Luftwaffe support personal

[cpaige5@hotmail.com]

I've been curious on the number of personal it takes to service a staffel of bombers/fighters.
You have a small number of personal partaking in combat missions but need non flying support crew to maintain the unit. How many men did it take? You would need security, plane maintenance personal, ordinance personal, intelligence, staff and even the very important kitchen crew.

I believe there is a crew chief per fighter plane, would that be the same in a bomber/ground attack plane. Would it matter where you were located as an example Russian airfields vrs French or Italy airfields.

Then I get to another question. Was this the same for the Allies USSR/the west or North African front? Was the amount of support crew different from the Russians and the RAF/AAF?

[edwest]

This book, though small in page count, would be a good starting point.



http://www.amazon.com/Luftwaffe-Airf.../dp/0887404820 Usual disclaimer, Ed

[John Vasco]

When I put this question to Otto Hintze, Staffelkapän of 3. Staffel, Erprobungsgruppe 210, many years ago, he said the figure was around 100. I couldn't believe it at first, but when he explained the complete range of functions associated with a single Staffel, it then became clear that the figure was pretty close.

Hope this helps.

[RalphZimmer]

There are listings from the "Kriegsstärkenachweise" (OOB) to be found on:
http://www.wwiidaybyday.com/
(Click "Kriegsstärkenachweise" and "Luftwaffe")
Hope this helps
Ralph