Luftwaffe

1910

The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe organized Nazi human experimentation, and Luftwaffe ground troops committed massacres in Italy, Greece, and Poland. ==History== ===Origins=== The Imperial German Army Air Service was founded in 1910 with the name Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches, most often shortened to Fliegertruppe.

1914

In World War I, the Fliegertruppe's initial, 1914–15 era Feldflieger Abteilung observation/reconnaissance air units, each with six two-seater aircraft apiece, had been attached to specific army formations and acted as support.

1916

It was renamed the Luftstreitkräfte on 8 October 1916.

1920

Germany's military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which stated that Germany was forbidden to have any air force. During the interwar period, German pilots were trained secretly in violation of the treaty at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union.

After the defeat of Germany, the service was dissolved on 8 May 1920 under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which also mandated the destruction of all German military aircraft. Since the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have an air force, German pilots trained in secret.

Having headed the Reichswehr air staff for eight years in the 1920s, Wilberg had considerable experience and was ideal for a senior staff position.

1922

Göring had little knowledge of current aviation, had last flown in 1922, and had not kept himself informed of the latest events.

1924

A secret training airfield was established at Lipetsk in 1924 and operated for approximately nine years using mostly Dutch and Soviet, but also some German, training aircraft before being closed in 1933.

1926

Until 1935, the 1926 manual "Directives for the Conduct of the Operational Air War" continued to act as the main guide for German air operations.

1930

Particularly impressive were the Heinkel and Dornier, which fulfilled the Luftwaffe's requirements for bombers that were faster than 1930s-era fighters, many of which were biplanes or strut-braced monoplanes. Despite the participation of these aircraft (mainly from 1938 onward), it was the venerable Junkers Ju 52 (which soon became the backbone of the Transportgruppen) that made the main contribution.

1933

A secret training airfield was established at Lipetsk in 1924 and operated for approximately nine years using mostly Dutch and Soviet, but also some German, training aircraft before being closed in 1933.

In April 1933 the Reich Aviation Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM) was established.

On 25 March 1933 the German Air Sports Association absorbed all private and national organizations, while retaining its 'sports' title.

On 15 May 1933, all military aviation organizations in the RLM were merged, forming the Luftwaffe; its official 'birthday'.

Göring played a leading role in the buildup of the Luftwaffe in 1933–36, but had little further involvement in the development of the force after 1936, and Milch became the "de facto" minister until 1937. The absence of Göring in planning and production matters was fortunate.

Wilberg remained in the air staff, and under Walther Wever helped draw up the Luftwaffe's principle doctrinal texts, "The Conduct of the Aerial War" and "Regulation 16". ===Preparing for war: 1933–1939=== ====Wever years, 1933–1936==== The German officer Corps was keen to develop strategic bombing capabilities against its enemies.

The German air power theorists continued to develop strategic theories, but emphasis was given to army support, as Germany was a continental power and expected to face ground operations following any declaration of hostilities. For these reasons, between 1933 and 1934, the Luftwaffe's leadership was primarily concerned with tactical and operational methods.

1934

The German air power theorists continued to develop strategic theories, but emphasis was given to army support, as Germany was a continental power and expected to face ground operations following any declaration of hostilities. For these reasons, between 1933 and 1934, the Luftwaffe's leadership was primarily concerned with tactical and operational methods.

Luftwaffe "Regulation 10: The Bomber" (Dienstvorschrift 10: Das Kampfflugzeug), published in 1934, advocated air superiority and approaches to ground attack tactics without dealing with operational matters.

The General Staff blocked the entry of Douhet's theory into doctrine, fearing revenge strikes against German civilians and cities. In December 1934, Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff Walther Wever sought to mould the Luftwaffe's battle doctrine into a strategic plan.

In May 1934, Wever initiated a seven-year project to develop the so-called "Ural bomber", which could strike as far as into the heart of the Soviet Union.

1935

With the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the Luftwaffe's existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through German re-armament and conscription would be announced on 16 March.

