21.10.2016

Research notes - Unit strength reports part II

A natural follow-up of the previous post on unit strength reporting is of course to look at how the Generalquartiermeister reported the personell of a unit with regards to operational readiness.

For a flying unit the smallest entity was of course the single aircraft and its corresponding crew - and this was also the highest granularity used for reporting. For a unit equipped with single engine fighter aircraft the corresponding crew unit would be the pilot - for a multi-engined bomber aircraft the crew unit could be as large as 5 for a Heinkel He 111 or later in the war even higher for a Heinkel He 177.

Representation of aircrew

Chart explaining the symbols used by the Generalquartiermeister 6. Abteilung for their graphical representation of strength reports for the operational units of the Luftwaffe.


There were two symbols used to represent aircrew as shown in the illustration above. A circle filled in with colour in a given pattern, and a circle with a superimposed triangle.


The colour blue were used to indicate the status of the crew up to the established strength of a unit, while the colour green was used to indicate any additional available aircrew above the established strength - but here numbers and letters were used to report the number and individual status - the green disc used to show that the unit had additional aircrew only.
  • A filled blue circle represents a crew (remember - a crew not a single crew member for aircraft types with more than one crew member!) on strength and ready for operations.
  • A circle with lines tilted at 45 degrees angle indicate a crew which is conditionally ready for operations - for example a crew which is not yet fully qualified for night operations due to missing instrument flying training and so on.
  • A circle with a blue cross would indicate a crew in the unit, but not ready for operations - "nicht einsatzbereit".
  • An empty square indicate that there are a number of crews missing from the established strength.
Strength report for III./JG 52, showing 23 pilots ready for operations, and nine conditionally ready. The unit is missing 8 pilots from its established strength of 40 pilots at this point in time.

As mentioned, hte colour green is used to show the number of additional complete crew above the Sollstärke or established strength of the unit.

The following examples show some variations where alle the variants are used in one way or another:  
Strength return of III./J.G.26, illustrating the use of a green circle to indicate aircrew in the unit above established strength. Note the pencilled remark showing that in addition to the 40 pilots of the established strenght of the unit, they had three pilots which were conditionally ready and one pilot not ready for operations. 


Strength return of II./N.J.G.1 showing that at this particular point in time they did not have a single crew ready for operational sorties, even if they had a full roster according to the Sollstärke.

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