Feldluftgaukommando Westfrankreich
Feldluftgaukommando Westfrankreich
(FpN: L 23882)
Kommandierender General
Gen.d.Flakart. Dr. Eugen Weissmann (24 Jun 40 - 30 Jun 44)
Gen.d.Flieger Karl Drum (1 Jul 44 - 6 Sep 44)
Subordination:
Luftflottenkdo. 3 (Jun 40 - c.Sep 44)
Subordinate Commands:
Kommando Flughafenbereiche (airfield regional commands) and Fliegerhorstkommandanturen (air base commands), Luftnachrichten (air force signals), Sanitäts (medical), Flak (antiaircraft), numerous ground service and support units located within its territory of authority. These changed frequently and in the absence of surviving source documentation it is not possible to list them accurately or completely.
Formation and History. (Jun 40 - Sep 44)
Ordered formed o/a 24 June 1940 at Étampes/50 km SSW of Paris under Luftflotte 3. One or two sources state that it was formed from Luftgaustab z.b.V. 12 but this is not supported by the surviving documents. Territory initially comprised all of central and western France south of the Seine River, including Normandy, Brittany and the entire coastal belt along the Bay of Biscay to the Spanish border. The previously unoccupied southern part of France, which had been administered by the French Vichy regime, was added to the Luftgaukommando’s territory on 11 November 1942 when the Germans took it over. The largest Luftgaukdo. outside of Germany in terms of manpower and assets, it controlled the airfields, servicing and support units throughout France, except for the northeastern and eastern portion.[1]
France
The Stab (headquarters) remained at Étampes to August 1944.
21 Aug 44: Stab at Ligny/W of Nancy withdrawing eastward.
28 Aug 44: Stab authorized to withdraw to Strasbourg/Alsace by Luftflotte 3.
6-10 Sep 44: Stab in Strasbourg ordered renamed Stab/Luftgaukommando V with headquarters to be in Stuttgart.
Aussenstelle Nord Feldluftgaukdo. Westfrankreich
Identified in Le Mans on 18 July 1944. No further information found.
Aussenstelle Süd Feldluftgaukdo. Westfrankreich
Identified in Salon/S France on 18 July 1944. No further information found.
Flugbereitschaft Feldluftgaukommando Westfrankreich
(FpN: none found)
Formation, History and Losses. (1941?)
No information has so far come to light about the duty flight assigned to Luftgaukdo. Westfrankreich, except for the aircraft lost and damaged reports noted below and a few scattered location listings from surviving documents. Based on the Loss Reports, the Flugbereitschaft appears to have had its own Flugbereitschaft for only a few months during mid-1941.[2]
14 Jul 41: a He 111 belonging to Flugbereitschaft Luftgaukdo Westfrankreich damaged in accident at Mondesir air base, 15%.
10 Aug 41: a Bü 131 from the Flugbereitschaft crashed at Étampes airfield, 70%.
19 Aug 41: a He 111 P-2 was damaged in an accident at Étampes airfield, 20%.
Aug 41 – Aug 44: no further entries found.
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2023)
Return to Commands
References
- ↑ G.Tessin- Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte (Osnabrück, 1980); K.Mehner/R.Teuber - Die deutsche Luftwaffe 1939-1945: Führung und Truppe (Norderstedt: 1993); N.Kannapin - Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht 1939-1945, 3 Bde (I – III) (Osnabrück, 1980-82); PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA (incl. XL9953), “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (numerous scattered documents in T-321, T-405 and T-971); (T-77 Luftwaffenpersonalamt officer assignment orders).
- ↑ BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs).