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syscom3
Pacific Historian
1 February 1943
EASTERN FRONT: After Hitler promoted General von Paulus to Feldmarschal, Hitler assumed that von Paulus would fight on or take his own life. Von Paulus was not so accomodating as to throw himself on his own funeral pyre. Soviet forces closed in on his last command post, a cellar in the bombed out ruins of the Univermag Department store in downtown Stalingrad. Unshaven, dirty and close to a state of collapse, Friedrich von Paulus offered his surrender to an obscure Russian lieutenant named Fydor Yelchenko, who promptly marched the new Feldmarschal and his staff off to his superiors. Of the nearly 350,000 men who had followed him to Stalingrad, only 90,000 survived to surrender to the Soviets. To the delight of the Soviet forces and the dismay of the Reich, the prisoners included 22 Generals. Hitler was angry at the Feldmarschal's surrender and confided that;
German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) evacuated Demyansk in order to shorten their lines and free up troops to plug the gapping holes to the south. Soviet forces captured Svatovo, southeast of Kharkov, cutting the rail lines from the city to the Donets Basin. Lt. Wilhem Batz was appointed adjutant to Johannes Steinhoff at II./JG 52. Killed in a flying accident this day was Gerhard Beutin, a 60 victory experte with JG 54. 4(F)./122 was now located at Bagerovo, near Kerch, Crimea.
GERMANY: Hitler held a military conference at Rastenburg which he accused his generals of disloyalty. Although he pressed this accusation, he promoted Baron Maximillian von Weichs, Ewald von Kleist and Ernst Busch to Feldmarschal.
MEDITERRANEAN: U-617 fired a spread of four torpedoes at a vessel identified as cruiser of the Dido-class and observed two hits and a boiler explosion. At 17.55 hours, the ship capsized and later sank by the stern. The victim was the Cruiser-minelayer HMS 'Welshman' (M 84) (Capt W.H.D. Friedberger, DSO, RN) (2650 tons) which sank 35 miles east-northeast off Tobruk, Libya. Nine officers and 139 ratings were lost, also an unknown number of military passengers (among them four aircrew members that had been badly burnt in a plane crash on Malta). Only a few survivors were rescued.
In the Mediterranean, an explosion occurred at 0615hrs in the diesel engine room of U-77, resulting in some damage to the boat.
NORTH AFRICA: American tanks and infantry are battered at German positions in Faid Pass (In Tunisia, roughly east-northeast from Kasserine). On 30 January von Arnim's 5.Panzerarmee had driven the French out of the Faid Pass and then attacked them at Pichon. Combat Command A of the U.S. 1st Armored Division then attempted to retake Faid, but was repulsed. Other U.S. and British forces (I don't know which units) were sent to Pichon and restored some stability along the front. About two weeks later Faid Pass was one of the staging points for the German counteroffensive against the U.S. Army around Kasserine.
NORTHERN FRONT: 14(jabo)./JG 5 was formed in February to serve as a semi-autonomous jabostaffel within JG 5. The unit was created from elements of 11./JG 5 and experienced fighter pilot Hptm. Friedrich Wilhelm Strakeljahn was given command. Another man assigned to the new Staffel was Kurt Dobner, who had gained one aerial victory with 11./JG 5 in 1942. 14(J)./JG 5 flew only Fw 190A-2s and A-3s, at a time when those variants had been superseded elsewhere by the Fw 190 A-4 and A-5. However because the staffel was based in the far north of Finalnd, fighter opposition was minimal, and the earlier Fw 190 variants proved adequate. The units's initial 11 Fw 190A-3s came from 11./JG 5, and later aircraft came from other parts of JG 5 and from the Kjeller repair facility in Norway. 14(J)./JG 5 flew missions primarily against Russian ships moving along the Barents Sea coast. the staffel prroved very effective, sinking many enemy vessels.
WESTERN FRONT: III./KG 101 was formed from I./Kampfschulgeschwader 3 at Cognac under the command of Hptm. Horst Beeger, who led the Gruppe throughout its existance. III./KG 101 trained pilots for service with Fw 190 ground-attack units, probably SKG 10 exclusively. I./KSG 3 had been based at Cognac and had provided training for SKG 10 pilots in Dec 1942 and early 1943. When the pilots first arrived at Cognac, they were given a short course on fighter tactics, starting with aerobatics in a Bu 133, then formation flying, aerobatics and air-to-ground firing in an Fw 190. Then came bombing training including lectures and pilots were taught about bombing land and sea targets. KSG 3 had its own bombing range at Cognac.
