LW Genst.Gen.Qu.6 - Recording of Operational Losses

[RodM]

Hello,

I have a question for any of our more learned friends on this forum concerning the apparent abnormality in the criterion used by the Luftwaffe in classifing material losses. From what I can tell, the Luftwaffe (at least in the last 12 months of the war) classified losses as:

1. Due to Enemy Action (could be Operational or Non-Operational, with no distinction made between the two)
2. Non due to Enemy Action - Operational
3. Non due to Enemy Action - Non-Operational

..with 'operational' as defined as being an operational flight or sortie.

Is my assumption given under 1-3 correct? If so, it creates one huge problem in studying Luftwaffe operations because it becomes very difficult if not impossible in many cases to distinguish between losses due to enemy action on operational flights and non-operational flights.

As an example, an aircraft on a non-operational flight between airfields may be shot down by enemy fighters, or an aircraft on an operational flight may be shot down as a result of enemy action, or an aircraft parked on an airfield may be destroyed during a bombing or strafing attack - all were categorised as being destroyed as a result of enemy action, yet only one of the three examples was actually engaged on an operational flight.

One of the reasons I mention this is because of the wild disagreement between various 'official' Luftwaffe statistics on losses for the year 1944 - some some of the discrepencies can be explained, others cannot...and I wonder if the difference could be between operational and non-operational losses.

Cheers

Rod