Author: Geoffrey J. Thomas
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811716619
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Shrouded in secrecy during World War II and obscured by myth ever since, Kampfgeschwader 200 (200th Bomb Wing) remains one of the Luftwaffe's most fascinating formations. Considered a special-operations unit, KG 200 delivered spies while flying captured Allied aircraft, conducted clandestine reconnaissance missions, and tested Germany's newest weapons—such as a piloted version of the V-1 rocket (essentially a German kamikaze). • Covers some of the KG 200's more sinister operations, including suicide missions and the unit's role in defeating a French Resistance insurrection in June-July 1944 • Includes information on aircraft used and known personnel losses • Features rare photos and color illustrations of KG 200 aircraft

Author: Dmitry Degtev
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526775506
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
On the night of 14/15 August 1944, the roar of an unknown aircraft was heard over the dense forests to the southeast of Moscow. Flying past the Soviet capital, the aircraft turned towards a ‘secret’ landing site at Yegoryevsk on the outskirts of the city. But lying in wait were troops of Stalin’s elite secret service, SMERSH. The troops turned on the landing lights and the aircraft, a German machine of some description, swept down to land. As the aircraft touched down, some of the SMERSH troops lost their nerve and opened fire prematurely. The German pilot responded quickly and managed to pull his aircraft up in time to brush over the top of the trees at the end of the clearing and disappear back into the dark Soviet sky. This was just one of many vivid episodes in the operational service of the Luftwaffe’s special and secret units which engaged in the delivery of agents and saboteurs in the rear of the enemy throughout the Second World War – just on the Eastern Front but across Asia and Europe. The activities of the pilots and crews of these squadrons, even in the Luftwaffe itself, were closed and secret. Information on the operations and missions of these units was known only a limited number of people. It was common practice for the crew of one aircraft in these units to know nothing about the assignments of their fellow airmen. The area of activity of such units and aircraft covered the whole of Europe, North Africa, the Arctic circle, the Urals, the Caucasus, and Central Asia including Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Luftwaffe not only flew to these remote regions, but also created secret bases for their aircraft. Drawn from German and Russian sources, much of the latter only recently declassified, the authors expose for the very first time the Luftwaffe’s secret operations and reveal the fate of many of the pilots, agents and saboteurs in a story as breathtakingly dramatic as any blockbuster novel.

Author: Harold A. Skaarup
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595840051
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
This handbook concerns the collection of Air Technical Intelligence, and the test flying of war prizes carried out by two RCAF bomber pilots who were posted to the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Foreign Aircraft Flight, Farnborough, in the United Kingdom in May 1945. Their primary task was to visit former Luftwaffe airfields, and to find and fly back any aircraft they deemed worthy of evaluation. The list of aircraft found here does not include every German combat aircraft of the Second World War, as it focuses on those warbirds captured and flown by members of the RCAF, or sent to Canada as war prizes. Very few of these rare aircraft exist today, and therefore, information on known locations where German, Japanese and Italian warbird survivors may be found is included. As a member of the Canadian Aviation Preservation Association and the Canadian Aviation Artists Association, the author strongly supports the preservation of Canada's aviation heritage. The primary intent of this handbook is to provide information for aviation artists and enthusiasts looking for that unusual "never before painted" military aviation subject, and to support the efforts of those engaged in the search for those missing warbirds for which no examples currently exist.

Author: Robert Forsyth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472839803
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
As the course of World War II turned against the Third Reich after Stalingrad some of the most inventive and radical proposals, and designs, were put forward by armaments manufacturers, scientists and technicians, aircrew and even private individuals to the Reichsluftministerium (German Air Ministry) for consideration. Some proposals were destined never to leave the drawing board, while others not only underwent trials but were issued to operational units and used in action. In this fascinating new book, leading Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth examines the many different types of weapons that comprised the Luftwaffe's increasingly potent arsenal during the second half of the war. This was the period that saw the development and adoption of aerial torpedoes, wire-guided rockets and missiles, batteries fired by photo-electric cells, chemical weapons, composite bombers and air-launched flying bombs.

Author: Geoffrey J. Thomas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781902109336
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Shrouded in secrecy and intrigue during its lifetime and myth and legend since its dissolution, the KG 200 still remains for many one of the most fascinating units of the Luftwaffe. Delivering spies while flying captured Allied aircraft, clandestine reconnaissance missions over land and sea, testing new weapons such as the 'Mistel' composite bomber and the piloted V-1, and extremely long-range liaison flights were just some of their tasks. But there was also a more sinister aspect to their operations: men from KG 200 played a significant part in the notorious action against the French Resistance on the Vercors plateau, others were involved in what were effectively suicide missions. Geoff Thomas's deeply researched text throws new light on all aspects of this unit, dispels a number of myths and shows that despite its 'special' status, KG 200 was just as much a prey to the Nazi hierarchy's power politics as every other branch of Wehrmacht, with results that were often tragic but frequently farcical.

