to what had been done during the North African Campaign, was trialled for units dedicated to Defense of the Reich duties, which also included the aforementioned Reichsverteidigung wing-code rear fuselage stripes for each individual Jagdgeschwader. The unofficial way to represent one's unit was the unit badge. These were solely at the discretion of the commanding officer, so badges of all shapes, sizes and subjects appeared. On the Eastern Front, they were officially banned in later years as they provided intelligence to the enemy. Remaining units Geschwader combat wings, other than day fighters, during the war usually bore a four-character identification code, starting with a two-character alphanumeric ("wing code", a code unique to each Geschwader) to the left of the national Balkenkreuz marking and two letters to the right, signifying the individual aircraft's letter within its Staffel as the third letter and the Staffel-designating letter within the Geschwader as the fourth and last letter. The full four-character code was usually shown on the fuselage sides, sometimes with the individual aircraft letter repeated under the wings. Gruppe and Staffel-sized units could also have their own unique codes of this type, most often used for reconnaissance and maritime aviationGruppen and Wekusta weather observation Staffeln, with Staffel sized units using the four-character alphanumeric code almost always using an "H" as the fourth and last character. Late in the war, the first two characters of the Geschwaderkennung code (designating the geschwader) were depicted on the fuselage sides in a much reduced size, possibly as a "low-visibility" security measure. The code tended (though not always), to be omitted altogether by 1945. See also Luftwaffe personnel structure List of RLM paint designations Organization of the Kriegsmarine RLM aircraft designation system RLM numbering system for gliders and sailplanes Stab (Luftwaffe designation) Notes Footnotes By D-Day in June 1944, Luftflotte 3, had units under it, scattered all over France. X. Fliegerkorps was transferred from Greece to Angers, France in March 1944. It acquired the assets of Fliegerführer Atlantik. Citations References Luftwaffe Structure of contemporary air forces