Combat Squadron 51

Combat Squadron 51
active	May 1, 1939 to April 24, 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	air force
Branch of service	Air force
Type	Combat Squadron
structure	Squadron staff and 4 groups
Location	Staff Landsberg; I. Group Landsberg ; II. Group Leipheim; III. Group Memmingen; IV. (Supplementary) Group Schwäbisch Hall
Nickname	Edelweiss squadron
equipment	Dornier Do 17 , Heinkel He 111 , Junkers Ju 88 , Messerschmitt Me 410 , Messerschmitt Me 262
Second World War	Sitzkrieg ; Western campaign ; Air battle for England ; Balkan campaign (1941) ; Airborne battle for Crete ; German-Soviet war ; theater of war Mediterranean area
Squadron commodors
First commodore	Colonel Johann-Volkmar Fisser

The Kampfgeschwader 51 was an association of the Luftwaffe in World War II . Because of its coat of arms it was also called the Edelweiss Squadron.

Lineup

The Kampfgeschwader 51 was created on May 1, 1939 from the Kampfgeschwader 255 , which was established in Landsberg on March 15, 1937 . Group II of KG 51 was formed on April 1, 1940 in Leipheim . III./KG 51 was created on May 1, 1939 in Memmingen from III./KG 255. On July 30, 1940, the IV. (Supplementary) group was created in Schwäbisch Hall . The squadron was equipped with the Dornier Do 17 and the Heinkel He 111 . When it went into the war for the first time in May 1940, all three groups had been converted to the Junkers Ju 88 . From July 1943, starting with Group I, the squadron converted to the Messerschmitt Me 410. From the summer of 1944, the conversion to the Messerschmitt Me 262 began. The squadron identification was 9K.

history

The Kampfgeschwader 51 did not take part in the attack on Poland or the Norwegian campaign. It was subordinate to Luftflotte 3 and was used in the seated war for reconnaissance and propaganda flights over France .

During the western campaign , all three groups were under the command of the V Fliegerkorps of Air Fleet 3. Air strikes on airfields and tactical missions for army support took place from the air bases in Landsberg , Lechberg and Munich-Riem . On May 10, 1940, there was a serious mistake. A season 8 chain , which was supposed to attack the city of Dijon , lost its orientation due to navigation errors. Therefore, assuming they had a French city under themselves, they attacked Freiburg im Breisgau with 69 bombs . As a result, 57 residents died. The German leadership covered up the mistake and attributed the air strike to the Allies. It was not until 1956 that the historians Anton Hoch , Wolfram Wette and Gerd R. Ueberschär managed to find evidence that brought the truth to light. The squadron commodore at the time, Josef Kammhuber, denied his unit's involvement after the war and in his new position as inspector of the air force .

Crashed Junkers Ju 88A (wing identification 9K + GN) of 5./KG 51 near Oakridge near Stroud in Gloucestershire

In the Battle of Britain the entire squadron remained with the 5th Air Corps of Air Fleet 3. There it flew air raids against England from the French bases in Paris-Orly , Melun / Villaroche and Étampes-Mondésir . In the meantime the entire squadron had been converted to the Junkers Ju 88A.

The squadron took part in the Balkan campaign from Wiener-Neustadt and Schwechat. For this purpose it was directly subordinate to Air Fleet 4 .

Junkers Ju 88 of I./KG 51 before the start

On the attack on the Soviet Union from June 22, 1941, the squadron with the staff of the I., II. And III. Group. For this purpose it was subordinate to the V Fliegerkorps of Air Fleet 4 in the southern section of the Eastern Front. On November 2, 1941, three Junkers Ju 88s of the squadron attacked and damaged the Soviet cruiser Voroshilov in the Black Sea .

During the battle for the Kursk Arch in July 1943, the staff, the II. And III. Group at the 1st Air Division of Air Fleet 6 ready. Until 1943 it was used at the focal points in the south and the middle of the eastern front.

