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Re: 4./Seeaufkl.Gru. 126
The renaming of Aufklärungseinheiten to Seeaufklärungsgruppen und Staffeln occurred in May 1943 with the units receiving notification of this during the first week of May. These notifications came from General der Luftwaffe beim Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine (L.In. 8). I have seen these so I know it's factual. Anyway, either by intention and with permission or unofficially, some or all of the units concerned began using their new designations immediately or almost immediately in May 1943. Example:
Stab/Aufklärungsgruppe 125
May 1943: renamed Stab/Seeaufklärungsgruppe 125 at Constanta, however the order formalizing this change in designation (Gen.St.d.Lw.-Gen.Qu.2.Abt. Nr.9281/43g.Kdos.) was not issued until 13 July 1943.
Now, why the nearly 10-week delay between the notifications of May 1943 and the 13 July date of the order? Beats me, but bureaucratic delays of this sort were not unusual when coordination had to take place between two different branches of service, in this case OKM and Ob.d.L. Also, 9281/43g.Kdos. undoubtedly contains an effective date and a reference to the earlier notifications and that would help clear up the confusion. This order may still exist in the Skl./OKM records because those are far, far more complete that the largely destroyed Luftwaffe records.
If anyone can produce this order or add to this discussion with well-sourced and documented information, it would be appreciated.
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