Not Quite Mechanised: NQM Luftwaffe Orbats

Chris Kemp’s Not Quite Mechanised

German Air Force (Luftwaffe)

Airfield HQ	1 Comd in Staff Car (s3), Control Tower Van (s3)
Gruppen x 2-4	1 Aircraft (See notes below)(s3-4) (Each strength point, a Staffel)
Ground Sp	1-6 Ground Sp Crews(s3), Fuel Bowser, Fire Truck and Crew (s3), Ammo Tender (s3)

Luftwaffe ground crew

At the operational level – Luftflotten, Fliegerkorps

At operational level, the Luftwaffe was divided into Luftflotten (Air fleets). Each Luftflotte contained several Fliegerkorps, which had several Geschwader, but also independent Staffeln and Kampfgruppen attached. Operational aircraft strengths fluctuated wildly.
At the tactical level – Geschwader, Gruppe and Staffel
A Geschwader would be roughly equal an RAF Group and comprised about 100-120 aircraft.

The following aircraft types were used by the Luftwaffe. I have not included purely Strategic Aircraft, Trainers or Night fighters, nor aircraft where only small numbers saw service at the very end of the war. , I have included the German designation, (first operational use) and [Type]. If I have been able to determine, I have given operational areas and any comments that help: If it looks a bit like an easily available aircraft that it can be modelled from, I have noted that. The main source for this section is Gunston, B. (1978) Combat Aircraft of WWII. Arranged by date of entry into service