From September 1943, the squadron staff and the III. Group home to Illesheim . Group I had already been transferred to there in May. It was converted to the Messerschmitt Me 410. The III. Group was disbanded. At this time, the II. Group was subordinate to the X. Fliegerkorps of Air Fleet 2 and flew their missions in the Mediterranean area from Saloniki in Greece. From November 1943 to April 1944 she returned to the southern section of the Eastern Front. Then she moved to Gilze-Rijen in the Netherlands , where she was also converted to the Messerschmitt Me 410. With this type of aircraft, the two groups were used to defend the Reich against incoming Allied bomber formations, with the staff and I. Group in France in the winter of 1943/1944, the former in Évreux and the latter in Saint-André-de-l'Eure, among others .

In August the Messerschmitt Me 262 was introduced at the KG 51, initially in Juvincourt . It was later renamed KG 51 (J) (J for hunting). It remained used in the defense of the Reich. It was dissolved on April 24, 1945. The remaining members of the squadron surrendered mainly to British forces in northern Germany or American forces in Bavaria .

Commanders

Squadron commodors

Rank	Surname	time
Colonel	Johann-Volkmar Fisser	May 1, 1939 to March 26, 1940
Colonel	Josef Kammhuber	March 26, 1940 to June 3, 1940
Colonel	Johann-Volkmar Fisser	June 3, 1940 to August 12, 1940
major	Hans Bruno Schulz-Heyn	August 12, 1940 to August 31, 1941
Colonel	Paul Koester	September 1, 1941 to July 4, 1942
major	Wilhelm von Friedeburg	July 4, 1942 to November 30, 1942
Colonel	Heinrich Conrady	December 1, 1942 to January 8, 1943
major	Egbert von Frankenberg and Proschlitz	January 8, 1943 to May 9, 1943
major	Hanns Horst Heise	May 9, 1943 to February 25, 1944
Lieutenant colonel	Wolf Dietrich master	February 25, 1944 to December 4, 1944
major	Wolfgang Schenck	December 5, 1944 to January 31, 1945
Lieutenant colonel	Rudolf Hallensleben	February 1, 1945 to April 19, 1945
Lieutenant colonel	Siegfried Barth	April 19, 1945 to April 28, 1945

Group commanders

I. group

Lieutenant Colonel Hans Korte , May 1, 1939 to December 18, 1939
Major Hans Bruno Schulz-Heyn, December 19, 1939 to August 12, 1940
Captain Kurt von Greiff, August 12, 1940 to February 14, 1941
Captain Heinrich Hahn, February 14, 1941 to February 3, 1942
Major Hans-Joachim Ritter, February 3, 1942 to October 6, 1942
Major Fritz-Herbert Dierich, October 6, 1942 to February 5, 1943
Major Klaus Häberlen, February 5, 1943 to October 11, 1943
Major Wolf Dietrich Meister, October 11, 1943 to February 25, 1944
Major Hans Unrau, February 25, 1944 to May 8, 1945

II group

Major Friedrich Winkler, April 15, 1940 to March 31, 1941
Captain Max Stadelmeier, January 31, 1941 to June 22, 1941
Major Wilhelm von Friedeburg, June 22, 1941 to April 1, 1942
Major Friedrich Wilhelm Kaufner, April 1, 1942 to May 21, 1942
Captain Rudolf Henne, May 21, 1942 to February 26, 1943
Major Herbert Voss, February 26, 1943 to December 31, 1944
Major Martin Vetter, January 1, 1945 to February 6, 1945
Captain Hans-Joachim Grundmann, March 21, 1945 to May 8, 1945

III. group

Colonel Alois Stoeckl, May 1, 1939 to March 7, 1940
Major Johann-Wilhelm Kind, March 7, 1940 to June 24, 1940
Major Walter Marienfeld, June 24, 1940 to November 23, 1941
Major Ernst Freiherr von Bibra, 23 November 1941 to 15 February 1943
Captain Wilhelm Rath, February 15, 1943 to December 31, 1943
Major Kurt Dahlmann , November 20, 1944 to October 31, 1944

IV. Group

Captain Hans-Joachim Ritter, July 30, 1940 to February 24, 1942
Captain Wilhelm Stemmler, February 25, 1942 to December 13, 1942
Captain Josef Schölss, December 13, 1942 to January 31, 1944
Major Siegfried Barth, February 1, 1944 to December 28, 1944

