Strange Luftwaffe Abbreviation

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Many thanks for giving this a "go", Dan. The abbreviation for Grenadier was "Gren" and, if pressed for space such as on a situation map, "Gr"

Larry, I am glad to be embarrassed by a clearly incorrect guess this time, especially since it looks like we have the answer!

As always, I will eagerly await your message

Originally Posted by egbert

gn=gezogen, i.e. by Sonderkraftfahrzeug (SdKfz)

Originally Posted by egbert

(v) at least today means "V-gestellt"= Verteidigungsfall gestellt. Which means the unit is only to be activated in war time.

Egbert, I think gezogen should be right. Gleisgebunden is a term never used in the context of wartime anti-aircraft units, as Larry has mentioned above, so gezogen is the best match suggested so far.

In documents of wartime flak units, (v) is always contrasted with (o) - ortsfest. (v) is therefore verlegbar or verlegefähig - capable of being moved, or towed. This is not to be confused with (mot.) - motorised. Flak units with a (v) designation had guns which were capable of being moved, but often these units did not in fact have prime movers, so they could not easily move to a different sector. On the other hand, ortsfest units were incapable of any movement, just as any other artillery equipped with guns on fixed mountings.

Regards,

Dan