Rommel's Storch

[Kommandeur]

Hi Everyone

Does anyone have images they could post or web links for details (markings and camouflage) of the Fiesler Fi156 Storch used by Rommel in North Africa?

I have a photo in Liddel Hart's "The Rommel Papers" which shows a partial call sign "??+XK". Were the first two letters "5F" ?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

DK

[Lorenz]

Hi Everyone
Does anyone have images they could post or web links for details (markings and camouflage) of the Fiesler Fi156 Storch used by Rommel in North Africa?
I have a photo in Liddel Hart's "The Rommel Papers" which shows a partial call sign "??+XK". Were the first two letters "5F" ?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
DK

Over the past 40 years, I guess I've probably seen 20 to 25 color profiles of Rommel's Storch. I would recommend that you go to a site where they specialize in that sort of information:

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/

Most of the members there are life-long modelers and someone should be able to help you.

As for the Verbandskennzeichen "5F" and "XK", "5F" was used exclusively by Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 14. One of its Staffeln, 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14, served in North Africa from March 1941 to 8 May 1943. It operated Henschel 126As and Bs, Bf 110s and Fi 156s until the beginning of April 1942 when it returned to Germany to convert to Bf 109s. It then returned to North Africa (Tunisia) in mid-November 1942. Its Staffel code was "K", and there are photographs available of the following aircraft flown by 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14:

5F+AK: Hs 126 A-1
5F+BK: Hs 126 B-1
5F+CK: Hs 126 A-1, Hs 126 B-1
5F+FK: Hs 126 B-1
5F+JK: Hs 126 A-1
5F+LK: Bf 110 C-5
5F+PK: Bf 110 F-2
5F+RK: Bf 110 C-5
5F+UK: Bf 110 C-5, Bf 110 F-3
5F+WK: Bf 110 E-3
5F+XK: Bf 110 E-3
5F+YK: Fi 156 C-3

(Note: these letter combinations were reused as aircraft belonging to the Staffel were destroyed or lost).

So, if your Verbandskennzeichen 5F+XK is correct, then the Fi 156 in question belonged to 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14.

--Lorenz

[Kommandeur]

Hi Lorenz

Thank you for your useful reply. I have posted the question at 12 o'clock high as suggested.

Cheers

DK

[Lorenz]

Rommel's Storch Addendum:

I have confirmed that the following Störche all existed as stated:

5F+XK: Fi 156 C of 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14 in North Africa 1941-42.
5F+YK: Fi 156 C-3/trop of 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14 in North Africa 1941-42.
5F+ZK: Fi 156 C of 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14 in North Africa 1941-42.

[Source: Rosch, Barry – Fieseler Fi 156 manuscript, 1 March 2000. p.69].

So your 5F+XK really did exist.

--Lorenz

[Kommandeur]

Hi Lorenz

Thank you for this. I guess the next question is whether Rommel would have been allocated an aircraft from a Luftwaffe unit in theatre, or whether he would have been allocated his own (and pilot).

DK

[Lorenz]

Hi Lorenz
Thank you for this. I guess the next question is whether Rommel would have been allocated an aircraft from a Luftwaffe unit in theatre, or whether he would have been allocated his own (and pilot).
DK

Air taxi services for Rommel were provided by the Luftwaffe. To the best of my knowledge, he did not have a permanently assigned duty flight detail. When he had to go somewhere in-theater, aircraft were provided by the Flugbereitschaft/Fliegerführer Afrika, or by the Kurierstaffel Afrika, or by 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14, or by any one of several Verbindungsstaffeln stationed in North Africa at various times. When he need transportation from North Africa to the mainland, he was usually picked up by a Ju 52, Do 217 or similar twin-engined aircraft flown over from Sicily or Italy by the Flugbereitschaft/Luftflotte 2 (Oberbefehlshaber Süd) or by Flugbereitschaft/X. Fliegerkorps. There are dozens of photos of Rommel embarking in or disembarking from aircraft belonging to these units.

Since I have over an hour invested in this for you, may I ask what your interest in this is?

--Lorenz

[Kommandeur]

Hi Lorenz

Thank you for your further information.

I have a passionate interest in the Mediterranean campaign, personalities, ToE, OoB and so on, which oscillates from the general to the particular from time-to-time.

I also collect 1:285th scale miniatures and am currently comissioning sets of decals for some Luftwaffe and RAF/RAuxAF units. One aircraft I want to model in this micro scale is Rommel's Storch (mad you may think) ... hence my specific interest.

During a re-reading of "The Rommel Papers" the picture of the Storch (captioned as "The Fiesler Storch used by Rommel [Rommel's own photograph]" rather than "A Fiesler Storch used by Rommel ...", p99 of the paperback Da Capo unabridged republication of the 15th edition) caught my eye, and the partial code got me to thinking that confirmation of it's complete identity and appearance may be possible.

I had already considered 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14 which I discovered when researching Luftwaffe codes more widely some time ago:

http://www.rlm.at/start_e.htm?cont/archiv02_e.htm&1

and in any case the company making the decals for me ventured "5F" as a possibility.

It may have been naïve of me to think that Rommel had a 'personal chauffeur', but he did seem to make extensive use of Storche on campaign. It is more likely – as you say – that his aircraft were in fact supplied from in-theatre units such as 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 14. I guess it would be interesting to know which aircraft were assigned to him from time-to-time ... I wonder if there are any pilot's memoirs out there along the lines of "I flew Rommel ..."?

So, at the moment, the choice for me seems to be focussing on "5F+XK" for the model.

I do appreciate your input to my query, Lorenze, as I appreciate the considered information and views offered by everyone here. (Apart from the lamentable treatment of some worthy contributors by the rather too self-opinionated.) Where I feel I can – and here I am very conscious of the level of the expertise demonstrated by other contributors – I do my bit.