Until 1935, the 1926 manual "Directives for the Conduct of the Operational Air War" continued to act as the main guide for German air operations.

In 1935, "Luftwaffe Regulation 16: The Conduct of the Air War" was drawn up.

In 1935, this design competition led to the Dornier Do 19 and Junkers Ju 89 prototypes, although both were underpowered.

1936

Göring played a leading role in the buildup of the Luftwaffe in 1933–36, but had little further involvement in the development of the force after 1936, and Milch became the "de facto" minister until 1937. The absence of Göring in planning and production matters was fortunate.

The Commander-in-Chief left the organisation and building of the Luftwaffe, after 1936, to Erhard Milch.

In April 1936, Wever issue requirements for the 'Bomber A' design competition: a range of 6,700 km (4,163 mi) with a 900 kg (1,984 lb) bomb load.

During Kesselring's time as CS, 1936–1937, a power struggle developed between the two as Udet attempted to extend his own power within the Luftwaffe.

In 1936 the Junkers Ju 52 was the backbone of the German bomber fleet.

1937

The National Socialist Flyers Corps (Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps or NSFK) was formed in 1937 to give pre-military flying training to male youths, and to engage adult sport aviators in the Nazi movement.

Göring played a leading role in the buildup of the Luftwaffe in 1933–36, but had little further involvement in the development of the force after 1936, and Milch became the "de facto" minister until 1937. The absence of Göring in planning and production matters was fortunate.

German designers had never solved the issues of the Heinkel He 177A's design difficulties, brought on by the requirement from its inception on 5 November 1937 to have moderate dive-bombing capabilities in a 30-meter wingspan aircraft.

In 1937 Germany imported more fuel than it had at the start of the decade.

It is the aircraft which the Spanish revolution has to thank for its victory." ====Dive-bombing==== Poor accuracy from level bombers in 1937 led the Luftwaffe to grasp the benefits of dive-bombing.

Udet sought to build dive-bombing into the Junkers Ju 88 and conveyed the same idea, initiated specifically by OKL for the Heinkel He 177, approved in early November 1937.

1938

By summer 1938, only 25% of the requirements could be covered.

In steel materials, industry was operating at barely 83% of capacity, and by November 1938 Göring reported the economic situation was serious.

In March 1938, as the Anschluss was taking place, Göring ordered Felmy to investigate the prospect of air raids against Britain.

Particularly impressive were the Heinkel and Dornier, which fulfilled the Luftwaffe's requirements for bombers that were faster than 1930s-era fighters, many of which were biplanes or strut-braced monoplanes. Despite the participation of these aircraft (mainly from 1938 onward), it was the venerable Junkers Ju 52 (which soon became the backbone of the Transportgruppen) that made the main contribution.

Felmy pressed this case firmly throughout 1938 and 1939, and, on 31 October 1939, Großadmiral Erich Raeder sent a strongly worded letter to Göring in support of such proposals.

Established in 1938, they were deployed in parachute operations in 1940 and 1941 and participated in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael and the Battle for The Hague in May 1940, and during the Battle of Crete in May 1941.

1939

Partially as a result of this combat experience, the Luftwaffe had become one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II broke out in 1939.

By the summer of 1939, the Luftwaffe had twenty-eight Geschwader (wings).

The Luftwaffe also operated Fallschirmjäger paratrooper units. The Luftwaffe proved instrumental in the German victories across Poland and Western Europe in 1939 and 1940.

General der Flieger Hellmuth Felmy, commander of Luftflotte 2 in 1939, was charged with devising a plan for an air war over the British Isles.

By 1939 the Luftwaffe was not much better prepared than its enemies to conduct a strategic bombing campaign, with fatal results during the Battle of Britain. The German rearmament program faced difficulties acquiring raw materials.

After the mobilization in 1939 almost 900,000 men served, and just before Operation Barbarossa in 1941 the personnel strength had reached 1.5 million men.

The Luftwaffe was forced to improvise and construct its defences during the war. The daylight actions over German-controlled territory were sparse in 1939–1940.

