Luftwaffe: Machines, Markings, Men, Medals

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A
MICRON
MINITEXT BOOK
LUFTWAFFE
.
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G. M. SMITH
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PUBLISffiNG
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Co. LTD.
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LUFTWAFFE
MICRON MINITEXT BOOK No. 17
Editor:
C. T. ERIKSEN
Cover Illustration:
JOHN WEAL
Text Illustrations:
JOHN WEAL
DISTRIBUTORS
Australia and New Zealand
GORDON & GOTCH LTD.
Rhodesia and Nyasaland
KINGSTONS LTD.
South Africa
CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY LTD.
A MICRON PUBLICATION
Published by G. M. Smith Publishing Co. Ltd., Micron
House, Gorringe Park Avenue, Mitcham, Surrey, for
the proprietors, Micron Publications Ltd. ©
Printed in England by the Wintworth Press. Ltd.,
25 Prince George Street, Portsmouth, Hants.
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CONTENTS
PAGE
Origin and birth of the Luftwaffe
Goering
Luftwaffe Organization and Marking System
Heinkel He.5 1
Me.l09- Fw.l90- Me.l!O
Ju.88-He. l11 -Do. 17
Ju.87-Fw.200-He.177
Heinkel He.l 00
Junkers Ju.52 and Ju.86
Henschel H s. l23 and Hs.l29
Dornier Do.335
Blohm und Voss Bv.l38 and 141 Fieseler Fi.l56 and Messerschmitt Me. 323
Focke Wulf Fw.l87 and Ta.1 54 and Junkers .Tu .290
Dornier Do.lS, Do.24 and Do.26 Heinkel He.l15 and He.219 Blohm und Voss Bv.222
Arado Ar.234
Badges of Rank
Organization and RAF equivalents and Luftwaffe Top Ten Aces
Luftwaffe Medals and Awards
Flying Crew Badges
Combat Badges and Awards
Oberst Werner Moelders
Generalleutnant Galland and Major Schnaufer
Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Hauptmann Marseille and Major Hartmann
Flying Kit
Specialist Badges
Geschwader Crests
KG.200 Spy Group
The Luftwaffe's Satellites
Individual Aircraft Markings
Tables: Luftwaffe strength at outbreak of war -
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
33
35
37
39
40
41
43
44
45
47
49
51
53
54
55
57
59
61
62 & 63
64
3.
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ORIGIN AND BIRTII OF THE LUFTWAFFE
By the time the. Allies ~mashed the Imperial Germ~n Ar~y in 1918, they
had come to realise the 1mportance and power of arrcraft m warfare and,
although Germany was allowed to keep and maintain a small regular army,
aircraft were expressly forbidden and the still considerable number of. G7rman
warplanes intact at the end of the war were etther broken up or dJStnbuted
between the Allies.
It therefore came as no little surprise when, seventeen years later in 1935,
the existence of an even more powerful and formidable air force was sprung
upon an unsuspecting world!
Two factors played major parts in helping Germany build up such a mighty
force in absolute s:::cret, the many gliding clubs scattered throughout the Retch,
and Lufthansa, the German national airline.
The Allied ban on .the. construction of powered aircraft led many top German
designers and constructors to build gliders. By 1920 annual gliding competitions were being held and many of the Luftwaffe's top-scoring pilots were to
receive their first taste of the freedom of the skies from the cramped cockpits
of these early gliders; even Willi Messerschmitt, who is now known throughout
the world, made his name as a designer of gliders long before he turned his
mind to designing fighters.
