Luftwaffe term?

[John Beaman]

Was there a specific term for a fighter unit to be on 15 minute standby or was a word like Alarmbereitschaft used and generally understood to be 15 minutes?


Thanks

[Chris Goss]

According to the Manual of German Air Force Terminology, Alarmbereitschaft was immediate readiness so I would guess no

[John Beaman]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

According to the Manual of German Air Force Terminology, Alarmbereitschaft was immediate readiness so I would guess no

Thanks, Chris. So, was there a specific term for the 15 minute readiness?

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

According to the Manual of German Air Force Terminology, Alarmbereitschaft was immediate readiness so I would guess no

Could anything be more immediate than Sitzbereitschaft though? I've always taken it to mean "cockpit readiness" (although "Sitz" is pretty generic for chairs and seats so I suppose it could mean "armchair readiness").

[John Beaman]

Nick:

I agree with you. That is why I was seeking a specific term for the 15 minute readiness, if there was such a term.

[Jochen Prien]

Dear John,

Sitzbereitschaft was the most immediate state of readiness, not to be measured in a specific time; in the state of Sitzbereitschaft a fighter unit had to be prepared to take off at once if the alarm was sounded.

A 15 minute readiness would be termed 15 Minuten Bereitschaft, as would any other state of readiness - Stundenbereitschaft for one hours readiness, Halbstundenbereitschaft for 30 Minutes readiness, 5 Minutenbereitschaft and so on.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Jochen

[John Beaman]

Dear Jochen:

That is what I was seeking. Thanks for the clarification.

I wonder how common this specific readiness might have been used as opposed to say, 1 hour or 30 minutes, etc.?

Cheers,

John

[Nick Beale]

I don't suppose it's typical but in ULTRA when Luftflotte 2 is announcing its intentions for the following day, it usually warns the fighters and SG 4 to be at 30 minutes' or an hour's readiness from first light.

I'm sure that shorter periods would have been ordered in response to moves by the opposing forces on the day itself.

The Stab JG 77 KTB for January–July 1944 only mentions Sitzbereitschaft.