Luftwaffe

Historians usually consider that if the Germans had carried out Operation Sea Lion and invaded Britain in 1940, the invasion would have been defeated by the Royal Navy. This belief is supported by a wargame conducted by the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1974. However, if the Germans had carried out the invasion correctly it could have been successful as bombing and landings on the south coast of England would have meant the British would lose the benefits of radar. RAF Fighter Command operating without radar would not be able to provide adequate air cover for Royal Navy ships in the English Channel. Without adequate air cover the Royal Navy will be forced out of the English Channel by attacks from the Luftwaffe as warships in World War 2 cannot survive under constant air attack.

Few events in the history of the world have aroused the passions of the decent, the fair, the peaceful, and the just as much as the brutal terror bombing attack on the Basque town of Gernika. From the decision of the fascist forces to attack the open city, to the horror of the bombing, to its aftermath, this short history tells the terrible events that colored not only the modern history of the Basques, but of all of humanity as it ushered in a new age of warfare.

Die Wurzeln des militärische Luftbildwesens reichen bis in die Zeit vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg zurück. Die Entwicklungslinien in den deutschen Staaten bis 1945 nachzuverfolgen, ist Gegenstand dieses Buches. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Frage nach dem Zusammenwirken von Militär und dieser Technologie. Diese Veröffentlichung hat propädeutischen Charakter, indem sie diese Grundlagen für die deutschen Luftaufnahmen erläutert und auf Zugangs- und Verwendungsmöglichkeiten hinweist.

Luftwaffe coal power plant in  Rovaniemi

Luftwaffe build a coal power plant near Ounasjoki river in Rovaniemi in 1942 - 1943. It was in use during 1943 - 1944. The Germans destroyed it when they left Rovaniemi in October 1944. In the picture above you can see the plant and it's big chimney. In the other picture there is a pump station near Ounasjoki. It was built to serve water to the plant.

One of the features to distinguish the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 from all other wars throughout recorded history was its immense scale. No conflict prior to, during, or since has rivaled the level of mobilization of men and materiel between two combatant nations nor, sadly, of its carnage and bloodshed. Despite this, many events that played a pivotal role in the war’s outcome have yet to be fully understood. Seeking to add greater clarity to this is Aleksei Isaev’s Dubno 1941: The Greatest Tank Battle of the Second World War. This work provides much-needed context necessary for a more comprehensive understanding of the battles that took place among the towns and cities situated within the Western environs of the Kiev Military District during the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa.

This article is the English summary of the Dutch report.

Errata: 1. Nachtjagddivision is mixed up with 1. NJG (Nachtjagdgeschwader). The Geschwader was part of the Division, both have a relationship with Deelen. The Division eventually became 3. Jagddivision, which staff also was situated at Diogenes and Deelen.


On the high moraines of the Veluwe north of the city of Arnhem (Gelderland, the Netherlands) the German Luftwaffe during World War 2 built several sites that contributed to the development of the German air defence. These include the military airfield of Deelen, the battle command bunker for the Luftwaffe in the Netherlands, Belgium and the Ruhr district code named Diogenes, the radio range and bearing and other radar stations code named Teerose, the anti-air craft batteries (Flak) and a variety of other smaller sites. Never before has a systematically inventory been made on these remnants that can be referred to as the “Deelen ensemble”. This archaeological project is the first endeavour.

The Teerose-stations were the only ones with another third substation, the purpose of which is still unclear and is the subject of this research. This station (Teerose III) wasn't a typical radio range and bearing station. On the basis of a renewed historical research, complemented by archaeological data, an attempt is being made to retrieve more information on this Luftwaffe site.

All these different Luftwaffe sites on the Veluwe, today in different states of preservation, were built in order to disturb the allied Air Forces as much as possible. These individual sites and the collaboration between them caused to prolong the war in the advantage of the Third Reich with numerous of both Allied and German pilots and civilian casualties as a direct consequence.

