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MG FF

MG FF

The MG FF was a drum-fed 20 mm aircraft cannon developed in 1936 by Oerlikon and license-produced in Germany. The MG FF was designed for use at fixed or flexible mountings in Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II.
It had some seriouse disadvantages like low RoF and muzzle velocity as well as being drum-fed. Wing installation on Me109 and Fw 190 was not easy as the drum needed lots of space thus limiting the ammo storage to ~60 shots.The current knowledge is that a better drum with a 90-round nominal capacity was developed for Fw190A-5 and retrofitted to some earlier variants. There were also experiments with belt feed.
The MG FF was improved to fire a high explosive mine shot (Minengeschoß) with thinner walls but carried more explosives. This projectile was lighter and generated less recoil than earlier projectiles requiring the cannon was modified to the MG FF/M in Summer 1940.
The MG FF and FF/M saw widespread use in Fighters like Me109E, early Me109F, Me110 C to F and Fw190A-2 to A-5 as well as in some bombers like Do 217, He 111 and many other aircraft. It was often replaced with the 20 mm Mg 151/20 during 1943 but saw a come-back as primary Schräge Musik gun in the Me 110 night fighters as it perfectly fits into the rear cockpit. ---- Technical Data
- Weight : 26.3 kg
- Length : 1.37 m
- Muzzle Velocity : 575 to 700 m/s [1]
- Rate of Fire : 520 to 540 rounds per minute [1]
- Round types: armor piercing (AP), high explosive (HE)
- HE(M) high explosive mine shot (only MG FF/M) [1] depending on ammo type used More detailed info can be found here http://prodocs.netfirms.com/ under "WEAPONS INFO (type,speed,filling)" See Also:
- List of firearms
- List of common WW2 weapons Category:Automatic cannons Category:Aircraft guns

Cannon

A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. The term can apply to a modern day rifled machine gun with a calibre of 20 mm or more (see autocannon). Cannon also refers to a large, smooth-bored, muzzle-loading gun used before the advent of breech-loading, rifled guns firing explosive shells. "Cannon" derives from the Latin canna (a tube). Bombard was early used for "cannon", but from the early 15th century came to refer only to the largest weapons. "Cannon" can serve both as the singular and plural of the noun.

History

shell The oldest evidence for the use of cannon is a relief carved by Buddhist monks in China in 1128, where a cannon is portrayed among other weapons of war. In the West, the use of cannon was first recorded in the battles of the early 14th century, for instance, at the siege of Metz in 1324, and by the English against the Scots in 1327. The earliest listing of firearms in an army inventory is in 1326. The new weapon's popularity is indicated by cannon being regarded "as common and familiar as any weapon" by 1350. The first cannon were of two types, small guns of cast bronze or larger, banded wrought iron cannon. Developments in gunpowder in the 1400s helped speed the military adoption of cannon. The actual effectiveness of these early weapons is not clear; battle reports of the time tend to exaggerate. However, it is undeniable that regardless of their (probably feeble) physical impact, early cannons, with their noise, smoke, and flames, had a terrifying psychological impact on horses or soldiers who had never encountered the weapons before. Early cannon did not always fire spherical projectiles. For smaller cannon, arrow-like rounds were used in the 14th century, sometimes with brass fin-stabilisers or inflammable heads. Initially, round shot was made of iron but was soon replaced by stone balls, particularly for larger pieces, due to the cost of metals in the 14th and 15th centuries. The round shot were sometimes covered in lead to reduce windage. For anti-personnel use, massed lead pellets were quickly adopted, but in extremis any small stones, nails, or iron scraps would be used as "hailshot". The introduction of wheeled carriages for cannon did not occur until the 15th century. Prior to then the weapons were mounted on sturdy wooden frames. The largest siege bombards would be strapped down to large timber baulks on earthwork platforms and aimed either with the initial platform or by hammering wedges under the front. Timber props supporting thick wooden planks were positioned to absorb the recoil. recoil] In the 16th century the "Great Guns" were classified according to size, with such names as "cannon royal" (see Tsar Cannon), "demi-cannon", "culverin", "demi-culverin", "falcon", "falconer", "minion" etc., but by the 18th century they were classified by the weight of the round shot that they fired. Thus the demi-cannon was described as a 32-pounder (15 kg). Smaller guns included the 18-pound (8 kg) culverin, 12-pounders (5 kg), 9 pounders (4 kg) and 6-pounders (3 kg). The gun barrel was mounted on a wheeled carriage balanced on two "trunnions", the short metal projections on either side of the barrel invented by an unknown Dutchman. The angle of elevation could be altered by moving a wooden wedge under the rear end of the gun. Shotguns were developed as essentially small cannons, having been first named in Kentucky in the 18th Century; their size, expressed in gauge, is expressed in the fraction of a pound that a round shot of a diameter equal to their barrel bore diameter would be. Hence, a 12 gauge shotgun has a bore that is equivalent in diameter to a round shot of lead weighing one-twelth of a pound. See gauge (bore diameter). The early big guns were built up from strips of wrought iron, heated until they glowed yellow, and then hammered together to weld them and form the barrel. Rings of iron were forced over the barrel to reinforce it. Smaller guns were cast in brass or bronze, using techniques used for centuries to produce statues. In the 16th century the Dutch developed cast iron cannon. In addition to the obvious implications for land-based artillery, the lighter weight of cast-iron cannon rendered shipboard artillery far more efficient and cost-effective. Cast-iron technology spread to England in 1543, where it grew to become a key element in the British rise to naval supremacy. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, cannon occupied several roles. On the battlefield they were like modern-day machine guns, used to "thin out" an advancing group of the enemy. In a siege, larger cannon and mortars were used more like conventional artillery or medieval siege weapons, to knock holes in the defences. In 1823, the first cannons using explosive shells were invented by the French General Henri-Joseph Paixhans. These cannons, combining explosive power with a flat trajectory, were adopted by various Navies from the 1840s, thereby triggering the demise of wooden ships, and the iron hull revolution in boat building. Henri-Joseph Paixhans]] The development of the smooth bore muzzle-loaded cannon culminated in the inventions of John A. Dahlgren, the admiral who designed the heavy, cast-iron cannon fired from Union ships in the American Civil War. In 1862 John Gilleland invented a double barrelled cannon, which turned out to be a spectacular failure. The military use of cannon declined in the mid-19th century as fabrication technology improved enough to enable the rifling of gun barrels (which in turn required the introduction of breech loading, followed by a brief return to muzzle-loading) and the use of the far more destructive explosive shells. During the nineteenth century, artillery technology advanced at a very rapid rate, ensuring that by the beginning of the twentieth century, modern armies in Europe, America, and Japan were equipped with lethally accurate cannons. Artillery came to dominate the First World War, with approximately 7 million of the estimated 10 million worldwide casualties being caused by artillery shells. Artillery forced armies to construct elaborate trench systems, which became the enduring image of the war. During the Second World War, artillery became less important as battles had become highly mobilised, with bomber aircraft taking over the role of long-range cannons. Cannons in fortified positions, such as the Maginot Line and the Atlantic Wall, were increasingly unable to protect areas from infantry and tank attacks. The German "Big Bertha" guns, capable of firing shells from Occupied France across the English Channel, were technologically unsuitable as the cannon's rifling would too quickly wear away. The High-pressure gun, designed by German engineers to bombard London, was a spectacular failure.