Author: Robert Forsyth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472808479
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
The striking appearance of Luftwaffe's Mistel Composite attack aircraft might seem ridiculous to modern eyes, but employed correctly, these original 'fire and forget' weapons were devastatingly effective, as Allied sources testify. This book draws on a wealth of first-hand reports and revealing contemporary photographs to tell the full, strange story of the Mistel units. They were the product of a remarkable mix of desperation and innovation, and were actually grounded in a pre-war, non-military practise – the mounting of one aircraft atop another was initially conceived to extend the ranges of passenger and mail-carrying aircraft. But as early as 1942, German planners saw the potential for use as a guided missile, and by the end of the war, the sight of a Ju-88 lashed to a BF 109 or FW 190 fighter bearing down on an Allied target was not as rare as one might expect. This is a comprehensive account of the Mistel units, from their design and development, through the first deployments at D-Day, to the last, desperate missions against key bridges on the Oder and the Neisse in the final weeks of the war.

Author: David Oliver
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752495526
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
At the outbreak of the World War I there was no formal organization for the transport of spies across enemy lines by aircraft and no communications network between the air forces and their agents. The exploits of British and Commonwealth, American, Free European, Soviet, German, Italian and Japanese airmen and units are recorded in this account.

Author: Peter de Jong
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805712
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
Perhaps the most seaworthy flying boat ever built, the elegant, tri-motor Dornier Do 24 served with both the Allied and Axis forces in very different parts of the globe during World War 2, garnering an excellent reputation along the way This study uses archival records, first-hand accounts and revealing photographs to illuminate the combat career of this remarkable aircraft for the first time in English. The German-built Do 24 was the Netherlands Navy's principal aerial asset during the Japanese invasion of the East Indies. While the survivors of that ordeal served in the Australian Air force, in occupied Holland and France production continued apace and the Do 24 equipped the German Air-Sea rescue service, whose crews loved and respected the machine. The type witnessed the rise and fall of the Luftwaffe over all the European seas, took part in the desperate evacuations of Wehrmacht troops on the Baltic in the face of the overwhelming Soviet advance, and was pressed out of service only with the withdrawal of Spanish Do 24s in 1969. This volume tells the long and eventful story of the faithful Do 24 in full.

Author: Robert Forsyth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472820460
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
German U-boats were the scourge of Allied merchant and military shipping in the Atlantic during World War II, threatening to isolate and then starve the UK out of the War. As Germany's war against the Allied convoys intensified in late 1943, German Admiral Karl Dönitz called upon the Luftwaffe to provide a long-range spotting and shadowing unit to act as 'eyes' for his U-boats. Equipped with big, four-engined Junkers Ju 290s fitted out with advanced search radar and other maritime 'ELINT' (electronic intelligence) devices, Fernaufklärungsgruppe (FAGr) 5 'Atlantik' undertook a distant, isolated campaign far out into the Atlantic and thousands of miles away from its home base in western France. The information generated and reported back to Dönitz's headquarters was vital to the efforts of the U-boats, and FAGr 5's 'shadowing' missions were assigned priority in terms of skilled crews, supplies and equipment. This book tells for the first time the fascinating story of the formation and operations of FAGr 5 'Atlantik', drawing on never-before-published historical records of the unit that accounted for the reporting and destruction of thousands of tons of Allied shipping.

Author: Tyler Morton
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 168247481X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
From Kites to Cold War tells the story of the evolution of manned airborne reconnaissance. Long a desire of military commanders, the ability to see the terrain ahead and gain foreknowledge of enemy intent was realized when Chinese airmen mounted kites to surveil their surroundings. Kite technology was slow to spread, and by the late nineteenth century European nations had developed the balloon and airship to conduct this mission. By 1918, it was obvious that the airplane had become the reconnaissance platform of the future. Used successfully by many nations during the Great War, aircraft technology and capability experienced its most rapid evolutionary period during World War II. Entering the war with just basic airborne imagery capabilities, by V-E and V-J days, air power pioneers greatly improved imagery collection and developed sophisticated airborne signals intelligence collection capabilities. The United States and other nations put these capabilities to use as the Cold War immediately followed. Flying near the periphery of and sometimes directly over the Soviet Union, airborne reconnaissance provided the intelligence necessary to stay one step ahead of the Soviets throughout the Cold War.