The German air force also employed Helferinnen (women auxiliaries) who served in com- munications, and did admin- istrative and clerical duties. Women up to 45 years old and girls from the Bund Deutsche
Mädel (BdM, the female branch of the Hitler Youth, aged 14–18) served in several air force-controlled branches:
Flugmeldedienst (Aircraft Re-
porting Service), Luftnach-
richten (Air Signal), Luftschutz- warndienst (LSW Air Raid
Warning Service), Staff Service and Anti-Aircraft Artillery. They were employed as clerical workers, telephone workers, canteen and kitchen staff, and cleaners, but also in more specific military roles, operat- ing in the field with binoculars, searchlights and sound-locat- ing devices; they detected and identified enemy bombers and reported their findings to the Flak units. Women and school- girls thus greatly contributed in releasing men for front-line duties. They never served in a combat capacity (such as tank driver, pilot, or sniper) but operated searlights and Flak guns in the homefront. In the autumn of 1944, at peak strength, there were some 128,700 women serving in the German air force.
The basic uniform of the female Luftwaffe auxiliaries consisted of a blue-gray Flieger-
mutze (standard side cap); a blue-gray, single-
breasted jacket with the standard Luftwaffe eagle/swastika displayed on the right breast; a straight, blue-gray, knee-length skirt with
HJ-Flakhelfer, 1944. Many young men and boys of the Hitler
Youth served as Luftwaffe Flakhelfer (anti-aircraft artillery
auxiliaries). They wore the basic air force light-blue/grayish uni- form (left) and the greatcoat with steel helmet (right).
single pleat; a blue-gray shirt, often worn with a black tie; blue-gray stockings and black shoes. Rank insignia were displayed on the lower sleeves and trades badges were worn on the upper right sleeves. In situations where skirt and jacket were not practical (e.g., in the field), women auxiliaries were issued various
types of service tunics, trousers, and they wore M43 Einheitsfliegermutze (soft-peaked field caps) or standard M35 steel helmets or Luft- schutz M38 helmets; warm, double-breasted greatcoats (when needed and when available by the end of the war); and heavy, black-laced shoes.
Left: Flak Helferin, c. 1944. This young woman of the Luftwaffe anti-aircraft artillery wears a
functional uniform suitable for outdoors. The helmet (painted in grayish blue) is the standard M35; the gray-blue, three-quarter-length tunic has patch pockets and integral cloth belt. She wears gray/blue, long, loose, ski-styled trousers and ankle boots. Right: Helferin, c. 1943. This Luft- nachrichtenhelferin (Luftwaffe signal auxiliary) wears the standard blue-gray service dress with
During World War I, it was realized that if the enemy could be spied on from the sky for reconnaissance purposes, then one could as well profitably drop explosives in the form of bombs on such a target. It became clear that an air force which enjoyed command of the air over the battlefield might act not only as the eyes of the commanders, but also as a sub- stitute or at least as a complement for the artillery. Thus there evolved three major types of combat aircraft—reconnaissance, scout or fighter, and bomber (an aircraft specially designed to attack ground targets primarily by dropping bombs). The scope of the bomber was considerably enlarged, namely by the Ital- ians, Germans and British who had ambitions in the field of long-range offensive operations with large strategic bombers whose task was to damage their enemy’s war effort by attack- ing the home front: supply bases, manufactur- ers, shipyards and cities themselves. German heavy bombers of World War I included, for example, the Gotha series bombers, the two- engined Friedrichshaven GIII, and Allge- meine Elektrizität Gesellschaft AEG G IV, and the four-engine Zeppelin Staaken R VI. The giant British long-range bomber, the twin- engined Handley Page, could have reached Berlin from advance bases in France if the war had not come to an end just as plans for its use were complete.
After the war, in the 1920s and 1930s, as aircraft increased in range, speed, reliability and armament, bombers could make battlefield deployment and movement impossible or at least dangerous and costly for the enemy.
Bomber aircraft were soon recognized as hav- ing an important role in modern warfare, and new generations of bombers appeared with diversified and specialized roles.
German World War II bombers were first and foremost aggressive weapons, and they reflected the fundamental role of the Luft- waffe: tactical ground support. Therefore these airplanes were designed primarily to fit this task. As such they were successful, but their failure became only too evident when they were required to perform other roles, for exam- ple strategic bombing. The Luftwaffe bomb- carriers existed in two main types: relatively small but highly powered, well-armed, and maneuverable ground-attack aircraft (includ- ing shallow dive bombers) and medium bomb- ers with a relatively short range, capable of delivering medium-sized bomb loads while at the same time being fast enough to elude enemy fighter interceptors. Both types had range and payload that did not allow them to assume a worthwhile long-range strategic role. They were especially designed to meet the requirements of a short and aggressive Blitz-
krieg—lightning war. Blitzkrieg tactics, a jour-
nalist’s descriptive term, was influenced by the trench warfare of World War I. The concept, drawn up by German military planners of the 1930s, was to bring rapid mobility to the battlefield. Tanks were concentrated into an offensive phalanx, supported by squadrons of bombers as flying artillery, and when driven against a defended line at a weak spot, they cracked it and then swept on to spread confu- sion in their wake. The tactics called for close
4
Bombers
cooperation between air and ground forces, and rested on surprise, concentration of force, and speed—speed of attack, speed of commu- nication by radio, speed to exploit opportuni- ties for advance.