In Popular Culture

In cases of emergency, ersatz cannon have been fashioned from as sewer pipes and hollow tree trunks, anecdotally even from alligator carcasses, as described in the historical ballad, The Battle of New Orleans.

Projectiles fired from cannon

The Battle of New Orleans 3. hole in which the fuse is inserted]] ; Round shot : A solid projectile made, in early times, from dressed stone but, by the 17th century, from iron. The most accurate projectile that could be fired by a smooth-bore cannon, used to batter the wooden hulls of opposing ships, forts, or fixed emplacements, and as a long-range anti-personnel weapon. ; Chain shot or bar shot : Two sub-calibre round shot (a good deal smaller than the bore of the barrel) linked by a length of chain or a solid bar, and used to slash through the rigging and sails of an enemy ship so that it could no longer manoeuvre. Inaccurate and only used at close range. ; Canister shot (or case shot) : An anti-personnel weapon which included several small round shot or lead musket bullets in a metal can, which broke up when fired, scattering the shot throughout the enemy personnel, like a large shotgun. ; Shell : An anti-personnel weapon, similar to canister shot, but with a can that was much more robust and which also contained a fused explosive charge, trimmed to explode above the heads of the enemy, spreading shot and can fragments in the form of shrapnel over the enemy. First used in the 16th century as a siege weapon fired from mortars, and later as a battlefield weapon. ; Grapeshot : An anti-personnel weapon, similar to canister shot, but with the shot being contained in a canvas bag, and generally of a smaller calibre. ; Carcass : An incendiary/antipersonnel projectile designed to burn fiercely and produce poisonous fumes. It was constructed of an iron frame bound with sack cloth and filled with various ingredients such as pitch, antimony, sulphur, saltpeter, tallow and venetian turpentine. It was ignited by the cannon's propellant charge, bursting on impact with the target and releasing noxious fumes while setting fire to its surroundings. It was effectively an early chemical weapon as well as an incendiary and area denial weapon. area denial weapon

Modern cannons

A modern artillery piece is generally referred to either as a "gun", or by the name of its specific type, such as a Howitzer. Since World War II the term cannon is used to refer to a gun of around 20 mm to 125 mm calibre, sometimes with an automatic loading action capable of firing explosive ammunition, an auto-cannon. The minimum calibre of a cannon, 20 mm, has been a de facto standard since WWII, when heavy machine guns of 12.7 mm (0.5") and 13.2 mm calibre were used side by side with 20 mm and larger guns, the latter using explosive ammunition, e.g., RAF fighters with 20 mm Hispano cannon and Luftwaffe with 20 mm and 30 mm cannon. The Bofors 40 mm gun and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon are two examples largely used during the Second World War, and still in usage today. Most nations use these modern (auto-)cannons on their lighter vehicles. Typical of the type is the 25 mm 'Bushmaster' cannon mounted on the LAV and Bradley armoured vehicles. A cannon generally refers to a high velocity, low trajectory, direct fire weapon such as the main gun on most modern main battle tanks. A howitzer generally refers to a weapon using a lower velocity than a cannon, which fires on a higher trajectory, and provides indirect fire. These are both differentiated from a mortar, which fires a low velocity (by comparison) round at very high trajectory at much more limited range. In slang usage, the term "cannon" refers to any of the class of handguns with a large bore, especially those with a caliber over 0.357". The .357 magnum is considered by most to be the smallest of this group of weapons, which includes the Sig-Sauer P220, the Pasadena Corporation's .44 Automag, and .44/.40 caliber Colt model P1976 revolver. The term "hand-cannon" is less well known but also used.

Reference

mortar.]]
- The World's Great Artillery (2002), Hans Halberstadt. ISBN 0760733031

Patents

- -- Casting ordnance
- -- Cannon
- -- Muzzle loading ordnance Category:Artillery

1936

1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-March

leap year starting on Wednesday
- January 7-10 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: In the Battle of Ganale Doria, General Graziani attacks troops under Ras Desta Damtew guarding southern Ethiopia; after over three days of slaughter, the Ethiopians break and flee.
- January 15 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.
- January 16 - Serial killer Albert Fish executed in Sing Sing
- January 20 - Death of George V of the United Kingdom. His son Edward VIII succeedes him as King of the United Kingdom, King of Ireland and Emperor of India.
- January 24 - Albert Sarraut's government begins in France.
- January 28 - Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer.
- January 31 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.
- February 4 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
- February 6 - The 1936 Winter Olympic Games opens in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
- February 10-15 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Ethiopian units under Ras Mulugeta counterattack southwest of Chalacot in the Battle of Amba Aradam, but are repulsed with heavy losses.
- From February 14, 1936, to March 1, 1945, AG Weser launched a total of 162 U-boats.
- February 19 - Manuel Azaña's government begins in Spain
- February 26 - 1400 Japanese soldiers invade government offices in Tokyo. They demand arrest of general Kazushige Ugaki and that general Sadao Araki made head of the Kwantung Army and death of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, the minister of Finance and Inspector General of Military Education
- February 29 - Emperor Hirohito orders Japanese army to arrest 123 conspirators in Tokyo government offices - 19 of them are executed in July.
- March 7 - A small contingent of German troops, increased considerably in number in the following days, marched into the Rhineland demilitarized zone bordering France.
- March 31 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Emperor Haile Selassie personally leads an Ethiopian counter-attack in the Battle of Maychew. A crushing Ethiopian defeat, this is the last major battle of the war.

May-June

Battle of Maychew
- May 2 - Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia leaves the capital city of Addis Ababa for Djibouti, whence he travels to Europe to personally address the League of Nations.
- May 5 - Italians occupy Addis Ababa
- May 8 - Jockey Ralph Neves temporarily dies during a race in Bay Meadows Racecourse in California but dashes back from the morgue to the racetrack
- May 9 - Italy officially annexes Ethiopia.
- May 12 - The Santa Fe railroad in the United States inaugurates the all-Pullman Super Chief passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.
- May 18 - Sada Abe, a Japanese former prostitute, causes the death of her lover Kichizo Ishida from asphyxia while having sexual intercourse. She performs penis removal on the corpse. She wanders the streets of Tokyo for three days with the severed penis placed in her kimono.
- May 21 - The Japanese Police apprehends Sada Abe for manslaughter. She is sentenced to six years in prison but she gains fame from the incident. She would later become an actress.
- May 27 - The first flight by the Irish airline Aer Lingus takes place.
- May 27 - British luxury liner The Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage over the Atlantic
- May 28 - Alan Turing submits "On Computable Numbers" for publication.
- June 3 - Haile Selassie arrives to London in exile.
- June 4 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.
- June 11 - Opening of the London International Surrealist Exhibition at the New Burlington Galleries.
- June 15 - Army laboratory explodes in Estonia - 50 dead.