EASTERN FRONT: After Hitler promoted General von Paulus to Feldmarschal, Hitler assumed that von Paulus would fight on or take his own life. Von Paulus was not so accomodating as to throw himself on his own funeral pyre. Soviet forces closed in on his last command post, a cellar in the bombed out ruins of the Univermag Department store in downtown Stalingrad. Unshaven, dirty and close to a state of collapse, Friedrich von Paulus offered his surrender to an obscure Russian lieutenant named Fydor Yelchenko, who promptly marched the new Feldmarschal and his staff off to his superiors. Of the nearly 350,000 men who had followed him to Stalingrad, only 90,000 survived to surrender to the Soviets. To the delight of the Soviet forces and the dismay of the Reich, the prisoners included 22 Generals. Hitler was angry at the Feldmarschal's surrender and confided that;
German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) evacuated Demyansk in order to shorten their lines and free up troops to plug the gapping holes to the south. Soviet forces captured Svatovo, southeast of Kharkov, cutting the rail lines from the city to the Donets Basin. Lt. Wilhem Batz was appointed adjutant to Johannes Steinhoff at II./JG 52. Killed in a flying accident this day was Gerhard Beutin, a 60 victory experte with JG 54. 4(F)./122 was now located at Bagerovo, near Kerch, Crimea.
GERMANY: Hitler held a military conference at Rastenburg which he accused his generals of disloyalty. Although he pressed this accusation, he promoted Baron Maximillian von Weichs, Ewald von Kleist and Ernst Busch to Feldmarschal.
MEDITERRANEAN: U-617 fired a spread of four torpedoes at a vessel identified as cruiser of the Dido-class and observed two hits and a boiler explosion. At 17.55 hours, the ship capsized and later sank by the stern. The victim was the Cruiser-minelayer HMS 'Welshman' (M 84) (Capt W.H.D. Friedberger, DSO, RN) (2650 tons) which sank 35 miles east-northeast off Tobruk, Libya. Nine officers and 139 ratings were lost, also an unknown number of military passengers (among them four aircrew members that had been badly burnt in a plane crash on Malta). Only a few survivors were rescued.
In the Mediterranean, an explosion occurred at 0615hrs in the diesel engine room of U-77, resulting in some damage to the boat.
NORTH AFRICA: American tanks and infantry are battered at German positions in Faid Pass (In Tunisia, roughly east-northeast from Kasserine). On 30 January von Arnim's 5.Panzerarmee had driven the French out of the Faid Pass and then attacked them at Pichon. Combat Command A of the U.S. 1st Armored Division then attempted to retake Faid, but was repulsed. Other U.S. and British forces (I don't know which units) were sent to Pichon and restored some stability along the front. About two weeks later Faid Pass was one of the staging points for the German counteroffensive against the U.S. Army around Kasserine.
NORTHERN FRONT: 14(jabo)./JG 5 was formed in February to serve as a semi-autonomous jabostaffel within JG 5. The unit was created from elements of 11./JG 5 and experienced fighter pilot Hptm. Friedrich Wilhelm Strakeljahn was given command. Another man assigned to the new Staffel was Kurt Dobner, who had gained one aerial victory with 11./JG 5 in 1942. 14(J)./JG 5 flew only Fw 190A-2s and A-3s, at a time when those variants had been superseded elsewhere by the Fw 190 A-4 and A-5. However because the staffel was based in the far north of Finalnd, fighter opposition was minimal, and the earlier Fw 190 variants proved adequate. The units's initial 11 Fw 190A-3s came from 11./JG 5, and later aircraft came from other parts of JG 5 and from the Kjeller repair facility in Norway. 14(J)./JG 5 flew missions primarily against Russian ships moving along the Barents Sea coast. the staffel prroved very effective, sinking many enemy vessels.
WESTERN FRONT: III./KG 101 was formed from I./Kampfschulgeschwader 3 at Cognac under the command of Hptm. Horst Beeger, who led the Gruppe throughout its existance. III./KG 101 trained pilots for service with Fw 190 ground-attack units, probably SKG 10 exclusively. I./KSG 3 had been based at Cognac and had provided training for SKG 10 pilots in Dec 1942 and early 1943. When the pilots first arrived at Cognac, they were given a short course on fighter tactics, starting with aerobatics in a Bu 133, then formation flying, aerobatics and air-to-ground firing in an Fw 190. Then came bombing training including lectures and pilots were taught about bombing land and sea targets. KSG 3 had its own bombing range at Cognac.
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