The "peripheral" strategy of the Luftwaffe between 1939 and 1940 had been to deploy its fighter defences at the edges of Axis occupied territory, with little protecting the inner depths.

It was not put under a unified command until 1943, which also affected the performance of the nine Jagdgeschwader fighter wings in existence in 1939.

Felmy pressed this case firmly throughout 1938 and 1939, and, on 31 October 1939, Großadmiral Erich Raeder sent a strongly worded letter to Göring in support of such proposals.

Beginning in 1939 with a transport regiment, the NSKK had in 1942 a complete division-sized transportation unit serving the Luftwaffe, the NSKK Transportgruppe Luftwaffe serving in France and at the Eastern front.

1940

The Luftwaffe also operated Fallschirmjäger paratrooper units. The Luftwaffe proved instrumental in the German victories across Poland and Western Europe in 1939 and 1940.

Despite deficiencies, it was an impressive force. However, even by the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe still had not mobilized fully.

As one example, Luftflotte 5 was created in 1940 to direct operations in Norway and Denmark, and other Luftflotten were created as necessary.

The Luftwaffe was to have in place a ground-to-air communication system, which played a vital role in the success of Fall Gelb. In the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe assisted the Kriegsmarine and Heer in the invasion of Norway.

Flying in reinforcements and winning air superiority, the Luftwaffe contributed decisively to the German conquest. In the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe contributed to the unexpected success in the Battle of France.

The BEF escaped to continue the war. During the Battle of Britain in summer 1940, the Luftwaffe inflicted severe damage to the Royal Air Force, but did not achieve the air superiority that Hitler demanded for the proposed invasion of Britain, which was postponed and then cancelled in December 1940.

The "peripheral" strategy of the Luftwaffe between 1939 and 1940 had been to deploy its fighter defences at the edges of Axis occupied territory, with little protecting the inner depths.

No further units were formed until 1942, and the years of 1940–1941 were wasted.

Another Blohm und Voss design of 1940, the enormous, 46-meter wingspan six-engined Blohm und Voss BV 222 Wiking maritime patrol flying boat, would see it capable of a 6,800 km (4,200-mile) range at maximum endurance when using higher-output versions of the same Jumo 205 powerplants as used by the BV 138, in later years.

Nevertheless, this civilian transport was adapted for the long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping roles and, between August 1940 and February 1941, Fw 200s sank 85 vessels for a claimed total of 363,000 Grt.

By the end of 1940, the Luftwaffe had suffered heavy losses and needed to regroup.

Nevertheless, the German aircraft industry was being outproduced in 1940.

In terms of fighter aircraft production, the British exceeded their production plans by 43%, while the Germans remained 40% "behind" target by summer 1940.

In fact, German production in fighters fell from 227 to 177 per month between July and September 1940.

One of the many reasons for the failure of the Luftwaffe in 1940 was that it did not have the operational and material means to destroy the British aircraft industry, something that the much-anticipated Bomber B design competition was intended to address. The so-called "Göring program", had largely been predicated on the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1941.

The pioneering nature of jet engine technology in the 1940s resulted in numerous development problems for both of Germany's major jet engine designs to see mass production, the Jumo 004 and BMW 003 (both of pioneering axial flow design), with the more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 never leaving the test phase, as only 19 examples of the HeS 011 would ever be built for development.

Established in 1938, they were deployed in parachute operations in 1940 and 1941 and participated in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael and the Battle for The Hague in May 1940, and during the Battle of Crete in May 1941.

1941

The number of aircrew completing their training was up to 3,941, The Luftwaffe's entire strength was now 2.2 million personnel. In April and May 1941, Udet headed the Luftwaffe delegation inspecting the Soviet aviation industry in compliance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

After the mobilization in 1939 almost 900,000 men served, and just before Operation Barbarossa in 1941 the personnel strength had reached 1.5 million men.

