Glossary entry (derived from question below)
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 | Bourth |
3 +2 | takeover unit | Michael Martin, MA |
3 | Command Handover | Adrian MM. |
Change log
Jan 14, 2024 00:18: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Social Sciences" to "Other"
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.
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Note added at 18 hrs (2024-01-14 17:45:20 GMT)
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"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.
|
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.
"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
|
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.
Otherwise, I assume this isn't an actual order to hand over the command.
Example sentence:
Why This Maritime Command Handover is Crucial
Reference:
Discussion
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
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=43653
"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
I found this PDF. It has the term in it. https://home.army.mil/huachuca/application/files/6016/0390/6...