KGr. z.b.V. OBS

[Latze]

Gentlemen,

I finished Robert Forsyth's "Too Save an Army" last week. It's a good overview about the German airlift operation at Stalingrad. On page 236/237 he cites a document from the Bundesarchiv from Sonderstab Milch listing the available units as of 16th of January 1943. At Stalino there is a KGr. z.b.V. OBS (equipped w/ He-111). Am unable to find anything on that unit on the open internet, the Lexikon der Wehrmacht does not list it. Does anybody have a clue what OBS might mean or what unit that is. Possibly OBS stands for Oberbefehlshaber Süd, but was there such an ad-hoc formation in the Med before 1943?

[Richard Anderson]

Interesting find. The transport units organized for the Stalingrad airlift using He 111 were KGr. z.b.V. 20, 23, and 25 but KGr. z.b.V. 5 also was there having been organized earlier for the Demyansk airlift. The only He 111 unit with Oberbefehlshaber Süd (Luftflotte 2) I can find was II./KG 100?

[wekusta]

Latze,

Try looking here -- https://www.luftwaffedata.co.uk/index.p ... .V._O.B.S.

[Latze]

Latze,

Try looking here -- https://www.luftwaffedata.co.uk/index.p ... .V._O.B.S.

Great. Thanks a lot!
Obviously I did not search for "z.b.V." & "O.B.S."....

Still a bit mysterious. Did they really managed to transfer from Comiso to Stalino in 4 days?