Kemijärvi during the Continuation War 1941 – 1944

Kemijärvi is a city in Northern Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The city has a population of 7,600 and covers an area of 3.504,99 square kilometres of which 425.84 square kilometres is water. During the Continuation War Kemijärvi (then municipality) was an important logistics centre (Betreuungsstelle) of German Wehrmacht and there was also an important Luftwaffe air base in Hanhikoski-Ketola area.

The Germans established a base in Joutsijärvi upon their arrival in Eastern Lapland in summer 1941. An airport, hospital, canteen, driving school, cinema and various accommodation, supply and storage barracks were also built in Joutsijärvi. There was also a prison camp in the area. As the Germans withdrew in September 1944, they destroyed their barracks and laid mines in the area.

During the Continuation War, a base for German soldiers was located in Isokylä. The area contained a hospital, canteen, residential barracks, a morgue and various warehouses and a prison camp. The Germans destroyed the barracks at the start of October 1944 as they withdrew from the area.

Also in Lossiranta there was a base for Germans. In this area there were supply and storage barracks, kitchen, garage barracks, forge and stalls.

The garrison area in Hanhikoski-Ketola was established in the summer of 1940 in connection with the reorganisation of the army. The garrison acted as a training centre for Finns during the interim peace period and Continuation War. Construction work on the airfield had begun before the Winter War and the field was completed in summer 1941. Hanhikoski was the largest of the garrisons established in Eastern Lapland. It was divided into a residential area for staff, barracks and an airfield. There were around 30 family homes for officers and almost 70 for Non-Commissioned Officers. The barrack area contained accommodation for the men, warehouses and service facilities.

During the Continuation War a Luftwaffe air base and supply centre operated in the Hanhikoski-Ketola area. The Finns used the western part of the area as a training site and supply base. There were around 200 buildings in the area. The Germans burnt most of their barracks but 50 German and Finnish barracks survived the destruction in the autumn of 1944. Nowadays the area is home to an airport and the Sarriojärvi shooting camp area.

There were many prison camps in Kemijärvi area. Besides Hanhikoski, Joutsijärvi and Isokylä there were prison camps in Rättiselkä and in Kortejärvi. In the village of Puikkola there is a grave for diseased people from the prisoner of war camp. It is situated in the village near the railway. The mass grave dates back to the Continuation War when the prisoners were working on the railway. On the north-western slope of Mäntyvaara is also a mass grave. About 380 Soviet prisoners of war from the Continuation War period are buried there.

German defence stations some of which were part of the Ringwall defence line constructed in 1944 to protect Rovaniemi can be found in Tohmo and Leväranta and other places. The defence lines were constructed to secure the German withdrawal towards northern Norway and Ivalo. The Ringwall defence line was constructed along roads leading from Ranua, Posio and Kemijärvi towards Rovaniemi.

According to the armistice signed in 4. September 1944, Finland was required to disarm and expel the German troops in Northern Finland. For this reason, an order was given in early September to evacuate Northern Finland’s civilian population and movable property to safer areas. The Germans also helped Finnish civilians to move from Kemijärvi and from other areas. Later about 1/3 of Kemijärvi was burned by German troops retreating from Salla.

Rovaniemi airport during the Continuation War

Rovaniemi airport is located in Rovaniemi, about 10 kilometres north of Rovaniemi city centre. The Arctic Circle crosses the runway closer to its northern end. The airport was built in 1940 with two grass-surfaced runways. During the Continuation War it served as an airbase and supply center for German Luftwaffe. This was the largest of the Luftwaffe’s airfields in Finland and in northern Norway and it was significantly expanded when the Germans arrived in 1941. There were lots of German accommodation- and storehouse barracks in the vicinity of the airbase. The support base around Luftwaffe airfield reached almost to the present-day Santa Claus Village, and nearby Keminkorkia, Pikku-Keminkorkia, Maunun Matti, Mustonvaara and Takakappale areas.

There are still today foundations from the support structures that once dotted the spaces around the airfield. The remnants of the Luftwaffe support structures today are mundane. The woods contain scattered remains of barracks, workshops, roadways, kasinos, trenches and assorted support and storage structures. Snowmobile paths and walking trails (mostly originally German roads) are scattered throughout the woods around the eroding remnants of the Luftwaffe base. The Germans destroyed all their barracks in October 1944 when they left Rovaniemi.

