Er

[Jim P.]

This has probably come up for discussion before, but danged if I can anything. Anyone know what the 'Er' entry after the WNr. in some Gen.Qu. losses means?

[Nick Beale]

Short for "Ersatz" (or something with that as the root word, anyway) so in the loss reports it means "replacement required."

[RT]

Exactly repl. required " Ersatz erfordert"

Remi

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi

Both Remi and Nick is right. The reason for the use being that if an aircraft was damaged to an extent that the frontline unit had no way of repairing it, even if the damage was under the percentage they should be able to handle, they would ask for a replacement.

Regards,
Andreas B

[Jim P.]

Thank you gentlemen -

[edNorth]

Jim. Of course Nick, RT and Adreas are correct.

The abbreviation ´Er.´ appears in Luftwaffe loss records (f.e. 08.10.1940) and is explained: ´Ersatz notwendig, d.h. Flugzeug kann mit Truppenmitteln nicht wieder hergestellt werden´ (loosely translated ... Spare parts needed and can not be handled/repaired with Luftwaffe in-the-field equipment and or needing an repair at factory level).