I hope the content and spirit of my reply allows you to feel that your contribution, in my case, is worthwhile.

Thanks again

DK

[Lorenz]

I guess it would be interesting to know which aircraft were assigned to him from time-to-time ... I wonder if there are any pilot's memoirs out there along the lines of "I flew Rommel ..."?
I do appreciate your input to my query, Lorenze, as I appreciate the considered information and views offered by everyone here. (Apart from the lamentable treatment of some worthy contributors by the rather too self-opinionated.) Where I feel I can – and here I am very conscious of the level of the expertise demonstrated by other contributors – I do my bit.
I hope the content and spirit of my reply allows you to feel that your contribution, in my case, is worthwhile.
Thanks again
DK

Thanks for your reply. You have the same attitude I do regarding what these WW II history forums should be used for and the sort of serious researchers they should attract.

I don't recall a book or a magazine article of the "I Flew Rommel" genre, which is not to say that one doesn't exist somewhere. However, I do have a vague recollection of seeing a CSDIC P/W interrogation report of a Luftwaffe pilot who either did exactly that or was around Rommel and discussed those who did. The HQ of Fliegerführer Afrika was usually co-located with Rommel's HQ for obvious reasons, so there were Luftwaffe people around him all the time to facilitate the air support that was so vital to his desert campaigns.

Another point that I touched on before concerns the photographic evidence of Rommel's air travels. There must be at least 25 books and 100+ magazine articles in both German and English on Rommel and his campaigns in North Africa. Many of the books are "profusely illustrated", as they say, and I have seen a number of photos of Rommel with Störche, He 111s, Do 17s, Ju 52s, Do 217s, etc. The numerous modeling magazines of bygone years and those that incorporated a prominent modeling section (RAF Flying Review, Air International, Air Enthusiast, Airfix, Scale Models, Aerofan, Avions, Flugzeug, Flugzeug Extra, Jet & Prop, Jet & Prop Extra, Luftwaffe Verband Journal, the various IPMS publications, etc.) frequently offered photos, color profiles and detailed markings and painting information. I doubt if there’s an aircraft that he flew on that is no represented with a color profile somewhere. The problem, of course, is finding someone with a large collection of these and with the many, many hours available that it would take to search through them.

Here are a couple of titles that might prove useful:

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch; Profile #228 by Richard Bateson; Profile Publications;
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch im Zweiten Weltkrieg by J. Piekalkiewicz; Motorbuch Verlag;
With Rommel In The Desert by H.W. Schmidt; Ballantine Books;
Waffen Arsenal #59, Fieseler 156 'Storch' by H.J. Nowarra; Podzun-Pallas-Verlag.

Good luck with your project, and I hope you find what you are looking for.

--Lorenz

[Kommandeur]

Hi Lorenz

Thank you for the recommendations ... Schmidt's volume (I see it is still available) is sure to prove enlightening.

Thank you again

DK

[phylo_roadking]

which bring up a question that has arisen in my mind from threads elsewhere - ok, war takes its casualties, particularly of the loosing side, and many defeated veterans are unwilling to record their memories, unlike victors who rush into print at the first opportunity. Look for examole at the plethora of "I was...", or "We did..." books that emerged in theplate '40s and '50s from British and Amreican veterans. Many of these are busy being reissued at the moment in the UK.

....matching the outpouring of similar books in the 1920s about the war in France.....

BUT i note that a LOT of information seems to have been lost by Axis veterans not choosing to pass on their reminisences in either verbal form or print. And many veterans on here don't seem to provide many recollections. Why? Their WWII experiences could not have been any worse than the WWI veterans of both sides that expressed in print. even, and i hate to say it - there must have been MANY post-Nuremberg who would have liked their stories to be known to possibly right any wrongs. Yet they remained silent and still do today, those who remain. an example - in Weapons and Equipment look at the thread dealing with an apparent PI/PIII hybrid tank; the ONLY extant information seems to indicate its a training vehicle but rather than confirm this, could someone not confirm what it ISNT??? You see what I mean - lost data, now probably never to be retrieved.

phylo

[Lorenz]

BUT i note that a LOT of information seems to have been lost by Axis veterans not choosing to pass on their reminisences in either verbal form or print.

The Germans tended to publish their personal recollections of the war in paperbacks (e.g., Landser Großband series, etc.) and magazines aimed at their small segment of the market (Luftwaffe-Revue, Die Oasis, Jägerblatt, Der Freiwillige among others). Hardback books of this genre were certainly fewer on a per capita basis than in the postwar Allied countries, but there were more of them than you might think because only a small percentage were translated into other languages.

[Helmut Von Moltke]

hi,

Intresting thread. Does anyone know what happened to the Fiesler Storschs that belonged to Rommel, was it destroyed, or in a museum, etc? thanks.

Kevin

[phylo_roadking]

Well, if its not in a museum its long time gone into a crusher or under the sand....cos if in 1942/3 Rommel cudnt even get his airbridge TO Tunisia with fighter escort etc to work in safety, there NO way a nice slow Storch is EVER going to leave Africa lol

phylo

[Kommandeur]

Hi All

My post here has produced some more information:

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthrea ... #post25200

Nothing conclusive ... just more to follow up really.

Cheers

DK

[Kommandeur]

Hi All

I have just been introduce to "Stammkennzeichen" at 12 o'clcock high, then a quick Google produced this:

http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org/stam-c.html

where "CB+TL ... Fieseler Fi156 C ... rommel"

is listed, confirming one respondants's observations of some newsreel footage of Rommel ariving in North Africa in a Storch so marked.

DK