German Air Force

Night harassers

The crew of a “Dora” (Ju 87D) of the Luftwaffe’s Nachtschlachtgruppe 9 (NSGr 9) somewhere in Italy. The NSGr 9 replaced his Italian-built biplane Fiat CR.42LW with the Stukas, all Ju 87D, from 2 June 1944 at beginning with 17 aircraft, 14 of them came from the Eastern Front. The main role of the NSGr 9’s “Doras” was night harassment missions against Allied troops, artilleries and vehicles deployed in front the Gothic Line. The three Staffeln of the Gruppe, 1 Staffel, 2 Staffel, 3 Staffel, had on the average five aircraft each and, after the arrival of the Stukas, from January 1945 received some FW 190 in configuration close air support. The unit’s main bases was Turin-Caselle (with a detachment at Viterbo), Foiano (Tuscany), Forlì (Romagna, Cavriago (near Reggio Emilia), Piacenza, Bovolone (near Verona) Villafranca (Verona) and Ghedi (near Brescia), all in Northern Italy. From August 1944 to May 1945 the Gruppekommandeure was the August Frost, August 1944-15 December 1944 and the Obstlt Dipl.Ing. Karl Vehmeyer, 14 December 1944-8 May 1945. Ghedi, from April to May 1945, was the last Italian base of the NSGr 9 which during the last days of the war moved in Austria, to Toblach/Schluderns, where was got by the Germany’s surrender. One of the last missions was carried out from Bovolone on the night of 22-23 April 1945 when the Gruppe flew near thirty sorties against Allied targets in the Bologna sector. One the aircraft, of the 2./NSG 9, crew two NCO, Artur Heiland and Werner Lotsch, took-off from Bovolone at 9.30 pm and raided, after 70 minutes of flight, target over the Via Emilia encountering the reaction of AA fire. Another crew (Messerschmidt and Hettling) flew four sorties in the same night, two with the Ju 87D-5 code E8+AK and two with D-3 code E8+LK. The crew Heiland e Lotsch, aircraft D-5 code E8+BK, started again another sortie, from 01.30 am to 02.30 am, dropping incendiary bombs over targets near Bologna. Late in the evening of 23 April 1945 the aircraft E8+BK took-off from Bovolone, last mission from this airfield, raided American troops which passed through the Po river at San Benedetto Po, near Mantua, and landed, at 9.45 pm, at Vicenza where took off, at 05.15 am of 24 April, to Thiene (Vicenza). Victor Sierra