Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

A clutch of 5 Luftwaffe documents have been forwarded to me with the sender asking that I identify a peculiar abbreviation that I have never seen before. Essentially, all 5 pages consist of a formal request from 3./schwere Flak-Abt. 573(v)Gn. to decorate a certain low-ranking Luftwaffe 8.8 cm gun commander (Geschützführer) for shooting down nearly a dozen Liberators and Fortresses over the Budapest area in 1944.

The strange abbreviation appears several times whenever the unit designation is mentioned and for all of the 40 years I have spent researching the Flakwaffe (Flak Branch) in surviving Luftwaffe documents, I have NEVER seen it before. The abbreviation is the suffix attached to the end of the unit's designation, specifically "Gn". Does anyone have any idea what it might mean? It's not to be found in any of the Wehrmacht/Luftwaffe abbreviations handbooks.

Thanks,

L.

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Hi,

mil. shortword Gn. - Gegner, but without to seeing the setence ....

regards

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

It is but only as Gebirgsjäger Nachrichten Abt and it can't be that.

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Flakabteilung xyz (o) - ortsfest
Flakabteilung xyz (v) - variabel


regards

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Thanks uschu and Zippy, but neither of those fit.

Keep 'em coming, folks.

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Good evening ushu

As much as I know, the (v) stands for: verlegbar.

Horst Weber

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Larry, I am not sure that anyone here will be able to solve an abbreviation riddle that you cannot, but one can but try :) What if Gn stands for Grenadier? Perhaps this is a nonsensical suggestion, but a list of surviving flak claim reports does suggest to me that the abbreviation following the usual designation (v) for a towed unit could refer to the organisation which provided the personnel for the unit, see below:

"Schwere Flak-Abteilung 573 (v) Gn (Einsatz Ungarn: Budapest)...

Gemischte Flak-Abteilung 593 (v-RAD) (Einsatz Frankreich II./F./593, 13. Febr. 1944 Chartres; 1. und 4./593, 27. Juli 1944 Rumily sur Seine)"
deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/SQSGIFWPFV3LCQ2MA62IJTVREIESDTMT

The (v-RAD) designation clearly refers to a unit formed with Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD - Reich Labour Service) personnel, see the following link:

RAD-Flakbatterien der Wehrmacht 1943-1944
wehrmacht-forum.de/index.php?thread/4312-reichsarbeitsdienst-fad-rad/&pageNo=1

Since I do not know of any organisation in the Nazi state which would have been referred to by the letters Gn, I assume that the Schwere Flak-Abteilung 573 could have been staffed with Grenadiere from other units within the Budapest garrison. However, it is worth reiterating that this could just be a loose assumption.

Regards,

Dan

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Hi

verlegbar give sense . verlegbar, variabel, tansportierbar to ortsfest, standortfest. Those words i found in "Zeitzeugenberichten usw.

regards

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Another term could be Gleisgebunden= rail-mounted

but just a guess

regards

Re: Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation
 

Dan H. wrote in part:

Many thanks for giving this a "go", Dan. The abbreviation for Grenadier was "Gren" and, if pressed for space such as on a situation map, "Gr".

I will reply to your most recent e-mail in a couple of days.

Best,