Below I've listed everything I know about Luftwaffe unit organization and flight formations, as well as the award system used. Granted, it isn't much, but it can give you enough information to understand how and why things were done. Some of these explinations are a bit long, as well as confusing, so work through it slowly until you get it. As it stands, this page contains mid-war information regarding the Luftwaffe. All the variables of war, combined with the fact some units didn't exactly follow the rules, makes for a large head-ache. For this reason I'm keeping things around the mid-war era.

    This page is currently under construction and is a work in progress. The information here can and does change without notice, as I am updating it. Do not take anything here as HARD FACT until this notice is removed, which is a sign the page is complete.

Formations, units and display -- Jadgeschwader

    Easier than you thought, wasn't it. Staffel 5 of II Gruppe showed it's symbols in white, while Staffel 11 of III Gruppe used yellow. Stab markings were done in black, with a white outline. Now each aircraft carried a symbol to identify it to other friendly aircraft. Below is an image showing each symbol, and the unit that used it.
 

    Positions were also displayed on aircraft. These consisted of chevrons, which displayed the position, Staffel and Gruppe of the officer. Some were widely varied, while others can be seen on aircraft from several different units. Most of these symbols were standard, others were a local creation. One example was the wavy line used to identify both II Gruppe and IV Gruppe. The standard way of denoting IV Gruppe was a simple cross from 1941 on, but some units perfered the wavy line and used it in place of the cross. So trying to show every unit marking for every aircraft would waste your time, and burn a lot of mine.
    By changing the color of the Gruppe symbol, and the color of the position chevron, you can tell which Staffel the aircraft comes from. Individual aircraft have normal numbers, from 1 to 12, which denote where they are in the Staffel. A quick and simple system, complicated by the fact some Experten used off-numbering on their aircraft. Hans-Joachim Marseille's aircraft had 14 in yellow on it. This is how historians can identify Luftwaffe aircraft from specific units so quickly. The officers of the Jadgeschwader had their own symbols, which didn't differ much from the standard ones.

    Everyone knows the large cross displayed on the sides of Luftwaffe aircraft. These are universal, as every single Luftwaffe aircraft has one painted on it. I reproduce them with each image to give you a point of reference.
 

    Numbers would replace the position chevrons for every aircraft, exept those of officers, and those in the Stab. The Stab flight consists of the Jadgeschwader Kommodore, Adjutant, Operations Officer, Technical Officer, and Staff Major. These positions are displayed in the image below.

    The Stab flight can be thought of as the commander and his staff, which it is. None of these officers is required to fly combat missions on a regular basis, they are free to fly as they see fit. Some might find this strange, but every single Stab officer flew regular combat missions, particularly when large units were needed, as their command presence and tactical knowledge helped.
    Positions in each Staffel were easy to spot. The Staffelkapitan had the number 1 and each aircraft there after had a number. These numbers allow you to tell what position in each Saffel, down to the Schwarm, which plane flew in. Number 1 was the Staffelkapitan, number 2 the Staffel Adjutant, and number 3 the Staffel Technical Officer. Each Schwarm consisted of four planes, and by using this you can easily tell where a given aircraft flew in position. Each Schwarm consisted of a pair of officers leading a pair of inexperienced pilots. Combat tactics of the Luftwaffe allowed someone to rapidly learn in combat by being the wing man of a leader.
    Schwarm organization is in the table below.
 

    The Staffelkapitan also led a Schwarm, which confuses most people as to where the last Schwarm comes from. The position of each aircraft was also the number on the aircraft. This allows you to know right down to the Rotte where each aircraft was positioned. If you swap the colors according to the Staffel color table, you can find out what Staffel used what color. Now you can find the position of every aircraft in the entire Jadgeschwader. The Stab flight was always a part of I Gruppe, which used black chevrons with a white outline.
 
 

    Where's he from?

    I know, they may be in German, but so were the originals. All you'd have to do is find a unit number, Gruppe number and if you want to get detailed; a Staffel number. Bingo, instant Luftwaffe unit. The Gruppe color table above can be used to designate each aircraft from different Geschwader, provided you know what Geschwader it is in the first place. If you read a page with "This aircraft, black 4, flew in III./NJG 35" you would know it came from 10 Staffel, III Gruppe, Nachtjadgeschwader 35. You also know, just as an example of the detail possible, that the aircraft was flown by a Rottenflieger in the lead Schwarm.
    There is a problem with this. If you don't know what year the photo was taken, you might get the Staffel wrong. Early in the war a fourth Staffel was added, and later, the number of aircraft doubled. Unless you know a LOT more information, you might it wrong.
 
 

    Awards

    The table below shows how many points are needed per award. The numbers in brackets show the number of kills, NOT points, necessary to get the award when flying from the Russian front.
 

    Luftwaffe; in it's many forms