KG 200
Encyclopedia
Kampfgeschwader 200 (Battle Wing
200) was a Luftwaffe
unit during World War II
. The unit was the Luftwaffe's special operations
wing that carried out long-distance reconnaissance flights, tested new aircraft designs, and operated captured aircraft.
, Germany's military intelligence department. As the Abwehr started to lose the Führer's goodwill during the war, a new reconnaissance unit, the 2nd Test Formation, was formed in 1942 under the command of Werner Baumbach
. This unit was combined with 1st Test Formation in March 1944 to form KG 200 on 20 February 1944.
On 11 November 1944 Baumbach became Geschwaderkommodore, all aerial special-ops missions were carried out by KG 200 under Baumbach's command.
I./KG 200 operated a total of three of four Heinkel He 115s and were responsible for dropping Abwehr agents behind enemy lines. The largest number of agents dropped was in July 1944, when a total of 260 men and women were dropped, mainly using automatic parachutes. It operated under direct command of the Sicherheitsdienst
. I./KG 200 was divided into three squadrons ("Staffeln"):
1st Staffel operated in long-range missions ("Ferneinsätze") while 2nd Staffel flew missions in nearer short-range areas ("Naheinsätze").The 3rd Staffel consisted of Navy pilots ("Seeflieger") with one He 115, located in Rissala, Finland.
II./KG 200 was in charge of all other missions, including electronic warfare, long-range reconnaissance, delivery flights and special cargo missions to Japanese-held Northern China. II./KG 200 had one Staffel for commando raids, the 3rd Staffel. They were located and trained in Dedelstorf
, Germany.
III./KG 200 was to have fitted Focke-Wulf Fw-190 fighters with torpedoes but was never inaugurated.
IV./KG 200 was used for pilot training and for flights of long-range units using operational Junkers Ju 90
and Ju 290
and planned Ju 390
and Me 264
planes. Had it become operational, this squadron would have been responsible for reconnaissance flights and delivery of agents and bombs to the United States.
V./KG 200 aka 5th Gruppe (also known as Leonidas Squadron)
was recruited for planned test flights and suicide and near-suicide manned missions using the piloted V-1 flying bomb and various partly expendable rocket interceptor designs.
planes equipped with cameras. This practice was continued throughout the war as long as civilian airlines remained operational; later on, recon missions were most often carried out by Junkers Ju 86
s flying at very high altitudes or by flying boat
s. Due to the lack of German aircraft with sufficient range, some recon missions used captured American B-17s or B-24s and Soviet Tu-2
s. For the most part, these machines were used for re-supply roles (dropping in supplies to German forces operating behind Soviet lines), or transporting important personnel.
bombers with enormous shaped-charge warheads and guiding them to their targets with a fighter airplane mounted on the back of the unmanned bomber. Although not as effective as the Luftwaffe planners had hoped, the Mistel
program continued to be developed through 1944 but flew few effective operations. The unit was originally intended to attack naval installations at Gibraltar, Leningrad or Scapa Flow
in Scotland, but the invasion of Normandy diverted effort to anti-invasion operations. On the night of 24 June 1944, Mistels of Kampfgeschwader 101 were dispatched against targets in the English Channel. Although one of the Ju 88s had to be jettisoned prematurely, the remaining four pilots had successful launches and sank several block ships. The feasibility of the Scapa Flow attack remained, and in August 1944 Mistel forces were concentrated at Grove
in Schleswig-Holstein. On 11 November 1944 RAF Lancasters attacked the German battleship Tirpitz
and caused her to capsize. With Tirpitz out of commission there was no requirement for capital ships to be held in the Atlantic theatre, and soon those with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow were on their way to the Pacific war, leaving the Mistels no worthwhile targets in Scapa Flow.