Known squadron members

Kurt Dahlmann (1918–2017) was editor-in-chief of the Allgemeine Zeitung in Namibia from 1958 to 1978

Hanswerner von Gehr (1912-2005) was a German actor and director

Hellmuth Hauser (1916-2004), was 1970-1974, when Lieutenant General of the Air Force of the Armed Forces , the first Commanding General of the Air Force Support Command

Hanns Horst Heise (1913–1992), was from October 1968, as Brigadier General of the German Air Force , in command of the German Air Force Command USA / Canada

Werner-Eugen Hoffmann (1910–1998), was from 1968, as Lieutenant General of the Air Force of the Bundeswehr, Deputy Commander in the headquarters of the NATO Command Baltic Sea Exits (BALTAP)

Josef Kammhuber (1896–1986), was from 1957 to 1962, as General of the Air Force of the Bundeswehr, the first inspector of the Air Force

Werner Panitzki (1911–2000), was from 1962 to 1966, as lieutenant general in the German Air Force, inspector of the air force

Egbert von Frankenberg and Proschlitz (1909–2000), was from 1950 member of the Thuringian state parliament for the NDPD and was vice-president there

literature

Wolfgang Dierich: The air force associations 1935-1945 . Outlines and short chronicles one document. Ed .: Wolfgang Dierich. Verlag Heinz Nickel , Zweibrücken 1993, ISBN 3-925480-15-3 (703 pages).

Web links

Commons : Kampfgeschwader 51 - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Wolfgang Dierich, p. 122.
^ Wolfgang Dierich: Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss", Motorbuch Verlag, 5th edition, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-87943-272-4 , p. 65.
↑ Leo Niehorster : Battle of France, German Order of Battle, 3rd Air Force, V Air Corps, May 10, 1940. December 12, 2001, accessed on January 7, 2017 (English).
↑ Big thing , Der Spiegel 17/1982 of April 26, 1982.
↑ Ulf Balke: The aerial warfare in Europe 1939-1941 . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-591-6 , p. 408 (1057 pp.).
↑ ^a ^b ^c Wolfgang Dierich, p. 123.
↑ Ulf Balke: The aerial warfare in Europe 1939-1941 . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-591-6 , p. 414-415 (1057 pp.).
^ Leo Niehorster: German Airforce, Order of Battle, 4th Air Fleet, V Air Corps, June 22, 1941. October 28, 1999, accessed on January 7, 2017 (English).
^ Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronik des Maritime War 1939–1945, November 1941. Accessed on January 21, 2017 .
^ Karl-Heinz Frieser , Klaus Schmider and Klaus Schönherr : The German Empire and the Second World War . Volume 8: "The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Secondary Fronts." Ed .: Military History Research Office , Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , pp. 90-92.
↑ Wolfgang Dierich, p. 123.

[DierichS122-1] Wolfgang Dierich, p. 122.

[Dierich65-2] Wolfgang Dierich: Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss", Motorbuch Verlag, 5th edition, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-87943-272-4 , p. 65.

[3] Leo Niehorster : Battle of France, German Order of Battle, 3rd Air Force, V Air Corps, May 10, 1940. December 12, 2001, accessed on January 7, 2017 (English).

[4] Big thing , Der Spiegel 17/1982 of April 26, 1982.

[5] Ulf Balke: The aerial warfare in Europe 1939-1941 . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-591-6 , p. 408 (1057 pp.).

[DierichS123-6] Wolfgang Dierich, p. 123.

[7] Ulf Balke: The aerial warfare in Europe 1939-1941 . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-591-6 , p. 414-415 (1057 pp.).

[8] Leo Niehorster: German Airforce, Order of Battle, 4th Air Fleet, V Air Corps, June 22, 1941. October 28, 1999, accessed on January 7, 2017 (English).

[9] Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronik des Maritime War 1939–1945, November 1941. Accessed on January 21, 2017 .

[10] Karl-Heinz Frieser , Klaus Schmider and Klaus Schönherr : The German Empire and the Second World War . Volume 8: "The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Secondary Fronts." Ed .: Military History Research Office , Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , pp. 90-92.

[11] Wolfgang Dierich, p. 123.