The last flight of Lt. Paul Kaschuba and 'Black 13' - the story behind the photo (Me 410 II./ZG 26 Flak 43) Zerstörer defending the Reich, Reichsverteidigung

Recent issues of Flugzeug Classic magazine have been packed with Luftwaffe features, photos and artwork and are highly recommended to readers of the Luftwaffe blog. The April issue (No 4, 2012) has a fascinating piece compiled by Gerhard Kaschuba, nephew of Lt. Paul Kaschuba, who attempts a reconstruction of his Uncle's last flight on 12 May 1944 at the controls of Me 410 W.Nr 10241 'Black 13' of II./ ZG 26  - Kaschuba was shot down in the vicinity of Plauen during an attack against US 8th AF bombers. Gerhard Kaschuba believes that this well-known photo taken from the 388th BG B-17 'Lady Godiva' during the raid depicts 'Black 13' on 12 May 1944, the date the aircraft and its pilot were lost.
1st Lt. Manuel Head, pilot of 562nd BS B-17 'Lady Godiva' reported; " As I recall the 388th BG was attacked from the rear - I saw nothing of the combat with the exception of this Me 410 peeling away just off my starboard wing. I well remember my exclamation, 'what the hell is he doing here?!' and in a fraction of a second he was gone. Victor Labruno took the pic from the right hand window of the radio compartment. Eugene Crossin in the upper turret told me later that his tracers poured into the belly of the Me 410 and a 'kill' was subsequently credited  to him .."

(Close-up view of 'black 13' from the larger photo courtesy of Peter Kassak for the Luftwaffe blog..)

Up to April 1944 this aircraft (pic above via Eddie Nielinger-Creek ) was flown under operational conditions by Erprobungskommando 25 under Hptm. Horst Geyer. The aircraft - originally built as a Me 210 during August 1943 in Augsburg - mounted a Flak 43 (3.7 cm)  heavy cannon in the nose and was fitted with a ZFR  (Zielfernrohr) telescopic sight. Lt. Paul Kaschuba joined the Zerstörerstaffel of Erprobungskommando 25 on 2 May 1943 and between May 1943 and January 1944 flew at least 25 operational combat sorties with this unit, receiving the Frontflugspange in Bronze  - 25 flights being the requirement for the bronze fighter pilot's combat clasp, awarded to Kaschuba on 19 January 1944. Unfortunately the pilot's Flugbuch has not survived although author Kaschuba has attempted to reconstruct some of the detail of  his Uncle's brief combat career.

On 8 October 1943 Paul Kaschuba claimed a 2nd Bomb Division B-24 shot down for which he received the EK II and on 10 October 1943 was himself shot down during the raid on Münster while flying a Bf 110. During early 1944 he was assigned to fly the Flak 43-equipped Me 410. Ground and air firing tests of the heavy cannon were carried out at Erprobungsstelle Travemünde and in April 1944 two Flak 43-equipped Me 410s were assigned from the Ekdo. 25 to II./ ZG 26 at Königsberg/Neumark along with the crew of Lt. Paul Kaschuba and Fw. Karl Bredemeier. During this period the Me 410s of II./ ZG 26 were equipped with the BK 5 heavy cannon as seen in the photos here. 12 May 1944, -the first day of an all-out American air offensive against German oil and synthetic fuel production plants and installations - would be Paul Kaschuba's first and last sortie with II./ZG 26. Author Gerhard Kaschuba tracked down some of the Me 410 crews that flew on this mission and relates their accounts. Crew members interviewed include Fritz Buchholz, Walter Fritz and Richard Wilde of 6. Staffel ZG 26- a brief extract from the rare personal recollections of one of these veterans drawn from Gerhard Kaschuba's feature follows ;

Richard Wilde; " the Kommandeur Hptm. Günther Weyl brought us in behind the B-17s on a wide curving right-hand turn with a slight height advantage allowing for accurate firing. During our closing approach my right neighbour caught fire and peeled away with a half-roll. I managed seven or eight firing rounds with the heavy cannon with no problems. Even the smaller cannon worked well that day. I could see the impacts of my firing on the right inboard engine of the B-17 I was attacking but I took numerous hits as we closed in. I could hear the impacts and see their effects on the port wing. My radio operator Karl Lapsie reported that very hot oil was coming into his compartment, burning his legs. As I continued my attack oily smoke started to fill the cabin and when I unleashed my last cannon shell, flames erupted in the cockpit. We were right  alongside the B-17's huge tail fin when I rolled the aircraft away to port, jettisoning the canopy at the same time.."

