Luftwaffe Orders of Battle
September 2, 1939
Strength and aircrafts of the Luftflotten on the day after Germany invaded Poland

The Luftwaffe Orders of Battle gives the strength of the German air force operational units on the day after Germany invaded Poland, and the day before Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. The majority of the short range fighter, dive-bomber and reconnaissance units were subordinated to Luftflotte 1 and 4 for the attack on Poland. Long range aircraft from the other Luftflotten were also involved in this campaign, however. The Lehrdivision (combat training units), comprising LG1 and LG2, operated independently of the Luftflotten, but several of its units took part in the Polish campaign.

Luftwaffe Orders of Battle from September 2nd, 1939
Air fleet	Geschwader	Group	Aircraft	Total	Serviceable
Luftflotte 1 in northeastern Germany Total 1,109 aircraft: 99 Hs126, 281 Do17, 5 He46, 9 He45, 286 Bf109, 32 Bf110, 185 He111, 18 Ju88, 154 Ju87, 40 Hs123		Reconaissance Group 10	Hs126	23	22
		Reconaissance Group 10	Do17	12	12
		Reconaissance Group 11	Hs126	9	9
			He46	3	1
			Do17	33	32
		Reconaissance Group 21	Hs126	35	31
		Reconaissance Group 21	He45	9	8
		Reconaissance Group 41	Hs126	32	26
		Reconaissance Group 41	He46	2	0
		Reconaissance Group 120	Do17	13	12
		Reconaissance Group 121	Do17	44	33
	JG1	I Group	Bf109	54	54
	JG2	II Group	Bf109	42	39
	JG2	10 Nightfighter Squadron	Bf109	9	9
	JG3	Staff flight	Bf109	3	3
	JG3	I Group	Bf109	48	42
	JG20	I Group	Bf109	21	20
	JG21	I Group	Bf109	29	28
	ZG1	I Group	Bf110	32	24
	ZG1	II Group	Bf109D	36	36
	ZG2	I Group	Bf109D	44	40
	KG1	Staff flight	He111	7	1
	KG1	I Group	He111	38	32
	KG2	Staff flight	Do17	11	10
		I Group	Do17	37	29
		II Group	Do17	35	33
	KG3	Staff flight	Do17	9	7
		II Group	Do17	36	25
		III Group	Do17	39	38
	KG4	Staff flight	He111	6	5
		I Group	He111	31	28
		II Group	He111	32	27
		III Group	He111	33	21
	KG25	I Group	Ju88	18	15
	KG152	I Group	He111	38	32
	StG1	I Group	Ju87	38	31
	StG1	I Group	Do17	3	3
	StG2	I Group	Ju87	38	32
		I Group	Do17	3	3
		II Group	Ju87	38	36
		II Group	Do17	3	3
		III Group	Ju87	40	37
		III Group	Do17	3	3
	LG2	II Ground-Attack Group	Hs123	40	37
Luftflotte 4 in southeastern Germany Total 636 aircraft: 39 Hs126, 23 He46, 231 Do17, 3 He45, 189 Bf109, 31 Bf110, 120 Ju87		Reconaissance Group 14	Hs126	30	27
			He46	6	1
			Do17	11	9
		Reconaissance Group 31	Hs126	9	9
			He46	17	17
			He45	3	2
			Do17	12	12
		Reconaissance Group 124	Do17	11	9
	JG76	I Group	Bf109	49	45
	JG77	I Group	Bf109	50	43
	JG77	II Group	Bf109	50	36
	ZG76	I Group	Bf110	31	29
	ZG76	II Group	Bf109D	40	39
	KG76	Staff flight	Do17	9	9
		I Group	Do17	36	33
		III Group	Do17	39	35
	KG77	Staff flight	Do17	6	6
		I Group	Do17	32	29
		II Group	Do17	32	32
		III Group	Do17	34	24
	StG76	I Group	Ju87	39	32
	StG76	I Group	Do17	3	3
