Feldluftgaukommando XXVIII

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Feldluftgaukommando XXVIII

(FpN: L 16390)


Kommandierender General

Gen.d.Flieger Alfred Mahncke (31 Jul 43 - 6 Sep 44)


Subordination:

Luftflottenkdo. 2 (1 Aug 43 - 6 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. (Aug 43 - Sep 44)

Formed summer 1943 in North Italy, probably Milano (Milan), (ex-Stab/Luftgaukommando Süd) as the senior logistics command for the support of Luftflotte 2’s operations in Italy. The exact date of formation is in dispute, with 1 June 1943 often given as the date its formation was ordered. However, documents still use the designation Luftgaukommando Süd right through to at least the end of July. Its first Komm.Gen. Mahncke’s date of appointment is 31 July, and that was to Feldluftgaukdo. XXVIII. Allied intelligence gives a date of 13 October based on captured documents and radio intercepts. Exercised authority over the airfield and supply infrastructure in the northern and central part of the country.[1]


North and Central Italy

1943-44: the location of this command’s headquarters is so far unclear. One source (Gundelach) places it possibly in Treviso/NE Italy at the time it was formed, while another source (Tessin) says it was in Milan. However, its headquarters signal detachment (Ln.Abt. Italien) was located in Bergamo, which is 45-50 km NE of Milan, on 15 October 1943.

Aug 43: all or much of the Stab of the General der deutschen Luftwaffe in Italien (or more commonly as Italuft) was incorporated into Luftgaukdo. Süd - now called Feldluftgaukommando XXVIII - during August and early September as the former was disbanded in Rome. Its principal task after departing South Italy was to develop the complex of airfields and the supply infrastructure in North Italy.

20 Sep 43: Stab transferred (from Rome? from Milan?) to Treviso/NE Italy. Exactly where the Stab eventually set up its headquarters remains unclear, but it appears to have either been Treviso, Milan or Bergamo.

Oct 43 – Aug 44: North Italy - no further movement reported.

Mar 44: Stab in Treviso. (Note: a thorough search of the DHI Rom web site reveals Treviso as the only location for this Stab).[2]

6 Sep 44: ordered disbanded and many of the personnel incorporated into Stab/Kommandierender General der deutschen Luftwaffe in Italien, then being formed. This process was not completed until October.


Flugbereitschaft Feldluftgaukommando XXVIII

(FpN: none found)


Formation, History and Losses. (Aug 43 - Sep 44)

No information has so far come to light about the duty flight assigned to Feldluftgaukdo. XXVIII, except for the aircraft lost and damaged report noted below. The single report suggests that the Flugbereitschaft only had approximately 3 to 5 aircraft or less.[3]


31 Dec 43: a Ju 52 belonging to Flugbereitschaft Feldluftgaukdo. XXVIII crashed north of Perugia in Central Italy, 100%, 5 killed.



© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).

(1st Draft 2023)

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References

  1. 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); K.Gundelach - Die deutsche Luftwaffe im Mittelmeer 1940-1945, 2 Bde (Frankfurt/M., 1981), p.684; PRO London: DEFE 3 ULTRA signals; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (scattered microfilm citations found in T-321, T-405 and T-971); (T-77 Luftwaffenpersonalamt officer assignment orders); BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 20 files.
  2. DHI Rom web site.
  3. BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs).