
Ju52 squadron skinpack of 16./KGzbV1-16./TG1 MTO august 1942 - june 1943 & february - october 1944

A semihistorical skinpack containing 12 fully marked Ju52 skins of 16.Staffel in MTO service for making up either 
-the complete staffel from march to june 1943, 
-one flight out of the staffel from august 1942 to june 1943,
-one flight of paintschemes suitable from march 1943 to june 1943 and from february to october 1944. 

See time period of folders in the archive.  
All skins are based as well as possible on historical photographs. 
 

The skinpack is compatible with all game versions. 
              



WWII luftwaffe transport units organisation:


Pre 1st of may 1943 there were KGzbV - Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung (meaning combat wing for special purpose) and KGrzbV - Kampfgruppe zur besonderen Verwendung (meaning combat group
for special pruposes). A KGzbV was a wing consisting of a Geschwaderstab (wing staff) and several groups. Each of the groups consisted of a Gruppenstab (group staff) and four operational 
staffeln (squadrons). A KGrzbV didn't belong to a wing and therefore consisted of its staff and the four squadrons. The nominated aircraft strength of a Ju52 transport group was 53 aircraft.
5 of them served with the group staff (staff flight) and 12 each with the four squadrons.
Additionally there were a lot more of smaller transport units which served with (and belonged to) organisations like the various Luftflotte, Fliegerkorps, Fliegerfhrer etc.
I. e. the most of the Fliegerkorps had their own Transportstaffel ?./Fliegerkorps, a single Ju52 squadron but with a nominated strength of 16 aircraft. These smaller units were tasked with
supplying/supporting 
the organisation they belonged to. There were exceptions when there was a lack of available transport aircraft, i. e. Transportstaffel II./Fliegerkorps served with the regular KGzbVs and KGrzbVs 
in the MTO from late 1942 onwards, when the Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika required lots of supplies on their retreat to/in Tunisia.

Except the Poland campaign in 1939 and until early 1940, when there were real KGzbV2 and KGzbV172 additonally - each with several Ju52 groups - there was only KGzbV1 acting as a full wing with four groups.
From KGzbV172 just I./KGzbV172 remained, therefore sometimes called KGrzbV172, until 1st of may 1943. KGzbV2 was reduced to it's wing staff and controlled some KGrzbVs during large scale operations i. e.
the crete invasion. A KGrzbV3 - wing staff only - existed formally too and was controlling some KGrzbVs equally to KGrzbV2.
             
The KGzbVs and KGrzbVs were reorganized on 1st of may 1943, resulting in the creation of 5 Transportgeschwader (TG meaning transport wing). The KGzbVs were simply renamed to TGs (i. e. KGzbV1 was simply renamed
to TG1) but the KGrzbVs lost their independence and were made parts (groups) of a newly formed TG (i. e. TG3 was newly formed by renaming KGrzbV9 to I./TG3, KGrzbV50 to II./TG3, KGrzbV102 to
III./TG3 and I./KGzbV172 - the last remaining group of it's wing - to IV./TG3). Additionally there were a handful remaining TGrs meaning Transportgroups, the equivalent of the former KGrzbVs.
In january of 1944 a further reorganisation was made by removing all staff aircraft from the TGs (wings) and peplacing them with lighter aircraft types. From then on each TG was consisting of only
three operational squadrons with 16 aircraft each.
 

General Paintschemes: 

All the Ju52 front line units served with the standard rlm 70/71/65 splinter camo (pattern A and B, mirrored ones and lots of irregular patterns too). Like all luftwaffe transport units they never adopted a tropical paintscheme. The handful
of known tropical camos were experimental and limited to some few individuals. During the snow period washable white winter paint was applied over the standard camo, mostly covering the camo completely but
sometimes creating individual winter patterns as well. 
Ju52 with dark green or sometimes blackened undersurfaces are well known throughout the whole war, they usually were drawn from school or training units. These units were constantly thinned out from personell and aircraft 
to replace losses of frontine units. Yellow theatre markings on wings under and fuselage (tail band) for service at the eastern front, white ones for the MTO. 
The very most Ju52 serving in the MTO had yellow engine undercowlings.


Tactical tail markings:

As there were permanent losses within the transport units there was a permanent requirement of replacement aircraft and crews. These were constantly drawn from the various school- and training units but as well by
shifting aircraft from one unit to the other. Additionally there were temporarely units formed when there was a urgent need of more transport capacity. The aircraft to form these were drawn from the same sources.
There in fact was a permanent switching of aircraft amongst the transport units. 
All these aircraft were fitted with their own factory or unitcodes, school- or training unit markings or and emblems, or such of their former or disbanded units.  
Instead of permanently overpainting and recoding replacement aircraft, which was a time consuming task especially during periods of constant losses, the tactical tailcodes were introduced in late 1941 on the eastern front.
The first unit using them was a temporarely unit called 'Einsatzgruppe Kupschuss' which painted the three digit code i. e. K2E in large characters on the vertical tail rudder. K was the unitletter and stood
for the first letter of the unit commander's last name which was Kupschuss. The number 2 stood for the 2.Staffel and the E was the individual aircraft letter. 
The system was adopted rapidly especially by all units serving in the MTO and prooved an easy way to identify the true unit an aircraft actually served with. Even aircraft with their assigned unitcodes received their
matching tailcodes. So if you see a pic showing a transport aircraft
with such an tailcode it doesn't matter which fuselage codes are painted on. The tactical tailcode alone is surely identifying the unit the aircraft belonged to. There were some exceptions
when i. e. letter H was used by two different units at the same time or a replacement rudder was fitted, but these exceptions were very rare. The tailcodes were most important during the period from late 1942 to spring 1943 and found their way
bak to the eastern front when units moved from the MTO to this theatre. After the reorganisation of the transport units on 1st of may 1943 the tactical tailcodes slowly lost their importance but were anyway
used for long by many units, additionally to their fuselage codes.
Due to the excellent research of Rudolf Hecke the very most of the tactical tailcodes and the units their were assigned to are known today.

An example: 1Z+KQ with tactical tailcode D4Q in april 1943 - both unitcodes and tactical tailcodes are identyfing the same unit. 16./KGzbV1 was part of IV./KGzbV1 which was assigned the tailcode letter D.
16.Staffel was the fourth squadron within IV.group and therefore the tailcode number was a 4. Finally the tailcode letter K was used for the individual aircraft letter.
1Z+KQ with tactical tailcode N3A would identify the actual unit as 3rd squadron of I./KGzbV172 and the aircraft was flown by the staffelleader (A). The fuselage codes just representing the unit
the aircraft once came from.

Tail rudder markings like triangles or discs were of different meanings. They were used as unit markings (i. e. triangles of KGrzbV102 or KGrzbV105) or to designate (glider) towing hook fitted   
aircraft (i. e. discs of I./LLG1) or staffel markings (i. e. discs/rectangles KGrzbV50). 


                  
      

The unit:
                  
KGzbV1 (Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung 1 = combat wing for special purpose 1) consisted of four groups, each with four staffeln (squadrons) and a  group staff flight (stab).
Each staffel had a strength of 12 a/c, the staff usually had 5 a/c. KGzbV1 additionally had a wing staff (wing headquarters) which had a maximum of three or four own aircraft. 
These were coded 1Z+?A, the individual aircraft letter was blue.  
16.Staffel belonged to IV./KGzbV1, together with 13th, 14th and 15th squadron. The emblem of IV./KGzbV1, worn on both sides of the nose, was a devil riding on a bomb.
The assigned unit codes of IV./KGzbV1 were 1Z+?F-X-Y-Z-Q for the staff and the four squadrons, the questionmark stands for the
individual and coloured a/c letter. Staffelcolours were green-white-red-yellow-blue (stab-1.-2.-3.-4.Staffel). Tactical MTO tail code D was assigned to IV./KGzbV1 in july 1942.
16./KGzbV1, being the fourth staffel within it's group, therefore painted D4? on its tail rudders, the qestionsmark standing for the individual aircraft letter. 
Additionally the squadrons of IV./KGzbV1 painted a white band with the aircraft and squadron letter on the top of their Ju52 tail fins.
The paintschemes didn't alter much until disbandment of IV./KGzbV1 in january 1945. From 1943 onwards the emblems were more rarely used, the upperwing and balkencrosses altered to the 1943/1944 late
war style by mostly deleting the black outline and/or inner. Smaller swastikas and white outline swastikas introduced. Oftenly a mix of all variants was used and the 'old' style markings remained
on some aircraft until disbandment. Tactical markings were used until january 1945. One aircraft is known serving with I./TG1 by retaining it's emblems until may 1945,           

I tried to skin all known paintscheme variations like different camo patterns, light blue and dark undersurfaces etc.
Note:
-G6+MR was drawn lately from 7./KGrzbV102 
-NI+MC was a factory coded replacement aircraft    

History:

IV./KGzbV1 belonged to the oldest luftwaffe transport wing KGzbV1. It served right from the beginning of the war, taking part in all campaigns up to 1942. The unit
didn't see service at the crete invasion but carried out other non-spectacular transports during the balkan campaign. From june 1941 onwards IV./KGzbV1 took part in the eastern campaign
until june 1942, when it was ordered to transfer to athens/greece. 16.Staffel was based at Malemes/Crete and carried out transports mainly between crete and lybia - i. e.Tobruk-Gambut-Derna-Sidi Barrani-Benghazi.
December 1942 saw IV./KGzbV1 transferring to sicily/Italy. From bases like Reggio di Calabria, Trapani, Castelvetrano and Brindisi the unit supported the retreating Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika at airfields of Castelbenito,
Tripolis, Gabes, Tunis, Sfax until the day of surrender.  

Towards spring 1943 losses were increasing, i. e. on 11th april 1943 when IV./KGzbV1 lost five aircraft at once over the sea (near Marsala) to enemy fighters, or on 18th april 1943 -
the so called palm sunday massacre - when the group lost ten of it's aircraft to fighters. Amongst them one of 16.Staffel. 

On around may 1st 1943 the luftwaffe transport units were completely reorganized and the KGzbVs and KGrzbVs became Transportgeschwaders (transportwings) or part (groups) of
such. IV./KGzbV1 was redesignated IV./TG1 then, our 16.Staffel therefore became 16./TG1. After the end of the north african campaign the unit remained in Italy and moved to Goslar/Germany during june 1943 to reequip and refresh. 

In september 1943 IV./TG1 moved to the eastern front, where it served until the end of 1943. After a short rest in Germany it was ordered to Athens/Greece in late January 1944.
With a short exception in april/mai 1944, when parts of the unit served from Agram (now Zagreb) in Croatia, IV./TG1 supplied the german garrisons in Greece and the greek
islands with all they needed. Flights to Belgrade, Macedonia, Vukovar, Skopje are recorded during 1944 as well, especially towards october. During service in the eastern MTO the unit lost several aircraft to allied fighters. 
From august to october 1944 IV./TG1 supported the evacuation of the greek mainland and islands.
Afterwards the unit moved back to Germany where it was disbanded formally in january 1945.      
      


Credits/Sources:

Foo'bar, Imme and millekmh for using their templates or parts of them


Transporter Vol.1 and 2 by Martin Pegg (classic publications)
'Transporter' wer kennt sie schon... by Karl Kssler
'Die deutsche Luftwaffe in Griechenland' by Byron Tesapsides
'Fighters over the Aegean' by Brian Cull 
jet&prop aviation magazine - Rudolf Hecke, Karl Kssler
luftwaffe im focus magazine
Luftwaffe Experten Message Board - 'ebay listings', esp. Peter Evans, Gran Larsson, Chris Simmonds  
Luftarchiv.de


Most of all a very lot of thanks to Gerhard Stemmer (researcher and book author, co-author of Jochen Prien)
for his most valuable detailed informations which aren't available in any books


As always the skins are free for noncommercial use only. Any reupload requires my permission.
Hope you enjoy these works and your feedback is much appreciated!

ATB
Cheruskerarmin


www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com

mailto  cheruskerarmin@freenet.de
