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146-494: Described as "the richest, most secret, the most Nazi, and the most influential" of all the German cryptoanalytic intelligence agencies, its existence was well known to French intelligence ( Deuxième Bureau , Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action ) via the efforts of the spy Hans-Thilo Schmidt but little known to other countries within the Allies . The organization was described by

292-669: A Deuxième Bureau agent codenamed 'Rex' made contact with Hans-Thilo Schmidt , a German cipher clerk, in the Grand Hotel of the Belgian town of Verviers . Schmidt, who worked at Defence Ministry Cipher Office in Berlin, sold the French the manuals explaining how to operate the top secret Enigma cipher machine being used by the German Army. Schmidt ultimately provided all the information necessary to crack

438-574: A Luftwaffe detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War , provided the force with a valuable testing ground for new tactics and aircraft. Partially as a result of this combat experience, the Luftwaffe had become one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II broke out in September 1939. By the summer of 1939,

584-629: A bomber Geschwader was about 80–90 aircraft. The peacetime strength of the Luftwaffe in the spring of 1939 was 370,000 men. After mobilisation in 1939 almost 900,000 men served, and just before Operation Barbarossa in 1941 personnel strength had reached 1.5 million men. The Luftwaffe reached its largest personnel strength during the period November 1943 to June 1944, with almost three million men and women in uniform; 1.7 million of these were male soldiers, 1 million male Wehrmachtsbeamte and civilian employees, and almost 300,000 female and male auxiliaries ( Luftwaffenhelfer ). In October 1944,

730-436: A lack of understanding of doctrine and technical issues in aerial warfare which he left to others more competent. The Commander-in-Chief left the organisation and building of the Luftwaffe, after 1936, to Erhard Milch. However Göring, as a part of Hitler's inner circle, provided access to financial resources and materiel for rearming and equipping the Luftwaffe. Another prominent figure in German air power construction this time

876-726: A large archive of documentation. The office of the RLM/Forschungsamt emerged with the events of the Reichstag Fire Decree . With Adolf Hitler 's seizure of power by the Enabling Act of 1933 , all postal, telegraph and telephone democracy was suspended. The Reichstag Fire Decree Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich were suspended until further notice. The article inter alia stated

1022-593: A leading cryptographer of the OKW/Chi, who stated that he knew nothing of the FA until some of them came to Schloss Glucksburg , and who stated that they were a big names with nothing behind them, on being told that the FA employed over 2000 personnel, his comments were: For their deciphering they should have needed a handful. They must have had other work to do, but what the devil could they have been doing with 2000 people? As regards General der Nachrichtenaufklärung (Abbr. GDNA),

1168-418: A leading role in the buildup of the Luftwaffe in 1933–36, but had little further involvement in the development of the force after 1936, and Milch became the " de facto " minister until 1937. The absence of Göring in planning and production matters was fortunate. Göring had little knowledge of current aviation, had last flown in 1922, and had not kept himself informed of the latest events. Göring also displayed

1314-723: A member of one of the oldest traceable families in Christendom (Charlemagne) and a direct relation to the British royal family . He was killed in an airplane accident in Italy on 7 October 1943. Christoph's SS membership and subsequent appointment to the Forschungsamt pointed to a close relationship between the unit and the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service; SD), which was the SS branch that served as

1460-519: A monument to the glory of the Junkers Ju 52. It is the aircraft which the Spanish revolution has to thank for its victory." Poor accuracy from level bombers in 1937 led the Luftwaffe to grasp the benefits of dive-bombing. The latter could achieve far better accuracy against tactical ground targets than heavier conventional bombers. Range was not a key criterion for this mission. It was not always feasible for

1606-518: A personal friend of Göring, resigned in 1933 and proposed to Göring that a separate office be created that would be free from department ties. Schimpf had previously organized a National Socialist cell within the Reichswehr without any word having leaked out about it. Schapper requested, due to both limited scope of operations and incompetence in the signals office of the Reichswehr Ministry, that

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1752-629: A post of Controller-General in command of Counter-Intelligence. In March 1935, the position was given authority over the territorial police, the Police de l’Air , the TSF and the police carrier pigeon service . In June 1936, Colonel Louis Rivet succeeded Colonel Roux as head of the intelligence service and of a new organization, the Service de centralisation des renseignements ("Central Intelligence Service", SCR). The SCR, headquartered at 2 bis avenue de Tourville, Paris,

1898-619: A proper evaluation was made. The Ju 86 was poor while the He 111 showed the most promise. The Spanish Civil War convinced Udet (along with limited output from the German munitions industry) that wastage was not acceptable in munition terms. Udet sought to build dive-bombing into the Junkers Ju 88 and conveyed the same idea, initiated specifically by the OKL for the Heinkel He 177 , approved in early November 1937. In

2044-590: A reference to Clemenceau's nickname. Commanded by police commissioner Célestin Hennion , the mobile brigades were to handle special operations of the judicial police related to counter-espionage. In February 1907, the Deuxième Bureau was reactivated and was reassigned some of the contre-espionnage responsibilities it had had prior to the Dreyfus affair. Commanded by General Charles-Joseph Dupont  [ fr ] ,

2190-417: A report on the solution of a German cipher teleprinter (the model unknown). Buggisch stated this was one of the very rare cases where the FA and Insp. 7/VI exchanged results. Other areas of liaison were known to exist. Insp. 7/VI took the lead amongst German cipher agencies in the use of IBM Hollerith machinery to conduct cryptologic work. This machinery was made available to other agencies. Wilhelm Tranow of

2336-522: A serviceman (not a pilot) in the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I, and later an experienced pilot with Lufthansa , was a prominent theorist of air power. Knauss promoted the Giulio Douhet theory that air power could win wars alone by destroying enemy industry and breaking enemy morale by "terrorising the population" of major cities. This advocated attacks on civilians. The General Staff blocked

2482-554: A strategic air war (although the British and French were in a much weaker position), and Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe be expanded to five times its earlier size. The OKL badly neglected the need for transport aircraft; even in 1943, transport units were described as Kampfgeschwadern zur besonderen Verwendung (Bomber Units on Special Duties, KGzbV). and only grouping them together into dedicated cargo and personnel transport wings ( Transportgeschwader ) during that year. In March 1938, as

2628-613: A wave of protests from abroad. It has been suggested that the bombing of Guernica was carried out for military tactical reasons, in support of ground operations, but the town was not directly involved in any fighting at that point in time. It was not until 1942 that the Germans started to develop a bombing policy in which civilians were the primary targets, although the Blitz on London and many other British cities involved indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, 'nuisance raids' which could even involve

2774-509: The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe organised Nazi human experimentation , and Luftwaffe ground troops committed massacres in Italy, Greece, and Poland. The Imperial German Army Air Service was founded in 1910 with the name Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , most often shortened to Fliegertruppe . It was renamed the Luftstreitkräfte on 8 October 1916. The air war on

