Luftwaffe - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

The First World War

The precursor of the Luftwaffe , the air service of the imperial German army, had been created in 1910, four years before the release of the First World War (1914 - 1918) with the appearance of the military aviation, although one intended to use the planes mainly for the air recognition of the enemy lines in the same way that one had used the balloons during the Guerre free-Prussian in 1870 - 1871 and even during the Napoleonean Guerres. It was not however the first air force of the world, since the Aéronautique soldier of France is also founded in 1910. The foundation of that of the United Kingdom, the Royal Flying Body , took place later two years, in 1912.

During the war, the German air force used a large variety of avions : fighter plans (manufactured by factories such as Albatross Flugzeugwerke and Fokker), reconnaissance aircraft (Aviatik and DFW) and them bombers ( Gothaer Waggonfabrik , better known under the simpler name of Gotha, and Zeppelin-Staaken). But in fact the hunters impassion more the enthusiastic ones of military aviation, since it is them which produce “ ace ” such as Manfred von Richthofen, called the “ Devil rouge ” by the French and Red Baron by the British. Others “ ace ” include Ernst Udet, Hermann Göring (the future commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe ), Oswald Boelcke (known as the first air tactician of the aerial combat whirling ( dogfighting or " chiens" fights; in English), Werner Voss and max Immelmann. This last is the first German pilot decorated with the medal For the Merit, at this time the military distinction most important in Germany, after having cut down eight enemy planes with Oswald Boelcke. For this reason this medal is called the “ Max bleu ” since then. Just as the Navy, the German Army uses the Dirigeable S Zeppelin to carry out missions of bombardment on military and civil targets in France, Belgium and in the United Kingdom.

Until 1918, all the planes of the German army - as those of the army of Austria-Hungary - carry the badge of the Croix of iron. But, since 1918, the planes start to carry a formed cross of two right beams ( Balkenkreuz ), a badge which will become very familiar during III^e Reich. After the fall of Germany in November 1918 following the Armistice, the German air force dissolves, as envisaged by the Traité of Versailles, whose terms require that all the German military aircrafts be destroyed.

Inter-war period

The Treaty of Versailles prohibiting to him to maintain an air force, Germany tests the need to train in secrecy its pilots for a future war. At the beginning, one uses the schools of the civil aviation for the pilot training to make believe that they will fly airliners air civil such as the Lufthansa. But it is possible to use only the light planes on the German territory. So that the pilots can acquire experiment in the new fighters, Germany requests the assistance of its future enemy, the the USSR. A secret aerodrome is established with Lipetsk in 1924, and it operates during nine years until its closing in 1933. The school uses planes of Dutch and Russian drive like German.

The February 26th 1935, Adolf Hitler orders with Hermann Göring to restore Luftwaffe, although the treaty of armistice is always in force. But neither France neither the United Kingdom nor the Société of the Nations do anything to prevent Germany from undertaking this action or other violations of the treaty. Although the news Luftwaffe is an organization completely independent of the army, it continues nevertheless the tradition to allot military ranks to the personnel, a tradition maintained even today by the Bundesluftwaffe (i.e., the air force of FRG) and by much of other air forces around the world. And yet, it is to be observed that the paramilitary air service into force before the promulgation of the Luftwaffe bore the name of the Deutscher Luftverband (DLV), whose chief was Ernst Udet. Its members carried the uniform with the badge which continues to appear on the uniform of the Luftwaffe , although names of the “ grades ” are more “ civils ” that soldiers.