Then , in the early twenties, German manufacturers began to
sports planes powered by small 35 to 150 h .p. engines, this led,
to a new agreement between the Allies in Germany for the
German aviation, and the arrangement for an airline between
France.
produce light
in May, 1924,
regulation of
Germany and
Thus was born the German airline Lufthansa , formed on 15th .Tune, 1926,
by merging the existing minor airlines. Although Germany was still expressly
forbidden to construct military, armoured or weapon-carrying aircraft, they
seized the opportunity offered by the Lufthansa and began to construct large,
fast passenger-carrying machines which could quickly be converted into
bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Lufthansa also played a considerable
part in training future Luftwaffe pilots, navigators and aircrew. Few passengers
on those early Lufthansa flights realised that the co-pilots seat was occupied
by trainee bomber pilots being taught to handle \heavy aircraft and that their
navigators were later to lead bomber raids that were to destroy so many of
the cities they had come to know from these peace-time flights.
Another ruse employed to build up the Luftwaffe's strength in trained per,sonnel ~as to send groups of cadets abroad for flight training, principally
to Russta and Italy.
·
Such were the beginnings of the world's modern air force, a weapon that
was developed from a handful of dedicated pioneers into a first-class fighting
machine that came within an ace of conquering the western world!
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HERMANN GOERING-C.-in-C. OF THE LUFTWAFFE
Reich commtsswner of the Four-Year Plan-Master of the Hunt-Patron
of the Prussian Opera---'Chief of the Gestapo-Reich forest master-Police
General-Premier of Prussia-Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe- these
are but a few of the many and varied titles of Hermann Goering who was
also an air ace of \V.W.l and Hitler's successor-designate. He was born on
12th January, 1893, in Bavaria where his father, a judge, was commissioner.
In 1914 he was an infantry otficer on the Western Front. He gave this up
to join the Air Force with his great friend, Loerzer. He received his pilot's
licence in the autumn of 1915 and within the next two and a half years was
awarded the order 'Pour le Merite', Germany's highest decoration of the first
World War. He later succeeded Richthofen as leader of the 'Death Squadron '.
Goering lived in Denmark during the years immediately following Germany's
defeat, but he eventually returned to Ge.nnany where he became interested in
the embryo National Socialist Party. In 1922 he joined, attaining a prominent
position owing to his war record and reputation. He organized the S.A.
(Storm Troopers), and . in 1923, received command of Hitler's "Shock Troops".
He marched in the front line with Hitler and Ludendorf in the 1923 Munich
Putsch, where he was wounded but escaped to Austria. From there he went
on to Italy. During his absence he was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Nevertheless he returned in 1928 to become the most important of Hitler's
twelve 'Apostles'.
The Nazi Party increased both in size and power over the next five years
and eventually, on 29th January, 1933, Hitler became Chancellor and assumed
power. Goering also acquired a few titles at this point, including that of
Prussia n Prime Minister, before he appointed himself Chief of Prussian Police.
He also fou nded the Gestapo.
Already the Luftwaffe was under development, and in March, 1935, its
existence was announced to the world by Hitler. In 1936, with the famous
sloga n 'Guns before Butter', Goering launched Germa ny on the Four-Year
plan of self-sutficiency. Shortly after the Munich Pact, in 1938, he announced
a five-fold expansion of the Luftwaffe. He played an active part in the events
of that last year of uneasy peace.-including the seizing of Austria and Czechoslovakia. On 1st September, 1939, the day of the invasion of Poland Hitler
designated Goering his successor.
During the next few months Goering reached the pinnacle of fame, power
and position. He displayed enormous energy and flambuoyant confidence along
with a strong patriotic spirit. It was in the summer of 1940, however, that
his downfall began. The Luftwaffe was badly defeated in the Battle of Britain,
shattering Hitler's faith in it.
By 1942 Goering's star was fading. By 1943 he was in disgrace. He made
several vain attempts to regain his position but eventually fled to Austria where.
he was captured by U.S. troops. At the Nuremburg war Trials he fought hard
for his life- but in vain. He was sentenced to dea th, but committed suicide
a few hours before his execution was due.
