Luftdienst Unit Histories
General Background
Luftdienst is best translated as Target-Towing Service rather than as Air Service. The former was the wartime translation used by the British Air Ministry and very effectively describes its duties. With origins dating back to 1934, the Luftdienst performed target-towing, target representation, and limited liaison and courier work for both the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe. Beginning in July 1936, a re-organization was ordered that reshaped the Luftdienst into the form it maintained until early 1944 when the Fliegerzielgeschwader were created. Luftdienstverbände were established as a headquarters and staff responsible for a geographic area, with each of these controlling a few Luftdienstkommandos or Luftdienst-teilkommandos. Until early 1939, the entire Luftdienst organization was based along the Baltic coast in northern Germany where it was available to the Flak schools and firing ranges for target-towing and related duties. On 1 January 1939, the Luftdienstkommandos were renumbered and 11 new Luftdienst-teilkommandos were formed, one for each Luftgau, to handle the day-to-day target representation and towing needs of the rapidly expanding Flak forces throughout the Reich. Three months later, on 1 April, all of the Luftdienst units in North Germany, namely Luftdienstverbände I, II, III and Luftdienstkommandos 61 through 68, were placed under the General der Luftwaffe beim Oberbefehlshaber der Marine und Befehlshaber der Marinefliegerverbände (Luftwaffe General with (attached to) the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Commander of Naval Aviation Formations).[1]
Wartime Organization and Reorganization
By the beginning of the war on 1 September 1939, the Luftdienstverbände had a planned strength of:
These staffs (Stäbe) and formations were subordinated as follows:
Ob.d.L./RLM
- Chef des Ausbildungswesens/RLM (Director of Training)
- Inspektion der Flugzeugführerschulen (L In 9) (Inspectorate of Pilots’ Schools)
- Inspizient der Luftdienstverbände (Inspector of Target-Towing Service Formations)
- Höheren Kommandeur der Luftdienstverbände (Chief Commander of Target-Towing Service Formations)
The first organizational change of any significance, at least that has been found, occurred about April 1941 when Luftdienstabteilungen were set up to exercise command and control over the rapidly increasing number of smaller Luftdienst units, and the term Luftdienstteilkommando was dropped and all of those that were assigned to the Luftgäue both in and outside Germany began to use the term Luftdienstkommando, but without any renumbering.
In August 1942 a Fliegerzielgeschwader (Target-Towing Geschwader or Wing) was set up as a Stab (headquarters and staff) to consolidate and control all of the Luftdienst units, which by this date were quite numerous. On 1 September 1943 the Fliegerzielgeschwader was expanded and upgraded to a Fliegerzieldivision. In February 1944 three Fliegerzielgeschwader began forming under the Fliegerzieldivision and each of these had organic Gruppen. Several months later, on 24 July 1944, orders were issued for the renaming of all Luftdienstkommandos as Fliegerzielstaffeln. But by this time the fronts were crumbling, fuel rationing was in effect and the Luftdienst began to shrink very rapidly. In September and October the Fliegerzielgeschwader were disbanded and the handful of remaining units became independent or quasi-independent Fliegerzielgruppen and Fliegerzielstaffeln.
Tables of Organization
Not all KStN tables (tables of organization and equipment or Kriegsstärkenachweisungen – KStN) survived the mass destruction of Luftwaffe records during the last year of the war, but what is known of the main ones for Luftdienst formations follows:
412 (L)Stab Fliegerzieldivision (v) (Staff of Target-Towing Division)
415 (L)Stab einer Fliegerzieldivision (v) (Staff of a Target-Towing Division)
1513 (L)Fliegerzielstaffel (v) (Target-Towing Squadron)
1514 (L)Lehrkommando einer Fliegerzieldivision (v) (Instructional Detachment of a …..)
5180 (L)*Stab eines Luftdienstverbandes (Staff of a Target-Towing Service Formation)
5181 (L)*Luftdienstkommando (See) (Target-Towing Service Detachment) (Naval)
5183 (L)*Luftdienstkommando (Land) (Target-Towing Service Detachment) (Land)
7389 (L)*Inspizient der Luftdienstverbände (Inspector of Target-Towing Service Formations)
Note: the last four are marked with an asterisk (*) to indicate that they were deleted from the KStN listings when the Fliegerziel- terminology and organizational changes began to appear is 1942-43.
Unit Histories
This section provides links to all of the Luftdienst Unit Histories held on this wiki. There will be an "Index" page in the left-hand column and links to individual unit histories in the right-hand column.
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress).
(1st Draft 2024)
References
- ↑ [British] Air Ministry (A.I.12) – Manual of German Air Force Terminology (n.d., but probably 1945); K.Ries - Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939 (Mainz, 1974), pp.180-81; R.Absolon – Die Wehrmacht im Dritten Reich, Bd. IV, 1979, p.245; NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-321 roll 104/frames 530-38); H.Boog - Die deutsche Luftwaffenführung 1935-1945: Führungsprobleme, Spitzengliederung, Generalstabsausbildung (Stuttgart, 1982), p.599; K.Mehner/R.Teuber - Die deutsche Luftwaffe 1939-1945: Führung und Truppe (Norderstedt: 1993), p.65; BA-MA Freiburg: Signatur RL 4 II; [British] Air Ministry A.I.12 Post Hostilities Report Y/29, “G.A.F. Establishment Schedule Numbers” (n.d.), 87 pages.