Organization of the Legion
The Condor Legion, upon establishment, consisted of the Kampfgruppe 88, with three squadrons of Ju 52 bombers, the Jagdgruppe 88 with three squadrons of Heinkel He 51 fighters, the reconnaissance Aufklärungsgruppe 88 (supplemented by the Aufklärungsgruppe See 88), an anti-aircraft group, the Flakbteilung 88, and a signals group, the Nachrichtenabteilung 88. Overall command was given to Hugo von Sperrle, with Alexander Holle as chief of staff. Scheele was transferred to become a military attaché in Salamanca. As a general rule, the total personnel strength of the Legion regularly available, including support staff, was about 6,000 men.
Throughout the whole of the Spanish Civil War, the Legion Condor remained essentially an air force unit that was always commanded by flyers: Generalmajor Hugo von Sperrle up to November 1937, then Generalleutnant Hellmuth Volkmann up to November 1938 and finally Generalmajor Wolfram von Richthofen until the end of the war.