July-September

Estonia
- July - A major heat wave strikes the Midwestern United States, hundreds of high temperature records are set
- July 4 - Last day of the London International Surrealist Exhibition at the New Burlington Galleries
- July 11 - Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic
- July 13 - Murder of Spanish monarchist Jose Calvo Sotelo
- July 13 to 14 - Peak of July 1936 heat wave. The states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana all set new state records for high temperature.
- July 16 – George McMahon tries to shoot Edward VIII at the Colour ceremony. Later he tries to claim he was working for MI5
- July 17 - Spanish Civil War: Francisco Franco and other generals attempt a coup d'état, starting a conservative rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain
- July 17 - Franco's forces invade Canary Islands
- July 18 - Troops of Francisco Franco land on Morocco and Barcelona - Spanish Civil War begins
- July 19 - Spain - the main trade union, the anarchist CNT calls for a revolution to defeat the military coup and institute libertarian communism.
- July - British Police end routine armed patrols in London
- August 1 - The 1936 Summer Olympics open in Berlin, Germany.
- August 4 - Ioannis Metaxas bans political parties in Greece
- August 5 - Military coup in Greece - Ioannis Metaxas takes power
- August 14 - Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last public execution in the United States
- August 25 - Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev were shot by a firing squad
- September 6 - The last surviving thylacine, Benjamin, dies alone in his cage in the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
- September 14 - Landslide in northern Norway - 74 dead

October

Norway
- October 1 - Francisco Franco elected Jefe del Estado (Head of State) in Spain.
- October 5 - In Jarrow, England, 200 unemployed shipyard workers begin a march to London to petition the government to create more jobs. On October 31, 197 of them arrive on the Houses of Parliament
- October 7 - Basque representatives in Guernica declare the Basque Republic of Euzkadi
- October 9 - Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begins to transmit electricity from the Colorado River 266 miles to Los Angeles, California.
- October 13 - The Jarrow March sets off for London.
- October 13 - Regular ferry traffic begins between Dover and Calais
- October 23 - Legión Cóndor joins the Falangists
- October 25 - Rome-Berlin axis is formed between Italy and Germany.
- October 28 - US President Franklin Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
- October 31 - The Boy Scouts of the Philippines was formed.

November-December

Boy Scouts of the Philippines]
- November 3 - U.S. presidential election, 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over Alf Landon.
- November 12 - In California, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
- November 16 - Edward VIII of the United Kingdom announces his intention to marry Wallis Simpson
- November 20 - In UK, new Matrimonial Causes Act permits divorce on the grounds of cruelty, drunkenness, willful desertion, incurable insanity, and being a prisoner on a death sentence
- November 23 - The first edition of Life is published.
- November 25 - In Berlin, Nazi-Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, thus agreeing to consult on what measures to take "to safeguard their common interests" in case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation (Adolf Hitler broke the terms of the pact when he signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August, 1939).
- November 25 - Abraham Lincoln Brigade sails from New York City on its way to Spanish Civil War
- November 30 - In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed in a fire (it had been built for the 1851 Great Exhibition).
- December 3 Radio station WQXR is officially founded
- December 10-11 - Edward VIII of the United Kingdom abdicates
- December 11 - Abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom leads to accession of King George VI of the United Kingdom.
- December 12 - George VI of the United Kingdom accedes to the throne.
- December 12-26 - Men of two of his generals kidnap Chiang Kai-Shek in Xi'an (Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng do it to force him to negotiate a deal with the communists)
- December 30 - The United Auto Workers union stages its first sit-down strike.

Unknown Dates

- Inge Lehmann argues that the Earth's molten interior has a solid core.
- The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits is signed.
- YMCA Youth and Government program founded in Albany, New York
- Oswald Mosley leads an Anti-Jewish march through London's East End, where it meets with opposition
- Start of the Great Arab Revolt in the British mandate of Palestine (lasting until 1939)
- Jean Piaget (1896-1980) publishes 'La naissance de l'intelligence chez l'enfant'.
- Mordecai Ham begins radio ministry.

Births

January-February

- January 2 - Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
- January 3 - Georgina Spelvin, film actress
- January 10 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian (d. 2002)
- January 10 - Robert Wilson, American physicist and radio astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 21 - Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (d. 2005)
- January 22 - Ong Teng Cheong, President of Singapore (d. 2002)
- January 22 - Alan J. Heeger, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 22 - Joseph Wambaugh, American author
- January 23 - Jerry Kramer, American football player
- January 27 - Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
- January 27 - Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 28 - Alan Alda, American actor
- January 28 - Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer
- February 1 - Azie Taylor Morton, U.S. Treasurer (d. 2003)
- February 11 - Burt Reynolds, American actor
- February 14 - Andrew Prine, American actor
- February 17 - Jim Brown, American football player
- February 20 - Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
- February 21 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (d. 1996)
- February 22 - J. Michael Bishop, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 24 - Lance Reventlow, English playboy, entrepreneur, and race car driver (d. 1972)
- February 29 - Henri Richard, Canadian hockey player

March-April

- March 4 - Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (d. 1968)
- March 5 - Canaan Banana, first President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
- March 5 - Dean Stockwell, American actor
- March 6 - Marion Barry Jr., Mayor of Washington, DC
- March 7 - Loren Acton, astronaut
- March 9 - Tom Sestak, American football player (d. 1987)
- March 11 - Rev. Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights leader (d. 1990)
- March 11 - Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- March 17 - Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovak composer
- March 18 - Frederik Willem de Klerk, President of South Africa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- March 19 - Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
- March 20 - Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican musician
- March 24 - David Suzuki, Canadian environmentalist
- March 28 - Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author and politician
- March 31 - Marge Piercy, American novelist
- April 10 - John Madden, American football coach and sportscaster
- April 14 - Kenneth Mars, American actor
- April 22 - Glen Campbell, American musician
- April 23 - Roy Orbison, American singer (d. 1988)
- April 29 - Zubin Mehta, Indian conductor

May-August

- May 2 - Engelbert Humperdinck, British singer
- May 9 - Albert Finney, English actor
- May 9 - Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
- May 12 - Frank Stella, American painter
- May 14 - Aline Chainé, First Lady of Canada
- May 14 - Bobby Darin, American singer (d. 1973)
- May 14 - Waheeda Rehman, Indian actress
- May 15 - Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-born actress
- May 15 - Paul Zindel, American novelist and playwright (d. 2003)
- May 16 - Karl Lehmann, German theologian
- May 17 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and director
- May 22 - M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and writer (d. 2005)
- May 28 - Betty Shabazz, American civil rights leader
- May 30 - Keir Dullea, American actor
- June 4 - Nutan, Indian actress
- June 8 - James Darren, American actor and singer
- June 8 - Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 22 - Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter, and actor
- June 23 - Costas Simitis, Prime Minister of Greece
- June 26 - Robert Maclennan, British politician
- June 28 - Cathy Carr, American singer (d. 1988)
- June 28 - Chuck Howley, American football player
- June 29 - Harmon Killebrew, baseball player
- July 5 - James Mirrlees, Scottish economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 6 - Dave Allen, Irish comedian (d. 2005)
- July 23 - Don Drysdale, baseball player (d. 1993)
- July 28 - Garfield Sobers, West Indian cricketer
- August 1 - Yves St. Laurent, Algerian-born French fashion designer
- August 4 - Assia Djebar, Algerian writer and filmmaker
- August 20 - Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 21 - Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player(d. 1999)
- August 29 - Inga Artamonova, Russian speed skater (d. 1966)

