Hs-129 use on the Western Front/MTO?

[BarnOwlLover]

I know that the Eastern Front is where the majority of these aircraft operated, but It seems that some operated in the MTO and the Western Front as well. I'm wondering about the impressions of their use in those areas, how successful or not they were, and if they achieved anything of note against the Western Allies.

 

[GrauGeist]

5./SchG 1 was transferred to Tunisia from the Eastern Front in 1942 - these were the only Hs129s to operate outside of the Eastern Front.

They did fairly well as long as JG51 and JG52 provided air cover.

 

[BarnOwlLover]

I knew of some in North Africa, but I remember (maybe in error) about some used in France post Normandy Landings. If not, the latter would make for an interesting "what if".

 

[GrauGeist]

The closest Hs129 gruppe to Normandy in June 1944, would have been in Poland.

Any "what-if" for Hs129 operations over the Normandy beachhead would conclude in disaster.
The Luftwaffe simply did not have enough fighters to ensure successful ground attack by any types (except perhaps for the Fw190F/G) and the Me262 (as fighter OR ground attack) was just working up in an Ekdo gruppe, so was not available.

 

[Snautzer01]

The closest Hs129 gruppe to Normandy in June 1944, would have been in Poland.

eBay: Henschell Hs129

Captain J.W. Ferguson and Lieutenant D.L. Almas examining a damaged Henschel Hs 129 aircraft of the Luftwaffe, Carpiquet, France, 12 July 1944.

ww2aircraft.net

 

[GrauGeist]

eBay: Henschell Hs129

Captain J.W. Ferguson and Lieutenant D.L. Almas examining a damaged Henschel Hs 129 aircraft of the Luftwaffe, Carpiquet, France, 12 July 1944.

ww2aircraft.net

Yes, well aware of the captured Hs129 in France.

Plenty of "stories" revolving around it, such as it making attack runs over the beach before being shot down, being shot down by a P-47 after a dogfight and so on.

If you examine the photo, though, the damage to it is more conaistant with the bomb damage to the hangar, indicating that it was parked when damaged, not shot down.

Also, if it were shot down either by ground fire or a P-47, it's highly unlikely that the Germans would have been able to recover it.

Additionally, there is no record (so far as I have seen) of any Hs129s being sent West to France.

This may have been one of the Hs129s that were slated to have engine upgrades to the Hs129C/D configuration.

 

[Andrew Arthy]

Here is a link to my very old article about the Hs 129 in North Africa: The Henschel Hs 129 in Tunisia. And attached is the first page of a much more recent version. In summary, the Hs 129 Staffel sent to Libya was a complete failure, while the Hs 129 Staffel serving in Tunisia enjoyed limited success until the very end of the campaign in May 1943.

The Hs 129s in France in 1944 were serving with ground-attack training units (see Schlachtgeschwader 101), and definitely did not see any combat.