The Luftwaffe seizes the occasion to test the effectiveness of its tactics of combat and its apparatuses during the Spanish Civil war of 1936 - 1939 when the Légion Condor goes in Spain to give an air support to it to the revolt led by Francisco Franco against the republican government. The machines, whose names will become famous in the whole world, include in particular the Junkers Ju 87 “ Stuka ” (Sturzkampfflugzeug = fighter in piqué), specialized in the dive bombing, then offering a much highher degree of accuracy than the bombardment in altitude, and the Messerschmitt BF109, the most famous fighter plan in Germany. But as an air force attached to the nationalist forces of Free, the badge of the Luftwaffe is replaced on the fuselage of the planes to give to the world the illusion which Germany itself does not support actively the revolt. In its place, the cross with right bars affixed on the fuselage is replaced by a black disc and the Swastika (i.e. swastika) on the drift is replaced by a kind of “X” black on white zone. This one appears then on the Spanish military aircrafts, although the black disc is replaced by a rosette (like that of the French Air force) but in red-yellow-red. The planes of the Legion are assigned to the units carrying the number 88 ; for example, those of bombardment are assigned with the Kampfgruppe (group of bombardment) 88 (K/88) whereas those of hunting are assigned with the Jagdgruppe (group of hunting) 88 (J/88).

The first steps of the systematic bombardment of the cities during the Second world war appear on April 26th 1937 when a bomber force combined with German planes and Italian destroys largest of the city Basque of Guernica in the North-West of Spain, a civil target without strategic interest and whose destruction strikes the spirits. The whole world or almost condemns this bombardment, and the collective memory of this event is maintained thanks to painting bearing since the name of the city, carried out by the artist Pablo Picasso, who specializes in art cubist. At this time, the public opinion is afraid that all the future wars comprise such bombardments, since the Italian general Giulio Douhet (death in 1930) formula of the theories with regard to the role of the military aircraft with regard to what one will name the “ bombardment stratégique ”. Here is the idea of Douhet : that a nation can destroy another while carrying a blow pulverizing the industrial targets by the air raids. The effect will be if striking down that the moral one of the civil population will plunge, and that the government will not have an other choice only to request peace. It is well ill omen what will occur - and not only during the war which will start a few months only after the end of the civil war in Spain.

The Second world war

During the summer 1939, the day before the release of the Second world war, the Luftwaffe becomes the most powerful air force of the world. Résultat : she plays a significant part during the first campaigns of the war and contributes for much to the final success of the German armed forces for the period of the 1st September 1939 until mid-June 1940, proving with the enemy armies the effectiveness of the tactics indicated under the concept of the Blitzkrieg (lightning war) formulated by the Wehrmacht for the period of the inter-war period.

With other countries, such as the Italy, the Japan, the Hungary, the Bulgaria and the Romania, the Germany Nazi belongs to the Axe. In ten months, it is victorious Poland, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium and France, thanks to the close cooperation of the Luftwaffe with armor-plated divisions, the Panzer, coordinated by an innovative, encrypted radio telegraphy. It is thus an air force limited to a tactical role which saved Germany, initially.

Luftwaffe loses 1470 planes on the Western face in May - June 1940 including 1290 during the invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France, between 250 and 300 are lost by accidents.

But the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe , the Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring starts to over-estimate the capacity of his escadrilles to bring a fast and complete victory to the Nazi Germany. He praises himself to be able to destroy in one month British aviation before the release of the invasion envisaged of the the United Kingdom, the operation whose code name is “ Seelöwe ” (“ Otarie ”). But the Manche separates France occupied from the United Kingdom and the North Sea separates occupied Norway (where was stationed the Luftflotte (air fleet) V under the command of the Generaloberst (colonel-general) Hugo Sperrle). That contributes in a great measurement to the maintenance of the freedom of the United Kingdom as well as the systematic use of the Radar and the courageous resistance of the pilots of RAF “ Fighter Command ”, which comprises not only British pilots, but also of the pilots of much of other nationalities, including French.