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Mr:.109Eof J:G. 2.6 (1940):
BLACK'S' :
BLACK GRIFFON
YELLOW'IO' :
Do. rzz of K.G.76
:r.G.26 BADGE
GIWPPE MARKING
INDIV I DUAL AIRCRAFT
( 1941):
K.G.76 CODE-LETTERS
INDIVIDUAL AIRCRAFT
INDICATES 8nt.STAFFEL, 31<D.Gll.UPPE
BLACK' F1' :
WHITE 'T'
BLACK'S' :
N..T.G.2 CO!>E·LETTERS
INDIVIDUAL AIRCRAFT
INDICATES 5TH.STAFFEL,2.ND.GRUPPE
LAST LETTER OF 4-LETTER
MARKING SYSTEM ALWAYS INDICATED STAFFEL
AND GRUPPE, AND WAS ALLOCATED AS FoLLOWS FOR EVERY GESCHWADER. :-
Isr. GRUPPE:
ll""· GRUPPE:
1sr. STAFFEL--
-
2ND.
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GRUPPE:
4rH. STAFFEL - - M
7
5TH.
-- K
STW .
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6TH.
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9TH.
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STAFFEL - - R
'
-T
LUFTWAFFE ORGANISATION AND MARKINGS
Unlike the RAP, whose main basic unit is the squadron, the Luftwaffe was
organized around the Geschwader (Group), a formation of some 90 to 120 aircraft depending on its type and role. The smallest formation of the Luftwaffe
was the Ratte (Section) of two aircraft, from which the composition was as
follows:
2
3
3
3
Ratte (Sections)
Schwarm (Flights)
S tafjel (Squadrons)
Gruppe (Wings)
1 Schwarm (Flight)
1 Stafjel (Squadron)
t Gruppe (Wing)
:
1 Geschwader (Group)
4
12
:
about 40
90 to 120
aircraft
aircraft
aircraft
aircraft,
above the G eschwader came the Divisions or Corps which were composed
of varying numbers of Groups depending on their role.
An Air Force Division (Flieger Division) or Corps (Fliegerkorps) was made
up of Groups of different types of aircraft, bombers, fighters , dive-bombers,
etc., while a Fighter Division (Jagd Division) or Corps (Jagd Korps) consisted
of fighter aircraft only.
Divisions or Corps were combined to form an Air District (Luftgau) and
these, in turn, were the components of :the Air Fleets (Luftflotte), the iargest
of the Luftwaffe's formations. There were five main Air Fleets, each under,
the command of a General, No. 1 in Berlin, No. 2 in Brunswick, No. 3 in
Munich, No. 4 in Vienna and No. 5 in Koenigsberg.
The Luftwaffe's Geschwader _is comparable to the squadron of the RAP in
that it was the main basic unit of organisation and each of its aircraft carried
the G eschwader badge and code-letters. There were five types of Geschwader:
Fighter (J.G.), Bomber (K.G.), Dive-bomber (St.G.), Fighter-destroyer (Z.G.)
and Training (L.G.). The abbreviations are, of course, from the German titles
fo r the different groups. Their names are self-explanatory, except for the
Training Group, which was not composed of trainer aircraft but of mixed
Wings of combat an·craft such as fighters and fighter-destroyers, or bombers
and dive-bombers.
In Luftwaffe parlance, K.G.76 therefore meant the 76th Bomber Group.
A Roman numeral before this abbreviation denoted the Gruppe within the
Geschwader, thus Ill / K .G.76 means the 3rd Wing of 76th Bomber Group.
As each Gruppe was composed of three Stafjel (Stafjel 1 to 3 forming the
1st Gruppe and so on), an Arabian numeral befor·~ K.G. indicated the Stafjel
and the Gruppe within the G eschwader thus, 8/K.G.76 means the 8th Squadron
(3rd Wing) of the 76th Bomber Group.
To avoid further confusion, each of the German words mention.ed above
has been left in its singular form, and throughout this book only abbreviations
will be used when mentioning particular Groups or Wings.
Illustrated opposite are examples of Gi-uppe and Geschwader markings on
different types of aircraft during the war years.
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