Luftwaffe Orders of Battle September 1942

Strength and aircraft of the Luftflotten at the beginning of the Battle for Stalingrad.
Orders of Battle for the German Air fleets, Geschwader, Groups, aircraft types and number of planes.

Ju88C long-range fighters of 13 Squadron KG 40 in western France to harass RAF aircraft operating over the Bay of Biscay.

The Luftwaffe Orders of Battle gives the strength of its operational units when the German Air Force was at its most powerful.

German Luftwaffe in September 1942

Table of Contents

After three years of war the area occupied by German forces was almost at its greatest extent. A major part of the Luftwaffe supported the army in Russia, whose leading elements were fighting their way through the outer defenses of Stalingrad. In the Mediterranean theater, the front line in North Africa was near Alamein and the siege of Malta had reached a critical stage. In the west Luftflotte 3, and in Germany itself Luftwaffenbefehlshaber Mitte, operated strong forces of day and night fighters to counter strategic bombing attacks by the Royal Air Force and the US Army Air Forces.

On each front the Luftwaffe was now matched by the British, American and Russian air force units facing it. For the remainder of WW2 each month that passed would see the Luftwaffe becoming progressively weaker in relation, and the forces opposing it becoming progressively stronger in relation.

Luftwaffe Orders of Battle from September 20th, 1942

Air fleet	Geschwader	Group	Aircraft Type	Total	Service-able
Luftflotte Ost (East), compromised Luftflotte 1, V Fliegerkorps, Luftwaffen-Komando Don on the central and northern front in Russia		Aufklärungs-gruppe 11	Fw189	7	6
Total 2,113 aircrafts:			Ju88	8	7
50 Fw189		Recon Group 12	Fw189	7	6
63 Hs126			Hs126	8	5
67 Do17			Do17	33	32
645 Ju88		Recon Group 13	Fw189	7	3
214 He111			Hs126	21	19
202 Ju87		Recon Group 14	Ju88	6	6
489 Bf109		Recon Group 21	Hs126 and Bf109	25	17
41 Fw190		Recon Group 22	Ju88 and Bf110	30	21
82 Bf110		Recon Group 23	Hs126	6	6
12 Hs129		Recon Group 31	Fw189	21	12
26 Ar196			Hs126	9	4
22 BV138		Recon Group 32	Hs126	14	11
23 He160		Recon Group 33	Bf110	12	10
166 Ju52		Recon Group 41	Fw189	8	7
5 BV222		Recon Group 121	Ju88	6	3
6 He115		Recon Group	Ju88	12	8
		Recon Group Commander Luftwaffe	Ju88 und Bf109	13	9
		Night Recon Group	Do17 and He111	31	10
		Maritime Recon Group 125	Ar196	13	5
			BV138	22	15
		Maritime Recon Group 127	He160 and various captured aircrafts	23	13
	JG3	II Group	Bf109	37	32
	JG51	Staff flight	Bf109	5	5
		I Group	Fw190	41	35
		II Group	Bf109	33	25
		III Group	Bf109	35	18
		IV Group	Bf109	32	21
		Tank destroyer squadron	Hs129	12	12
		15st Spanish Squadron	Bf109	11	7
	JG53	Staff flight	Bf109	5	5
		II Group	Bf109	32	25
		III Group	Bf109	27	14
	JG54	Staff flight	Bf109	4	4
		I Group	Bf109	34	25
		II Group	Bf109	32	30
		III Group	Bf109	30	29
	JG77	Staff flight	Bf109	6	6
		I Group	Bf109	34	24
		II Group	Bf109	16	10
		III Group	Bf109	33	24
	ZG1	III Group	Bf109	27	18
	ZG26	III Group	Bf110	49	19
		IV Group	Ju88 and Do17	11	6
	StG1	Staff flight	Ju87 and Bf110	12	5
		III Group	Ju87	35	23
	StG2	III Group	Ju87	29	25
	StG3	Staff flight	Ju87	4	3
		I Group	Ju87	34	28
		II Group	Ju87	31	23
		III Group	Ju87	32	26
	StG77	III Group	Ju87	31	26
	KG1	Staff flight	Ju88	3	2
		I Group	Ju88	33	21
		II Group	Ju88	26	10
		III Group	Ju88	28	10
	KG3	Staff flight	Ju88	2	2
		I Group	Ju88	24	15
		II Group	Ju88	19	15
		III Group	Ju88	24	13
	KG4	Staff flight	He111	3	1
		I Group	He111	25	14
		II Group	He111	27	20
	KG6	III Group	Ju88	24	18
	KG26	III Group	Ju88	17	8
		6 Squadron	He111	10	10
	KG30	Staff flight	Ju88	3	2
		I Group	Ju88	35	29
		II Group	Ju88	31	30
		III Group	Ju88	33	26
	KG53	Staff flight	He111	6	5
		I Group	He111	30	18
		II Group	He111	27	18
		III Group	He111	29	22
		Croatian 15 Squadron	Do17	13	8
	KG54	Staff flight	Ju88	2	1
		I Group	Ju88	32	14
		II Group	Ju88	26	15
		III Group	Ju88	31	9
	KG76	I Group	Ju88	24	19
	KG77	Staff flight	Ju88	2	2
		I Group	Ju88	33	14
		II Group	Ju88	28	13
		III Group	Ju88	28	12
	KG100	Staff flight	He111	1	1
		II Group	He111	28	11
		III Group	He111 and Ar196	26	8
	LG1	Staff flight	Ju88	2	2
		I Group	Ju88	31	16
		II Group	Ju88	30	19
		12 Squadron	Ju88	14	5
	KG zbV 1 (Transport)	III Group	Ju52	28	18
		IV Group	Ju52	27	18
		Kampfgruppe zbV 400	Ju52	24	11
		Kampfgruppe zbV 600	Ju52	35	20
		Kampfgruppe zbV 800	Ju52	52	28