Later on, the incapacity of the Luftwaffe to conquer the control of the sky during the Bataille of England is seen like the consequence of a change of tactic. Instead of attacking the military aerodromes, the Luftwaffe starts to bombard industrial targets and cities such as London after an air raid on Berlin the August 25th 1940 of the bombers of RAF Bomber Command . It is one key moment of the control of the war. The German air power gradually starts to decrease following the attack of the the USSR in June 1941 and of the entry in war of the the United States in December 1941. The Nazi Germany has growing difficulties of supply strategic materials, especially the Aluminum, without which it becomes increasingly difficult to build planes and others weapons for the German armed forces. Worse thing still for the Luftwaffe , the style of direction of Göring is really defective, although this one always succeeds in rejecting the responsibility for its defeats on its subordinates like Udet (which commits suicide in November 1941).

Contrary to the the air force of the United States of America ('' USAAF ''), at that time under the direction of the general Henry H. Arnold, called “ Hap ”, the Germans do not develop any strategic bomber force. And yet, before the war, the Lufthansa used four-engined planes with long range (the Focke-Wulf Fw 200) for transatlantic flights towards the United States. If the Germans had built some much instead of devoting so many resources to the construction of twin-engines, it is probable that such four-engined planes could have inflicted much more damage with the targets in the United Kingdom. Fortunately for the Allied , they will not do it, but the Luftwaffe will nevertheless use Fw 200 for missions on the Atlantic of North in order to destroy there the tradind ships which brought the vivres essential to besieged British Isles. On the other hand, the heavy bombers of the USAAF, escorted by fighter plans like the P-51 “ Mustang ” equipped with released additional gasoline tanks once started the aerial combat with enemy hunters, have a rather long range to be able to fly inside the territory of the Reich during the operations led in full day, while their colleagues of the RAF continue to attack of night the enemy targets.

Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe remained strong and with the reinforcement of the Flak which had a manpower exceeding the 2/3 of the whole of the weapon and continued to cut down many bombers combined, including, which is astonishing, ninety-five British planes during one night single (from October 30th to 31st 1944) when the RAF attacks the town of Nuremberg, famous as a place of the rassembements of the Nazi party NSDAP for the pre-war period (and that scene of the lawsuit of the war criminals, including Göring, after the victory of Allied).

One feels superiority air German especially on face of East, because Luftwaffe enjoyed level technology higher than that Soviets, as well as presence of much of “ Experten ”, i.e., pilots highly tested like Erich Hartmann, which will finish the war with an incredible prize list - 352 shot down enemy planes, including 345 Soviet, a total which was first of all disputed before being allowed later. On the other hand, the highest prize list of a pilot out of the Luftwaffe is only of sixty two enemy planes (including a specimen of a Messerschmitt Me 262); he is asserted by a Soviet pilot, the colonel Ivan Kojiédoub (who finally was promoted with the rank of colonel-general during the years 1960). Nevertheless, the vastness of the Russian territory authorized the Soviets to rebuild the factories at long distance from the face to manufacture there thousands of planes and others weapons which made it possible their armed forces to stop and push back the German army by inflicting to him two great defeats with Koursk and Stalingrad (Volgograd), while preventing the catch of Leningrad (Saint-Petersbourg).

The Luftwaffe is active on many faces, including in North Africa where it gives an air support to “ the Afrika-Korps ”, which is under the direction of the general Erwin Rommel, and also during the offensives against the Yugoslavia and the Greece before the release of the invasion of the Union of the Soviet socialist republics on June 22nd, 1941. Many units of the Luftwaffe are also in Italy, even after the Italian Armistice with the Allies in September 1943, and they remain in the country until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. There also exists in Romania some escadrilles of hunters of the Luftwaffe , having for mission of protecting the layers from Ploesti, which provide to the machine of war Nazi the vital fuel for her offensive against the USSR.

One of the single characteristics of the Luftwaffe (contrary to other air forces), is the existence of a specific force of troops parachutists of elite - the Fallschirmjäger . These parachutists are active during 1940-1941, especially during the catch of the Fort of Ében-Émael (Wallonia, Belgium) in May 1940 and that of the Crete in May 1941. But the loss of more than 3 000 parachutists during this last operation horrifies Adolf Hitler. From now on, the Fallschirmjäger will never take part again in the great operations, but rather in small specialized operations, such as the rescue successful of the Italian fascistic dictator Benito Mussolini, which is already deposed, in 1943.

