The

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

term ''Stab'' (literal translation: "

staff Staff may refer to: Pole * Walking staff, an instrument used for balance when walking * Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting ** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon * Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position * Staff (railway signalling) ...

") was used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to designate a headquarters unit of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' (air force). There were ''Stab'' units at the level of a '' Gruppe'' or ''

Geschwader This is a list of words, terms, concepts, and slogans that have been or are used by the German military. Ranks and translations of nicknames for vehicles are included. Also included are some general terms from the German language found frequently ...

'' – units that were equivalent to

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

s and

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

s in the air forces of the English-speaking world. ''Stab'' units directly controlled aircraft as well as controlling those belonging to subordinate units. These command units used the mandated blue or green "staff aircraft" colour for the third character (the individual aircraft's letter) of their alphanumeric ''Geschwaderkennung'' wing code, to distinguish their aircraft from the rest of air units in the same unit. These units were divided in the following form, for the fourth and last character normally used to distinguish individual '' Staffeln'' (squadrons) from the letter "H" onwards in Luftwaffe wing codes: *''Geschwader Stab'' = A (third letter blue) *''Stab I Gruppe'' ("Staff Unit, I Group") = B (third letter green) *''Stab II Gruppe'' = C (third letter green) *''Stab III Gruppe'' = D (third letter green) *''Stab IV Gruppe'' = F (third letter green) *''Stab V Gruppe'' = G (third letter green) On some occasions they also used letters Q, I, J, W and others, or numbers, but these were used less commonly. As day fighter

Jagdgeschwader Jagdgeschwader were the series of fighter wings of initially, the German Empire's ''Luftstreitkräfte'' air arm of the ''Deutsches Heer'', then the successor fighter wings of the Third Reich's original ''Luftwaffe'' air arm of its combined Wehrmach ...

combat wings did not use the ''Geschwaderkennung'' four-character alphanumeric code system for aircraft identification, as one example, the all-jet

Jagdgeschwader 7 Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7) ''Nowotny'' was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during World War II and the first operational jet fighter unit in the world. It was created late in 1944 and served until the end of the war in May 1945. Formation In August 194 ...

''Nowotny'' and piston-engined

Jagdgeschwader 300 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 300 (JG 300) was a Luftwaffe fighter aircraft, fighter-Wing (air force unit), wing of World War II. JG 300 was formed on 26 June 1943 in Deelen as Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann, from July 18, 1943 as Stab/JG Herrmann and fin ...

''Wilde Sau'' fighter wings, these used the red-blue or blue-white-blue Reich Defense (German Reich metropolitan defense) rear fuselage bands of 90 cm total width respectively, for their ''Stabsschwarm'' units.Reichsverteidigung fighter-wing marking reference page
/ref> Under the cockpit, the rank of the air commander might have been indicated via a rank sign, with or without additional letters as mentioned above. For example: * An airplane codified "A", green in colour, with ''D/St.III/St.G.77'', indicated it was a member of ''Stab III'' of ''Stukageschwader'' (Dive Bomber Wing) No. 77. * An airplane codified "G", green in colour, with a little white tank (''Panzer'') painting near the cockpit, and ''S.G. 1'', indicated it was a member of ''Stab'' of ''Schlachtgeschwader'' (Ground Attack Wing) no. 1.

References

Luftwaffe {{Germany-WWII-stub

See also

References