This article examines the role of two German air force security battalions in the enforcement of Nazi resettlement and occupation security in the primeval Polish forest of Białowieźa. Using the battalion’s documentation, from 1942 to 1944, the author argues that migration and security was central to Nazi occupation in the east, after the first wave of killings in the summer of 1941. This brand of migration and security not only led to a continuation of the killings, as a means of enforcing Hitler’s rule while securing the settlement process, but implicated German troops hitherto assumed not involved in implementing mainstream Nazi policies. The battalions’ contemporary reports describe the widespread killing of Jews, partisans and civilian; while bringing a new perspective on how Nazi dogma shaped the behaviour of the ordinary soldier.

Major General Stoyan Stoyanov (1913–1997) was the most successful Bulgarian fighter pilot in history. With his Messerschmitt Bf 109 he achieved fifteen air victories against the British and American aircraft, which invaded the Bulgarian sky in 1943–1944.
Stoyanov described his memories of the Second World War in the book „We Defended You, Sofia“. Between 1972 and 2018 the book was published in five editions in Bulgarian language and one in Polish. There are significant differences in the texts of the publications, which reflect the political transformations in Bulgaria.
The basis of the six editions of the memoirs „We Defended You, Sofia“ are several drafts, which are stored in the personal funds of the author in the Central State Archives (CSA). In this article the archival documents from the archival fonds of the pilot are compared both with each other and with the different printed versions of the book.

Hitler and Mussolini’s decision to help General Franco with war materiel and troops brought war to the Basque Country and Catalonia. Between 1936 and 1939, the German Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria carried out a brutal campaign of terror bombings that resulted in thousands of air strikes against open cities. This caused innumerable casualties among the civilian population. Franco’s victory in 1939 caused the exile of hundreds of thousands of Basque and Catalan civilians, but the beginning of World War Two and the subsequent occupation of the Northern Basque Country and Northern Catalonia by German troops gave rise to new forms of repression: concentration camps, forced labor, executions and imprisonment. As a consequence, the period from 1936 to 1945 is one of the bloodiest episodes in the contemporary history of Catalonia and the Basque Country.

Feldluftpark 3/X1 (field postcode L 36695) was the German Air Force's airport depot at Pori Airport at the time of the Continuation War, responsible for the spare parts service, major maintenance, damage repairs, fleet replenishment and equipment change of the flight units grouped in northern Norway and Finland. Initially under Luftgau Finnland, and later when it changed its name in 1 November 1943, under the Kommandierender General der Deutschen Luftwaffe in Finnland, arrived in Finland by boat from Stettin mainly at the end of November 1941, even though Feldluftpark Pori (FLP Pori) had already been established on 17 July 1941. Throughout the war, the depot was led initially by a first lieutenant and, as of 1 June 1943, Colonel Heinrich Piecq. Part of the depot was transferred to Könkäänvaara in Rovaniemi in June 1944, and part of the depot was also located at Rovaniemi Airport and apparently also at Nivavaara's Lager Nivea fuel depot. In October 1944, the Luftfeldpark 3/XI left Rovaniemi and moved in November 1944 to Northern Norway.

Em junho de 1941, mais de 3 milhões de soldados alemães invadiram a União Soviética na maior operação militar da história. O plano imperialista que motivou batalhas como Stalingrado era transformar a Europa Oriental numa colônia germânica para exploração e povoamento. “O que a Índia foi para a Inglaterra, os territórios da Rússia serão para nós”, previu Hitler, que noutra ocasião foi especialmente racista: “A Rússia é a nossa África e os russos são nossos negros”. Ainda comparava os nativos eslavos com os índios da América do Norte, pois seriam massacrados sem piedade caso resistissem naquela “Califórnia da Europa”.
Desbravando milhões de quilômetros quadrados, os pioneiros teutônicos iriam dominar, escravizar e dizimar os “sub-humanos eslavos”, inclusive ucranianos e poloneses.
Após a extinção do comunismo soviético e a aniquilação de cidades como Moscou e Leningrado, o Terceiro Reich deveria tornar-se a maior potência do mundo, à altura do Império Romano, tiranizando um continente inteiro em nome da “raça ariana superior”.