All Mistels were placed under the command of KG 200 and Oberst (Colonel) Joachim Helbig
. By late 1944 emphasis was placed on an all-out attack on Soviet armaments and power plants
but by March 1945 the bases had been over-run by the Soviet advance. KG 200 was ordered to concentrate Mistel operations against the bridges over the Oder and Neisse rivers. On 27 April 7 Mistel aircraft under Leutnant Dittmann of II./KG 200, escorted by Fw 190s, were launched against crossings at Küstrin
, but only two Mistels got to the target to launch, results were inconclusive and the bridges remained intact. By April all available Mistel units had been expended and aircrew dispersed to nearby fighter units.
("self sacrifice"), was intended to use the Fieseler Fi 103 Re Reichenberg IV (Selbstopfer
), a manned version of the V1 pulsejet cruise missile, to attack enemy bombers and ground targets. Several test flights were carried out by Leonidas Squadron
KG 200, and mass production of the converted pulsejet-propelled missiles had begun, but the program was stopped due to intervention from Baumbach who felt that these missions would be a waste of valuable pilots.
As part of the Aktion 24 operations, Dornier Do 24
flying boats were modified and loaded with explosives, with the intention that they would be landed on the Vistula River and exploded against river bridges used by Soviet forces. Experienced pilots were to be used to fly the aircraft to a point upstream where it would be left to a "suicide pilot" to ensure a collision with the bridge and ignite the explosives. The assumption that Soviet forces would not react and the ability of the aircrew to return to German-held territory after delivery made the concept highly dubious. The modified aircraft were destroyed on the ground during air raids.
During one of those missions, on 27 June 1944, a B-17 of KG 200, with Luftwaffe Geschwaderkennung code A3+FB, landed in Manises airport (Valencia) and was interned by the Spanish government.
with secret bases inland at Al Mukaram and Wadi Tamet, as well as at Shott al Jerid behind the Mareth Line
. These used a (long range) Messerschmitt Bf-108, two Heinkel He-111s, and a captured B-17 - given the fictional designation "Dornier Do 288" - which despite being badly damaged during a raid on Al Mukaram by a Sudan Defence Force detachment managed to return to Athens
for repair. As well as local intelligence and meteorological work their aim was to ferry agents via French West Africa to Cairo, Freetown and Durban.
On the night of 27 November 1944, KG 200 pilots Braun and Pohl flew a Junkers Ju 290
transport from Vienna to a position just south of Mosul
, Iraq, where they successfully air-dropped five Iraqi parachutists in the bright moonlight. The Luftwaffe crew flew back to the island of Rhodes, still under German occupation. After some engineering problems, they successfully evacuated some thirty casualties from Rhodes, reaching Vienna two nights later.
Wing (air force unit)
Wing is a term used by different military aviation forces for a unit of command. The terms wing, group or Staffel are used for different-sized units from one country or service to another....
200) was a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
unit during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The unit was the Luftwaffe's special operations
Special operations
Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" .Special operations are typically performed independently or in conjunction with conventional military operations. The primary goal is to achieve a political or military objective where a conventional force requirement does...
wing that carried out long-distance reconnaissance flights, tested new aircraft designs, and operated captured aircraft.
History
The unit's history began in 1934, when the Luftwaffe, impressed with Colonel Theodor Rowehl's aerial reconnaissance missions over Poland, formed a special squadron under Rowehl's lead that was attached to the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, Germany's military intelligence department. As the Abwehr started to lose the Führer's goodwill during the war, a new reconnaissance unit, the 2nd Test Formation, was formed in 1942 under the command of Werner Baumbach
Werner Baumbach
Werner Baumbach was a bomber pilot in the German Luftwaffe during World War II and commander of the secret bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 200...
. This unit was combined with 1st Test Formation in March 1944 to form KG 200 on 20 February 1944.
On 11 November 1944 Baumbach became Geschwaderkommodore, all aerial special-ops missions were carried out by KG 200 under Baumbach's command.