Hitler had already ordered preparations to be made for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In spring 1941, the Luftwaffe helped its Axis partner, Italy, secure victory in the Balkans Campaign and continued to support Italy in the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres until May 1945. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

However, they explained at a meeting of the Reich Industrial Council on 18 September 1941 that the new next-generation aircraft had failed to materialize, and production of obsolete types had to continue to meet the growing need for replacements. The buildup of the Jagdwaffe ("Fighter Force") was too rapid and its quality suffered.

Nevertheless, this civilian transport was adapted for the long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping roles and, between August 1940 and February 1941, Fw 200s sank 85 vessels for a claimed total of 363,000 Grt.

One of the many reasons for the failure of the Luftwaffe in 1940 was that it did not have the operational and material means to destroy the British aircraft industry, something that the much-anticipated Bomber B design competition was intended to address. The so-called "Göring program", had largely been predicated on the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1941.

In 1941 an average of 981 aircraft (including 311 fighters) were produced each month.

By the Summer of 1942, Luftwaffe's operational fighter force had recovered from a low of 39% (44% for fighters and 31% for bombers) in Winter of 1941–1942, to 69% by late June (75% for fighters and 66% for bombers) in 1942.

Established in 1938, they were deployed in parachute operations in 1940 and 1941 and participated in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael and the Battle for The Hague in May 1940, and during the Battle of Crete in May 1941.

Some of these experiments were carried out by Luftwaffe personnel and others were performed by the SS on the orders of the OKL. In 1941, experiments with the intent of discovering how to prevent and treat [were carried out for the Luftwaffe, which had lost aircrew to immersion hypothermia after

1942

From 1942, Allied bombing campaigns gradually destroyed the Luftwaffe's fighter arm.

From late 1942, the Luftwaffe used its surplus ground support and other personnel to raise Luftwaffe Field Divisions.

It was not until 1942 that the Germans started to develop a bombing policy in which civilians were the primary targets, although The Blitz on London and many other British cities involved indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, 'nuisance raids' which could even involve the machine-gunning of civilians and livestock. ===World War II=== When World War II began, the Luftwaffe was one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world.

That's roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids." Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe continued to defend German-occupied Europe against the growing offensive power of RAF Bomber Command and, starting in the summer of 1942, the steadily building strength of the United States Army Air Forces.

No further units were formed until 1942, and the years of 1940–1941 were wasted.

Raeder also complained about the poor standard of aerial torpedoes, although their design was the responsibility of the Wehrmacht combined military's naval arm (the Kriegsmarine), even considering production of the Japanese Type 91 torpedo used at Pearl Harbor as the Lufttorpedo LT 850' by August 1942.

The spring 1942 Amerikabomber program also sought to produce useful strategic bomber designs for the Luftwaffe, with their prime design priority being an advanced trans-oceanic range capability as the main aim of the project to directly attack the United States from Europe or the Azores.

In 1942 this rose to 1,296 aircraft of which 434 were fighters.

By the Summer of 1942, Luftwaffe's operational fighter force had recovered from a low of 39% (44% for fighters and 31% for bombers) in Winter of 1941–1942, to 69% by late June (75% for fighters and 66% for bombers) in 1942.

Throughout 1942 the Luftwaffe was out produced in fighter aircraft by 250% and in twin-engine aircraft by 196%. The appointment of Albert Speer as Minister of Armaments increased production of existing designs and the few new designs that had originated from earlier in the war.

Their losses were 22,041 KIA, 57,594 WIA and 44,785 MIA (until February 1945). During 1942 surplus Luftwaffe personnel was used to form the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, standard infantry divisions that were used chiefly as rear echelon units to free up front line troops.

In 1942 56 RAD companies served with the Luftwaffe in the West as airfield construction troops.

Beginning in 1939 with a transport regiment, the NSKK had in 1942 a complete division-sized transportation unit serving the Luftwaffe, the NSKK Transportgruppe Luftwaffe serving in France and at the Eastern front.

Between 1942 and 1944, two Luftwaffe security battalions were stationed in the Białowieża Forest for Bandenbekämpfung operations.

