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Die Vorstellung erfolgte notfallmässig

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Übernahmekommando

English translation:

inspection unit

Added to glossary by Timoshka
Jan 13 23:02
4 mos ago
37 viewers *
German term

Übernahmekommando

German to English Other Military / Defense
I'm translating a file of documents concerning the capture of downed American pilots in 1944, and one of the documents is from "Fliegerhorstkommandantur A (o) 2/XVII / Bad-Vöslau / Übernahmekommando." I have searched online for an English translation of the latter term, and could only find the translation "taking-over detachment" in the German-English Technical Dictionary, edited by Kurt F. Leidecker and issued by the U.S. Air Force. This translation seems awkward at best.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 inspection unit
3 +2 takeover unit
3 Command Handover
Change log

Jan 14, 2024 00:18: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Social Sciences" to "Other"

Discussion

philgoddard Jan 14:
Björn's reference, 'Das Übernahmekommando der zu unserer Ablösung bestimmten...' suggests it means 'relief', ie replacement.
Justin Verceles Jan 14:
As to why there’s no “official” translation, these Kommandos (military special forces units) are usually left untranslated and italicized in English-language sources, accompanied by a literal translation in parentheses or an explanation, e.g., Erprobungskommando.
Björn Vrooman Jan 14:
@Timoshka Yes, I think in this context, the Bergungskdo and Übernahmekdo are one and the same; see also the first link I gave (the quote there suggests as much, just can't be copied).

It's kind of a workaround, as you can't use salvage detachment to translate the second example I posted (there, you'd just drop "Übernahme," as it's followed by "zu unserer Ablösung").

Nowadays, you'd call it DART (Downed Aircraft Recovery Team) in the US, as seen on p. 181 here: https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-04-513.pdf

Not sure where "detachment" is coming from. Not big on British war history or military structures (only know a bit about US procedures) but thought the RAF equivalent was called RSU:
"I spent my war as a scavenger of planes
...
Aged just 19, he signed up as an engineer and wound up posted to India with an RAF repair and salvage unit."
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/9045099.i-spent-...

Though they salvaged their own or US planes. The 50 Maintenance Unit, on the other hand, was in charge of gathering (British and German) aircraft that crashed somewhere in the UK and bringing them to the MPRD:
http://geoffroynon.co.uk/HAGproject-MPRD.html

Best
Justin Verceles Jan 14:
Some sources on Google Books also reference post-WWII a “Material-Übernahme-Kdo” and a “Schiffs-übernahmekdo.”
Timoshka (asker) Jan 14:
@ Björn Vrooman Thank you for those references. I also found something of interest in the meantime, i.e. an article published in 1943: "Salvage of Captured Aircraft by the German Air Force." According to that: "The task of salvage is delegated by the Luftgaukommando usually to the commanding officer of the airdrome area nearest to the location of the plane; he dispatches a first salvage detachment by car. This detachment consists of an officer, a technician, a photographer, and one member of each of the communications and ordnance staffs." So, I'm thinking "salvage detachment" may well work in this context.
Björn Vrooman Jan 14:
PS Here's an interesting description of the whole process:
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=43653
Björn Vrooman Jan 14:
... Here's something about a downed airplane. The important part starts with:
"Auch wegen des gleichzeitigen Absturzes im Neuhauser Wald bei Riegelsberg herrschte ein wahres Durcheinander. So kritisierte das Bergungskommando in einem Schreiben an die Auswertestelle West:..." [can't copy the full quote, as it somehow turns into gibberish if I do]
http://www.flugzeugabstuerze-saarland.de/Saarbrucken_Drahtzu...

It's just a normal German compound again: Übernahmekommando = das Kommando (die Einheit), die (was auch immer) übernimmt. Cf.
"Das Kriegstagebuch von Theodor Zuhöne
1914 - 1918"
"20.1.16 [=1916, ofc!]
Das Übernahmekommando der zu unserer Ablösung bestimmten L. I. Rgt. 40 erscheint. Heute fällt leichter Regen. Nach erfolgter Übergabe der Stellungen reiten wir abends 11 Uhr aus Uffholz fort, über Sennheim, Mülhausen nach Rixheim."

Or, "Im Bombenkrieg: Tirol und Vorarlberg, 1943-1945" by T. Albrich and A. Gisinger, where it says: "...ist verpflichtet, Posten bis zum Eintreffen des Übernahmekommandos der Luftwaffe zu stellen..." and "Übernahmekommando der Luftwaffe unter Führung eines Bergungsoffiziers übernimmt nach Eintreffen am Aufschlagsort..."

