[Larry deZeng]

Hi Michael Schlageter -

Please be careful making assumptions about entire units based on the entries in several Flugbuecher, especially fighter and ground attack units and most especially during the latter part of the war. These units more often than not operated from more than one airfield at a time so identifying one particular airfield as the unit's "base" is often difficult to do, given the mass destruction of documents. In labeling a particular airfield as a unit's "base", it would be necessary to know with certainty that the Gruppenstab was there along with its administrative and signal facilities. Having a couple of Flugbuecher that show an aircraft and pilot from the Gruppenstab at an airfield on a given date doesn't cut it. This frequent lack of certainty is endemic with many Luftwaffe units and the researcher is forced to rely on secondary sources such as Flugbuecher, POW statements, published material, etc. Even ULTRA intercepts are shaky because an isolated signal stating that such and such unit "will be moving to Kolberg at 2100 hours" does not meant that it necessarily did.

L.