Further reading;

Messerschmitt Me 210/410 Hornisse - an illustrated Production History (Classic)
Flugzeug Classic magazine April 2012 "Der letzte Flug des Leutnant Paul Kaschuba"
Me 410 in Combat - Kagero
Luftwaffe Viermot Aces  1942-45 (Osprey, R. Forsyth)

Günther Josten's Gefechtsbericht - new from 296 Verlag - Günther Josten's War diaries

Günther Josten's remarkable wartime service with JG 51 is the subject of this latest volume from Kurt Braatz at Verlag/'Edition' 296. A large extract from the book is published in the November 2011 issue of  Flugzeug Classic magazine (cover llustration above). Assigned at the end of August 1942 to 3./JG 51 on the Eastern front Josten kept a diary both of his combat actions and his front-line Luftwaffe service, which 296 have published essentially in un-edited form with only a brief commentary introducing each chapter of his career. Josten's 'scoring' run began during the Kursk offensive in the summer of 1943. On 10 July 1943 he made claims 8 to 10. Three days later on 13 July he shot down five Il-2 Sturmoviks for victories 12 to 16. In total he claimed 19 victories in July and 30 in August 1943 to begin a remarkable run that saw him achieve some 178 victories over 420 combat sorties without ever being shot down himself. The war ended for Josten as Gruppenkommandeur of IV./JG 51 - his last seven aerial victories being claimed on 25 April 1945 - by which time he has filled no fewer than ten diary volumes and five photo albums, a fantastic legacy that Kurt Braatz has fully exploited in this new work.  His brother, Reinhard Josten, also served in Jagdgeschwader 51 and was killed in action on 21 April 1942.

Günther Josten: Gefechtsbericht. Kriegstagebücher 1939-1945. Kommodore in der Starfighter-Krise.  330 pages , 101 mostly unseen photos

For Luftwaffe blog readers a small extract translated from 296's Leserprobe

 " 08 July 1943. Oskar brought down several Russians on the early morning sortie flown with the boss. I had the same luck as yesterday - playing 'hide-and-seek' with eight LaGGs in the cloud deck. Sometimes they'd stick their noses out from their cover but when I tried a firing pass they'd quickly pop back in again. I blazed away but it drove me crazy. Nothing doing - no luck whatsoever. All the others got Il-2s or fighters which they were able to bring down without so much as a dog fight! It makes me sick !!  I flew the last sortie of the day with Lt. Höfemeier " ohne Feindberührung " - no contact with the enemy. We flew low over the battle field and could observe the fighting that was raging.. huge numbers of tanks slugging it out as if in a giant arena. As the light was fading we could see every hit on target quite clearly. On the horizon batteries of  'Stalinorgel' (rocket launchers) could be seen unleashing salvo after salvo. Super to watch - ganz toll.....
09 July ; I'm woken again early by aircraft low over the field waggling their wings ! A lot of victories again. Well, my turn tomorrow, I'm flying the early sortie in the morning..as it is I fly the second mission of the day. As soon as we get airborne we hear that there's a lot of aggro going on over the southern sector but by the time we get there, there's nothing to see. Not a single Russian. At this rate I shall soon depair. At midday I'm up again with Oskar  and he manages two Zement bomber.  I could p...!...but I'm happy enough anyway as Lt. Brendel manages his 50th and we have now achieved 400 in the Staffel with the 'kill' returned by Ofw. Kossatz. This afternoon I was up again, this time flying with the 'boss' and hoping to have more luck with him..we spot six MiG 3s but no sooner have they sighted us than they high tail it for home..!
At 20:15 Fw. Moritz Franke's Ferntrauung (marriage by proxy). Very nice. The Kommodore is with us for the rest of the evening's festivities.  Moritz and Piepel are awarded the EK II and the combat clasp in bronze  (bronzene Frontflugspange). I get the silver combat clasp for sixty sorties. Well, a bit of a consolation prize for my run of bad luck you could say .."

new Luftwaffe books from Erik Mombeeck; JG 4 Vol II and Luftwaffe Gallery 3 - JG 26 special issue

Belgian author and publisher Erik Mombeeck has been in touch with news of two books due for publication in November;

 the second and last volume of his history of Jagdgeschwader 4 “Storming the Bombers, a chronicle of JG 4 – The Luftwaffe’s 4th Fighter Wing " and a new Luftwaffe Gallery 'special' devoted to JG 26 “The Abbeville Boys – JG 26”.

