Fliegerhorst Staaken, Königgrätz

[tenoriodj]

HI all

I am hoping someone here can confirm which Luftwaffe unit was stationed at Fliegerhorst Staaken near Berlin and then later in Fliegerhorst Königgrätz in Czechoslovakia. I was told its KG 4 but that doesnt match the info i was able to Google. Tnx

[Gerdan]

Tessin gives the following Luftwaffe units for Berlin-Staaken:

I./SG 5: 15.10.44-23.11.44
Tle. Stb. KG 53: 7.9-44 - 19.9.44
Tle. III./KG 53: 7.9.44 - 19.9.44
III./ KG (S) 200 BT o. 11: 6.2.45 - 21.2.45

Flughafen-Bereichs-Kdo. 4/III
Fliegerhorst-Kdtr. 18/III


Gerdan

[Gerdan]

For Königgrätz Tessing gives the following Luftwaffe units:

IV.(Erg.)/JG 1: 24.2.45 - 27.2.45
Tle. I./KG (J) 6: 21.10.44 - 2.11.44
Tle. II./KG (J) 6: 21.1044 - 2.11.44
Tle. IV./KG (J) 6: 21.10.44 - 2.11.44
II./KG (J) 30: 32.11.44

III./Kampfgeschwader 77 FSto. Königgrätz

Flugplatz-Kdo. 22/XVII: 1943
Fliegerhorst-Kdtr. 15/XVII: 1933
Ln.Schule 2: 1.4.44


Gerdan

[Larry deZeng]

Please be aware that Tessin's Stationierungen listings are totally incomplete and only include perhaps 12% - 20% of the fliegende Verbände that were based at a location at one time or another, and less than 10% of the Bodenorganisation units based at the location at one time or another. There is no source that lists them all, thanks to the mass destruction of Luftwaffe records in early May 1945.

--Larry

[Gerdan]

I know that Tessin is v e r y incomplete with his list. As one can see some

units are only given for one day. But normally we do not have other sources.

Sometimes the US intelligence reports which exist nearly for every German

airfield are a bit helpful. They used the results of the interrogations of the

captured German crews.These reports are available on microfilm in Maxwell.

Gerdan

[tenoriodj]

Thanks guys

I hope to be able to get more info soon, that would confirm how the same Luftwaffe Stabsfeldwebel could have been stationed first at Staaken and later at Königgrätz. Immediately after the war Königgrätz became a concentration camp for ethnic Germans and Wehrmacht PoWs.

[Larry deZeng]

I know that Tessin is v e r y incomplete with his list. As one can see someunits are only given for one day. But normally we do not have other sources. Sometimes the US intelligence reports which exist nearly for every German airfield are a bit helpful. They used the results of the interrogations of the captured German crews.These reports are available on microfilm in Maxwell.
Gerdan

Yes, the ADI(K) and CSDIC series of P/W interrogation reports are definitely useful, but one would have to read through all 5,000+ of them. The A.I.2 section of the Air Ministry's Air Intelligence Directorate in London extracted all of this information to cards in an airfield card index. For example, there would be cards for both Berlin-Staaken and Königgrätz and these would contain entries from all sources: P/W interrogations, captured documents (SBs, WPs, etc.), refugees, aerial reconnaissance, and finally the most important of all - ULTRA and "Y" Service radio intercepts.

These card listings can be found today in the British National Archives (formerly the PRO) in record group AIR 40, files 1950-2000. They are truly a fascinating source of information concerning the movement of units in and their departure from every airfield used by the Luftwaffe, regardless of country. For flying units, I would say that these lists are on average 65% to 70% complete. For units of the Bodenorganization, maybe 30% complete. The small units of the Bodenorganization, such as Landesschützenzüge, Transportkolonnen, Flugbetriebsstoffkolonnen, Lw.-Baukompanien, Ln.-Stellen, Flak-Batterien, etc., are rarely mentioned.

Also, the airfields in war theaters (Russia, northern Norway and Finland, North Africa, the Mediterranean) are more complete than are those on the continent. The reason? Signals intelligence (ULTRA and "Y" Service) was derived from radio intercepts. If the message was sent by Fernschreiber over landlines it could not be intercepted. So Luftwaffe units in Germany and France, for example, only rarely sent messages by radio, but those in the war theaters did make heavy use of radio transmission since there were often no landlines.

--Larry

[tenoriodj]

In connection with the below, how should I interpret the "A." in "Fl. Horst. Kdtr. A. Staaken 270" The Erkennungsmarke of H. Reitzig. Thanks

Thanks Larry for the tip, will contact the UK National Archives