1943

Moreover, Germany did not possess the economic resources to match the later British and American effort of 1943–1944, particularly in large-scale mass production of high power output aircraft engines (with output of over least 1,500 kW (2,000 hp).

OKL badly neglected the need for transport aircraft; even in 1943, transport units were described as Kampfgeschwadern zur besonderen Verwendung (Bomber Units on Special Duties, KGzbV).

The Luftwaffe reached its largest personnel strength during the period November 1943 to June 1944, with almost three million men and women in uniform; 1.7 million of these were male soldiers, 1 million male Wehrmachtsbeamte and civilian employees, and almost 300,000 female and male auxiliaries (Luftwaffenhelfer).

It was not put under a unified command until 1943, which also affected the performance of the nine Jagdgeschwader fighter wings in existence in 1939.

The Sturmböcke flew Fw 190A fighters armed with heavy 20 mm and 30 mm cannon to destroy heavy bombers, but this increased the weight and affected the performance of the Fw 190 at a time when the aircraft were meeting large numbers of equal if not superior Allied types. Daytime aerial defense against the USAAF's strongly defended heavy bomber forces, particularly the Eighth Air Force and the Fifteenth Air Force, had its successes through the calendar year of 1943.

Of the three parallel proposals from the Heinkel engineering departments for a four-engined version of the A-series He 177 by February 1943, one of these being the Heinkel firm's Amerikabomber candidate, only one, the He 177B, emerged in the concluding months of 1943.

However, by the time this was achieved the Luftwaffe lacked the fuel and trained pilots to make this achievement worthwhile. The failure to maximize production immediately after the failures in the Soviet Union and North Africa ensured the Luftwaffe's effective defeat in the period of September 1943 – February 1944.

This led to the 53.7-litre displacement BMW 802 in 1943, an eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial, which nearly matched the American Duplex-Cyclone's 54.9-litre figure, but with a weight of some matching that of the 24-cylinder liquid-cooled inline DB 606; and the even larger, 83.5-litre displacement BMW 803 28-cylinder liquid-cooled radial, which from post-war statements from BMW development personnel were each considered to be "secondary priority" development programs at best.

Even with such dismal degrees of success for such advanced aviation powerplant designs, more and more design proposals for new German combat aircraft in the 1943–45 period centered either around the failed Jumo 222 or HeS 011 aviation powerplants for their propulsion. ===Personnel and leadership=== The bomber arm was given preference and received the "better" pilots.

This attitude prevailed until the second half of 1943.

During the Defence of the Reich campaign in 1943 and 1944, there were not enough commissioned fighter pilots and leaders to meet attrition rates; as the need arose to replace aircrew (as attrition rates increased), the quality of pilot training deteriorated rapidly.

Training of formation leaders was not systematic until 1943, which was far too late, with the Luftwaffe already stretched.

Afterwards, although continuing to be trained in parachute delivery, paratroopers were only used in a parachute role for smaller-scale operations, such as the rescue of Benito Mussolini in 1943.

From 1943, the Luftwaffe also had an armoured division called Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring, which was expanded to a Panzerkorps in 1944. Ground support and combat units from the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) and the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) were also put at the Luftwaffe's disposal during the war.

In 1943 420 RAD companies were trained as anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) and posted to existing Luftwaffe AAA battalions in the homeland.

The overwhelming number of its 12,000 members were Belgian, Dutch and French collaborators. ==War crimes and bombing of non-military targets == ===Forced labor === In 1943 and 1944, aircraft production was moved to concentration camps in order to alleviate labor shortages and to protect production from Allied air raids.

1944

The Luftwaffe's demand for labor was one of the factors that led to the deportation and murder of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews in 1944.

Late in the war, by 1944–45, JG 7 and JG 400 (and the jet specialist JV 44) flew much more advanced aircraft, with JG 1 working up with jets at war's end.

