Luftflotte 4 orders of battle, 1941

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CNE503
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Luftflotte 4 orders of battle, 1941

#1

Post by CNE503 » 15 Feb 2016, 23:20

Hello,

I recently bought a NARA CD concerning Luftwaffe units which were involved in "Barbarossa" in 1941 from Romania (DLM, IV. Fliegerkorps, Luftflotte 4).
In this CD (NARA T-405 R-49 294), I found seven complete orders of battle for Luftflotte 4.
The files are too heavy to be posted, but as an information not shared is lost, I decided to write them off here:

June 20th, 1941:

Luftflotte 4:
- Staffeln "Flg. B" and "V1"; an unknown flight (with an arrow pointing toward the right above it) numbered 76; 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 122.
- IV. Fliegerkorps:
--- 3.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T IV" and "V";
--- Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" with its three subordinated Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- II./Kampfgeschwader 4 "General Wever";
--- Jagdgeschwader 77 "Herz As" with its II. and III./JG77 and I./Lehrgeschwader 2.
- V. Fliegerkorps:
--- 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T V" and "V";
--- Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss" with its three Gruppen;
--- Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" with its I. and II./KG54;
--- Kampfgeschwader 55 "Greif" with its three Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- Jagdgeschwader 3 with its three Gruppen.
- Deutsche Luftwaffenmission in Rumänien (DLM), with the III./JG52.
- Luftgaukommando VIII with Ergänzungsgruppen 3 and 27;
- Luftgaukommando XVII with Ergänzungsgruppe 77.

June 25th, 1941:

Same as above, except that:
- I./Lehrgeschwader 2 wasn't subordinated to JG77 anymore, but to JG3 (V. Fliegerkorps) and that it was specified "Nur fliegende Teile";
- Luftgaukommando XVII disappeared, but with its Ergänzungsgruppe 77 now under DLM command.

June 30th, 1941:

Luftflotte 4:
- Staffeln "Flg. B" and "V4"; an unknown flight (with an arrow pointing toward the right above it) numbered 76; 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 122;
- Kampfgruppe zbV 50.
- IV. Fliegerkorps:
--- 3.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T IV" and "V70";
--- Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" with its three subordinated Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 with its three subordinated Gruppen an an unidentified recon flight;
--- Jagdgeschwader 77 "Herz As" with its II. and III./JG77 and I./Lehrgeschwader 2.
- V. Fliegerkorps:
--- 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T V" and "V";
--- Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss" with its three Gruppen;
--- Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" with its I. and II./KG54;
--- Kampfgeschwader 55 "Greif" with its three Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 with its I. and II./SKG210 ("Nur fliegende Teile");
--- Jagdgeschwader 3 with its three Gruppen;
--- Jagdgeschwader 53 "Pik As" with its I./JG53.
- Deutsche Luftwaffenmission in Rumänien (DLM), with the III./JG52 and Ergänzungsgruppe 77;
- Luftgaukommando VIII with Ergänzungsgruppen 3 and 27.

July 4th, 1941:

No major changes except that:
- a 3./Aufklärungsgruppe OBdL appeared under IV. Fliegerkorps direct command;
- SKG210 disappeared from V. Fliegerkorps order of battle.

July 9th, 1941:

No change except the disappearance of Luftgaukommando VIII, and the change in DLM organization: Jagdgeschwader 52 took command of its III./JG52 and of the Ergänzungsgruppe 77.

August 3rd, 1941:

Luftflotte 4:
- Staffeln "Flg. B" and "V4"; an unknown flight (with an arrow pointing toward the right above it) numbered 76; 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 122; 3./Aufklärungsgruppe OBdL;
- Kampfgruppe zbV 50.
- IV. Fliegerkorps:
--- 3.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; 3. Aufklärungsgruppe OBdL; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T IV" and "V70";
--- Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" with its three subordinated Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss" with its three Gruppen (but the III./KG51 is marked "Umrüstung Wr. Neustadt", I suppose that it means is en route back to its airfield in Wiener Neustadt);
--- Jagdgeschwader 77 "Herz As" with its II. and III./JG77.
- V. Fliegerkorps:
--- 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T V" and "V67";
--- Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" with its I. and II./KG54;
--- Kampfgeschwader 55 "Greif" with its three Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 with its three subordinated Gruppen an an unidentified recon flight;
--- Jagdgeschwader 3 with its three Gruppen;
--- Jagdgeschwader 53 "Pik As" with its I./JG53 and the III./JG52.
- Deutsche Luftwaffenmission in Rumänien (DLM), with Jagdgeschwader 52 (Ergänzungsgruppe 77 and I./Lehrgeschwader 2).