2920-712: The Wehrmacht before and 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 1919 Treaty of Versailles , which banned Germany from having any air force. During the interwar period, German pilots were trained secretly in violation of

3066-628: The Fliegertruppe's initial, 1914–15 era Feldflieger Abteilung observation/reconnaissance air units, each with six two-seater aircraft apiece, had been attached to specific army formations and acted as support. Dive bomber units were considered essential to Truppenführung , attacking enemy headquarters and lines of communications. Luftwaffe "Regulation 10: The Bomber" ( Dienstvorschrift 10: Das Kampfflugzeug ), published in 1934, advocated air superiority and approaches to ground attack tactics without dealing with operational matters. Until 1935,

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3212-628: The Anschluss was taking place, Göring ordered Felmy to investigate the prospect of air raids against Britain. Felmy concluded it was not possible until bases in Belgium and the Netherlands were obtained and the Luftwaffe had heavy bombers. It mattered little, as war was avoided by the Munich Agreement, and the need for long-range aircraft did not arise. These failures were not exposed until wartime. In

3358-699: The B-Dienst stated: About March 1942 we paid a visit, in conjunction with the Luftwaffe and the FA, to the OKH Hollerith department in Victoriastrasse, Berlin . The position of the FA and the OKL-Stelle , the cipher bureau for high command of the Luftwaffe under Göring, should have facilitated an exchange of information between them. TICOM interrogation found no ill feeling between the FA and OKL-Stelle indicates that

3504-550: The French Ministry of War authorized the creation of a service charged with performing "research on enemy plans and operations". The creation of a reworked Etat Major Général (or General Staff) came in response to the French loss in the Franco-Prussian War and acknowledgment of poor military planning structures in preparation for those hostilities. The EMG was then divided into two bureaus–the first, composed of civilians,

3650-578: The Netherlands and Poland , A stations were installed with advancing troops. In Vienna , for example, the A station was functioning two days after the occupation. Mobile units were also used during the Polish campaign, but were reported to be largely unsuccessful chiefly because of lack of cooperation with the German Army. Specialist Oden Hoeckley, head of Section 15 of the FA, who had been employed by Siemens and Halske, and been classmates of various members of WA Pruef 7 ( Waffenamt ), and also collaborated on

3796-634: The OKW/Chi and the FA was known to exist A special liaison officer (German:Verbindungsmann), Dr E. Klautachke, was assigned to the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. The form of this liaison took the form of passing intelligence to the Supreme Command and answering specific questions. Dr Klautachke stated that he did not concern himself with cryptologic matters and stated that liaison regarding these matters did not exist. Considerable ill feeling existed between

3942-542: The Sûreté générale, became responsible for the pursuit of foreign spies on French soil. Counter-espionage was to be handled by special Sûreté police chiefs. The Deuxième Bureau's statistical section remained in operation until 1 September 1899, when it was disbanded. The name (literally, Second Desk) refers to the organization of the French general staff in four desks: 1st for personnel, 2nd for intelligence, 3rd for operations, 4th for logistics. This numerical designation survives in

4088-601: The Vichy France regime's intelligence service was organized within the Centre d’information gouvernemental (CIG), under the direction of Admiral François Darlan . Under the command of Colonel Louis Rivet, head of the Deuxième Bureau since 1936, they set up the Bureau des Menées Antinationales (BMA, the "Bureau of Anti-national Activities"), officially an organization opposing Communist activities and resistance efforts and accepted by

4234-518: The Western Front received the most attention in the annals of the earliest accounts of military aviation, since it produced aces such as Manfred von Richthofen , Ernst Udet , Oswald Boelcke , and Max Immelmann . After the defeat of Germany, the service was dissolved on 8 May 1920 under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which also mandated the destruction of all German military aircraft. Since

4380-855: The cryptographic systems used by the Foreign Office in Vienna, by the Austrian Armed Forces and by the Austrian Police . The Austrian telephone and telegraph cables leading through the Berchtesgaden areas were tapped by the FA. By 20 July 1944, Heinrich Himmler had firmly gained control over the FA. TICOM was the operation by the United States to seize military assets after the end of World War II in Europe. The existence of Göring's Research Bureau

4526-542: The racial policy of Nazi Germany did not apply to him. Wilberg remained in the air staff, and under Walther Wever helped draw up the Luftwaffe's principle doctrinal texts, "The Conduct of the Aerial War" and "Regulation 16". The German officer corps was keen to develop strategic bombing capabilities against its enemies. However, economic and geopolitical considerations had to take priority. The German air power theorists continued to develop strategic theories, but emphasis

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4672-519: The signals intelligence office of the Oberkommando des Heeres , it was evident that greater liaison took place. This liaison took the form of actual division of tasks and sharing of personnel information. Liaison was also conducted over the IBM developments ( Hollerith machines ). One of the most important achievements of the FA which resulted from this cooperation and was revealed by Dr Otto Buggisch , one of

4818-564: The 1926 manual "Directives for the Conduct of the Operational Air War" continued to act as the main guide for German air operations. The manual directed OKL to focus on limited operations (not strategic operations): the protection of specific areas and support of the army in combat. With an effective tactical-operational concept, the German air power theorists needed a strategic doctrine and organisation. Robert Knauss  [ de ] ,

4964-514: The Aerial Air War in 1935, Wever rejected the theory of Douhet and outlined five key points to air strategy: Wever began planning for a strategic bomber force and sought to incorporate strategic bombing into a war strategy. He believed that tactical aircraft should only be used as a step to developing a strategic air force. In May 1934, Wever initiated a seven-year project to develop the so-called " Ural bomber ", which could strike as far as into

5110-618: The Armed Forces Wilhelm Keitel , Chief of Operations Alfred Jodl , Göring, Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, Grand Admiral Karl Donitz and Hitler. In cases where special reports were created, these had a much shorter distribution list, specifically only Göring and Hitler. Information that would be considered special, for example, were the Berlin-Rome telephone conversations between Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano . Hitler's view on

5256-564: The Aviation ministry. Göring also ensured by 1935 that it was not subordinated to the Reich Air Ministry, by having its own administration, with financing directly from the Treasury by 1938, and bore no relation to the research division of the Luftwaffe technical office, or the Luftwaffe's military intercept or cryptologic unit. By then it was known as Hermann Göring's Research Bureau. The FA

5402-521: The Bf 110. The Luftwaffe also greatly expanded its aircrew training programmes by 42%, to 63 flying schools. These facilities were moved to eastern Germany, away from possible Allied threats. The number of aircrew reached 4,727, an increase of 31%. However, the rush to complete this rapid expansion scheme resulted in the deaths of 997 personnel and another 700 wounded. 946 aircraft were also destroyed in these accidents. The number of aircrew completing their training