The Luftwaffe reached its largest personnel strength during the period November 1943 to June 1944, with almost three million men and women in uniform; 1.7 million of these were male soldiers, 1 million male Wehrmachtsbeamte and civilian employees, and almost 300,000 female and male auxiliaries (Luftwaffenhelfer).

But at the start of 1944, Eighth AF commander Jimmy Doolittle made a major change in offensive fighter tactics, which defeated the Luftwaffe's day fighter force from that time onwards.

Only three airworthy prototypes of the B-series He 177 design were produced by early 1944, some three years after the first prototype flights of the Avro Lancaster, the most successful RAF heavy bomber. Another failure of procurement and equipment was the lack of a dedicated naval air arm.

The "ramp-up" to production levels required to fulfill the Luftwaffe's front-line needs was also slow, not reaching maximum output until 1944.

Production of fighters was not given priority until 1944; Adolf Galland commented that this should have occurred at least a year earlier.

German aviation production reached about 36,000 combat aircraft for 1944.

However, by the time this was achieved the Luftwaffe lacked the fuel and trained pilots to make this achievement worthwhile. The failure to maximize production immediately after the failures in the Soviet Union and North Africa ensured the Luftwaffe's effective defeat in the period of September 1943 – February 1944.

During the Defence of the Reich campaign in 1943 and 1944, there were not enough commissioned fighter pilots and leaders to meet attrition rates; as the need arose to replace aircrew (as attrition rates increased), the quality of pilot training deteriorated rapidly.

From 1943, the Luftwaffe also had an armoured division called Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring, which was expanded to a Panzerkorps in 1944. Ground support and combat units from the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) and the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) were also put at the Luftwaffe's disposal during the war.

The overwhelming number of its 12,000 members were Belgian, Dutch and French collaborators. ==War crimes and bombing of non-military targets == ===Forced labor === In 1943 and 1944, aircraft production was moved to concentration camps in order to alleviate labor shortages and to protect production from Allied air raids.

In 1944 and 1945, as many as 90,000 concentration prisoners worked in the aviation industry, and were about one tenth of the concentration camp population over the winter of 1944–45.

Of the 437,000 Hungarian Jews deported between May and July 1944, about 320,000 were gassed on arrival at Auschwitz and the remainder forced to work.

By 1944, one-third of production at the crucial Regensburg plant that produced the Bf 109, the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter arm, originated in Gusen and Flossenbürg alone.

In 1944, many Luftwaffe soldiers were transferred to concentration camps to alleviate personnel shortages. ===Massacres === Luftwaffe paratroopers committed many war crimes in Crete following the Battle of Crete, including the Alikianos executions, Massacre of Kondomari, and the Razing of Kandanos.

Between 1942 and 1944, two Luftwaffe security battalions were stationed in the Białowieża Forest for Bandenbekämpfung operations.

1945

In January 1945, during the closing stages of the Battle of the Bulge, the Luftwaffe made a last-ditch effort to win air superiority, and met with failure.

Hitler had already ordered preparations to be made for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In spring 1941, the Luftwaffe helped its Axis partner, Italy, secure victory in the Balkans Campaign and continued to support Italy in the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres until May 1945. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

A last-ditch attempt, known as Operation Bodenplatte, to win air superiority on 1 January 1945 failed.

Their losses were 22,041 KIA, 57,594 WIA and 44,785 MIA (until February 1945). During 1942 surplus Luftwaffe personnel was used to form the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, standard infantry divisions that were used chiefly as rear echelon units to free up front line troops.

In 1944 and 1945, as many as 90,000 concentration prisoners worked in the aviation industry, and were about one tenth of the concentration camp population over the winter of 1944–45.

1946

With rapidly dwindling supplies of petroleum, oil, and lubricants after this campaign, and as part of the entire combined Wehrmacht military forces as a whole, the Luftwaffe ceased to be an effective fighting force. After the defeat of Germany, the Luftwaffe was disbanded in 1946.

1953

He died in Munich in 1953. ===Organization and chain of command=== At the start of the war the Luftwaffe had four Luftflotten (air fleets), each responsible for roughly a quarter of Germany.




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