Pohjoisen Rantakadun (nykyisen Ounasjoentien 84-86 kohdalla) varrella sen loppupäässä nykyisen urheilukentän ja päiväkodin kohdalla oli kesällä 1942 rakennettu Luftwaffen Standortverwaltungin puuvaraston alue (Holzlagerplatz) ja sen vajoja ja parakkeja. Siellä oli myös saksalaisten tekemä lyhyt lankkutie parakeille.

Kittiläntien ja Pohjoisen Rantakadun (nykyisten Kairatien ja Ounasjoentien) kulmaukseen rakennettiin maaliskuusta 1944 alkaen varastoalue (4 906,7 neliömetriä), jossa oli Sauerstoff-Anlage (happilaitosparakki, n. 10 x 22 metriä), Azetylen-Anlage (asetyleenilaitosparakki, n. 8 x 15 metriä), yksi ajoneuvovaja (n. 10 x 16 metriä) ja yksi asuinparakki (n. 12 x 16 metriä) miehistölle. Yksikkö, joka toimi tällä alueella, oli nimeltään Zug für techn. Gase Nr. 12.

Even before Operation Barbarossa petered out in December 1941, Germany's oil reserves were severely depleted. Adolf Hitler worried that his armed forces would soon grind to a halt for want of petroleum products. During the last months of 1941 and the first of 1942, economic considerations played as much of a role in the formulation of a new strategy as did the run-down state of the eastern armies and air fleets. Hitler feared heavy Soviet bombing attacks on Rumanian oilfields, his main source of oil, and knew that the Reich's reserves were almost exhausted. Consequently, he considered the protection of the Rumanian oilfields and the acquisition of new sources of oil crucial if he were to wage a prolonged war against the growing list of nations he opposed.

Α short history of the oldest Greek airfield in continuous operation. It was the major international civil aviation airport until 1944.Founded in late 1918 by the Navy for Naval Aviation it was used also by Army Aviation before and after WW II. During wartime it was used also by the British, German and Italian Air Forces.  It is considered today the cradle of Hellenic Military, Civil and General Aviation.

Ecologists, activists, lobbyists and of course politicians are already turning their attention to ecological aspects of modern warfare. As a consequence, governments and their armed forces will have to pay more attention to the serious ecological ramifications of conflict. Air forces face the greatest challenges. During both peace and war they have far greater carbon footprints than armies and navies. They use potentially more devastating ordnance. Their targets traditionally include objects in or near population centers and the aquifers, waterways, soils and food sources that sustain them. And air forces cause far worse damage to environmentally significant production, storage and distribution infrastructure (much of it based on petroleum, oil, lubricants or chemicals). This work does not recommend the blanket exclusion of any potential target sets from planning processes. Rather, it argues that, when we utilize our existing warrior code, the Just War ethical framework, we must now slightly expand our time-honored moral and legal constructs of proportionality and discrimination to include environmental issues. That is, the book argues for the inclusion of ecological protection in military planning and for it to be weighed expertly, along with the likely need for post-war remediation activities, among the factors that will ultimately determine the justifiability of military actions.

Biography of 2nd Lieutenant Lajos Vargha, most successful pilot of Fw 190 F equipped Hungarian 102/2. Close-Support Squadron. The article is dual language (English/German). It was published in the 6/2004 issue of Luftwaffe im Focus, pp. 34-36.

У раду се, на основу необјављених архивских извора, објављених дневника и мемоара, као и периодике из времена окупације (1941–1944) анализирају ваздушни удари на Београд у априлу 1941. и током савезничког бомбардовања 1944. године. У средишту рада разматрају се процене жртава бомбардовања, размере разарања и материјалне штете и свеукупне последице (како моменталне, тако и оне дугорочне) које су бомбардовања произвела. Мерама пасивне заштите и акцијама за санирање последица ваздушних удара такође је посвећена истраживачка пажња.