		Air transport Squadron Sea	BV222	5	1
		Coastal flight Group 906	He115	6	5
		Fighter Command 27 (originally based in Greece)	Bf109	11	6
		Fighter-bomber saudron Africa	Bf109	27	14
Luftflotte 2 in North Africa, Italy and Greece		Recon Group 11	Bf109 and Bf110	11	9
Total 171 aircrafts:		Recon Group 121	Ju88	10	5
33 Ju88		Recon Group	Ju88 and Bf109	31	15
8 Ju86		Recon Group 123	Ju86 and Ju 88	15	7
106 Bf109	JG27	Staff flight	Bf109	3	2
5 Bf110		I Group	Bf109	28	15
19 Ju52		II Group	Bf109	26	16
		III Group	Bf109	28	18
		II Flight Corps Transport Squadron	Ju52	14	10
		Transport Squadron Southeast	Ju52	5	5
Luftflotte 3 in France, Holland and Belgium
Total 725 aircrafts:		Recon Group 33	Ju88 and Bf 109	20	11
86 Ju88		Recon Group 123	Ju88, Bf109, Bf110, Fw190	34	20
74 Do217	JG2	Staff flight	Fw190	8	5
3 Ju86		I Group	Fw190	42	35
6 He111		II Group	Fw190	40	35
5 Me210		III Group	Fw190	41	33
19 He177		IV Group	Fw190 and Bf109	34	22
17 Fw200	JG26	Staff flight	Fw190	5	4
12 Do215		I Group	Fw190	39	32
80 Bf109		II Group	Fw190	44	43
141 Bf110		III Group	Fw190 and Bf109	58	48
300 Fw190		IV Group	Fw190 and Bf 109	30	21
5 BV138	NJG1 (night fighters)	Staff flight	Bf110	4	1
4 Ar196		I Group	Bf110	23	16
		II Group	Bf110 and Do217	48	33
		III Group	Bf110	28	22
		IV Group	Bf110, Do215, Do217, Fw190	48	33
	NJG2	Staff flight	Ju88	3	2
	NJG4	Staff flight	Bf110	1	1
		II Group	Bf110	18	12
		III Group	Bf110	23	20
	KG2	Staff flight	Do217	1	1
		I Group	Do217	25	19
		III Group	Do217	37	19
	KG6	Staff flight	Ju88	1	1
		I Group	Ju88	25	12
		II Group	Ju88	28	20
		14 Squadron	Ju86 (high-altitude bombers)	3	2
		15 Squadron	He111 and Do217	11	3
		16 Squadron	Me210	5	3
	KG40 (Atlantic long-range operations)	I Group	He177	19	13
		III Group	Fw200	17	11
		13 Squadron	Ju88 (long-range fighters)	10	6
		Coastal flight Group 706	BV138 and Ar196	9	8
Luftflotte 4 in southern Russia
Total 886 aircrafts:		Recon Group 10	Fw189	23	11
106 Fw189			Hs126 and Ju88	7	5
16 Hs126		Recon Group 11	Do17	8	4
122 Ju88			Bf110	9	5
8 Do17			Fw189	9	7
147 He111		Recon Group 12	Fw189	18	7
116 Ju87		Recon Group 13	Fw189	8	3
23 Hs123		Recon Group 14	Fw189	10	9
23 Hs129		Recon Group 21	Fw189	8	6
89 Bf110		Recon Group 31	Bf110 and Fw189	7	2
233 Bf109		Recon Group 32	Fw189	13	10
2 He114		Recon Group 41	Fw189	21	13
1 Ar196		Recon Group 121	Ju88	11	5
		Recon Group 122	Ju88	8	4
		7 Squadron LG2 (Recon)	Bf110	6	2
		Night Recon Group	He111	11	7
		Close Recon Group 4	Hs126	1	1
		Close Recon Group 7	Hs126	1	1
		Close Recon Group 9	Hs126	2	1
		Close Recon Group 12	Fw189 and Hs126	2	2
		Naval Recon Group 125	He114 and Ar196	3	1
	JG3	Staff flight	Bf109	3	2
		III Group	Bf109	31	10
	JG4	I Group	Bf109	11	7
	JG52	Staff flight	Bf109	6	6
		I Group	Bf109	26	18
		II Group	Bf109	41	36
		III Group	Bf109	48	35
		Croatian 15 Squadron	Bf109	13	13
	JG53	I Group	Bf109	34	14
	ZG1	Staff flight	Bf110	2	2
		I Group	Bf110	28	13
		II Group	Bf110	37	16
	SG1 (close support)	Staff flight	Bf109	4	3
		1 Squadron	Bf109	16	0
		II Group	Hs123 and Hs129	46	28
	StG1	II Group	Ju87	24	11
	StG2	Staff flight	Ju87, Bf110, Fw189	10	4
		I Group	Ju87	25	16
		II Group	Ju87	28	13
	StG77	I Group	Ju87	35	20
	KG4	III Group	He111	24	14
	KG26	II Group	He111	15	5
	KG51	Staff flight	Ju88	1	1
		II Group	Ju88	18	10
	KG55	Staff flight	He111	4	3
		I Group	He111	6	4
		II Group	He111	29	15
		III Group	He111	31	19
	KG76	Staff flight	Ju88	3	3
		II Group	Ju88	39	18
		III Group	Ju88	35	18
	KG100	I Group	He111	27	20
Luftflotte 5 in Norway and Finland
Total 261 aircrafts:		Recon Group 32	Fw189 and Hs126	16	14
8 Fw189		Recon Group 120	Ju88 and Fw200	14	10
8 Hs126		Recon Group 124	Ju88 and Bf110	11	8
13 Ju88	JG5	Staff flight	Bf109	2	1
7 Fw200		I Group	Fw190	35	28
29 He111		II Group	Bf109	32	21
59 Ju87		III Group	Bf109	10	10
18 Bf110		IV Group	Fw190	3	3
44 Bf109		13 (heavy fighter) squadron	Bf110	13	11
38 Fw190	KG26	Leader flight	He111	3	3
11 He115		I Group	He111	26	16
26 Bv138	StG5	I Group	Ju87	59	51
		Coastal flight Group 406	He115	11	6
			BV138	17	14
		Coatsal flight group 906	BV138	9	8
Luftwaffen Commander Center in Germany
Total 327 aircrafts	JG 1	Staff flight	Fw190	2	0
118 Fw190		I Group	Bf109	67	53
85 Bf109		II Group	Fw190	60	19
60 Bf110		III Group	Fw190	37	31
46 Do217		IV Group	Fw190 and Bf109	37	31
18 Ju88	NJG3 (night fighters)	Staff flight	Bf110 and Do217	5	2
		I Group	Bf110 and Do 217	25	20
		II Group	Bf110 and Do217	26	18
		III Group	Bf110	31	20
		IV Group	Do217 and Ju88	37	20

