
Ju52 squadronskinpack of 4./KGzbV172 crete may 1941


A semihistorical skinpack containing 12 (the complete staffel) fully marked Ju52 of 4th Staffel based as well as possible on historical photographs.
Additonally 1 skin of a Stab./KGrzbV106 (or Stab./IIITG2) a/c enclosed. It wasn't originally inteded by me to make another MTO skinpack for the Ju52 but i skinned
some of this unit for making historical accurate screenshots of my Me323 Cap Bon skinpack. Looking at them i liked this comparatively colourful paintscheme and decided
to make another staffelskinpack - made with my newest template version, containing many new details. Two versions of nomarks, swastika only and generics enclosed.

The skinpack is compatible with Il-stock game versions up to 4.10m (and further if there weren't any altered 3D-models) and DBW 1.71 with engine mod. There are minor differences
at the outer engine cowlings but the skins are displaying well with them. Where necessary (i. e. emblems on outer engine cowlings) i included an extra skin for the modded version.              



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. Theatre markings like white (MTO) or yellow (northern and eastern front) were introduced around june 1941.  
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 and KGrzbV900). 

                 
      

The unit:
                  
I./KGzbV172 (first group of Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung 172 = combat wing for special purpose) consisted of four staffeln (squadrons) and a staff flight (stab).
Each staffel had a strength of 12 a/c, the staff usually had 5 a/c. The assigned unit codes were 4V+?D-T-U-V-W 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). Aquired tactical MTO tail codes were N (unit), staffelnumber (S for
Stab) and a/c letter in yellow colour.The emblem, an eightedged star in the staffelcolour with a running (lucky) pig, was painted on both sides of the nose and sometimes
additionally on the tail fin/vertical tail rudder. During the balkans/crete campaign in spring 1941 engine cowlings and tail rudders were painted completely yellow.     

I tried to skin all known paintscheme variations like different camo patterns, light blue and dark undersurfaces, a/c letters with and without outline etc.


History:

I./KGzbV172 formerly was part of the transportwing KGzbV172, which consisted of two groups at the beinning of the war(II. and III./KGzbV172) with four squadrons each. In late 1939/early 1940 the II./KGzbV172 and
 the Staff (Stab) were disbanded. The remaining III./KGzbV172 was redesignated to I./KGzbV172 and - inspite of serving as a single transport group until spring 1943 - the unit' designation was never altered until then.
Some sources anyway are referring to the unit as 'KGrzbV172', the usual designation for a independent single transport group.
The unit carried out paratrooper dropping and troop transport missions during the crete invasion and suffered several losses caused by AA, amongst them some of 4th Staffel.
In june 1941 I./KGzbV172 was ordered to take part in operation barbarossa and served at the eastern front until april 1943, when it returned to the MTO.     

With the start of may 1943 the luftwaffe transport units were completely reorganized and the KGzbVs and KGrzbVs became Transportgeschwaders (transportwings) or part (groups) of
such. I./KGzbV172 was redesignated IV./TG3, meaning the fourth group of newly formed Transportwing 3.
IV./TG3 saw service in the MTO until the end of 1943, afterwards it served at the ETO eastern and western fronts until disbandment in autumn 1944.    

                                      
       


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
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