September-December

- September 2 - Andrew Grove, Hungarian-born businessman
- September 7 - Buddy Holly, American singer (d. 1959)
- September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor
- September 14 - Ferid Murad, American physician and pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, filmmaker, and television producer (d. 1990)
- October 3 - Steve Reich, American composer
- October 7 - Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
- October 16 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (d. 1994)
- October 23 - Barry Sinclair, New Zealand cricket captains
- October 31 - Michael Landon, American actor (d. 1991)
- November 12 - Mills Lane, American boxing referee
- November 19 - Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 20 - Don DeLillo, American author
- November 21 - Victor Chang, Australian heart surgeon
- December 11 - Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
- December 25 - Princess Alexandra of Kent
- December 29 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
- December 29 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)

Deaths

- January 16 - Albert Fish, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1890)
- January 18 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- January 20 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
- February 4 - Wilhelm Gustloff, German leader of the Swiss Nazi Party (b. 1895)
- February 19 - Billy Mitchell, U.S. general and military aviation pioneer (b. 1879)
- February 26 - Saito Makoto, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
- February 27 - Ivan Pavlov, Russian psychologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1849)
- February 28 - Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1866)
- March 16 - Marguerite Durand, French journalist and feminist leader (b. 1864)
- March 21 - Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer (b. 1865)
- April 3 - Bruno Hauptmann, German killer of Charles Lindbergh Jr. (b. 1899)
- April 8 - Robert Bárány, Austrian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1876)
- April 30 - Alfred Edward Housman, English poet (b. 1859)
- June 11 - Robert E. Howard, American author (suicide

Luftwaffe

right The (German: "air force", IPA: ['luftvafə]) is the commonly used term for the German air force. The history of the Luftwaffe began in 1910 with the founding of the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte), yet it has not been continuous because Germany lost both World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). As a result, the Germans had no military air force between 1918 and 1935 and again between 1945 and 1955. For many English speakers, the term "Luftwaffe" is synonymous with the air force of Nazi Germany. In 1939-1940, this Luftwaffe helped the German army to astonishingly rapid success in both Eastern and Western Europe, but which failed to win control of the skies over England. Later on, despite its best efforts, it could not prevent the defeat of the Third Reich either by day, or by night, owing to constant Allied bombing of Germany's factories and cities by a numerically overwhelming force of bombers based in England. This was coupled with the advances of the Soviet armies from the East, as numbers of available German aircraft dwindled in the face of ever-growing numbers of Soviet aircraft. The Luftwaffe was, however, notable in putting the world's first jet fighter and the world's only rocket-powered fighter into action during the war. Between 1955 and 1990, there were two German air forces as a result of the splitting of the defeated Germany in 1945 into two, but the air force of the GDR was dissolved and its structure taken over by the Luftwaffe in 1990 upon the German reunification. Only in Bosnia in 1999 has the Luftwaffe ever seen war action since the end of World War II.

History

World War I

World War II The forerunner of the Luftwaffe, the Imperial German Army Air Service—the Luftstreitkräfte ("Air-fighting Forces"), was founded in 1910 before the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918) with the emergence of military aircraft, although they were intended to be used primarily for reconnaissance in support of armies on the ground, just as balloons had been used in the same fashion during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 and even as far back as the Napoleonic Wars. It was not the world's first air force, however, because France's embryonic army air service, which eventually became the L'Armée de l'Air, had also been founded in 1910, and Britain's Royal Flying Corps,( which merged in 1918 with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force), was founded in 1912. During the war, the Imperial Army Air Service utilised a wide variety of aircraft, ranging from fighters (such as those manufactured by Albatros-Flugzeugwerke and Fokker), reconnaissance aircraft (Aviatik and DFW) and heavy bombers (Gothaer Waggonfabrik, better known simply as Gotha, and Zeppelin-Staaken). Gothaer Waggonfabrik However, the fighters received the most attention in the annals of military aviation, since it produced "aces" such as Manfred von Richthofen, popularly known as "The Red Baron", Ernst Udet, Hermann Göring, Oswald Boelcke (considered the first master tactician of "dogfighting"), Max Immelmann (the first airman to win the Pour le Mérite, Imperial Germany's highest decoration for gallantry, as a result of which the decoration became popularly known as the "Blue Max"), and Werner Voss. As well as the German Navy, the German Army also used Zeppelins as airships for bombing military and civilian targets in occupied France and Belgium as well as the United Kingdom. All aircraft in service until early 1918 were distinguishable as being German from the Iron Cross that was being used as the German military aircraft insignia. (It should be noted, though, that Germany's closest ally, Austria-Hungary, also adopted the Iron Cross for its aircraft.) Iron Cross and so became one of the best-known fighter planes of World War I.]] From early 1918, German military aircraft began to sport the straight-line Balken Cross (Balkenkreuz, Balken = beam), which would become better known the world over during the era of the Third Reich. After the war ended in German defeat, the service was dissolved completely under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which demanded that its aeroplanes be completely destroyed. As a result of this disbanding, the present-day Luftwaffe (which dates from 1955, in any case) is not the oldest independent air force in the world, since the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom is older, having been founded on 1 April 1918.