5548-601: The British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk despite intense bombing. The BEF escaped to continue the war. During the Battle of Britain in summer 1940, the Luftwaffe inflicted severe damage on Britain's Royal Air Force , but did not achieve the air superiority that Hitler had demanded for the proposed invasion of Britain , which was postponed and then canceled in December 1940. The Luftwaffe ravaged British cities during

5694-572: The Central Command of the German Army . He had worked in the Reichswehr Ministry from 1927 onwards, becoming instrumental in bringing the scattered services at the ministry under a central organization, and eventually becoming its head in 1933. Having known Göring from the First World War, he approached Göring, along with Schimpf and Hesse, to create the new agency. It was Schapper who came up with

5840-492: The Deuxième Bureau worked with the Interior Ministry, and especially Commissioner Hennion's mobile counter-espionage brigades, which worked closely with France's border patrols . In August 1911, the oversight of counter-espionage activities was assigned to the administration of the judiciary police that supervised the mobile brigades. In 1913, the government officially assigned counter-espionage operations on foreign soil to

5986-406: The FA and OKW/Chi. Wilhelm Fenner in his homework for "TICOM" stated that friction existed between the FA and OKW/Chi started when 33 people went over from Chi to the FA. Personnel friction between Fenner and Selchow existed as well. The question of competence could be used as a lever, as Hitler had assigned the working of diplomatic messages to the FA exclusively, which OKW/Chi had decided that it

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6132-430: The FA and considered it a private toy of Göring, for which it has no excuse except to further inflate Göring's vanity. Attempts were made by the FA to take over the monitoring function for the OKW/Chi which was vigorously resisted and in view of the types of monitoring which the FA conducted, which was similar to the FA requirements, would suggest the duplication of monitoring activities as unnecessary. Dr. Walther Fricke,

6278-466: The FA had shrunk from around 2000 personnel down to 450 with 100 at Rosenheim. At Kaufbeuren it occupied a block of six buildings at the airfield barracks on the local airfield, secured by the 289th Combat Engineers . The FA had been disbanded and all documents burned shortly before the arrival of the American Army. A small handful of documents discovered after an extensive search provided confirmation of

6424-546: The FA headquarters. After the war, B stations became increasingly important with the end of telephone conversations between Germany and other nations with the loss of foreign information. Only one C station existed, which performed the pure monitoring service of public broadcasts from other countries. The 3 D stations were located in Berlin , Vienna and Dortmund , which were the chief centres of cablegrams leaving Germany. The D stations operations were also greatly diminished after

6570-539: The FA relocated out of heavy combat zones in the north to the safety of southern Bavaria , setting up at the Kaufbeuren Air Base . Upon seizure of its abandoned files in May of 1945, the trove was taken over by TICOM , the U.S. effort to seize military assets after the end of World War II in Europe. The existence of the FA had been unknown by TICOM at the start of the war, and the chance discovery came as some surprise to TICOM Team 1. Upon investigation TICOM produced

6716-569: The FA reports were that they were extremely reliable, with the material presented to Hitler verbatim. Linguists were given orders not to make guesses if there were gaps, but to fill them with rows of dots. A special courier section was used that traveled in special cars, not railway cars, with dispatch boxes set up for which only Hitler, Ribbentrop and Göring possessed the keys. Once read, reports were returned, and sometimes due to mixups in sheet numbering or missing sheets due to human error, specific sheets would be re-requested. The government agencies on

6862-404: The FA undertook, inevitably brought the agency to the notice of Heinrich Himmler , who attempted on his own initiative to gain control of the unit and its activity. This led to an intense rivalry between Göring and Himmler. In time, Himmler succeeded in getting a stronger influence on the unit, so that gradually power in respect of the FA passed from Göring to Himmler. The first major operation of

7008-406: The FA was formed, and subsequently the entire communications system of Austria was intercepted. They were increasingly aided in their operation by sympathetic Austrian officials. All telephone conversations carried out in Austrian ministries, the content of all telegrams sent abroad, and many important documents were sent to the Forschungsamt. The Austrian officials even went as far as to provide all

7154-430: The FA was the Mikhail Tukhachevsky case. The third major operation of the FA was a "housecleaning" undertaken by the FA in 1938, when significant numbers of personnel from the Ministry of War were forcefully removed. Two major figures were Werner von Blomberg and the aristocrat Baron Werner von Fritsch and a number of very high ranking officers who had to leave the field. Flicke considered this Göring's revenge, and

7300-574: The FA was the surveillance of Ernst Röhm , the co-founder of the Sturmabteilung (SA; Storm Detachment), the Nazi Party's militia , and later was its commander. Röhm and his SA associates had been watched continuously since the end of 1933. Every telephone conversation, letter written, and conversation that Röhm had uttered was reported to the FA. For many of the associates of Röhm, microphones had been placed in their private lodgings. These were concealed in their telephones, table lamps, chandeliers, electric clocks and other locations. The evidence collected

7446-407: The FA. At the outset, the FA tried to work with the Reichswehr cipher bureau and Bureau C of the Foreign Office, but the relationship quickly soured, due to the nature of the FA always to be the receiver and never the giver. Eventually, cooperation was undertaken in a purely formal manner. A number of objectives came into being, in the first phase of the FA operation. The nature of the work that

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7592-552: The German diplomatic cryptographic system. The French cryptoanalysts were able to decipher the lengthy telegram containing the German declaration of war before the German Ambassador in Paris could decipher it. In June 1918, Captain Georges Painvin , a DB cryptoanalyst, was able to crack part of the Germans' ADFGVX cipher . These intercepts allowed an effective response to the movements of the German Army's 15 division-strong advances under Ludendorff at Montdidier and Compiègne , about 50 miles north of Paris. Prior to World War II,

7738-535: The Germans under the terms of the armistice. Meanwhile, on 1 July 1940, the Free French government-in-exile in London created its own intelligence service. Under the leadership of General Charles de Gaulle , Major André Dewavrin was assigned to command the organization. Initially known as the Service de Renseignements (SR) , the agency changed its name to Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action Militaire (BCRAM) in April 1941, and again in January 1942 to Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (BCRA)

7884-470: The He 177A until September 1942. By the summer of 1939, the Luftwaffe had ready for combat nine Jagdgeschwader (fighter wings) mostly equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E , four Zerstörergeschwader (destroyer wings) equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters, 11 Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) equipped mainly with the Heinkel He 111 and the Dornier Do 17Z, and four Sturzkampfgeschwader (dive bomber wing") primarily armed with

8030-455: The Heinkel and Dornier, which fulfilled the Luftwaffe's requirements for bombers that were faster than 1930s-era fighters, many of which were biplanes or strut-braced monoplanes. Despite the participation of these aircraft (mainly from 1938 onward), it was the venerable Junkers Ju 52 (which soon became the backbone of the Transportgruppen ) that made the main contribution. During the Spanish Civil War Hitler remarked, "Franco ought to erect