August 11th, 1941 (with the current locations):

Luftflotte 4:
- Staffeln "Flg. B" and "V4"; an unknown flight (with an arrow pointing toward the right above it) numbered 76; 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 122; all these units were in Winniza;
- Kampfgruppe zbV 50 in Proskurow.
- IV. Fliegerkorps (HQ in Balta):
--- 3.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T IV" and "V70"; all these units were in Balta;
--- 3./Aufklärungsgruppe OBdL in Bacau.
--- Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" with its three subordinated Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight; HQ with I. and II./KG27 in Focsani "Süd", III./KG27 in Focsani "Nord";
--- Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss" in Zilistea with its I./KG51, whereas its II./KG51 was in Balti and its III./KG51 was disappearing and noted in Wiener Neustadt;
--- Jagdgeschwader 77 "Herz Ass" with its HQ in Balta, its II./JG77 in Zeprikowo and its III./JG77 in Balta-Pereleky.
- V. Fliegerkorps (HQ in Bjelaja-Zerkow):
--- 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T V" and "V67"; all these units were in Berditschew;
--- Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" with its I./KG54 were disappearing and noted in Ohlau, II./KG54 was in Berditschew "Ost";
--- Kampfgeschwader 55 "Greif" was in Shitomir-Skomorochi with its HQ, its recon flight, its two first Gruppen, whereas the III./KG55 was disappearing and noted in Wien-Aspern;
--- Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 with its three Gruppen in Bjelaja-Zerkow, except the III./StG77 in Chmelewoje;
--- Jagdgeschwader 3 with its three Gruppen in Bjelaja-Zerkow, except the II./JG3 in Signajewka;
--- III./JG52, acting independently, was in Chmelewoje.
- Deutsche Luftwaffenmission in Rumänien (DLM, in Bukarest), with Jagdgeschwader 52 (HQ in Bukarest, Ergänzungsgruppe 77 in Bukarest and I./Lehrgeschwader 2 in Mamaia less its 1. Staffel in Mizil).

I don't know whether it will help someone, but I hope so!
Please ask if something is unclear, I'll do my best to translate the Kriegsgliederungen correctly.

Best regards from France,

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

Andrew Arthy
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Joined: 08 Oct 2010, 05:04
Location: Tasmania
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Re: Luftflotte 4 orders of battle, 1941

#2

Post by Andrew Arthy » 17 Feb 2016, 22:14

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles


CNE503
Member
Posts: 2395
Joined: 23 Aug 2010, 13:01
Location: Dijon, Bourgogne, France

Re: Luftflotte 4 orders of battle, 1941

#3

Post by CNE503 » 17 Feb 2016, 23:31

Andrew,

My pleasure.

Cheers,

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

Volyn
Member
Posts: 455
Joined: 04 Jul 2018, 05:53
Location: USA

Re: Luftflotte 4 orders of battle, 1941

#4

Post by Volyn » 04 Jul 2018, 06:31

June 30th, 1941:

Luftflotte 4:

- V. Fliegerkorps:
--- 4.(Fern)/Aufklärungsgruppe 121; three unknown flights called "Flg. B", "T V" and "V";
--- Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss" with its three Gruppen;
--- Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" with its I. and II./KG54;
--- Kampfgeschwader 55 "Greif" with its three Gruppen and an unidentified recon flight;
--- Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 with its I. and II./SKG210 ("Nur fliegende Teile");
--- Jagdgeschwader 3 with its three Gruppen;
--- Jagdgeschwader 53 "Pik As" with its I./JG53.
- Deutsche Luftwaffenmission in Rumänien (DLM), with the III./JG52 and Ergänzungsgruppe 77;
- Luftgaukommando VIII with Ergänzungsgruppen 3 and 27.

July 4th, 1941:

No major changes except that:
- a 3./Aufklärungsgruppe OBdL appeared under IV. Fliegerkorps direct command;
- SKG210 disappeared from V. Fliegerkorps order of battle.

July 9th, 1941:

No change except the disappearance of Luftgaukommando VIII, and the change in DLM organization: Jagdgeschwader 52 took command of its III./JG52 and of the Ergänzungsgruppe 77.
This is an old thread but I hope that someone might know the answer to this question:

On 7 July 1941 there was a battle at the Antonivka rail station and bridge (approximately 30 Km West of Sarny, Rivnens'ka oblast, Ukraine).

Lead elements from the German 6th Army - XVII. Armeekorps engaged in a battle to take the bridge from the Soviet 52nd Sapper Battalion. The Soviets successfully destroyed the bridge and the Germans called in an airstrike afterwards. According to a written account of the battle there were as many as 16 aircraft involved in the attack.

It does not specify which aircraft were used in the attack, but I do not believe any Stuka squadrons were attached to the V. Fliegerkorps so they could not be involved (but I could be wrong).

If it is possible - I would like to identify which squadron from V. Fliegerkorps and battalion from XVII. Armeekorps could have participated in this battle?

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