"...In our Luftwaffe Gallery series I am pleased to present this expanded 'special' edition devoted to JG 26, the famed "Abbeville Boys” or "Abbeville Kids” of RAF and USAAF legend. This super new title is a 96-page A-4 landscape format book with the emphasis on the finest photographic illustrations, exceptional artwork and new and exciting personal accounts. The heart of the book comprises some thirty high quality profiles drawn and painted by Thierry Dekker and a collection of rare and, in many instances, previously unseen photographs. The selection of new first person accounts, specially translated for this volume by Neil Page, provide an unparalleled view of air combat in the skies of Britain and France, from dog-fighting between Messerschmitts and Spitfires during the campaign in the West and the Battle of Britain, to fighter bomber missions over southern England, to the Allied invasion of Normandy and the desperate sorties flown by the unit's Fw 190s against the huge USAAF bomber streams...."

"..The concluding volume in our history of JG 4 covers the story of the Geschwader from Operation Market Garden in Holland during September 1944 to the final desperate battles over Berlin and capitulation in May 1945. The combats flown by the pilots of JG 4 throughout this nine month period are related with the aid of rare oral testimony and illustrated with photographs from private albums, including a selection of new images for this English-language edition. Covered in detail are the 'Storm' missions flown by the Sturmgruppe (including ramming attacks against USAAF bombers), ground-attack bombing sorties during the Ardennes offensive of December 1944, the fullest account yet of the unit's participation in the 1945 New Year's Day Operation Bodenplatte, the last desperate sorties flown on the Oder front against the Red Army with, for the first time, accounts in English of German kamikaze attacks flown against the Oder bridges and the final air battles over the ruins of Berlin.

Over the course of 20 years research I was able to track down and interview virtually every surviving pilot and compile their very often moving and desperate accounts into this book, giving it a uniquely human dimension which will undoubtedly be of interest to all former Allied aviators and their descendants as well as enthusiasts of the period.

Once again Neil Page has produced the translation and his knowledge of both the French and German languages as well as WWII aviation history has enabled us to present this superb English language edition. The work is illustrated with several hundred photographs and is completed with loss and victory listings, a table of commanding officers and Thierry Dekker's superb full-colour profile artworks. This is an unmissable 232-page A-4 format hardback, with much new information on WWII air combat over Europe, the pilots and their machines.."


More info and ordering details from http://www.luftwaffe.be/

Klaus Deumling and the sinking of the Roma (KG 100 Wiking, Dornier Do 217 and Fritz X in Flugzeug Classic magazine January 2011 issue)

Dornier Do 217 K of III./KG 100 seen at Istres, summer 1943 (collection Dabrowski, Griehl, Flugzeug Classic)

In early September 1943 the Italians proclaimed an armistice with the western Allies. One of the armistice clauses called for "the immediate transfer of the Italian fleet and the Italian airplanes to those places that will be designated by the Allied Command ". On 9 September 1943 - the same day as the Allied landings at Salerno - an Italian Navy battlegroup, under the command of Admiral Carlo Bergamini, heading for Malta to 'surrender' was attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Asinara by Luftwaffe bombers of KG 100. During the attack, the Roma, one of the most powerful warships then at sea in the Mediterranean was struck, split in two and sunk. The Admiral, along with a great number of officers, petty officers and sailors perished – more than 1,250 men.


Nineteen years old Leutnant Klaus Deumling of 7./KG 100 was flying his first combat sortie that day at the controls of a Dornier Do 217 K and participated in the sinking of the Roma, launching a radio-guided Fritz X flying bomb. His story is related by Peter Cronauer in the current issue of Flugzeug Classic magazine (January 2011) - although unfortunately not entirely in his own words.  According to Cronauer it  was not until Deumling related his account of the attack on the Roma in his memoir '41 Sekunden bis zum Einschlag' (41 seconds to impact - the 'flight' time of the Fritz X) that his participation in the action against the Italian fleet and indeed the full facts of this attack became more widely known. Postwar Deumling had little contact with flying or former members of KG 100. At the end of that day - an Italian battleship sunk and over 1,200 Italian lives lost, just days before hand allies of the Germans - there would be no decorations for Deumling or his fellow KG 100 crews. Ulf Balke in his history of KG 100 credits Kommandeur Jope and Ofw. Kurt Steinborn as being the successful crews in the sinking of the Roma. Deumling's view of this action differs somewhat.

Klaus Deumling (right, below) had been posted to 7./KG 100 in Schwäbisch-Hall Hessenthal after achieving his instrument rating at the Luftwaffe's blind flying school in Belgrade during the early summer of 1943. Here he not only met his new crew for the first time - all of whom were older than Deumling- but encountered a new aircraft type, the Dornier Do 217 K-2 and one of the Luftwaffe's first 'Wunderwaffen', the Fritz X ‘stand-off ’ bomb.