8176-435: The Hotel am Knie in Chariottenberg . In 1934 and 1935 it occupied a converted housing complex called the Schiller Colonnades at 116-124 Schillerstrase. Forced to evacuate Berlin due to the heavy Allied bombing, by January 1945 most of the unit had moved to Breslau and Luebben (site of an intercept station) and Jueterbog . By March, the remnants were sent to Kaufbeuren with a small group moving to Rosenheim . By this point

8322-406: The Luftwaffe had twenty-eight Geschwader (wings) . The Luftwaffe also operated a paratrooper force known as the Fallschirmjäger . The Luftwaffe proved instrumental in the German victories across Poland and Western Europe in 1939 and 1940. Although the Luftwaffe inflicted severe damage to the RAF 's infrastructure during the Battle of Britain and devastated many British cities during

8468-473: The Luftwaffe with appropriate traffic on occasion. We asked what was the function of the FA. He said its purpose was really hidden from the services, who were not allowed entry to the establishment. Only Voegele had any contact with them and that only with the cryptanalysts. Deuxi%C3%A8me Bureau The Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général ("Second Bureau of the General Staff") was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It

8614-710: The Luftwaffe. Kesselring also had to contend with Göring appointing "yes men" to positions of importance. Udet realised his limitations, and his failures in the production and development of German aircraft would have serious long term consequences. The failure of the Luftwaffe to progress further towards attaining a strategic bombing force was attributable to several reasons. Many in the Luftwaffe command believed medium bombers to be sufficient power to launch strategic bombing operations against Germany's most likely enemies; France, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. The United Kingdom presented greater problems. General der Flieger Hellmuth Felmy , commander of Luftflotte 2 in 1939,

8760-409: The Ministry of War, with the Ministry of the Interior being responsible for border security and prosecution. In May 1915, the Section de Centralisation du Renseignement ("Central Intelligence Section", SCR) was created and assigned to Commandant Ladoux. It was attached to the 2ème Bureau, which also administered the operations of the Bureaux centraux de renseignement (BCR). Altogether the organization

8906-431: The OKL had hoped. The Luftwaffe rendered invaluable support to the army, mopping up pockets of resistance. Göring was delighted with the performance. Command and control problems occurred, but flexibility and improvisation in both the army and the Luftwaffe solved these problems. The Luftwaffe was to have in place a ground-to-air communication system, which played a vital role in the success of 1940's Fall Gelb . In

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9052-453: The Prussian one in terms of command structure. In March 1874, the high command was reorganized again, replacing the original two bureaus with six smaller sections. As part of the reorganization, the new Deuxième Bureau, called “ Statistique militaire - Bureau historique ,” took up the activities that would include intelligence collection. In 1876, a Statistiques et de reconnaissances militaires ("Military Statistics and Recognition") section

9198-527: The RLM would not gamble on developing a heavy bomber which would also take time. Göring remarked, "the Führer will not ask how big the bombers there are, but only how many there are." The premature death of Wever, one of the Luftwaffe's finest officers, left the Luftwaffe without a strategic air force during World War II, which eventually proved fatal to the German war effort. The lack of strategic capability should have been apparent much earlier. The Sudeten Crisis highlighted German unpreparedness to conduct

9344-428: The SR and SCR. The SR provided a clearinghouse for centralized intelligence-gathering while the SCR was a small team of specialized counter-intelligence officers reporting to the Ministry of War, while a team of police officers were in charge of the arrest of suspects and judicial enquiries. In April 1934, the Direction Générale de la Sûreté Générale was changed to the Direction Générale de la Sûreté nationale , with

9490-621: The Soviet Union, which was also isolated in Europe. A secret training airfield was established at Lipetsk in 1924 and operated for approximately nine years using mostly Dutch and Soviet, but also some German, training aircraft before being closed in 1933. This base was officially known as the 4th squadron of the 40th wing of the Red Army . Hundreds of Luftwaffe pilots and technical personnel visited, studied, and were trained at Soviet Air Force schools in several locations in Central Russia. Roessing, Blume, Fosse, Teetsemann, Heini, Makratzki, Blumendaat, and many other future Luftwaffe aces were trained in

9636-488: The Spanish Civil War. It helped the Falange under Francisco Franco to defeat the Republican forces. Over 20,000 German airmen gained combat experience that would give the Luftwaffe an important advantage going into the Second World War. One infamous operation was the bombing of Guernica in the Basque country . It is commonly assumed this attack was the result of a "terror doctrine" in Luftwaffe doctrine. The raids on Guernica and Madrid caused many civilian casualties and

9782-400: The Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have an air force, German pilots trained in secret. Initially, civil aviation schools within Germany were used, yet only light trainers could be used in order to maintain the façade that the trainees were going to fly with civil airlines such as Deutsche Luft Hansa . To train its pilots on the latest combat aircraft, Germany solicited the help of

9928-450: The USSR in joint Soviet-German schools that were set up under the patronage of Ernst August Köstring . The first steps towards the Luftwaffe's formation were undertaken just months after Adolf Hitler came to power. Hermann Göring , a World War I ace, became National Kommissar for aviation with former Luft Hansa director Erhard Milch as his deputy. In April 1933 the Reich Aviation Ministry ( Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM)

10074-458: The USSR. Udet realised that the upcoming war with the USSR might cripple Germany. Udet, torn between truth and loyalty, suffered a psychological breakdown and even tried to tell Hitler the truth, but Göring told Hitler that Udet was lying, then took Udet under control by giving him drugs at drinking parties and hunting trips. Udet's drinking and psychological condition became a problem, but Göring used Udet's dependency to manipulate him. Throughout

10220-470: The agency expanded, an additional 33 cryptographers, most with Nazi leanings, would be "poached" from the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces , the OKW/Chi cipher bureau, at the time when OKW/Chi itself was facing a severe personnel shortage. This caused considerable friction between the two agencies. The FA was located in an attic in Göring's Air Ministry building and later moved to a building in Behrendstrasse , Berlin . It then moved again in late 1933 to

10366-497: The anti-aircraft units had 600,000 soldiers and 530,000 auxiliaries, including 60,000 male members of the Reichsarbeitsdienst , 50,000 Luftwaffenhelfer (males age 15–17), 80,000 Flakwehrmänner (males above military age) and Flak-V-soldaten (males unfit for military service), and 160,000 female Flakwaffenhelferinnen and RAD-Maiden , as well as 160,000 foreign personnel ( Hiwis ). The Luftwaffe's Condor Legion experimented with new doctrine and aircraft during

10512-472: The army to move heavy artillery over recently captured territory to bombard fortifications or support ground forces, and dive bombers could do the job faster. Dive bombers, often single-engine two-man machines, could achieve better results than larger six or seven-man aircraft, at a tenth of the cost and four times the accuracy. This led to Udet championing the dive bomber, particularly the Junkers Ju 87 . Udet's "love affair" with dive-bombing seriously affected

