paulsan21075
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From “The Luftwaffe” by Alfred Price
Ballantine’s Illustrated History of World War II
weapons book, No 10
The Organization and Nomenclature of Luftwaffe Units
The basic unit of the Luftwaffe was not the Staffel or squadron, but the Gruppe or wing, which could, and often did, act independently of the Geschwader or group to which it nominally belonged. Despite this, however, nomenclature of Luftwaffe units was derived from the Geschwader, and thus we should start with this unit in an analysis of the composition of Luftwaffe tactical units.
Each Geschwader was normally composed of three Gruppen, although some fighter Geschwader had four Gruppen and some bomber ones up to six Gruppen. Each Gruppe was mad up of three Staffeln in the normal course of events. Each Staffel was usually composed of between twelve and sixteen aircraft, so that the strength of the Gruppe was about forty and the Geschwader about 120 aircraft. Of course, front line combat units were frequently far below establishment strengths, so these figures must always be regarded warily.
The wabbr4eviated nomenclature of Luftwaffe units is sufficiently clear for the exact unit to be deciphered from the short abridgement of its full title. In the middle of the abbreviation was an oblique stroke, to the right of which appeared letters signifying the role of the unit (for the meaning of these letters see below). To the right again of these was the Geschwader’ s official number and sometimes an honor title such as ‘Udet’ or ‘Eismeer’. To the left of the oblique stroke appeared Roman or Arabic numerals, the Roman numerals referring to the Gruppe, the Arabic to the Staffel. As the Staffeln were arranged into Gruppen by threes, it can be seen that Staffeln 1 to 3 belonged to I Gruppe, 4 to 6 to II Gruppe and so on. Thus, when presented with a designation such as 9/JG 54 Grűnherz, we can see that this refers to the third Staffel of the Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54, honor title Grűnherz.
Aufkl Gr = Aufklärungsgruppe = Reconnaissance wing
E Gr = Erprobungsgruppe = Testing wing
JG = Jagdgeschwader = Fighter group
K F1 Gr = Kűstenfliegergruppe = Coastal wing
KG = Kampfgeschwader = Bomber group
KLG = Kampflehrgeschwader = Bomber training group
LG = Lehrgeschwader = (literally) Training group, in fact an elite unit
NJG = Nachtjagdgeschwader = Night fighter group
NSG = Nachtschlachtgeschwader = Night ground support group
SG = Schlachtgeschwader = Ground support group
SKG = Schnellkampfgeschwader = Fast bomber group
St G = Stukageschwader =Dive bomber group
TG = Transportgeschwader = Transport group
ZG = ZerstÖrergeschwader = Long range or escort fighter group
zbV = zur besonderen Verwendung = Special aswignment
Formation
Luftflotte (Air Force)
Fliegerkorps (Air Corps)
Fliegerdivision (Air Division)
Geschwader (Group)
Gruppe (Wing)
Staffel (Squadron)
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Luftwaffe nomenclature - 
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