The Luftnachrichten Abteilung 350, abbreviated as OKL/Ln Abt 350 and formerly called the (German: Oberkommando der Luftwaffe Luftnachrichtenabteilung 350), was the Signal Intelligence Agency of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, before and during World War II. Before November 1944, the unit was the German: Chiffrierstelle, Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, lit. 'code centre, High Commander of the Air Force', which was often abbreviated to Chi-Stelle/ObdL or more commonly Chi-Stelle. The founding of the former agencies of OKL/Ln Abt 350 dates back to the year 1936, when Colonel (later General der Luftnachrichtentruppe) Wolfgang Martini instigated the creation of the agency, that was later established on the orders of Hermann Göring, the German politician, head of the air force, and leading member of the Nazi Party. Right from the beginning, the Luftwaffe High Command resolved to make itself entirely independent from the German Army (Heer) in the field of cryptology.
Background The LN Abt 350 was one of a large number of regiments which were named in that series, but there were several related regiments, which dealt with intelligence-related matters, of one kind or another. These were as follows:
LN Regiment 351. Mapping and interception of communications intelligence of Allied air forces in England and France. It conducted air to air interception, ground to air, and ground to ground including tracking of navigational aids. LN Regiment 352. Mapping and interception of communication intelligence of Allied air forces in the Mediterranean area. LN Regiment 353. Tracking and mapping of the Soviet Air Force. LN Abteilung 355. Allied air forces in northern areas, specifically the Soviet Air Force in Northern Norway. It covered ground to ground, and air to air according to reception conditions. This unit was formerly W-Leit 5 based in Oslo. LN Abteilung 356. Route tracking of Allied air forces by radar interception and in collaboration with LN Regiment 357. LN Abteilung 357. Tracking Allied four-engined formations and route tracking by intercepted signals and in collaboration with LN Abt. 356. LN Abteilung 358. Training of intercept personnel. LN Abteilung 359. radio jamming of Allied communications, but it also conducted deception operations.
Chi-Stelle
Radio Defense Corps
History of operations in the west
Outbreak of the war
General The effect of the outbreak of war was immediately felt by Chi-Stelle, in so far as all participating nations began to transmit the majority of their messages in codes and cyphers. Thus the evaluation of the contents of messages was made more difficult, although the organisation of Allied air forces, as such, that were already known, could be built up from intelligence on hand. Newly activated units were identified on the basis of existing tables of organisation. In the early months of the war in France only the movements of bomber and reconnaissance units could be determined since the fighter arm could only be followed by monitoring RT traffic. The Invasion of Poland only lasted 18 days and was over too quickly for signals intelligence to play a part in it. However the Invasion of France and Invasion of Russia were preceded by a long preparatory period in which the respective Leitstelle found time to familiarise themselves with Allied procedure. Also by virtue of existing reserves, it was possible to concentrate the bulk of available resources on a single opponent.
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