Equipment of Luftwaffe First Line Units 1942:

Aircraft Type	Strength on 24 September	Strength on 31 December
He111	398	315
Do17	75	55
Ju88	917	845
Do215	12	(incl Do217)
Do217	120	245
Fw200	24	50
He177	19	50
Ju86	11	5
Ju87 Stuka	377	270
Hs129	35	65
Hs123	23	(incl Hs129)
Bf109F	827	90
Bf109G	(incl Bf 109F)	610
Fw190	497	615
Bf110	395	405
Me210	5	15
Fw189 Recon	164	130
Hs126 Recon	87	65
Coastal and sea planes	131	135
TOTAL	4,117	3,965

Staffel (Squadron):
The number of flying personnel in a Staffel naturally depended on the type of aircraft it operated; between 10 (in the case of single-seat fighters) and more than 40 (in the case of multi-engined bombers). The number of ground personnel in a Staffel varied from 150 (in the case of single-engined fighters) to 80 (in the case of multi-engined bombers); the latter’s ground staff was smaller because much of its servicing and administration was done for it by attached units provided by the local Luftgau command.
A Staffel had a strength of 9 to 12 aircraft in 1939, but gradually rose during the war to a maximum of 16, with corresponding rises in the number of aircrew and ground personnel.

Gruppe (Group):
The Gruppe was the basic flying unit for operational and administrative purposes. Initially the Gruppe comprised three Staffeln, and a Stab (headquarters flight) with three aircraft more, making a total of 30 aircraft in all. By the mid-war period many fighter groups operated a fourth Staffel, however, and this, with the 16-aircraft Staffel establishment, brought the strength of some Gruppen to 67 aircraft.
The total personnel strength of a Gruppe varied between 35 and 150 aircrews, and 300 and 515 ground crew.

Geschwader (no English equivalent):
The Geschwader was the largest German flying unit. Initially it comprised three Gruppen, with 90 aircraft, and a Stab (staff) flight with four, making a total of 94 aircraft.

References and literature

Das große Buch der Luftkämpfe (Ian Parsons)
Luftkrieg (Piekalkiewicz)
Luftwaffe Handbook (Dr Alfred Price)

Luftwaffe Orders of Battle September 1942

German Luftwaffe in September 1942

Luftwaffe Orders of Battle from September 20th, 1942

Equipment of Luftwaffe First Line Units 1942:

References and literature

About The Author

Kretaner

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

German Luftwaffe in September 1942

Luftwaffe Orders of Battle from September 20th, 1942

Equipment of Luftwaffe First Line Units 1942:

References and literature

About The Author

Kretaner

Related Posts

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply