chervron/Ian Allan. ISBN 978-1-85780-270-2.
• de Zeng, H.L; Stanket, D.G; Creek, E.J. Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945; A Reference Source, Volume 1. Ian Allan Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-85780-279-5
• de Zeng, H.L; Stanket, D.G; Creek, E.J. Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945; A Reference Source, Volume 2. Ian Allan Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-903223-87-1
• Taghon, Peter (2004). Die Geschichte des Lehrgeschwaders 1—Band 1—1936 – 1942 (in German). Zweibrücken, Germany: VDM Heinz Nickel. ISBN 3-925480-85-4.
• Taghon, Peter (2004). Die Geschichte des Lehrgeschwaders 1—Band 2—1942 – 1945 (in German). Zweibrücken, Germany: VDM Heinz Nickel. ISBN 3-925480-88-9.