Organization
KG 200, unusual for a Geschwader-designated Luftwaffe unit, only consisted of two operational Gruppen; several others were planned but did not become operational before the end of the war.I./KG 200 operated a total of three of four Heinkel He 115s and were responsible for dropping Abwehr agents behind enemy lines. The largest number of agents dropped was in July 1944, when a total of 260 men and women were dropped, mainly using automatic parachutes. It operated under direct command of the Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
. I./KG 200 was divided into three squadrons ("Staffeln"):
1st Staffel operated in long-range missions ("Ferneinsätze") while 2nd Staffel flew missions in nearer short-range areas ("Naheinsätze").The 3rd Staffel consisted of Navy pilots ("Seeflieger") with one He 115, located in Rissala, Finland.
II./KG 200 was in charge of all other missions, including electronic warfare, long-range reconnaissance, delivery flights and special cargo missions to Japanese-held Northern China. II./KG 200 had one Staffel for commando raids, the 3rd Staffel. They were located and trained in Dedelstorf
Dedelstorf
Dedelstorf is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
, Germany.
- Luftwaffe special forces parachute trained commandos of II./KG 200 were an arm of the Fallschirmjäger parachute forces and were listed on II./KG 200's ORBAT as the 3rd Staffel. In September 1944, this Staffel was no longer under the command of KG 200, but under the Army Paratrooper's command as Bataillon Schäfer.
III./KG 200 was to have fitted Focke-Wulf Fw-190 fighters with torpedoes but was never inaugurated.
IV./KG 200 was used for pilot training and for flights of long-range units using operational Junkers Ju 90
Junkers Ju 90
The Junkers Ju 90 was a 40-seat, four-engine airliner developed for and used by Deutsche Luft Hansa shortly before World War II. It was based on the rejected Ju 89 bomber...
and Ju 290
Junkers Ju 290
The Junkers Ju 290 was a long-range transport, maritime patrol aircraft and heavy bomber used by the Luftwaffe late in World War II.-Design and development:...
and planned Ju 390
Junkers Ju 390
The Junkers Ju 390 was a German aircraft intended to be used as a heavy transport, maritime patrol aircraft, and long-range bomber, a long-range derivative of the Ju 290...
and Me 264
Messerschmitt Me 264
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Duffy, James P. Target: America. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-275-96684-4....
planes. Had it become operational, this squadron would have been responsible for reconnaissance flights and delivery of agents and bombs to the United States.
V./KG 200 aka 5th Gruppe (also known as Leonidas Squadron)
Leonidas Squadron
The Leonidas Squadron, formally known as 5th Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 200 was a unit which was originally formed to fly the Fieseler Fi 103R , a manned version of the V-1 flying bomb that was never used in combat because Werner Baumbach, the commander of KG 200, and his superiors considered it an...
was recruited for planned test flights and suicide and near-suicide manned missions using the piloted V-1 flying bomb and various partly expendable rocket interceptor designs.
Long-range reconnaissance
Before the beginning of the war, aerial reconnaissance was usually carried out by civilian Luft HansaDeutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...
planes equipped with cameras. This practice was continued throughout the war as long as civilian airlines remained operational; later on, recon missions were most often carried out by Junkers Ju 86
Junkers Ju 86
The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry 10 passengers. Two were delivered to Swissair and five to Luft Hansa...
s flying at very high altitudes or by flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s. Due to the lack of German aircraft with sufficient range, some recon missions used captured American B-17s or B-24s and Soviet Tu-2
Tupolev Tu-2
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Bishop, Chris. The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,500 Weapons Systems, Including Tanks, Small Arms, Warplanes, Artillery, Ships, and Submarines. New York: Sterling, 2002. ISBN 1-58663-762-2.* Ethell, Jeffrey L. Aircraft...
s. For the most part, these machines were used for re-supply roles (dropping in supplies to German forces operating behind Soviet lines), or transporting important personnel.