The Fritz X or FX-1400 bomb (or more accurately after its manaufacturer, the Ruhrstahl X-1) had been designed in 1939 by Dr. Max Kramer and was a high penetration 1400 kg bomb, a development of the PC 1400 bomb, now equipped with four small wings or ‘spoilers’ and tail controls for stabilising and modifying its trajectory in flight. It was a weapon that was remotely controlled from the launch aircraft by the FuG 203/230 Kehl-Strassburg very short-wave radio system comprising four frequencies which relayed commands to dive, pull up and manoeuvre left and right via a small control stick operated by the Dornier’s observer. These ‘commands’ translated into movements of the ‘spoilers’ via small servo motors. The radio-commands could be sent up to 15 seconds from the point of launch which partly accounts for the very high launch altitudes of the bomb. Unlike the Hs 293 it did not have any means of propulsion. It was however extremely precise and could thus be launched well out of the range of enemy anti-aircraft fire, taking 41 seconds to reach and penetrate a pinpoint target of only some 5 square metres at its terminal velocity approaching 1,000 km/h from a launch altitude of 7,000 metres. It was both its speed and its armoured casing that enabled it to penetrate the steel plate of some of the biggest capital ships then afloat. It did however require a stable launch platform and clear conditions in order for the observer to guide the weapon onto its target.

Preparing a Fritz X bomb for loading onto the carrier aircraft

While in northern Germany Deumling and his crew trained hard over a period of two months on launching the Fritz X against a 5,000 ton target ship anchored off Peenemünde. They then moved to Istres, near Marseille on the Côte d’Azur for the attack on the Roma. With the major elements of the Italian Navy in La Spezia awaiting confirmation of orders to sail for Malta, Kommandeur Jope had already received top secret instructions from Luftflotte 2 chiefs in Rome to prepare for an attack should the Italians set sail. Shortly before 14:00 on 9 September 1943 individual Do 217s in a first ‘wave’ rolled out to the runway at Istres.

Ofw. Kurt Steinborn in Ulf Balke’s Kampfgeschwader 100 Wiking history reported;

“ it was Gruppenkommandeur Jope himself who briefed us on the details of the attack. Our targets were some 300 kilometres distant. Strict radio silence was ordered. A reconnaissance machine maintained visual contact at all times with the targets and relayed their position to us. Visibility was excellent as we climbed to an altitude of 7,000 metres. From far off we could see the enormous wakes the ships were trailing, indicating that they were steaming at full speed ahead. We were met by heavy anti-aircraft fire but at that height there was no risk of us being hit and we looked on as their shells exploded beneath us..I sought out the biggest vessel and throttled back to 180 km/h. The air was calm and still, our trusty Do 217 perfectly stable. My observer Uffz. Degan launched the Fritz X with his right hand, switched the automatic camera on and guided the bomb into the target. It took just 42 seconds from launch to impact directly amidships...it wasn’t until later that evening that we knew that we had hit the Roma and that she had sunk..”

Deumling and his crew had also arrived over the target area after one hour’s flying time and were at the optimum altitude for launching the Fritz X, some 7,000 metres. With no interference from enemy fighters and cloudless skies launch conditions were ideal – the Italian battle group below must have presented an imposing picture;

Deumling; "..We weren't thinking of the sailors on board those ships. From 7,000 metres they looked like toy boats in the bath. We couldn't make out any details of the individual ships. Having practised launching our 'Fritz X' relentlessly we were under a certain pressure to get this right and it was with some anxiety that we were able to position ourselves right over the fleet out of the range of the anti-aircraft shells exploding below us... "

The fact that the Fritz X were launched with the aircraft more or less straight and level had probably created confusion among the Italians, lulling them into believing that German intentions were not offensive. This mistake was fatal, considering that the Italians were under orders to fight back only if attacked. At 15.45 the Roma was hit on the starboard side. The bomb burst into the sea after having passed through the Roma's 33 metre wide hull and the ship’s speed was reduced to just 10 knots. At 15.50 the Roma was struck again by a second bomb fatally wounding the huge battleship. A column of flames and smoke spiralled upwards one thousand metres high. Turret n. 2 (1.500 tons) along with all of its occupants and the command tower were projected aloft and tilted to the right side. It was the end for Bergamini and his staff. The ship began to tilt to starboard. It was a horrendous show of death and destruction. The majority of the men were burned alive. At 16.12 the Roma turned upside-down, broke into two parts, and sank. With her, no less than two Admirals, 86 Officers and 1264 sailors were lost.

Deumling ; " as we made our way home we realised that we had achieved a good hit and had come away without a scratch. At the time we had no thoughts for the victims - that is why sixty years later I find the pictures taken that day so disturbing..that myself and my crew had not launched the second and fatal bomb to hit the ship was of little consolation...." ( jacket cover photo of Deumling's book below depicts the Roma after the first Fritz X hit..)

For information on the latest issue and a chance to view the contents visit the Flugzeug Classic website here