Inter-war period

Since Germany had been banned by the Treaty of Versailles from having an air force, there existed the need to train its pilots for a future war in secret. Initially, civil aviation schools within Germany were used, yet only light training planes could be used in order to maintain the facade that the trainees were going to fly with civil airlines such as Lufthansa. In order to train its pilots on the latest combat aircraft, Germany solicited the help of its future enemy, the USSR. A secret training airfield was established at Lipetsk in 1924 and operated for approximately nine years using mostly Dutch and Russian, but also some German, training aircraft before being closed in 1933. USSR On February 26, 1935, Adolf Hitler ordered Hermann Göring to reinstate the Luftwaffe, breaking the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919. Germany broke it without sanction from Britain and France or the League of Nations, yet neither the two nations nor the League did anything to oppose either this or any other action which broke the provisions of the Treaty. Although the new air force was to be run totally separately from the army, it retained the tradition of according army ranks to its officers and airmen, a tradition retained today by the Bundesluftwaffe of the unified Germany and by many air forces throughout the world. However, it is worth noting that, before the official promulgation of the Luftwaffe, what was a paramilitary air force was known as the Deutscher Luftverband ("German Air Union"; DLV for short), with Ernst Udet as its head, and the DLV uniform insignia became those of the new Luftwaffe, although the DLV "ranks" were actually given special names that made them sound more civilian than military. It is of interest to note that Dr. Fritz Todt, the engineer who founded the Organisation Todt that organised the construction of roads before the war and of fortifications, such as the so-called "Atlantic Wall", using thousands of forced labourers during World War II, was appointed to the rank of Generalmajor in the Luftwaffe even if he was not, strictly speaking, an airman, although he had served in an observation squadron during World War I, winning the Iron Cross. (Ironically, he died in an air crash in February 1942.) The Luftwaffe had the ideal opportunity to test its pilots, aircraft and tactics in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when the Condor Legion was sent to Spain in support of the anti-Republican government revolt led by Francisco Franco. Modern machines included names which would become world famous: the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber and the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane. However, as aircraft seconded to Franco's Nationalist air force, Luftwaffe markings were replaced so as not to make the world believe that Germany was actively supporting the revolt. Instead of the Nazi Party's swastika on the tailplane, the German planes used the Nationalist air force aircraft markings (a Saint Andrew's cross over a white background, painted on the rudder of the aircraft and, on the fuselage and wings, meanwhile, instead of the Balkankreuz, there was a black disc. All aircraft in the Legion were affiliated to units given a designation ending in the number 88. For example, bombers were in Kampfgruppe ("Battle Group") 88, abbreviated to K/88, and fighters in Jagdgruppe ("Hunt Group") 88, J/88. swastika A grim foretaste of the systematic bombing of cities during World War II came in April 1937 when a combined force of German and Italian bombers under National Spanish command destroyed most of the Basque city of Guernica in north-east Spain. This bombing received worldwide condemnation, and the collective memory of the horror of the bombing of civilians has ever since become most acute via the famous painting, named after the town, by the Cubist artist, Pablo Picasso. Many feared that this would be the way that future air wars would be conducted, since the Italian strategist, General Giulio Douhet (who had died in 1930), had formulated theories regarding what would be dubbed "strategic bombing", the idea that wars would be won by striking from the air at the heart of the industrial muscle of a warring nation, and thus demoralising the civilian population to the point where the government of that nation would be driven to sue for peace—a portent of things to come, certainly, and not just during the war which would break out in Europe only months after the end of the civil war in Spain.