Though the Germans made attempts to fight the British heavy bombers during the First World War, the force of hunters of German night - the Nachtjagd - must reinvent the tactics to be used against them when they start to strongly attack targets located in the territory of the Reich . A chain of radar tracking stations is established over the entire length of the territory, of Norway to the Swiss border, under the name of “ Chain of Kammhuber ”, thus named according to the Generalleutnant (lieutenant-general) Josef Kammhuber. The neighbouring squadrons of hunters of night, the Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG), receive alarm to take off and intercept the enemy bombers. These squadrons are equipped with planes such as the Messerschmitt BF 110 and the Junkers Ju 88, which will be provided later with the system of known radar under the name of Lichtenstein , installed in the nose.

One considers the Heinkel He 219 “ Uhu ” (owl) like the best of the German hunters of night. Fortunately for the Allies, the Germans do not build them in great number. The waves of bombers release during each mission of the hundreds of bands of French aluminum called spangles (and at the time English by the code name of “ Window ” (window), today chaff , " ivraie") to make useless the system of radar defensive and almost blind men German hunters of night. Two notable names among the aces of the hunters of nuit : Helmut Lent, which succeed in cutting down 110 enemy planes before losing the life in an accident with the landing in October 1944, and Wolfgang Schnaufer, which succeeds in cutting down 102 and surviving the war of them, but which will lose the life following an car accident in France in 1950.

After having played a pioneer part in the development of the planes provided with turbojet with prototypes such as the Heinkel He 178 and the Heinkel He 280, Luftwaffe becomes the first air force in the world to be brought into service - but with haste - an operational jet, the Messerschmitt Me 262 known as Schwalbe (swallow). The plane encounters many problems of reliability with its moteurs : although those profit from the very new concept of axial flow, they miss nevertheless strategic materials of high-quality necessary for their manufacture, result of the allied bombardments and the negative evolution of the war for Germany. In addition to Me 262, German air industry produces other rather advanced apparatuses such as the Arado Ar 234, a jet (either twin-engine or four-engined plane) dedicated to the bombardment and the recognition, the Heinkel He 162 known as “ Volksjäger ” (popular hunter), a jet fighter single-engined aircraft (the engine is a BMW 003), the Messerschmitt Me 163 known as “ Komet ” (comet), a hunter propelled by a rocket (Walther 509), among others. Other advanced types of plane, such as the hang-glider, the Horten Ho 229 (at the origin Horten Ho IX), that the Germans will manufacture in the factory of the Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha), are either with the testing stage, or even about to start production at the end of the war to Europe. The German aircraft industry also develops the first Cruise missile of the world, the Fieseler Fi-103, baptized the V-1 (" V" being used here for Vergeltung , reprisals), and the first Ground-to-ground missile (or “ missile balistique ”) baptized the V-2.

These machines are modern, but they cannot prevent the complete air defeat as much as inevitable of IIIe Reich . Luftwaffe lacks fuel, of trained and experienced pilots, organization and sure aerodromes (i.e., hidden). The offensive large last launched by the Luftwaffe takes place on January 1st 1945 : the Operation Bodenplatte, of which the goal is to destroy on the ground enemy planes as many possible. But on their side, the Germans lose more than 300 apparatuses and are from now on everywhere on the defensive while Western Allies and the Soviets invade the territory of the Reich itself and approach Berlin to put an end to the Nazi regime. The Allies profit from the efforts of German technology by seizing many planes given up on the spot after almost or being completely destroyed by the enemy during his retirement towards the interior of Germany. For example, the purpose of the operation '' Paperclip '' (trombone of office), in 1944-45, is the seizure of information of all kinds in the field of innovating German military technologies as well as the capture of specialists and engineers for the “ évacuer ” in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in the USSR or France.

