NOMENCLATURE OF LUTWAFFE AIR BASES in FRance

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Dennis Peschier

Nick,
Also there were codes like
NABEF II./NJG.4
NADEF II./NJG.6
Do you know if these codes changed during the war? Or did a gruppe always had the same code? Dennis

In the decrypted material from about autumn 1944 onward, these 5-letter words appear, so I'm guessing the system came in after the campaign in France. They are not specific to a unit, from what I have seen. So for example NABEF = the second Gruppe of ANY Nachtjagdgeschwader.

There were words for the third Gruppe of a Jagdgechwader, the first Staffel of a Kampfgeschwader, a Flak Division and so on. I only have a few examples in my notes so far.

Decrypts in the spring of 1944 just have codenames for units made of with real German words or names like Eiche, Artus and so on. Greif and Sonne were parts of LG 1 for example.

[Dennis Peschier]

Hello Nick,
Thanks for the explanation. I have been looking at the HW5 files looking for information on luftwaffe units in western Europe. Throughout 1943 there is not that much. Morten Jesse suggested that these units send their messages by telex cables, and were therefore not picked up by ULTRA. I have not looked at 1944, but in March 1945 more western Europe radio traffic is decoded by ULTRA. I assume that the infrastructure was breaking down and they had to resort to radio for sending their messages.

Dennis

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Dennis Peschier

Nick,
... Also there were codes like
NABEF II./NJG.4
NADEF II./NJG.6
Do you know if these codes changed during the war? Or did a gruppe always had the same code?

Dennis

These codes start appearing in Autumn 1944 but they do not belong to any one unit, it seems. So NABEF would be the second Gruppe of ANY Nachtjagdgeschwader. There were other made-up words for (e.g.) the first Staffel of a Kampfgeschwader or a Flakdivision or the thrid Gruppe of a Jagdgeschwader and so on. They then added a number to show which unit it was, so NABEF 4 = II./NJG 4.

I./NJG was NABCI so NABCI 4 = I./NJG 4

I have not yet found exactly when these codes began to appear but it seems that the Allies were able to deduce most of the meanings by about October/November 1944. There is a job for someone with a lot of free time to go through the HW5 series files and compile a list.

GOFRIDUS: I haven't seen any mention about Nantes so far. I would expect that the material for June-September 1944 would have something because the invasion provoked so much activity and so much signals traffic in France. ULTRA was no use when people used landlines, as they did when bases were well established and units not moving often.

Four-digit airfields:

4834 = Rhein-Main
4404 = Großostheim
5062 = Zellhausen

[SES]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Hi SES. I think your attached list is not one of airfield code numbers, rather the numbers of the Fliegerhorstkommandantur (which could control a group of airfields).

Decrypted material usually referred to airfields by a three-digit number and the Allies gradually deduced which was which (helped because adjacent numbers were often close together on the map). Examples are:

Italy:
251 Viterbo
299 Castiglione del Lago
450 Osoppo
508 Bologna
562 Piacenza

France:
510 Montpellier
517 Toulouse
518 Toulouse-Francazal
532 Aix les Milles
536 Istres

Hi Nick,
You could be quite right. Good thing we got this discussion started.
bregds
SES

[SES]

Originally Posted by Dennis Peschier

Hello Nick,
Thanks for the explanation. I have been looking at the HW5 files looking for information on luftwaffe units in western Europe. Throughout 1943 there is not that much. Morten Jesse suggested that these units send their messages by telex cables, and were therefore not picked up by ULTRA. I have not looked at 1944, but in March 1945 more western Europe radio traffic is decoded by ULTRA. I assume that the infrastructure was breaking down and they had to resort to radio for sending their messages.

Dennis

Hi Dennis,
You are right about more and more orders were promulgated via radio. Due to the ground situation many HQs were forced to operate from mobile command posts please see: http://www.gyges.dk/gefechtsomnibussen.htm . In a number of cases they had an Ausweich Gefechtsstand (Alternate Command Post) please see:
http://www.gyges.dk/Luftwaffe%20comm...lities%201.htm
bregds
SES

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Dennis Peschier

Hello Nick,
Morten Jessen suggested that these units send their messages by telex cables, and were therefore not picked up by ULTRA. I have not looked at 1944, but in March 1945 more western Europe radio traffic is decoded by ULTRA. I assume that the infrastructure was breaking down and they had to resort to radio for sending their messages.

Dennis

It is noticeable in the DEFE3 files (the Ultra material first made public, long before HW5) that the bulk of Luftwaffe traffic in the February-June 1944 period is from Italy, Greece & Yugoslavia. As soon as the Allies land in France, the traffic from there dominates the files. As the situation in Italy stabilises in late summer, traffic falls away to almost nothing even from the few Luftwaffe units that were still there.

[Dennis Peschier]

Nick and SES,

Thank you for your input!
Now I can make more sence of two other codes;
NACUL - III./NJG
NADEF - St.IV./NJG

who knows the code for IV./NJG ?

Dennis

[SES]

HI Dennis,
Those 5 letter groups looks more like teletype addresses to me. A code yes - but used only inconnection with tese types of messages - but I could easily be wrong.
bregds
SES

[Dennis Peschier]

Hello SES,
I'm still keeping all possibilities open. These messages were sent by radio, so there would be no need for a Teletype address I guess. But perhaps it was done out of habit.

Dennis

[SES]

Hi
or I expressed myself clumsily. I meant to say "message address", but on closer examination of a couple of Lw signals, I can now see that those were four letter groups.
bregds
SES