The Mistel program
Beginning in 1942, to compensate for its lack of heavy bombers, the Luftwaffe started to experiment with packing some of its war-weary Junkers Ju 88Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
bombers with enormous shaped-charge warheads and guiding them to their targets with a fighter airplane mounted on the back of the unmanned bomber. Although not as effective as the Luftwaffe planners had hoped, the Mistel
Mistel
The Mistel , also known as Beethoven-Gerät and Vati und Sohn , was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft type of bomber, that appeared late in World War II....
program continued to be developed through 1944 but flew few effective operations. The unit was originally intended to attack naval installations at Gibraltar, Leningrad or Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
in Scotland, but the invasion of Normandy diverted effort to anti-invasion operations. On the night of 24 June 1944, Mistels of Kampfgeschwader 101 were dispatched against targets in the English Channel. Although one of the Ju 88s had to be jettisoned prematurely, the remaining four pilots had successful launches and sank several block ships. The feasibility of the Scapa Flow attack remained, and in August 1944 Mistel forces were concentrated at Grove
Grove, Germany
Grove is a municipality in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany....
in Schleswig-Holstein. On 11 November 1944 RAF Lancasters attacked the German battleship Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
and caused her to capsize. With Tirpitz out of commission there was no requirement for capital ships to be held in the Atlantic theatre, and soon those with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow were on their way to the Pacific war, leaving the Mistels no worthwhile targets in Scapa Flow.
All Mistels were placed under the command of KG 200 and Oberst (Colonel) Joachim Helbig
Joachim Helbig
Oberst Joachim Helbig was an officer and pilot in the German Luftwaffe bomber arm during World War II. He was credited with the destruction of of Allied shipping accomplished in 480 missions during World War II.Joachim Helbig was born in 1915 and joined the Luftwaffe in 1936...
. By late 1944 emphasis was placed on an all-out attack on Soviet armaments and power plants
Operation Eisenhammer
Operation Eisenhammer was a planned strategic bombing operation against power generators near Moscow and Gorky in the Soviet Union which was planned by Nazi Germany during World War II but eventually abandoned....
but by March 1945 the bases had been over-run by the Soviet advance. KG 200 was ordered to concentrate Mistel operations against the bridges over the Oder and Neisse rivers. On 27 April 7 Mistel aircraft under Leutnant Dittmann of II./KG 200, escorted by Fw 190s, were launched against crossings at Küstrin
Küstrin
Before 1945 Küstrin was a town in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg in Germany, situated on both sides of the Oder river...
, but only two Mistels got to the target to launch, results were inconclusive and the bridges remained intact. By April all available Mistel units had been expended and aircrew dispersed to nearby fighter units.
Suicide and near-suicide missions
In the last months of the war, a small number of high-ranking German officers pressed for a suicide fighter program as a last-ditch effort to stop Allied bombing runs over the Reich. This program, known as SelbstopferSelbstopfer
The Fieseler Fi 103R was a late-World War II German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb produced for missions which were to be carried out by the "Leonidas Squadron", Group V of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200.-Background:The Leonidas Squadron, part of KG 200, had been set up as a suicide...
("self sacrifice"), was intended to use the Fieseler Fi 103 Re Reichenberg IV (Selbstopfer
Selbstopfer
The Fieseler Fi 103R was a late-World War II German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb produced for missions which were to be carried out by the "Leonidas Squadron", Group V of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200.-Background:The Leonidas Squadron, part of KG 200, had been set up as a suicide...
), a manned version of the V1 pulsejet cruise missile, to attack enemy bombers and ground targets. Several test flights were carried out by Leonidas Squadron
Leonidas Squadron
The Leonidas Squadron, formally known as 5th Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 200 was a unit which was originally formed to fly the Fieseler Fi 103R , a manned version of the V-1 flying bomb that was never used in combat because Werner Baumbach, the commander of KG 200, and his superiors considered it an...
KG 200, and mass production of the converted pulsejet-propelled missiles had begun, but the program was stopped due to intervention from Baumbach who felt that these missions would be a waste of valuable pilots.