Best
Timoshka (asker) Jan 13:
@ philgoddard I think that's what it is, too, but why is there no "official" translation of such a detachment? I found one book online (Terror Flyers: The Lynching of American Airmen in Nazi Germany), which has the word in an official document, followed by an English translation, which runs over to the next page. Of course, that crucial next page is "not part of this book preview." Thus, I don't know how that author dealt with the term either.
Martina Kilgo Jan 13:
How about „succession command?“ Unfortunately I can’t give you any online references, but my husband was the chief logistics manager of Succession Command at Fort Knox, KY. It is a military term.
I found this PDF. It has the term in it. https://home.army.mil/huachuca/application/files/6016/0390/6...
philgoddard Jan 13:
I think Kurt F. Leidecker was having an off day when he wrote that entry. Could it be something to do with seizing enemy assets such as crashed planes?

Proposed translations

+1
18 hrs
Selected

inspection unit

What if the 'recovery/retrieval/salvage' connotations of Übernahme were purely fortuitous and the Übernahme-Kommando's principal role was to certify 'fitness for use', in this case the flightworthiness of aircraft? In the following example, a crashed Messerschmitt is repaired, put through test flights, then run by the Technische Übernahme-Kommando der Luftwaffe which detected and remedied some minor problems.

"Der Nachtjäger wurde anschliessend in Werneuchen demontiert und mit der Bahn zur Firma Bachmann, von Blumenthal & Co. Flugzeugbau in Fürth/Bayern transportiert, wo die Reparatur erfolgen sollte. Ab 4. September 1943 konnte mit der Instandstellung begonnen werden. Die Reparaturarbeiten dauerten bis zum 28. November. Gleichzeitig mit den Reparaturarbeiten wurde noch eine ganze Reihe von Änderungen und Modifikationen durchgeführt. Nach mehreren Kontroll- und Abnahmeflügen wurde die grundüberholte Bf-110G-4 am 4. Januar 1944 der 4. Staffel der Flugzeugüberführungsgruppe 1 übergeben. Die ehemaligen Geschwaderkennzeichen G9+FK wurden wieder durch die früheren Stammkennzeichen VQ+KL ersetzt. Von Fürth gelangte die Messerschmitt zum Technischen Übernahme- Kommando der Luftwaffe in Werl (Westfalen), wo nach eingehender Kontrolle einige kleinere Beanstandungen festgestellt wurden, welche jedoch gleich vor Ort behoben werden konnten."
https://warbird.ch/wb-events/notlandung-im-jura/

Such a unit with specialist expertise could have the double role of vetting flyable (German) aircraft and also examining crashed (enemy) planes for intelligence purposes (to spot any new engines, airscrews, weapons, radios, oils, etc.) as one of the texts in the image below shows. Both that text and the second show that they were not solely interested in purely technical aspects, but also sought to identify the crew, possibly also for intelligence purposes.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/dc-metro/rg-242/...
http://www.flugzeugabstuerze-saarland.de/Saarbrucken_Drahtzu...

The '"Übernahmekommando = taking-over detachment' of the US Airforce's German/English Technical Dictionary of 1951
https://books.google.fr/books?id=XxLnqtmQ7LEC&pg=PA842&lpg=P...
and Alfred Oppermann's more recent (1982) Wörterbuch der modernen Technik
https://books.google.fr/books?id=bYZdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA831&lpg=P...
is patent rubbish IMHO…

In the absence of a reasonable pre-existing translation, 'inspection unit' would cover both the flightworthiness and intelligence caps.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2024-01-14 17:45:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------


Peer comment(s):
agree Lancashireman : A literal translation does not "work fine".
1 day 1 hr
Thanks.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you!"
+2
1 hr

takeover unit

Couple of sources on Israeli special forces:
"Takeover units are the units who have CT capability as a primary specialty. They are the units who spent most of their time training on this particular expertise. They are also the units, which in most cases will perform the actual rescue attempt." http://www.cambridgeforecast.org/richard863/MIDDLEEAST/ISRAE...

Some German writers also apply the term to non-military contexts (albeit with a hyphen) See Spiegel: "In der Botschafter-Residenz in Havanna stieß das Übernahme-Kommando aus dem Westen ebenfalls auf große Mengen Alkoholika." https://www.spiegel.de/politik/grosse-bereicherung-a-647a69d...

Perhaps that should give us the freedom to look for a similarly flexible term on the other side.
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : It would be nice to know what this means, but a literal translation works fine.
36 mins
agree Justin Verceles
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Command Handover

Literally: the military detachment or detail (Brassey's Multilingual Military Dictionary and pronounced on the first syllable in AmE) taking over. The Bad Vöslau source from Lower Austria suggests to me - an avid fan of its sparkling mineral water - that this might not be a military term of art.

Otherwise, I assume this isn't an actual order to hand over the command.
Example sentence:

Why This Maritime Command Handover is Crucial

Reference:

http://www.imago-images.com/st/0088107457

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