10658-458: The case of the Ju 88, 50,000 modifications had to be made. The weight was increased from seven to twelve tons. This resulted in a speed loss of 200 km/h. Udet merely conveyed the OKL's own dive-bombing capability request to Ernst Heinkel concerning the He 177, who vehemently opposed such an idea, which ruined its development as a heavy bomber. Göring was not able to rescind the dive-bombing requirement for

10804-555: The complex ciphers, which would play a key role in the Allied victory. In September 1939, when France declared war on Germany in response to Germany's invasion of Poland , Josephine Baker was recruited by the Bureau and provided them with information as an "honorable correspondent". Raymond Arthur Schuhl, a French propagandist who had served in the 6th Section of the Deuxieme Bureau until

10950-672: The design of the T53e ( Siemens and Halske T52 ) teleprinter , stated the following: There were 100 to 150 sets at the Templin and Luebben station and from 20 to 30 at Cologne , Konstanz , Eutin , and Gols . Traffic was forwarded by cipher teleprinter, i.e. the T52c, T52d or T52e. The FA did not develop its own intercept equipment, preferring to use the Army, the Reichspost or industry equipment. Liaison between

11096-573: The destruction of Allied bombers, the Luftwaffe was overwhelmed by the Allies' superior numbers and improved tactics, and a lack of trained pilots and aviation fuel. In January 1945, during the closing stages of the Battle of the Bulge , the Luftwaffe made a last-ditch effort to win air superiority , and met with failure. With rapidly dwindling supplies of petroleum, oil, and lubricants after this campaign, and as part of

11242-586: The distribution list for daily brownsheets of the RLM/ Forschungsamt were: The FA ran its own intercept stations. To meet its operational requirements, the FA used 5 different station types, and were called Research Posts ( Forschungsstellen ). The stations were categorized as follows: The A stations were positioned throughout Germany and later in German-occupied countries. These stations were equipped with one of two interceptor switchboards, which enabled

11388-568: The entire combined Wehrmacht military forces as a whole, the Luftwaffe ceased to be an effective fighting force. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Luftwaffe was disbanded in 1946. During World War II, German pilots claimed roughly 70,000 aerial victories, while over 75,000 Luftwaffe aircraft were destroyed or significantly damaged. Of these, nearly 40,000 were lost entirely. The Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief throughout its history: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and later Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim for

11534-507: The entry of Douhet's theory into doctrine, fearing revenge strikes against German civilians and cities. In December 1934, Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff Walther Wever sought to mold the Luftwaffe's battle doctrine into a strategic plan. At this time, Wever conducted war games (simulated against France) in a bid to establish his theory of a strategic bombing force that would, he thought, prove decisive by winning

11680-533: The existence of the FA and provided a basic outline of its organization. Whereas the operational scope of the Foreign office and the Reichswehr were organized to monitor foreign communications, the Forschungsamt was designed to monitor interior communications, to collect all communications throughout Germany, and from Germany to foreign countries. The press, all printed material, the surveillance of personal letters, and

11826-625: The fall of France, became the OSS Chief of Morale Operations in Switzerland and was its principal forger through the war. Schuhl operated for the OSS under the cover name Robert Salembier (code name "Mutt"). He oversaw a prolific print shop in Geneva that produced millions of white and black pamphlets, leaflets, cards, postage stamps , and other forms of printed propaganda . Following the defeat of France in 1940,

11972-399: The first four staff numbers of the continental staff system practiced by most NATO armies: S1 for personnel, S2 for intelligence, S3 for operations, S4 for logistics. (See also the French version of this page.) In 1906, Georges Clemenceau became Président du Conseil . With complete control of Interior Ministry funding, he created special counter-espionage units, the "brigades du Tigre",

12118-545: The heart of the Soviet Union. In 1935, this design competition led to the Dornier Do 19 and Junkers Ju 89 prototypes, although both were underpowered. In April 1936, Wever issued requirements for the 'Bomber A' design competition: a range of 6,700 kilometres (4,200 mi) with a 900 kilograms (2,000 lb) bomb load. However Wever's vision of a "Ural" bomber was never realised, and his emphasis on strategic aerial operations

12264-542: The high command about the state of French, allied and friendly troops, while the Deuxième Bureau developed intelligence concerning enemy troops. The Deuxième Bureau was celebrated for its cryptanalytical work, but it was criticized for its involvement in the Dreyfus affair and its consistent overestimation of German military formations prior to World War II. Its final director was Colonel Louis Rivet. On June 8, 1871,

12410-467: The historian, Dr Wilhelm F. Flicke, a German veteran cipher officer, who was commissioned by General Erich Fellgiebel , to write a history of German cryptography and cryptanalysis during World War II in his book War secrets in the ether as: calculated to give the government and the [Nazi] dominant party such far-reaching insight into the thoughts, feelings, and aspirations of the German people as had been known in all history. Compared with this plan,

12556-462: The history of Nazi Germany, the Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief. The first was Göring, with the second and last being Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim . His appointment as commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe was concomitant with his promotion to Generalfeldmarschall , the last German officer in World War II to be promoted to the highest rank. Other officers promoted to

12702-637: The iconic Junkers Ju 87B Stuka . The Luftwaffe was just starting to accept the Junkers Ju 88A for service, as it had encountered design difficulties, with only a dozen aircraft of the type considered combat-ready. The Luftwaffe's strength at this time stood at 373,000 personnel (208,000 flying troops, 107,000 in the Flak Corps, and 58,000 in the Signals Corps). Aircraft strength was 4,201 operational aircraft: 1,191 bombers, 361 dive bombers, 788 fighters, 431 heavy fighters, and 488 transports. Despite deficiencies, it

12848-606: The industrial and military effort strategic bombing would require. By 1939 the Luftwaffe was not much better prepared than its enemies to conduct a strategic bombing campaign, with fatal results during the Battle of Britain . The German rearmament programme faced difficulties acquiring raw materials. Germany imported most of its essential materials for rebuilding the Luftwaffe, in particular rubber and aluminum. Petroleum imports were particularly vulnerable to blockade. Germany pushed for synthetic fuel plants but still failed to meet demands. In 1937 Germany imported more fuel than it had at

12994-560: The informer methods of Metternich and the French Minister of Police, Fouché had been amateurish experiments. Other names for the FA included Hermann Göring's Research Bureau and Hermann Göring cipher bureau . Its official full name in German was Forschungsamt des Reichsluftfahrt Ministerium , and in English the "Research Office of the Ministry of Aviation",( Luftwaffe ) Late in the war

13140-508: The intelligence gathering and ideological watchdog of the Nazi Party. Director Gottfried Schapper , an extreme Anti semitic , was also a German SS officer who held the rank of Hauptsturmführer , and managed the agency between 12 October 1943 and the end of the war on 8 May 1945. Schapper had been a soldier in World War I and from 1916 to 1917 had been director of the cryptographic offices in