As part of the Aktion 24 operations, Dornier Do 24
Dornier Do 24
-See also:-References:* -External links:* * * * * * * * *...
flying boats were modified and loaded with explosives, with the intention that they would be landed on the Vistula River and exploded against river bridges used by Soviet forces. Experienced pilots were to be used to fly the aircraft to a point upstream where it would be left to a "suicide pilot" to ensure a collision with the bridge and ignite the explosives. The assumption that Soviet forces would not react and the ability of the aircrew to return to German-held territory after delivery made the concept highly dubious. The modified aircraft were destroyed on the ground during air raids.
Special missions
The unit also carried out a variety of special missions, like parachuting spies behind enemy lines, operating radar-jamming aircraft, carrying out long-range transport flights to Japan, clandestine bombing missions and infiltrating American bomber formations with captured aircraft in an attempt to spread confusion. However, most of the information concerning these missions comes from a single POW and is doubted by several aviation history researchers. On 1 December 1943 a B-17 was sighted with the letters "D" above another identification letter "B". It also had a square marking, that of the 303rd Bomb Group. This was the identity of B-17F-111-BO 42-30604 Badger Beauty V. This machine was captured but it was never repaired or used by the Luftwaffe. When re-captured the B-17 was preserved in Boeing's museum. On the same day, a lone B-24 joined a bomber formation from the 44th Bomb Group. It was reported to have been a machine carrying the markings of a 392nd Bomb Group aircraft. However this unit did not become operational until 9 December.During one of those missions, on 27 June 1944, a B-17 of KG 200, with Luftwaffe Geschwaderkennung code A3+FB, landed in Manises airport (Valencia) and was interned by the Spanish government.
KG200 in the Middle East
Beginning in early 1944 (perhaps as early as November 1943) the short-lived Operations Dora & Bunny-Hop took place in the Gulf of Sirte, LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
with secret bases inland at Al Mukaram and Wadi Tamet, as well as at Shott al Jerid behind the Mareth Line
Mareth Line
The Mareth Line was a system of fortifications built by the French between the towns of Medenine and Gabès in southern Tunisia, prior to World War II...
. These used a (long range) Messerschmitt Bf-108, two Heinkel He-111s, and a captured B-17 - given the fictional designation "Dornier Do 288" - which despite being badly damaged during a raid on Al Mukaram by a Sudan Defence Force detachment managed to return to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
for repair. As well as local intelligence and meteorological work their aim was to ferry agents via French West Africa to Cairo, Freetown and Durban.
On the night of 27 November 1944, KG 200 pilots Braun and Pohl flew a Junkers Ju 290
Junkers Ju 290
The Junkers Ju 290 was a long-range transport, maritime patrol aircraft and heavy bomber used by the Luftwaffe late in World War II.-Design and development:...
transport from Vienna to a position just south of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
, Iraq, where they successfully air-dropped five Iraqi parachutists in the bright moonlight. The Luftwaffe crew flew back to the island of Rhodes, still under German occupation. After some engineering problems, they successfully evacuated some thirty casualties from Rhodes, reaching Vienna two nights later.
Geschwaderkommodore
- Oberst Heinz Heigl, February 1944 – November 1944
- Oberstleutnant Werner Baumbach, 15 November 1944 – 6 March 1945
- Major Adolf von Hernier, 6 March 1945 – 25 April 1945
See also
- Zirkus RosariusZirkus RosariusZirkus Rosarius was an Erprobungskommando-style special test unit of the Luftwaffe, specifically of the Luftwaffe High Command, tasked with testing captured British and American aircraft, all of which were repainted in German markings...
- Rafwaffe aka No. 1426 Flight RAFNo. 1426 Flight RAFNo. 1426 Flight RAF, nicknamed "the Rafwaffe", was a Royal Air Force flight formed during the Second World War to evaluate captured enemy aircraft and demonstrate their characteristics to other Allied units. Several aircraft on charge with the RAE Farnborough section were also used by this unit...
- No. 100 Group RAFNo. 100 Group RAFNo. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command.It was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures within one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of...