Among those which go to Russia, one notes professor Hans Wocke, person in charge of the drawing of the first bomber with reaction to the wings with negative arrow of the world, the Junkers Ju 287, whose first prototype, Ju 287 V1, made trial flights during the war. The drawing of Ju 287 is incorporated in the drawing of the prototype of Junkers EFF ( Erprobungsflugzeug or plane of test) 140. In any case, neither this one nor no other plane drawn by the Germans will be accepted within the Soviet armed forces because the Germans are still prisoners and that the authorities prohibit to them to reach the modern installations necessary to draw and improve the military aircrafts. The Russians allow the majority captive draftsmen to return to Germany, either Western or Eastern, towards the end of 1953.

During the course of the history of III^e Reich , the Luftwaffe has only two commander-in-chiefs, of which first is Göring. But Hitler dismisses it at the end of the war after having learned that it tried to make contact without authorization with the Western Allies with an aim of negotiating a cease-fire before the fall of Berlin to the hands of the Soviets. Hitler thus indicates the Generaloberst (colonel-general) Robert Ritter von Greim like the second (and the last) commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe . At the same time, it promotes this one with the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (general-marshal). Thus, this one becomes the last German officer of the Second world war to receive such a promotion with the rank highest.

Little before release war, the Minister of propaganda Nazi had published an specialized magazine in the activities of the Luftwaffe . It was called “ Der Adler ” (“ Aigle ”) and appeared not only in German but also in other languages, including later on those of the countries which will be built-in the territory of the Reich during the war itself, including in French. As long as the United States remains neutral (of September 1939 in December 1941), the magazine is also published in English. Many images colors taken at this time come from this publication.

Organization of the operational units

The operational units and of drive of the Luftwaffe organize same manner roughly as the “ U.S. Army Air Body ” (which becomes “ U.S. Army Air Forces later”). The squadrons of hunters, the Jagdgeschwader (JG), are composed of three or four groups ( Gruppen ), which are composed themselves of three escadrilles ( Jagdstaffel ), each one made up of twelve planes. Thus the squadron of N° hunters; 1 is JG 1, the first group of this squadron is the I/JG 1 and the first flotilla is the 1. /JG 1. (It is interesting to know that JG 1 used the Heinkel He 162 mentioned above towards the end of the war in Europe. During the last two months of the war, it lost 22 of it; ; ten pilots found death and six others were seriously wounded.)

In the same way, the Luftwaffe calls the squadrons of bombers the Kampfgeschwader (KG), those of hunters of night the Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG), those of bombers in piqué the Stukageschwader (StG) and those having of maritime patrol and rescue of the crews killed at sea the Küstenfliegergruppen (Kü.Fl.Gr.). One calls the groups of bombers specialists the Kampfgruppen (KGr).

With the head of a Geschwader a Geschwaderkommodore is, of a Gruppe a Gruppenkommandeur and of a Staffel a Staffelkapitän . But these names define functions within the unit and not of the ranks of officer in the Luftwaffe . Generally, it is a Oberstleutnant (lieutenant-colonel) - or, which is exceptional, a Oberst (colonel) - which is with the head of a Geschwader . The Gruppe is in general ordered by a Major (commander) or a Oberstleutnant (lieutenant-colonel) but it also happens that it is a Hauptmann (captain). And in theory it is a Hauptmann (captain) or a Oberleutnant (lieutenant) and sometimes even a Leutnant (second lieutenant) which is with the head of a Staffel . A specific marking on the fuselage of the planes identifies the function of the pilot. Thus the plane of the Gruppenkommandeur comprises two rafters in front of the Balkenkreuz whereas that of the Geschwaderkommodore comprises a rafter and two horizontal bars which surround the Balkenkreuz .

