German Luftwaffe Groundcrew

[Snautzer]

There is a book about female blackman wich is worth looking for. To find out more about operational duties i suggest the manuals about aircraft operations. There is even a usaaf manual about this subject although i am not sure it goes as deep as the tasks of the blackmen

[edwest2]

I have found a book:


Schlachtfeld Luftfahrzeug: Der Einsatz der schwarzen Männer im II. Weltkrieg by Harald Vogt


It seems to be available only on the secondary market for around 30 Euros. It was published in 1994.



Usual disclaimer,
Ed

[Larry deZeng]

Hello Gymning,

As the others here have said, you won't find much about the Luftwaffe here aside from aircraft, aircrew, parts recovered from long lost or buried wrecks and that which is directly related. For the past 18 years, I have tried to get just a few of these gentlemen interested in the Luftwaffen-Bodenorganisation, Flakartillerie and the Luftnachrichtentruppe, but to no avail. I am a miserable failure, I guess.

If you will go to the link below, you will find what you are looking for, at least what a wartime Luftwaffe airfield might look like in terms of the ground staffing, air units present at a given time, representative airfield strength returns, etc. How is your German? You will have a tough time with this material unless you use the Glossary (see the Introduction) and are already familiar with the unit abbreviations and the Luftwaffe-related acronyms in general. This material loses all relevance and import if translated into another language.

Anyway, this is about all you will find. I have not finished Russia and the Baltic States yet and I already have roughly 15 years and 30,000 hours invested in this project, including the years I spent in archives doing research. To study this subject on your own, you will need the language skills, lots and lots of time and lots and lots of money so you can travel to the Bundesarchiv-Militaerarchiv in Freiburg, The British National Archive in London, the U.S. National Archives in Washington and the Air Force Historical Research Agency in Montgomery/Alabama, although some of the primary material held at these repositories has recently been made available on-line. Good luck and best wishes.

http://www.ww2.dk/lwairfields.html

Larry deZeng

[edwest2]

Hello Larry,


Considering the time and effort you've put in, I commend you for your work.




Regards,
Ed

[Snautzer]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

I am a miserable failure, I guess.

Go to you're room and wash your mouth with soap.

No mister deZeng your labour is not in vain.
Yes some interested in Luftwaffe operations and airfields has taken note of your work
Yes they should and they will. For long, long, long times
You are the one that people speak of when they say "standing on the shoulders off".
Yes Giants...
As a pure amateur i spent some time on researching. Anybody who has done so will know how hard and difficult it can get to get close to the level you seem to do so easily.

[Larry deZeng]

Thanks for your kind words, Ed and Snautzer. We all try to perform some worthwhile function in our lives and leave something of use to others. You two do the same with your tireless and relentless research on ebay, and yes, I have benefited from your work, too. Ebay photos appear from time-to-time that show various aspects of landing areas, hangars, workshops at airfields, usually in the background and these are very helpful for my work on airfields, especially those im Osten (in the East). I would be ignorant of these were it not for your diligent efforts to bring the photos to our attention. Thank you!

Larry deZ.

Hello Larry
Your site regarding airbases are great. Interesting and I found it quite a while ago and it really got me hooked regarding a more detailed fact finding campaign, so to speak. As I found an air base of interest, and there are plenty of them, I looked things up. Also, for an example, I looked up Slovak Air Force and could find a complete list and information of where, what and etc. You have done a real great job, extremely impressing.
Stefan