World War II

Giulio Douhet By the summer of 1939, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the Luftwaffe had become the most powerful air force in the world. As such it played a major role in Germany's early successes in the war and formed a key part of the Blitzkrieg concept, much due to the use of the innovative Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber (Sturzkampfflugzeug—Stuka). Germany swept through Poland, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands and France in a matter of months between September 1939 and June 1940 due in no small part to the Luftwaffe, which seemed invincible, causing Göring to become over-confident in its abilities and boasting that the RAF would be defeated in a matter of a month before the planned launch of Operation Sealion (Seelöwe), the invasion of the United Kingdom. Faulty German intelligence and poor leadership did as much to save Fighter Command as Dowding's careful husbanding of his precious pilots; Hitler's decision to shift the focus of operations to bombing industrial targets in cities instead of British airfields was crucial mistake. When Churchill praised "the few" for their victory in his famous speech, he omitted the Germans, who deserved at least some of the credit. German air power was preserved in the succeeding period as much by RAF Bomber Command's faulty strategy as by German tenacity. Advanced by Sir Charles Portal, accepted by Churchill, & ruthlessly executed by Sir Arthur Harris, it produced a calamity with overtones of Haig in World War One, throwing men and machines against increasingly strong defenses, with little to show for it. The postulated "breaking" of German morale was a dim sight on the horizon, with no carefully articulated plan to achieve it. The entry of the United States into the conflict in December 1941 drew American bomber forces into the same futile project. Unlike the Germans, the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), under the command of General Henry H. Arnold, developed a strategic bomber force. The USAAF bombers penetrated deep into Reich territory and maintained daylight bombing of industrial targets, without fighter escort (which had been demonstrated as necessary even against derisively weak Chinese fighter attacks), while their RAF colleagues (who had learned better) continued with the offensive by conducting night operations. Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe remained strong, and both the day fighters and the night fighters (see below) were able to shoot down hundreds of Allied bombers, including 95 on a single night (October 30–31, 1944) when the RAF bombed the southern city of Nuremberg, famous as the place where pre-war Nazi Party rallies took place (and, post-war, where the trials of Nazi criminals, including Göring, would take place). Henry H. Arnold German superiority was especially felt on the Eastern Front, given that the Luftwaffe enjoyed an advanced technical standard as well as employing highly trained and experienced pilots such as Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who, flying the Stuka, was to become the most highly decorated pilot of the war, winning the Knight's Cross with Golden Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds (Das Ritterkreuz mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten) by the end of 1944 and being promoted to Oberst (Colonel). Unlike other officers of such high rank, Oberst Rudel would remain in the front line until his surrender as Kommodore of SG 2 (a combined dive-bomber and fighter unit) to the U.S. Army at Kitzingen in Czechoslovakia on V-E Day, May 8, 1945. Amongst the Experten (the name given to German aces), Erich Hartmann would emerge at the end of the war with the highest number of enemy aircraft shot down—352, a total initially disputed but eventually accepted. In contrast, the highest number of aircraft shot down by any Allied pilot was 62, achieved by Colonel (later Colonel-General) Ivan Kozhedub of the Soviet Army Air Force. Nevertheless, the vast land mass of Russia allowed the Soviets to manufacture war matériel well away from the front line, and so it was partly due to overwhelming numbers of weapons made available to the ground and air forces of the USSR that the Soviets managed to push the Germans back west, especially after the crushing defeats of the German Army at both Kursk and Stalingrad and the Germans' failure to take Leningrad (St. Petersburg). The Luftwaffe saw action on many fronts, including in North Africa in support of ground operations conducted by General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, and in the offensives against Yugoslavia and Greece prior to the invasion of the USSR in June 1941. Many Luftwaffe units were stationed in Italy, including after the Italians switched sides in September 1943 and remained there until the end of the war in May 1945. There were units also present in Romania, since fighter units stationed there were charged with the protection of the oilfields at Ploesti that were providing vital fuel for the German war machine in its continuation of its offensive against the USSR. Afrika Korps One of the unique characteristics of the Luftwaffe (as opposed to other independent air forces) was the possession of an elite organic paratrooper force (Fallschirmjäger). These saw action during 1940–1941, most notably in the capture of the Belgian army fortress at Eben-Emael in May 1940 and the island of Crete in May 1941. However, more than 3,000 Fallschirmjäger were killed during the Crete operation, and a shocked Adolf Hitler ordered these elite paratroopers would never be used for such large-scale operations again, but only for smaller-scale operations, such as the successful rescue of Benito Mussolini, the then-deposed dictator of Italy, in 1943. This put paid to a proposal (Operation Herkules) to seize Malta and eliminate the threat to Rommel's supply lines. Although night fighting had been undertaken in embryonic form way back in World War I, the German night fighter force, the Nachtjagd, had virtually to start from scratch when British bombers began to attack targets in Germany in strength from 1940 as far as tactics were concerned. A chain of radar stations was established all across the Reich territory from Norway to the border with Switzerland known as the "Kammhuber Line", named for Generalleutnant Josef Kammhuber, and nearby night fighter wings, Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG), were alerted to the presence of the enemy. These wings were equipped mostly with Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88 aircraft, which would later be outfitted with the Lichtenstein nose-mounted radar. Junkers Ju 88 The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Owl) was considered one of the best night fighters in the Luftwaffes inventory, yet thankfully for the Allies, not enough of them were built to stem the tide of bombers, which became effective at using strips of aluminium foil called "Window" (American name, chaff; German, Duëppel) to jam the radar signals. Two notable names amongst the night fighter pilots were Helmut Lent, who shot down 110 enemy aircraft before being killed in a landing accident in October 1944, and Wolfgang Schnaufer, who shot down 102 enemy aircraft and survived the war, only to die in a car crash in France in 1950. Wolfgang Schnaufer After playing a pioneering role in the development of aircraft powered by jet engines ("TL Triebwerke") with prototypes such as the Heinkel He 178 and Heinkel He 280, the Luftwaffe became the first air force in the world to press an operational jet fighter into service—the twin-engine Messerschmitt Me 262. The aircraft was still plagued by reliability problems of its powerplants; however, while the Junkers Jumo 004 engines were of the advanced axial-flow design, they suffered from a lack of high-quality strategic materials required during the manufacturing process, a result of the Allied bombing offensive and the turn of war fortunes for Germany. The Me 262 was soon joined by other highly advanced aircraft designs, such as the Arado Ar 234 twin- and four-engine jet bomber/reconnaissance aircraft, the Heinkel He 162 single-engine jet fighter (powered by a BMW jet engine), the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket fighter and others. A variety of further highly advanced aircraft designs, such as the Horten Ho 229 flying wing (originally designated Horten Ho IX and later to be manufactured by the Gothaer Waggonfabrik aircraft factory), were either at the testing stage or even ordered into production by the time the war ended. The German aviation industry also developed the first cruise missile used operationally on large scale, the Fieseler Fi 103 (V-1), and the first ballistic missile, the Aggregat 4 (A-4, V-2). These were Hitler's vaunted Vergeltungswaffen (vengeance or retaliation weapons). As modern as these aircraft were, they could not prevent Germany's total defeat in the air. The Luftwaffe lacked fuel, trained pilots, organisational unity and "safe" airfields. The Luftwaffes final offensive was on January 1, 1945, when it launched Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate). The idea was to destroy as many Allied aircraft on the ground as possible, yet the Germans lost over 300 aircraft and were henceforth entirely on the defensive as the western Allies and the Soviets closed in and invaded the Reich itself. The Allies were able to harvest Germany's advanced technical efforts as many German aircraft were abandoned after being deliberately wrecked for the most part; Operation Paperclip, for example, was one of many designed in 1944–45 to obtain either technical specimens, data, or the design personnel themselves and "evacuate" them to the United States, England, the USSR or France. Many aircraft designers were also captured by the Red Army and sent to the USSR to design and build potential fighters and bombers for the Soviet Army and Navy Air Forces. This research benefited the development of the NAA F-86, Hawker Hunter, and MiG-15, and directly produced the Yak-9 and -15 (little more than copies of the Focke-Wulf P.011-45). The early U.S. and Soviet space programs also employed German hardware and were staffed with many German scientists and engineers, the most famous of which was Wernher von Braun, subsequently the head of the design team of the American Saturn V moon rocket. Saturn V Amongst the designers sent to Russia was Dr. Hans Wocke, the man who designed the world's first forward-swept-wing jet bomber, the Junkers Ju 287, the first prototype of which, the Ju 287V1, had flown during the war on test flights. The Ju 287 design work was incorporated into the Junkers EF (Erprobungsflugzeug = test aircraft) 140 bomber prototype, yet neither this nor any other aircraft designed by the Germans would ever be accepted into the Soviet Army or Navy Air Forces, since the Germans themselves were technically prisoners and were denied access to the latest facilities for designing and perfecting modern warplanes. Most of the captured designers had been allowed to return to either West or East Germany by the end of 1953. Junkers Ju 287 Throughout the history of the Third Reich, the Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief. The first was, of course, Göring, yet he was fired by Hitler near the end of the war in Europe on account of his having contacted (western) Allied forces without his authorisation with a view to securing a ceasefire before the Soviets overran Berlin. Hitler thus appointed Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim as the second (and last) commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, concomitant with his promotion to Generalfeldmarschall, the last German officer in World War II to be promoted to the highest rank. One other officer, who happened to have been promoted to this rank himself, had been Wolfram von Richthofen, the cousin of the "Red Baron", but he had retired in late 1944 on medical grounds and would die of a brain tumour while in American captivity at Bad Ischl on July 12, 1945. Operational and training units of the Luftwaffe were organised roughly similarly to those of the U.S. Army Air Corps (which later became the U.S. Army Air Forces). Fighter wings (Jagdgeschwader) (JG) consisted of groups (Gruppen), which in turn consisted of fighter squadrons (Jagdstaffel). Hence, Fighter Wing 1 was JG 1, its first group was I/JG 1 and its first squadron was 1./JG 1. (As a point of interest, JG 1 was operating the aforementioned Heinkel He 162 at the end of the war. In the final two months, JG 1 lost 22 of them, mostly in crashes, resulting in ten pilots being killed and another six injured.) Similarly, a bomber wing was a Kampfgeschwader (KG), a night fighter wing was a Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG), a dive-bomber wing was a Stukageschwader (StG), and units equivalent to those in RAF Coastal Command, with specific responsibilities for coastal patrols and search and rescue duties, were Küstenfliegergruppen (Kü.Fl.Gr.). Specialist bomber groups were known as Kampfgruppen (KGr). Each Geschwader was commanded by a Kommodore, a Gruppe by a Kommandeur, and a Staffel by a Staffelkapitãn. However, these were appointments, not ranks, within the Luftwaffe. Usually, the Kommodore would hold the rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) or, exceptionally, an Oberst (colonel). Even a Leutnant (second lieutenant) could find himself commanding a Staffel. Some of the Luftwaffe's units came from countries under German control such as 13 JG 52 (Slovakia) and Luftwaffen-Legion Lettland (Latvia). From before the war, the German Ministry of Propaganda disseminated a magazine specialising in the Luftwaffe called Der Adler (The Eagle), not just in German but also in the first languages, including French, of several countries which eventually became incorporated into the Reich territory. While the U.S. remained officially neutral (from September 1939 until December 1941), the magazine was also published in English. Many colour photographs of the Luftwaffe in action during the war originally came from this publication. See also
- List of aircraft of the WW2 Luftwaffe
- Luftwaffe serviceable aircraft strengths (1940-1945)

