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Kampfgeschwader are the German-language name for (air force) bomber units. In WW1, they were air squadrons, while in WW2, they were air wings.
During World War I, Kampfgeschwader were specialized bomber units in the Luftstreitkräfte.
Formally known as Kampfgeschwader der Obersten Heeresleitung, or Kagohl for short, they were assets directly controlled by the Oberste Heeresleitung, the German Army's high command, rather than by army, corps, or division commanders.
Each Kagohl consisted of a headquarters element and six flights, or Kampfstaffeln, of bomber aircraft. Originally intended as strategic bombers, they were repurposed as tactical bombing units when it became apparent their aircraft did not have the range to reach strategic targets.
In 1917, the Kagohls were reorganized into Bombengeschwader der Obersten Heeresleitung (Bogohl) of three Bombenstaffeln (Bosta), each of six heavy bombers and several additional light bombers.
In World War II, Kampfgeschwader units were full bomber wings within the 1935-45 Luftwaffe, consisting of three or more Kampfgruppe bomber groups, as a part of a typical Luftflotte's medium or heavy bomber strength.
The Luftwaffe was the aerial warfare branch of the Wehrmacht during World War II. 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.
A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets. In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions. There are currently only three countries that operate strategic bombers: the United States, Russia and China.
The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II Luftwaffe twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called Schnellbomber that would be too fast for fighters of its era to intercept. It suffered from technical problems during its development and early operational periods but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it served as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and at the end of the war, as a flying bomb.
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft.
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force or, more literally, the Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps, was the aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Just as the IJA in general was modeled mainly on the German Army, the IJAAS initially developed along similar lines to the Imperial German Army Aviation; its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground forces, as well as a limited air interdiction capability. The IJAAS also provided aerial reconnaissance to other branches of the IJA. While the IJAAS engaged in strategic bombing of cities such as Shanghai, Nanking, Canton, Chongqing, Rangoon, and Mandalay, this was not the primary mission of the IJAAS, and it lacked a heavy bomber force.
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte —known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches abbreviated to Die Fliegertruppe—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, although that is not a literal translation of either name. German naval aviators of the Marine-Fliegerabteilung were an integral part of the Imperial German Navy. Both military branches operated aeroplanes, observation balloons and airships.
In military history, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, of the German Empire in World War I.
Between 1933 and 1945, the organization of the Luftwaffe underwent several changes. Originally, the German military high command, for their air warfare forces, decided to use an organizational structure similar to the army and navy, treating the aviation branch as a strategic weapon of war. Later on, during the period of rapid rearmament, the Luftwaffe was organized more in a geographical fashion.
The 306th Flying Training Group is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The group is stationed at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The 449th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Seventeenth Air Force supporting United States Africa Command. It is stationed at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. It flies missions for Africa Command and Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, supporting varied U.S. objectives in the area.
The Gotha G.III was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I. It succeeded the G.II in production and differed primarily in the choice of powerplant. The eight-cylinder Mercedes D.IV, which had proven highly susceptible to crankshaft failure, was replaced by the new six-cylinder 190 kW (260 hp) Mercedes D.IVa engine. The G.III also had a strengthened fuselage with an extra 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun firing through a ventral trapdoor. The G.III was also the first bomber to have a tail gun with a potential 360 degree arc of fire.
Walther Wever was a pre-World War II Luftwaffe Commander. He was an early proponent of the theory of strategic bombing as a means to wage war, while opposing the theories of Giulio Douhet. He died in an air crash in 1936.
Dietrich Peltz was a German World War II Luftwaffe bomber pilot and youngest general of the Wehrmacht. As a pilot he flew approximately 320 combat missions, including roughly 130 as a bomber pilot on the Eastern Front, 90 as a bomber pilot on the Western Front, and 102 as a dive bomber pilot during the Invasion of Poland and Battle of France.
Feldflieger Abteilung was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of what became the Luftstreitkräfte by October 1916, during World War I.
Unternehmen Paula is the German codename given for the Second World War Luftwaffe offensive operation to destroy the remaining units of the Armée de l'Air (ALA), or French Air Force during the Battle of France in 1940. On 10 May the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) began their invasion of Western Europe. By 3 June, the British Army had withdrawn from Dunkirk and the continent in Operation Dynamo, the Netherlands and Belgium had surrendered and most of the formations of the French Army were disbanded or destroyed. To complete the defeat of France, the Germans undertook a second phase operation, Fall Rot, to conquer the remaining regions. In order to do this, air supremacy was required. The Luftwaffe was ordered to destroy the French Air Forces, while still providing support to the German Army.
Laon-Athies Air Base is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the city of Laon in the Aisne department of France.
Giebelstadt Army Airfield was a closed military airfield located in Germany southwest of Giebelstadt (Bavaria); approximately 250 miles southwest of Berlin. It was turned over to the German government on 23 June 2006 and is now a general aviation airport.
The Heinkel He 111 was one of the most numerous German bombers of the Second World War. Designed in the mid-1930s, the type persevered until 1945. In Spain, variants of the design saw service until 1973.
The Axis order of battle for the invasion of Yugoslavia was made up of the various operational formations of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, Italian Armed Forces and Hungarian Armed Forces that participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II, commencing on 6 April 1941. It involved the German 2nd Army, with elements of the 12th Army and a panzer group combined with overwhelming Luftwaffe support. The eighteen German divisions included five panzer divisions, two motorised infantry divisions and two mountain divisions. The German force also included two well-equipped independent motorised regiments and was supported by over 800 aircraft. The Italian 2nd Army and 9th Army committed a total of 22 divisions, and the Royal Italian Air Force had over 650 aircraft available to support the invasion. The Hungarian 3rd Army also participated, with support from the Royal Hungarian Air Force.
The Poplar Recreation Ground Memorial is a memorial to 18 children killed at Upper North Street School in Poplar on 13 June 1917, by the first daylight bombing attack on London by fixed-wing aircraft.