13286-415: The interception of conversations were undertaken. Intercept stations were distributed all over Germany, postal districts and cable junctions all had surveillance points. All telegrams sent by anybody were copied and sent to the unit. Interception of telephone conversations of high ranking government officials, Nazi Party members and state officials were of particular importance. Gradually, an enormous spy net

13432-499: The last two weeks of the war. The Luftwaffe was deeply involved in Nazi war crimes . By the end of the war, a significant percentage of aircraft production originated in concentration camps , an industry employing tens of thousands of prisoners. The Luftwaffe's demand for labour was one of the factors that led to the deportation and murder of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews in 1944. The Luftwaffe frequently bombed non-military targets,

13578-512: The leading cryptanalyst of Inspektorate 7. Buggisch reported that the FA was able to read Russian Teletype traffic. Buggisch stated that the FA had some success in reconstructing a Russian Teletype machine in 1943 and recognized it had certain similarities in design with the German SZ40 . After a short time, the Soviets changed the design. The FA communicated its results to Inspektorate 7 and were given

13724-616: The locations of most A stations are not available from TICOM documentation, it is known that Berlin had a large A station, which was used to tap the conversations of the diplomatic corps . It had a staff of around 100 people, including 50 to 60 intercept personnel. After the war, these operations ceased, with new operations largely concerned with war production bottlenecks, domestic affairs and attitudes of large industries. B stations were usually positioned outside of towns in points of good wireless reception. Radio messages were intercepted by short wave receivers and then relayed in written form to

13870-551: The long-term development of the Luftwaffe, especially after Wever's death. The tactical strike aircraft programmes were meant to serve as interim solutions until the next generation of aircraft arrived. In 1936 the Junkers Ju 52 was the backbone of the German bomber fleet. This led to a rush on the part of the RLM to produce the Junkers Ju 86 , the Heinkel He 111, and the Dornier Do 17 before

14016-456: The machine-gunning of civilians and livestock. When World War II began in 1939, the Luftwaffe was one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world. During the Polish Campaign that triggered the war, it quickly established air superiority, and then air supremacy. It supported the German Army operations which ended the campaign in five weeks. The Luftwaffe's performance was as

14162-550: The meantime, German designs of mid-1930s origin such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 , the Heinkel He 111 , the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, and the Dornier Do 17 , performed very well. All first saw active service in the Condor Legion against Soviet-supplied aircraft. The Luftwaffe also quickly realised the days of the biplane fighter were finished, the Heinkel He 51 being switched to service as a trainer. Particularly impressive were

14308-465: The name by which it was best known. At the end of the war, in 1945, this became the modern French counter-espionage service, the Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage (SDECE, "Foreign Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service"). Luftwaffe Albert Kesselring The Luftwaffe ( German pronunciation: [ˈlʊftvafə] ) was the aerial-warfare branch of

14454-405: The name of the agency, Forschungsamt. In May 1945 he was arrested near Rosenheim by TICOM agents and taken to Salzburg and later Augsburg to be interrogated. The FA was organized into six main sections or departments ( Hauptabteilung ) as follows: The final output of the FA was Brown Reports or Brown Sheets ( Braune Meldungen or Braunblätter ). Recipients of these reports included Chief of

14600-452: The new agency be independent of the ministry. Göring consented and later stated during TICOM interrogations that he wanted an organization of his own which could handle all phases of monitoring under one central control. Göring ensured it was camouflaged under the title Reichsluftrahrtministerium-Forschungsamt to confuse its role within the Nazi hierarchy, though in reality it was not connected to

14746-468: The operations of the FA. The FA sent its traffic to Pers Z S and Chi but to Chi only what the FA saw fit to send, and the OKW/Chi would sometimes receive material from Pers Z S, which was not supplied direct. However it was clear that intercepted traffic was still exchanged between the two units. Indeed, up to 30% of all the intercept traffic received by OKW/Chi came from the FA Fenner stated he had no use for

14892-399: The operator to tap into any conversation. The taping was done at the post office with tap lines routed into the station. Included in each switchboard was a Wire recording recorder. The operations of the A stations changed at the start of the war. Prior to September 1939, the intercept stations acted in a civilian function, reporting on the many international lines coming into Germany. Although

15038-464: The practice of " terror bombing " (see Luftwaffe strategic bombing doctrine ). According to Corum, terror bombing was deemed to be "counter-productive", increasing rather than destroying the enemy's will to resist. Such bombing campaigns were regarded as diversion from the Luftwaffe's main operations; destruction of the enemy armed forces. Nevertheless, Wever recognised the importance of strategic bombing . In newly introduced doctrine, The Conduct of

15184-475: The prompting of military intelligence, a counter-intelligence charter was established and the National Council amended the penal code (article 75 and following) to integrate all 1810, 1886, and 1934 counter-intelligence laws. The Deuxième Bureau developed a reputation as Europe's top cryptoanalytical service in the early 20th century. It scored a notable success at the outbreak of World War I when it cracked

15330-647: The rank of Oberstleutnant or, exceptionally, an Oberst . Even a Leutnant (second lieutenant) could find himself commanding a Staffel . 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). The strength of

15476-417: The requirement from its inception on 5 November 1937 to have moderate dive-bombing capabilities in a 30-meter wingspan aircraft. Moreover, Germany did not possess the economic resources to match the later British and American effort of 1943–1944, particularly in large-scale mass production of high power output aircraft engines (with output of over least 1,500 kW (2,000 hp). In addition, the OKL had not foreseen

15622-621: The revenge of the FA for the death of Hans Schimpf . During this time, the Foreign Office , which was controlled by Joachim von Ribbentrop , was wired with microphones without any ministry official noticing. The FA played a very important role in the intercepting communications of the government of the Federal State of Austria before the Anschluss occupation in March 1938. A special subsection in

15768-554: The second highest military rank in Germany were Kesselring, Hugo Sperrle , Milch, and Wolfram von Richthofen . At the end of the war, with Berlin surrounded by the Red Army , Göring suggested to Hitler that he take over leadership of the Reich. Hitler ordered his arrest and execution, but Göring's SS guards did not carry out the order, and Göring survived to be tried at Nuremberg . Sperrle

15914-588: The secrecy of correspondence. It read: The privacy of correspondence, postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications shall be inviolable. Exception may be only made by the Kingdom Act. See the §§ 99-101 of the Criminal Procedure Code from 1 February 1877 (RGBl. S. 253) in the version published on 4 January 1924 (RGBl. I. p.15) By § 1 of the Reichstag Fire Decree, 28 February 1933 (RGBl. IS 83)

16060-516: The spring of 1940 the Luftwaffe assisted the Kriegsmarine and Heer in the invasion of Norway . Flying in reinforcements and winning air superiority, the Luftwaffe contributed decisively to the German conquest. In May and June 1940, the Luftwaffe contributed to the unexpected German success in the Battle of France . It destroyed three Allied Air Forces and helped secure the defeat of France in just over six weeks. However, it could not destroy

