Luftwaffe bases near La Rochelle, July 1941

[Rob_C_1975]

Hi all

I wonder if any of you could give me some pointers to find out about the location of Luftwaffe single-engined fighter bases around La Rochelle/La Pallice in July 1941.

I am interested in a particular action on 24 July 1941 when my great uncle was in a Halifax that was shot down during a raid on the Scharnhorst. He was one of only two survivors who parachuted out but he was wounded in the legs so was captured almost immediately. It's supposition to some extent, but it's likely that he was taken to one of the nearby Luftwaffe bases for treatment before being processed through the PoW system.

I have found Tony Woods' claims files for 24 July. As all of the Halifaxes that the RAF then possessed took part in the raid, it's fair to say that any Luftwaffe pilot claiming to have downed a Halifax on that day took part in this operation "from the other side" to my great uncle.

I have to admit, the abbreviations for the units don't make too much sense to me, but the units listed are:
• 1./JG 2
• 2./JG 2
• 2./JG 53
• 2. Erg./JG 53

Knowing the units and the date, are there any websites or other resources that I can use to track down where they were based at that time?

Also, can you help refresh my boyhood memories, when I was quite into military stuff and knew this sort of thing: "JG" is sort of like an RAF "Group", yes? And the figure before the oblique is like a squadron number? (Staffel?)

Any help much appreciated. As you can probably tell, I'm groping around a bit here!

With thanks in advance.