Cold war

Luftwaffe serviceable aircraft strengths (1940-1945) Following the war, German aviation in general was severely curtailed, and military aviation was completely forbidden when the Luftwaffe was officially disbanded in August 1946 by the Allied Control Commission. This changed when West Germany joined NATO in 1955, as the Western Allies believed that Germany was needed in view of the increasing threat militarily from the USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies. Throughout the following decades, the West German Luftwaffe was equipped mostly with U.S.-designed aircraft manufactured locally under licence. All aircraft sported—and continue to sport—the Iron Cross on the fuselage, harking back to the days of World War I, while the national flag of West Germany could be seen on the tailplanes. Many well-known fighter pilots, who had fought with the Luftwaffe in World War II, joined the new post-war air force and underwent refresher training in the U.S. before returning to West Germany to upgrade on the latest U.S.-supplied hardware. These included Erich Hartmann, the highest-ever scoring ace (352 enemy aircraft destroyed), Gerhard Barkhorn (301), Günther Rall (275) and Johannes Steinhoff (176). Steinhoff, who suffered a crash in a Messerschmitt Me 262 shortly before the end of the war which resulted in lifelong scarring of his face and other parts of his body, would eventually become commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, with Rall as his immediate successor. Hartmann retired as an Oberst (colonel) in 1970 aged 48. The aforementioned Josef Kammhuber also served with the post-war Luftwaffe, retiring in 1962 as Inspekteur der Bundesluftwaffe. During the 1960s, the "Starfighter crisis" was a big problem for German politics, as many of these Lockheed F-104 fighters crashed after being modified to serve for Luftwaffe purposes. Therefore, the Starfighter was dubbed the "widow maker" (German: Witwenmacher). (It is of note that the F-104 served with the USAF for only a few years.) On the other hand, the Canadian version of the North American F-86 Sabre, the Canadair CL-13, enjoyed a long career with Luftwaffe fighter squadrons, since seventy-five of them entered service in and after 1957. The United States provides nuclear weapons for use by Germany under a NATO nuclear sharing agreement. As of 2005, 60 tactical B61 nuclear bombs are provided, stored at Büchel and Ramstein Air Bases, which in time of war would be delivered by Luftwaffe Panavia Tornados [http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/euro/euro.pdf]. Many countries believe this violates Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The DDR's equivalent air force the Luftstreitkräfte, sharing the name with Germany's WWI air force. It was supplied exclusively with Eastern Bloc-produced aircraft and served primarily as an extension of Red Air Force units in Eastern Germany. The Luftstreitkräfte was unique among Warsaw Pact countries in that it was often equipped with Soviet-standard combat aircraft, instead of downgraded export models. As an extension of Soviet air power, the Luftstreitkräfte enjoyed less autonomy than other Eastern Bloc air forces.

Reunification

Warsaw Pact Typhoon. The name "Typhoon" caused controversy since the Hawker Typhoon was an RAF ground-attack aircraft which destroyed many targets in support of the ground forces invading France in June 1944 and afterwards.]] The air force of the Communist German Democratic Republic /East Germany used the same name as the one used during World War I, that is, the Luftstreitkräfte. It flew Soviet-built aircraft, such as the Sukhoi Su-7 "Fitter" and the more famous Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) family of aircraft, such as the MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-29 fighters. Unlike the West German Luftwaffe, however, the markings sported on the aircraft reflected the identity of the country as belonging to the Communist bloc. As such, the markings consisted of a diamond-shaped design, in which could be seen the vertically oriented three stripes in black, red and gold surmounted by the stylised hammer, compass and wreath-like ears-of-grain design, which was also seen on the Flag of East Germany, although the stripes were a 90-degree orientation from those to be seen on either national flag of the two German nations between 1959 and 1990. After the GDR and West Germany were reunified in October 1990, the aircraft of the Luftstreitkräfte were taken over by the unified Federal Republic of Germany, and their GDR markings replaced by those of the Iron Cross, thus creating the somewhat anomalous situation of Soviet-built aircraft serving in a NATO air force. However, most of these would eventually be taken out of service altogether, in many cases being sold to the new Eastern European allies now part of NATO, such as Poland and the Baltic states. The exception to this is the 73rd Steinhoff Fighter Wing in Laage, Germany. The pilots of this squadron fly MiG-29s acquired during the reunification and are the most experienced MiG-29 pilots in the world. One of their primary duties is to serve as aggressor pilots, training other pilots in dissimilar combat tactics. The United States has sent a group of fighter pilots to Germany during the Red October exercise to practice real tactics against the type aircraft they are most likely to meet in real combat. Since the 1970s, the Luftwaffe of West Germany and later the reunited Germany has actively pursued the construction of European combat aircraft such as the Panavia Tornado and more recently the Eurofighter Typhoon. Eurofighter, Labrador]] In March 1999, for the first time since 1945, the Luftwaffe engaged in combat operations as part of the NATO-led Kosovo War. This event was noted as significant in the British press with The Sun running the headline "Luftwaffe and the RAF into battle side by side"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/303314.stm]. No strike sorties were flown, and the role of the Luftwaffe was restricted to providing support, for example, with suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) sorties. No Luftwaffe aircraft were lost during the campaign, but the force's role proved to be controversial in Germany because of the strong pacifist sentiment still present in the population that is opposed to the use of force by Germany in international affairs. Moreover, there were constitutional concerns, because Germany was not and, indeed, still is not—allowed to participate in "wars of aggression" owing to its 1949 Grundgesetz ("Basic Law" - constitution). Because of something like a paradigm shift, Germany can use its Luftwaffe for crisis reaction and conflict prevention.

External links

- [http://www.luftwaffe.de Luftwaffe official website (in German)]
- [http://www.luftarchiv.de The archive about the assignment of persons and material of the German Air Force in the Second World War]
- [http://www.galaxy.com/galaxy/Leisure-and-Recreation/Aviation/History/World-War-II Galaxy.com (a link to other aviation web sites of interest)]
- [http://www.DDR-LUFTWAFFE.de German Democratic Republic (1955-1990) Air Force website (in German)]
- [http://www.lwag.org/index.php Luftwaffe Archives & Records Reference Group (LWAG) (dedicated to research into the history of the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich)]
- [http://www.luftwaffe-experten.co.uk Luftwaffe Experten (detailing many aspects of 1939-1945 Luftwaffe operations)]
- [http://www.luftwaffe.cz/experten.html Luftwaffe Experten (English-language Czech website containing biographies of leading Luftwaffe pilots)]
- [http://www.luft46.com Luft46.com (paintings of "might-have-been" Luftwaffe aircraft)]
- [http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/german-luftwaffe Color Photographs of German Luftwaffe] - rare color photographs of the Luftwaffe during WWII
- [http://www.ww2images.com ww2images.com (photos of World War II aircraft from all nations)]
- [http://www.ww2.dk/ Luftwaffe, 1933-1945]
- [http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/ 12 O'clock High - Luftwaffe and Allied Forces discussion forum]