	StG77	Staff flight	Ju87	3	3
		I Group	Ju87	39	32
		I Group	Do17	3	3
		II Group	Ju87	39	34
		II Group	Do17	3	3
Luftflotte 2 in northwestern Germany Total 524 aircraft: 33 Hs126, 10 He46, 3 He45, 30 Do17, 244 Bf109, 204 He111		Reconaissance Group 12	Hs126	33	30
			He46	10	8
			He45	3	0
		Reconaissance Group 122	Do17	30	27
	JG26	I Group	Bf109	48	48
	JG26	II Group	Bf109	48	44
	ZG26	I Group	Bf109D	52	46
		II Group	Bf109D	48	47
		III Group	Bf109D	48	44
	KG26	Staff flight	He111	8	8
		I Group	He111	32	32
		II Group	He111	35	27
	KG27	Staff flight	He111	6	3
		I Group	He111	34	28
		II Group	He111	26	18
		III Group	He111	28	20
	KG28	II Group	He111	35	35
Luftflotte 3 in southwestern Germany Total 841 aircraft: 77 Hs126, 24 He46, 6 He45, 78 Do17, 287 Bf109, 28 Ar68, 301 He111, 40 Ju87		Reconaissance Group 13	Hs126	53	49
			He46	3	1
			He45	3	2
		Reconaissance Group 22	Hs126	12	12
		Reconaissance Group 22	Do17	35	35
		Reconaissance Group 23	Hs126	12	8
			He46	21	18
			He45	3	1
		Reconaissance Group 123	Do17	37	36
	JG51	I Group	Bf109	47	39
	JG52	I Group	Bf109	39	34
	JG53	I Group	Bf109	51	39
	JG53	II Group	Bf109	43	41
	JG70	I Group	Bf109	24	24
	JG71	I Group	Bf109	39	18
	JG72	III Group	Ar68	28	24
	ZG52	I Group	Bf109D	44	43
	KG51	Staff flight	He111	6	3
		Staff flight	Do17	3	3
		I Group	He111	36	36
		III Group	He111	36	34
	KG53	Staff flight	He111	6	6
		I Group	He111	32	29
		II Group	He111	32	32
		III Group	He111	35	34
	KG54	Staff flight	He111	9	8
	KG54	I Group	He111	36	36
	KG55	Staff flight	He111	9	6
		I Group	He111	33	27
		II Group	He111	31	22
	StG51	III Group	Ju87	40	34
	StG51	III Group	Do17	3	3
Lehrdivision (Combat training units)	LG1	Staff flight	He111	10	4
		I(Z) Group	Bf110	32	29
		II(K) Group	He111	41	35
		III(K) Group	He111	40	34
		IV(St) Group	Ju87	39	36
		IV(St) Group	Do17	3	3
	LG2	Staff flight	Bf109	3	3
		I(J) Group	Bf109	36	34
		III Group	Do17	24	18
			He46	2	2
			Hs126	9	9
		10 Squadron	He111	9	8
	JG26	10 Squadron	Bf109	12	9
Assigned to Navy		Various Groups	He59	31	30
			He60	81	66
			He115	8	8
			Do18	63	54
		Carrier Group 186, 4 Squadron	Ju87	12	12
		Carrier Group 186, 5 and 6 Squadron	Bf109	24	24
		Bomber Group 806	He111	21	20
Transport Aircraft		Various Groups	Ju52	547	535
			FW200	2	2
			Ju90	2	2
			Ju38	1	1

Equipment of Luftwaffe First Line Units on September 1, 1939

Aircraft	Strength
He111 bombers	780
Do17 bombers	470
Do17 reconaissance	280
Ju88 bombers	20
Ju87 dive-bombers	335
Bf109D fighters	235
Bf109E fighters	850
Bf110 destroyers	195
Ar66 fighters	5
Ar68 fighters	35
Hs126 tactical reconaissance	195
He46 tactical reconaissance	100
Coastal aircrafts	205
Miscellaneous	65
Total	3,960

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 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 aircrew, and 300 and 515 groundcrew.

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.