[Karoband]

Gentlemen,

Larry in another thread writes:

"Flieger-Hauptingenieur vs Hauptmann (ing.): it was clear to mefrom looking through the thousands of pages of documents again that these are two separate and unrelated ranks. The former belonged to the TSD (Truppensonderdienst) while the latter were active duty Luftwaffe officers. The former were civilians [my emphasis] working for the Luftwaffe while the latter were active duty military personnel. They were not interchangeable one with the other."

So, was Altrogge:
a) a civilian who the Luftwaffe allowed to fly a bomber over England;
b) considered by the Luftwaffe to be a soldier; or
c) actually a Hauptmann (Ing.)?

By the by, further research shows:

a) Supposedly four Ju 86 R-2's were assigned to the unit:
T5+PM for Gotz/Sommer
T5+QM for Altrogge/Albrecht
T5+RM for both crews
T5+TM as a back-up aircraft.

b) That four Ju-86 R-2's are added to the inventory of 4.(F)/Aufklarungsgruppe Ob.d.L. in October 1942.

c) Larry and Doug's blurb on Albrecht says he was promoted to Oberleutenant on 01.07.42 which meant he would have out-ranked Sommer (a Leutnant) and Gotz (supposedly an Oberfeldwebel).

Best regards,

Jim