Select bibliography

There have been literally hundreds of books, magazines and articles written about the Luftwaffe. It is only possible to list a select few here.
- Aders, Gebhard (1992), History of the German Night-Fighter Force, 1917-1945 (edited and translated by Alex Vanags-Baginskis), Crecy. ISBN 0947554211. (Originally published by Jane's in 1979.)
- Amadio, Jill (2002), Günther Rall: A Memoir, Seven Locks Press. ISBN 0971553300.
- Galland, Adolf (2000 [1957]), The First and the Last, Buccaneer Books, Inc. ISBN 0899667287.
- Green, William (1990), Warplanes of the Third Reich, Galahad. [Second edition, following from original work published in 1970.] ISBN 0883656663.
- Held, Werner and Nauroth, Holger (1982), The Defence of the Reich: Hitler's Nightfighter Planes and Pilots (translated by David Roberts), London, Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0853684146.
- Mermet, Jean-Claude and Ehrengardt, Christian-Jacques (2002), Les Jets de la Luftwaffe: Aéro-Journal Hors-Série No.4, Aéro-Éditions International (French language edition only). ISSN 03361055.
- Orbis Publishing Limited, London (1974-77), Wings, a part-work encyclopedia of aviation in eight volumes, which included many articles about the battles during World War II in which the Luftwaffe took part, as well as biographies of some of its high-profile airmen.
- Orbis Publishing Limited, London (1981-84) (second edition), World War II, a part-work encyclopedia in eight volumes about the 1939-1945 War.
- Philpott, Bryan (1986), History of the German Air Force, Hamlyn. ISBN 0600502937.
- Price, Alfred (2005), Battle Over The Reich: The Strategic Bomber Offensive Against Germany 1939-1945, Classic Publications. [Revised, second edition based on the previous work with the same title first published in 1973.] ISBN 1903223474.
- Price, Alfred (2000), Blitz on Britain, 1939-1945, Sutton. [Revised edition of Blitz on Britain : the bomber attacks on the United Kingdom, 1939-1945, first published by Ian Allan in 1977]. ISBN 0711007233 (1977 edition).
- Sobolev, D. A. and Khazanov, D.B. (2001), The German Imprint on the History of Russian Aviation, Moscow, Rusavia (English edition). ISBN 5900078086.
- Wood, Tony, and Gunston, Bill (1984), Hitler's Luftwaffe: A Pictorial History and Technical Encyclopedia of Hitler's Air Power in World War II, Book Sales (originally published by Salamander Books). ISBN 0890097585. Category:Air forces Luftwaffe Category:Military of Germany Category:German loanwords ja:ドイツ空軍 simple:Luftwaffe

World War II

, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. From top going counterclockwise: Allied landing on D-Day 1944, the Nuremberg Rally 1936, the Nagasaki atom bomb 1945, the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin 1945 and the Gate of Auschwitz.]] World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th Century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest continuous war in human history. It was the first time that a number of newly developed technologies, including nuclear weapons, were used against either military or civilian targets. World War II resulted in the direct or indirect death of anywhere from 50 to 60 million or more people, over 3% of the world population at that time. It is estimated to have cost more money and resources than all other wars combined: about 1 trillion US dollars in 1945 (adjusted for inflation; roughly 10.5 trillion in 2005), not including subsequent reconstruction [http://www.historychannel.com/worldwartwo/?page=triumph5]. The outcomes of the war, including new technology and changes to the world's geopolitical, cultural and economic arrangement, were unprecedented. The conflict began by most Western accounts on September 1 1939 with the German invasion of Poland (the Pacific war is taken to have started on July 7 1937 with the Japanese attack on China) and lasted until mid-1945, involving many of the world's countries. Virtually all countries that participated in World War I were involved in World War II. Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939 and Canada followed on September 10, 1939. The United States entered the conflict in December of 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Summary

Attributed in varying degrees to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, and the rise in nationalism, racism, fascism, National socialism, Japanese imperialism, and militarism, the causes of the war are a matter of debate. The war was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The Axis initially consisted of an alliance between Germany and Italy, which later expanded to include Japan and Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. Some of the nations that Germany conquered sent military forces, particularly to the Eastern front. Among the expeditionary forces that joined Germany were forces from Vichy France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain (though Spain was itself a neutral country) and armies of Russians and Ukrainians under the command of the general Andrey Vlasov. The Allies were initially the United Kingdom, including the Commonwealth, France and Poland, later joined by the USSR, the United States of America and China. Fighting occurred across the Atlantic Ocean, in Western and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, the Middle East, in the Pacific and South East Asia, and it continued in China. In Europe, the war ended with the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 (V-E and Victory Days), but continued in Asia until Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (V-J Day). At least 50 million people died as a result of the war. This figure includes acts of genocide such as the Holocaust and General Ishii Shiro's Unit 731 experiments in Pingfan, incredibly bloody battles in Europe and the Pacific Ocean, and massive bombings of cities, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the firebombing of Dresden (and even worse but less known) of Pforzheim in Germany. Few areas of the world were unaffected; the war involved the "home front" and bombing of civilians to a new degree. Atomic weapons, jet aircraft, rockets and radar, the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", the massive use of tanks, submarines, torpedo bombers and destroyer/tanker formations, are only a few of many wartime inventions and new tactics that changed the face of the conflict. Post–World War II Europe was partitioned into Western and Soviet spheres of influence, the former undergoing economic reconstruction under the Marshall Plan and the latter becoming satellite states of the Soviet Union. This partition was, however, informal; rather than coming to terms about the spheres of influence, the relationship between the victors steadily deteriorated, and the military lines of demarcation finally became the de facto country boundaries. Western Europe largely aligned as NATO, and Eastern Europe largely as the Warsaw pact countries, alliances which were fundamental to the ensuing Cold War. In Asia, the United States' military occupation of Japan led to Japan's democratisation. China's civil war continued through and after the war, resulting eventually in the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The war sparked a wave of independence for colonies of European powers, who were exhausted from fighting the war. There was a fundamental shift in power from Western Europe to the new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, though there were few actual boundary changes. __TOC__

Causes

People's Republic of China]] Main articles: Causes of World War II, Events preceding World War II in Europe, Events preceding World War II in Asia The causes of World War II are naturally a debated subject, but a common view, particularly among the allies in the early post-war years, ties them to the expansionism of Germany and Japan: Germany had lost wealth, power and status following the First World War and the expansion was to make Germany great again.
- In Germany there was a strong desire to escape the bonds of the World War I Treaty of Versailles, and eventually, Hitler and the Nazis assumed control of the country. They led Germany through a chain of events: rearmament, reoccupation of the Rhineland, a merger with Austria (Anschluss), incorporation of Czechoslovakia and finally the invasion of Poland.
- In Asia, Japan's efforts to become a world power and the rise of militarist leadership (in the 1930s the government in Japan was undermined as militarists rose to power and de facto gained totalitarian control) led to conflicts with first China and later the United States. Japan also sought to secure additional natural resources, such as oil and iron ore, due in part to the lack of natural resources on Japan's own home islands.

Participants

iron ore and Joseph Stalin, during the Yalta Conference in 1945]] Main article: Participants in World War II The belligerents of the Second World War are usually considered to belong to either of the two blocs: the Axis and the Allies. A number of smaller countries participated in the war, though often under occupation or as proxies of one of the large powers. The Axis Powers consisted primarily of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which split the Earth into three spheres of influence under the Tripartite Pact of 1940, and vowed to defend one another against aggression. This replaced the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 that Italy had joined in 1937. Spain's fascist government led by Francisco Franco was a great asset in trade to the Axis powers during the war. A number of smaller countries were counted among the Axis powers. Among these were Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, and arguably Finland. Among the Allied powers, the so-called Big Three were the United Kingdom