Post-war period

In the Federal Republic of Germany

After the end of the war, German aviation is severely restricted. The Allies completely prohibit the Germans from having a military aviation, until they make it possible the new Federal republic to join NATO in 1955, when they realize that they have from now on need for this one because of the growing military threat of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Warsaw Pact. During the following decades, the Luftwaffe of the West Germany uses especially apparatuses of American origin. All the German military aircrafts now carry the Croix of iron on the fuselage, as during the " Large Guerre" , and the national flag of FRG on the drift.

Many old drivers of hunting, who fought against the Allies during the war, join the new air force of post-war period and go to the United States to profit there from a training course of recycling before returning to Germany to familiarize itself with the new machines provided by American. These personalities include/understand Erich Hartmann (352 shot down enemy planes), Gerhard Barkhorn (301), Günther Rall (275) and Johannes Steinhoff (176). Steinhoff, whose face and remainder of the body carry serious burns undergone at the time of an accident on takeoff to the orders of a Messerschmitt Me 262 towards the end of the war in Europe, will be commander-in-chief it of the Luftwaffe and Rall will be its immediate successor. Hartmann will take its retirement in 1970 - at the 48 years age. Josef Kammhuber, mentioned above, joined the Luftwaffe of post-war period also and will take its retirement as a Inspekteur der Bundesluftwaffe in 1962.

The crisis of Starfighter occurs during the years 1960 because of the rate of high accident of German F-104G Starfighter and the number of pilots killed at the time of these accidents. The general public then calls the jet the “ Witwenmacher ” (“maker of widows”). In addition to the inherent risks with the flight at high-speed at low altitude (mission for which F-104 had not been conceived in the beginning) with a weather not always lenient, and engineering problems on the engine, it seems that the maintenance of the planes and the pilot training were also in question. Oddly, German has in fact lost less F-104 in proportion than Canadian, the Belgians or Dutch.

From the years 1960, the German aircraft industry takes part again largely in the equipment of Luftwaffe: construction under license of F-104G Starfighter, design and construction with european partners of the C160 Transall, Panavia Tornado, and recent Eurofighter Typhoon.

In German Democratic republic

The German Democratic republic (GDR) communist decides to use the same name - the Luftstreitkräfte - for its air force as during the Great War. Within this air force fly the planes built by the the USSR such as the Soukhoï Known-7 (coded “ Fitter ” by NATO) like those of the Russian manufacturer Mikoyan-Gourevitch, including the hunters Mig-21, Mig-23 and Mig-29.

Contrary to the planes of the Luftwaffe of FRG, the planes of GDR carry the badge of the national flag (see photo) and not the Croix of iron. In this case, the three stripes of the Tricolor of GDR (into force of 1959 to 1990) are directed vertically instead of horizontally and the badge itself takes the shape of a diamond. One also sees on the badge the symbol of the Communism of RDA : the hammer, the compass of carpenter (see flag) and corn ears in the shape of garland.

After the reunification

After the reunification of FRG and GDR in October 1990, the planes of old the Luftstreitkräfte fly within the Luftwaffe . Here an odd situation where the planes built by the Soviet ex-Union make their service with an air force which belongs to NATO. But that will not last a long time, because the government of joined together Germany wants to withdraw them inventory before selling some much with other countries, the novel members of NATO in Central Europe included. Few the 23 Migones occidentalized were finally sold into 2005/2006 per 1 (one) euro symbolic system with the Poland.

The Guerre of Kosovo in 1999 with dimensions of combined NATO saw the first missions of combat of the Luftwaffe since the second world war

See too

Flak
Preußens Gloria, military music of Luftwaffe.

Heinkel (German aeronautical manufacturer)
Junkers (German aeronautical manufacturer)
Messerschmitt (German aeronautical manufacturer)
Wehrmacht
List of the military aircrafts
List of the aeronautical manufacturers

External bonds

Simple: Luftwaffe

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