Pre-war reconnaissance codes

[obdl3945]

Hi, folks...

I have seen a photo of a Heinkel He45 coded 20+M22, which I understand to represent aircraft 'M', of 2.Staffel, II.Gruppe, Aufklärungsgruppe 12.

However, I have also seen a Heinkel 46 coded 20+B32, which I would have thought was a coding anomaly, as I understood the codes to be read in reverse (right to left), therefore this reads as 2.Staffel, III.Gruppe, Aufklärungsgruppe 12. Going on the basis that III.Gruppe would not be likely to have included 2.Staffel, can someone please explain this to me?

Just to totally confuse me, there are also photos of He60s coded 60+D81 and 60+G91 based within Luftkreis VI's territory, HQ at Kiel. Can these two examples be explained by whatever rule governs the previous examples above, or are they something peculiar to maritime reconnaissance units?

Thanks...

Paul

[Doug Stankey]

The following prewar recon unit code list is based on analysis of my collection of prewar codes, our preliminary work for a book about Recon unit histories of the Luftwaffe and from information gleaned from various books, especially:

Aufklarer und Aufklarungsverbande der deutschen Luftwaffe 1935 – 1945 by
Jahn Bradley. Barry Ketley and David Wadman; pub by Bernard und Graefe Verlag.

The list is not complete but it represents our best guess. As a rule, units not shown either had no code or they only had the post November 1, 1938 type code as used during WWII. Where codes seem to be repeated, this was likely due to the codes being retained after unit redesignations.

In the codes shown below, “x” means the individual aircraft identifier letter. The “n” indicates the Staffel number within the Gruppe.

The first digit of the code was the district number in which the unit was formed and was also represented in the last digit of the unit number. The second last digit of the code was the Gruppe number indicating that it was the (for example second recon Gruppe formed within that Luftkreis. The last digit merely indicates the Staffel number within that Gruppe.

Aufkl.Gr. 11 (1. formation) = (10+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr. 12 = (20+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr.13 = (30+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr. 14 (1.formation) = (40+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr.15 = (50+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr.23 = (30+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr. 24 = (40+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr.52 = (20+x3n).
Aufkl.Gr. 25 = (50+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr. 114 = (40+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr. 115 = (50+x2n).
Aufkl.Gr. 121 (1. formation) = (10+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr. 122 = (20+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr. 123 (1.formation) = (30+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr. 124 = (40+x1n).
Aufkl.Gr. 224 = (40+x3n).
Aufkl.Gr. 125 = (50+x2n).


I hope that this clarifies things a bit.

DGS

[obdl3945]

Ausgezeichnet... alles klar... !

Thanks very much, Doug. I have learned something new today...

Kindest regards...

Paul