16206-531: The start of the decade. By summer 1938, only 25% of the requirements could be covered. In steel materials, industry was operating at barely 83% of capacity, and by November 1938 Göring reported the economic situation was serious. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), the overall command for all German military forces, ordered reductions in raw materials and steel used for armament production. The figures for reduction were substantial: 30% steel, 20% copper, 47% aluminum, and 14% rubber. Under such circumstances, it

16352-424: The start of the war. The F stations were created after Germany was at war, were not extensive in operation. Censorship offices were operated by OKW and later by RSHA . The F station consisted of small groups attached to these censorship posts. It was known that the FA was concerned with postal censorship In addition to the stations operating in Germany, the FA setup operational units in occupied countries. In

16498-536: The subsequent Blitz , it failed to force the British into submission. From 1942, Allied bombing campaigns gradually destroyed the Luftwaffe's fighter arm. From late 1942, the Luftwaffe used its surplus ground support and other personnel to raise Luftwaffe Field Divisions . In addition to its service on the Western front , the Luftwaffe operated over the Soviet Union, North Africa, and Southern Europe. Despite its belated use of advanced turbojet and rocket-propelled aircraft for

16644-582: The training aircraft and schools in their operational areas. A Geschwader was commanded by a Geschwaderkommodore , with the rank of either major, Oberstleutnant ( lieutenant colonel ) or Oberst ( colonel ). Other "staff" officers within the unit with administrative duties included the adjutant, technical officer, and operations officer, who were usually (though not always) experienced aircrew or pilots still flying on operations. Other specialist staff were navigation, signals, and intelligence personnel. A Stabschwarm (headquarters flight )

16790-566: The treaty at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union . With the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the Luftwaffe's existence was publicly acknowledged and officially established on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through German rearmament and conscription would be announced on 16 March. The Condor Legion ,

16936-446: The untimely death of Wever in early June 1936 in an aviation-related accident , by the late 1930s the Luftwaffe had no clear purpose. The air force was not subordinated to the army support role, and it was not given any particular strategic mission. German doctrine fell between the two concepts. The Luftwaffe was to be an organisation capable of carrying out broad and general support tasks rather than any specific mission. Mainly, this path

17082-466: The war through the destruction of enemy industry, even though these exercises also included tactical strikes against enemy ground forces and communications. In 1935, "Luftwaffe Regulation 16: The Conduct of the Air War" was drawn up. In the proposal, it concluded, "The mission of the Luftwaffe is to serve these goals." Historian James Corum states that under this doctrine, the Luftwaffe leadership rejected

17228-516: Was Helmuth Wilberg . Wilberg later played a large role in the development of German air doctrine. Having headed the Reichswehr air staff for eight years in the 1920s, Wilberg had considerable experience and was ideal for a senior staff position. Göring considered making Wilberg Chief of Staff (CS). However, it was revealed Wilberg had a Jewish mother. For that reason, Göring could not have him as CS. Not wishing his talent to go to waste, Göring ensured

17374-519: Was JG 1, its first Gruppe (group) was I./JG 1, using a Roman numeral for the Gruppe number only, and its first Staffel (squadron) was 1./JG 1. Geschwader strength was usually 120–125 aircraft. Each Gruppe was commanded by a Kommandeur , and a Staffel by a Staffelkapitän . However, these were "appointments", not ranks, within the Luftwaffe. Usually, the Kommodore would hold

17520-436: Was a Nazi Party civilian organization, unlike complementary organizations that existed at the time, e.g. OKW/Chi , which were military in nature. For security purposes, a small number of individuals, who were civilians, were ordered to wear German Luftwaffe uniforms. This was to ensure fruitful communication between signals intelligence. The original unit consisted of eight men when it was established on 10 April 1933. Later, as

17666-694: Was added to the Deuxième Bureau. In 1886, a law was passed penalizing espionage activity (another would be passed in 1934). In October 1894 the Dreyfus affair occurred and proved so politically divisive that, in May 1899, the government shifted responsibility for counter-espionage to the Ministry of the Interior . A small intelligence section remained within the General Staff, but the Service de surveillance du territoire ( Territorial Surveillance Service , SST), an agency of

17812-489: Was an impressive force. However, even by the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe still had not mobilised fully. Despite the shortage of raw materials, Udet had increased production through introducing a 10-hour working day for aviation industries and rationalising production. During this period 30 Kampfstaffeln and 16 Jagdstaffeln were raised and equipped. A further five Zerstörergruppen ("Destroyer groups") were created (JGr 101, 102, 126, 152 and 176), all equipped with

17958-566: Was attached to each Geschwader . A Jagdgeschwader (hunting wing) (JG) was a single-seat day fighter Geschwader , typically equipped with Bf 109 or Fw 190 aircraft flying in the fighter or fighter-bomber roles. Late in the war, by 1944–45, JG 7 and JG 400 (and the jet specialist JV 44 ) flew much more advanced aircraft, with JG 1 working up with the Heinkel He 162 "emergency fighter" at war's end. A Geschwader consisted of groups ( Gruppen ), which in turn consisted of Jagdstaffel (fighter squadrons). Hence, Fighter Wing 1

18104-565: Was charged with devising a plan for an air war over the British Isles. Felmy was convinced that Britain could be defeated through morale bombing. Felmy noted the alleged panic that had broken out in London during the Munich crisis , evidence he believed of British weakness. A second reason was technical. German designers had never solved the issues of the Heinkel He 177A's design difficulties, brought on by

18250-453: Was chosen to encourage more flexible use of air power and offer the ground forces the right conditions for a decisive victory. In fact, on the outbreak of war, only 15% of the Luftwaffe's aircraft were devoted to ground support operations, counter to the long-held myth that the Luftwaffe was designed for only tactical and operational missions. Wever's participation in the construction of the Luftwaffe came to an abrupt end on 3 June 1936 when he

18396-557: Was collated and evaluated in the evaluation centre of the FA. This evidence led directly to the Night of the Long Knives , which took place from 30 June to 2 July 1934 in which 85-200 members of the SA and others were assassinated. During this action Schimpf was promoted to ministerial rank ( German : Ministerialrat ), which ensured for himself a position of great power. The second major operation of

18542-590: Was created in 1940 to direct operations in Norway and Denmark, and other Luftflotten were created as necessary. Each Luftflotte would contain several Fliegerkorps (Air Corps), Fliegerdivision (Air Division), Jagdkorps (Fighter Corps), Jagddivision (Air Division), or Jagdfliegerführer (Fighter Air Command). Each formations would have attached to it a number of units, usually several Geschwader , but also independent Staffeln and Kampfgruppen . Luftflotten were also responsible for

