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Re: Staffelkapitan vs Staffelfuhrer?
Hi, John
I think you have got it mostly right, based on what I have seen of records over the last years
A Staffelkapitän was the person which was given the permanent position to lead a Staffel, the smallest organizational tactical unit in the Luftwaffe system. This was sanctioned by the Personalamt of the Luftwaffe in the RLM.
A Staffelführer was a pilot tasked with leading the unit in the air. In some units and situations you would have the situation where a more seasoned lower-ranking pilot would lead the Staffel in the air due to his experience, while the Staffelkapitän lead another Schwarm, Kette or Rotte.
It was of course not uncommon that a situation were the Staffelführer led the Staffel when a Staffelkapitän was killed, wounded or transferred, until he subsequently was formally tasked with the job as Staffelkapitän.
We also have to take into the account here that the Wehrmacht operated with two kind of officers - the Truppenoffizier - a person that had attended the Kriegsschule and had a formal education as officer, and the Kriegsoffizier - a person which was promoted to officer rank due to his exploits and experience during the war.
From what I have seen it was not uncommon to give seasoned pilots with the rank of Feldwebel or Oberfeldwebel a promotion to Leutnant and at the same time give them the Staffelkapitän position. This was of course a makeshift arrangement due to the war and not a wanted thing by the RLM or Personalamt.
With regards to the term Gruppenführer, I have never seen it used in other than the SS context. However, that former Luftwaffe personnel would insist on this term not being used have more to do with post-war associations with this term and the SS in my opinion.
I think the bottom line should be that the term Staffelkapitän is a formal line of command position with given tasks and responsibilities as shown by the LDV, while the Staffelführer was an appointment given in the field.
The reason for the term Staffelführer appearing in loss lists for example would be for organizational reasons, with regards to what kind of replacements a unit would need at a given time.
Regards,
Andreas B
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