Eduard Böhme, geboren am 9. Juli 1893 in Herold im Erzgebirge nahm am Ersten Weltkrieg als Flugzeugführer teil und wurde unter anderem in der bayerischen Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 9 eingesetzt. Böhme gelang am 25. September 1915 der Abschuss zweier Feinde, was zur damaligen Zeit eine außerordentliche Leistung gewesen war, da die Jagdfliegerei noch in den Kinderschuhen steckte und der Abschuss von Flugzeugen als schwierig galt. Jene zwei Abschüsse am selben Tag brachten Böhme zudem nationale Bekanntheit und viele Orden. Heute erinnert sich so gut wie niemand mehr an diesen Mann, der im Herbst 1915 im wohl im gesamten Deutschen Reich durch Postkarten, Zeitungsmeldungen und sogar durch den Heeresbericht der deutschen OHL bekannt gewesen war.

Ten oosten van Roermond bevindt zich het Nationaal Park De Meinweg. In dit bosgebied werden tijdens en voorafgaand aan de Tweede Wereldoorlog grote militaire ingrepen in het landschap verricht. In 2016 werden er bij toeval sporen en vondsten aangetroffen die duidden op de aanwezigheid van een oefendoel van de Luftwaffe, bedoeld voor het oefenen met het beschieten van gronddoelen. Om hier meer inzicht in te krijgen is er in 2017 besloten om een beperkt gebied door middel van systematische metaaldetectie en een grondige sporeninventarisatie te onderzoeken op vondstmateriaal en (aan het maaiveld zichtbare) sporen. Hierbij zijn vondsten en sporen aangetroffen die een beeld geven van diverse gebruiksfasen van het terrein en de modus operandi van dergelijke oefenterreinen en de aldaar gehouden oefenvluchten.

Dergelijke terreinen voor het oefenen met het beschieten van gronddoelen zijn in Nederland nog nooit op een archeologische manier onderzocht, derhalve is er middels dit onderzoek gepoogd een begin te maken met het  ontsluiten van (archeologische) informatie over dergelijke structuren. Tevens toont het onderzoek aan dat slecht  gedocumenteerde structuren met een lage initiële zichtbaarheid middels het toepassen van gerichte, systematische, metaaldetectie en inventarisatie toch op een gedegen manier onderzocht kunnen worden.

Exhumando nuestra historia: el cementerio musulmán de Tauste. Alba Francés Villanueva.
El pío legado de Don Cristóbal Pérez de Gotor. Francisco Castillo Sola.
Cesión de la casa del Canal para escuelas y oficinas del Sindicato de Riegos. Javier Núñez Arce.
¡Pa’l caso... de Tauste! Enrique Galé Casajús.
El Arco de Ballesta. Manuel Ruiz Baquedano.
Manuel Ruiz Baquedano. Carlos Sancho Coscolluela.
Los fantasmas de “El Paraíso”. Jesús Castillo Morales.
Noticias de la Asociación:

Reviewed "The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe" by Werner Baumbach (New York, Ballantine edition, 1967).  This war memoir of General of the Bombers Baumbach, originally published in German in 1949, traces "the Luftwaffe's 'Lost Victories' of the Air."  In addition to covering the air battles over Western Europe and England, the author describes air operations attacking allied convoys on the Murmansk run, aiding Rommel in the desert, Crete. air fighting in Crimea, Luftwaffe suicide squadrons, and plans to bomb the United States and the Panama Canal.  Germany's scientific advances during the war and decisions to build more fighters are also discussed.

This is an important database, what I found in Freiburg in the German Military Archives (Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv). It contains the number of the German crews on most of the airfields in Hungary on 26 September, 1944. It was published in the 4/2015 issue of Seregszemle, pp. 131-133.

This paper introduces the destroyer training of three Hungarian officer candidates at the Luftwaffe in the wartime years of 1942-1944. It gives an insight and comparison of the German and Hungarian training systems. From these three young officers, only one survived the war. It was published in the 5/2009 issue of Haditudósító, pp. 36-39.