18688-407: Was created that spanned all of Germany. No officer, no official, no party functionary and no person of importance could telephone without the conversation being monitored. The FA paid particular attention to the Reichswehr personnel and commanders of military districts. A system of confidential agents was established to pass it to the FA. Surveillance of general delivery letters formed a large part of

18834-473: Was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany. However the term " Deuxième Bureau " ( French: [døzjɛm byʁo] ), like " MI6 " and " KGB ", outlived the original organization as a general label for the country's intelligence service. French military intelligence was composed of two separate bureaux prior to World War II. The Premier Bureau was charged with informing

18980-572: Was established. The RLM was in charge of the development and production of aircraft. Göring's control over all aspects of aviation became absolute. On 25 March 1933 the German Air Sports Association absorbed all private and national organisations, while retaining its 'sports' title. On 15 May 1933, all military aviation organisations in the RLM were merged, forming the Luftwaffe; its official 'birthday'. The National Socialist Flyers Corps ( Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps or NSFK)

19126-634: Was formed in 1937 to give pre-military flying training to male youths, and to engage adult sport aviators in the Nazi movement. Military-age members of the NSFK were drafted into the Luftwaffe. As all such prior NSFK members were also Nazi Party members, this gave the new Luftwaffe a strong Nazi ideological base in contrast to the other branches of the Wehrmacht (the Heer (army) and the Kriegsmarine (navy)). Göring played

19272-412: Was given to army support, as Germany was a continental power and expected to face ground operations following any declaration of hostilities. For these reasons, between 1933 and 1934, the Luftwaffe's leadership was primarily concerned with tactical and operational methods. In aerial terms, the army concept of Truppenführung was an operational concept, as well as a tactical doctrine. In World War I,

19418-437: Was killed along with his engineer in a Heinkel He 70 Blitz, ironically on the very day that his "Bomber A" heavy bomber design competition was announced. After Wever's death, Göring began taking more of an interest in the appointment of Luftwaffe staff officers. Göring appointed his successor Albert Kesselring as Chief of Staff and Ernst Udet to head the Reich's Air Ministry Technical Office ( Technisches Amt ), although he

19564-630: Was known as the 5ème Bureau. The SCR was attached to the Section de renseignements ( Intelligence Section , SR) in April 1917. In February 1917, the Président du Conseil put a commissioner of the Sûreté Nationale in charge of the criminal police, general intelligence, and counter-espionage. His command included a filing and archiving section, a section devoted to propaganda ( propagande révolutionnaire , PR) and

19710-462: Was lost. The only design submittal for Wever's 'Bomber A' that reached production was Heinkel 's Projekt 1041 , which culminated in the production and frontline service as Germany's only operational heavy bomber, the Heinkel He 177 , on 5 November 1937, the date on which it received its RLM airframe number . In 1935, the military functions of the RLM were grouped into the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL; "Air Force High Command"). Following

19856-406: Was more of a directorial or leadership branch, charged with general correspondence, troop movements, decorations and decrees, and the second, or the Deuxième Bureau (further subdivided into five sections), was charged with military statistics, archival and historical work, geodesy and topography. This entire structure would be replaced three years later by a reworked general staff, even more similar to

20002-409: Was not a technical expert. Despite this Udet helped change the Luftwaffe's tactical direction towards fast medium bombers to destroy enemy air power in the battle zone rather than through industrial bombing of its aviation production. Kesselring and Udet did not get on. During Kesselring's time as CS, 1936–1937, a power struggle developed between the two as Udet attempted to extend his own power within

20148-504: Was not going to let that work move to the FA. Fenner considered the FA had overreached its competence, as the continual requests for help for decipherment aid by the FA to the Pers Z S showed that the FA was not able to supply what was desired. Indeed, the GA tried to get aid from Chi thus overlooking its claim that the OKW/Chi was not competent. Indeed, the OKW/Chi understood neither the organization nor

20294-400: Was not possible for Milch, Udet, or Kesselring to produce a formidable strategic bombing force even had they wanted to do so. The development of aircraft was now confined to the production of twin-engined medium bombers that required much less material, manpower, and aviation production capacity than Wever's "Ural Bomber". German industry could build two medium bombers for one heavy bomber and

20440-559: Was not the case. OKL-Stelle was concerned with air traffic ciphers, so a functional division did exist between the two agencies. However, the FA did supply diplomatic and general intelligence to OKL-Stelle. Lt. Colonel Friederich, Chief of Division III of OKL-Stelle stated: He did not work with them [the RLM/FA] except to the extent that Chief Cryptanalyst Ferdinand Voegele, Chief of Section E, sometimes met with cryptanalysts from this and other agencies to discuss general problems. The FA furnished

20586-562: Was prosecuted at the OKW trial , one of the last twelve of the Nuremberg trials after the war. He was acquitted on all four counts. He died in Munich in 1953. At the start of the war the Luftwaffe had four Luftflotten (air fleets), each responsible for roughly a quarter of Germany. As the war progressed more air fleets were created as the areas under German rule expanded. As one example, Luftflotte 5

20732-517: Was run by Commandant Guy Schlesser. In March 1937, the government decreed that territorial surveillance was the responsibility of the police alone, to be executed by strictly legal means. A new organization, the Bureau central de Renseignements ("Central Intelligence Bureau", BCR) was established the same month and a special section devoted to "preventative defence" was created within the SCR. In July 1939, at

20878-614: Was the Article 117 set "until further notice" overridden in conjunction with Article 48 para. 2 sentence 2. Hermann Göring was a high ranking Nazi Party member who founded the party-run FA along with Gottfried Schapper in April 1933. Schapper had worked in the Reichswehr Ministry from 1927 to 1933 and been dissatisfied by both the scope of monitoring work and the incompetence of the methods employed there. He along with some colleagues, including Nazi, Hans Schimpf , his predecessor and

21024-574: Was the first head of the FA between 10 April 1933 and 10 April 1935. A former Corvette captain ( Korvettenkapitän ), he was a liaison officer between the Abwehr and the navy department, Reichsmarine / B-Dienst , at the Defence Ministry. Director Christoph Prinz von Hessen was a German SS officer who managed the agency between 10 April 1935 and 12 October 1943. He was the son of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse and Princess Margaret of Prussia ,

21170-426: Was unknown by TICOM at the start of the war, which came as some surprise when papers were discovered by TICOM Team 1 at the Kaufbeuren Air Base indicating it was the FA's final location after fleeing there from heavy combat zones in the north. Hermann Göring was the most important individual at the FA. He was a German politician, military leader, and leading member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Director Hans Schimpf

21316-536: Was up to 3,941, The Luftwaffe's entire strength was now 2.2 million personnel. In April and May 1941, Udet headed the Luftwaffe delegation inspecting the Soviet aviation industry in compliance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Udet informed Göring "that Soviet air forces are very strong and technically advanced." Göring decided not to report the facts to Hitler, hoping that a surprise attack would quickly destroy

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