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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 ''Reichenberg'', a manned version of the V-1 flying bomb, in attacks in which the pilot was likely to be killed, or at best to parachute down at the attack site. The Reichenberg was never used in combat because Werner Baumbach, the commander of KG 200, and his superiors considered it an unnecessary waste of life and resources. The ''Mistel'' composite aircraft was preferred. History The establishment of a suicide squadron (''staffel'') was originally proposed by Otto Skorzeny and Hajo Herrmann. The proposal was supported by test pilot Hanna Reitsch. The idea proposed was that Germany would use volunteers as suicide pilots in order to overcome the Allies' numerical advantages with their fanatic spirit. The idea had roots in German mythology that was glorified by Nazi propaganda. Hitler was reluctant, but eventually agreed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fw 190A-3 JG 2 In Britain 1942
FW may stand for: Arts and entertainment *Fates Warning, an American progressive metal band *Frei.Wild, a German-language rock band from Brixen, Italy * ''Fair Warning'' (Van Halen album), an album by hard rock band, Van Halen *'' Fairy Wars'', the 12.8th game in the ''Touhou Project'' series *''Fish Wrangler'', a Facebook game *''Fossilized Wonders'', the 20th game in the ''Touhou Project'' series Businesses *FatWire, a vendor of content management system *Focke-Wulf, a German aircraft manufacturer *F+W, a media and e-commerce company In computing *FatWire, a vendor of content management system *Firewall (computing), a security device in computer networks *FireWire, a high speed serial interface standard *Adobe Fireworks, a graphics editing program *Firmware, software that is embedded in a hardware device *Email forwarding, in email subject lines ("Fwd" is sometimes used as well) *FrostWire, a P2P client Places *Fort Worth, Texas *Fort Wayne, Indiana *Federal Way, Washington ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' of the ''Luftwaffe'' who oversaw its founding and development during the rearmament of Germany and most of World War II. Milch served as State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Aviation from May 1933 to June 1944 and as Inspector General of the ''Luftwaffe'' from February 1939 to January 1945. Milch was an early member of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' during World War I and worked as an airline director in the German civil aviation industry after the war. Milch was appointed deputy of Hermann Göring in the Aviation Ministry in 1933, heading the organisation and development of the ''Luftwaffe'' from 1936. Milch led Nazi Germany's aircraft production and supply from 1941, adopting a policy of mass production, and utilising the forced labour of foreign workers under inhumane conditions to supply the ''Luftwaffe''. Milch was removed from his important Aviation Ministry positions after supportin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 ''kamikaze'' pilots died during the war in attacks that killed more than 7,000 Allied naval personnel, sank several dozen warships, and damaged scores more. The term is used generically in modern warfare for an attacking vehicle, often unmanned, which is itself destroyed when attacking a target; for example, a kamikaze drone. ''Kamikaze'' aircraft were pilot-guided explosive missiles, either purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft. Pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in what was called a "body attack" (''tai-atari'') in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedoes or other explosives. About 19 percent of ''kamikaze'' attacks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jüterbog
Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Polabian Slavs, Slavic settlement of ''Jutriboc'' in the Saxon Eastern March was first mentioned in 1007 by Thietmar of Merseburg, chronicler of Archbishop Tagino of Magdeburg. However, it was not incorporated into the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, Magdeburg diocese until 1157, when Archbishop Wichmann von Seeburg in the train of Albert the Bear established a burgward here. In 1170 Wichmann also founded the neighbouring Zinna Abbey and granted Jüterbog German town law, town privileges in 1174. The area remained a Magdeburg exclave between the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg and the Margraviate of Brandenburg throughout the Middle Ages. In March 1611 a treaty was signed in Jüterbog between Brandenburg and the Electorate of Saxony in a failed attempt to end the War of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antony Beevor
Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War. Educated at Abberley Hall School, Winchester College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Beevor commanded a troop of tanks in the 11th Hussars in Germany before deciding in 1970 to leave the army and become a writer. He was a visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and the University of Kent. His best-selling books, '' Stalingrad'' (1998) and '' Berlin: The Downfall 1945'' (2002), have been acclaimed for their detailed coverage of the battles between the Soviet Union and Germany, and their focus on the experiences of ordinary people. ''Berlin'' proved very controversial in Russia because of the information it contained from former Soviet archives about the mass rapes carried out by the Red Army in 1945. Beevor's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oder River
The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany as part of the Oder–Neisse line. The river ultimately flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north of Szczecin and then into three branches (the Dziwna, Świna and Peene) that empty into the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea. Names The Oder is known by several names in different languages, but the modern ones are very similar: English and ; Czech, Polish, and , ; (); ; Medieval Latin: ''Od(d)era''; Renaissance Latin: ''Viadrus'' (invented in 1534). The origin of this name is said by onomastician Jürgen Udolph to come from the Illyrian word ''*Adra'' (“water vein”). Ptolemy knew the modern Oder as the Συήβος (''Suebos''; Latin ''Suevus''), a name apparentl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle For Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line east of Berlin. On 9 March, Germany established its defence plan for the city with Operation Clausewitz. The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on 20 March, under the newly appointed commander of Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici. When the Soviet offensive resumed on 16 April, two Soviet fronts (army groups) attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Red Army encircled the city after successful battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. On 20 April 1945, Hitler's birthday, the 1st Belorussian Front le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Eisenhammer
Operation Eisenhammer (German; in English ''Operation Iron Hammer'') 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. The plan of the operation was created in 1943 by Professor Heinrich Steinmann (1899–1969), an official at the Reich Air Ministry. A bombing raid was to destroy twelve turbines in water and steam power-plants near Moscow, Gorky, Tula, Stalinogorsk and under the Rybinsk Reservoir, as well as to attack certain substations, transmission lines and factories. If the attack were to succeed in destroying just two thirds of the turbines it would have knocked out about 75 percent of the power used by the Soviet defence industry. Only two smaller energy centers behind the Urals and in the Soviet Far East would have been left intact. At this time, the Soviet Union had no turbine manufacturing capabilities and the only repair facili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close friend and ally of Adolf Hitler, he was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to 20 years in prison. An architect by training, Speer joined the Nazi Party in 1931. His architectural skills made him increasingly prominent within the Party, and he became a member of Hitler's inner circle. Hitler commissioned him to design and construct structures, including the Reich Chancellery and the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, Nazi Party rally grounds in Nuremberg. In 1937, Hitler appointed Speer as General Building Inspector for Berlin. In this capacity he was responsible for the Central Department for Resettlement that Nazi persecution of Jews, evicted Jewish tenants from their homes in Berlin. In February 1942, Speer was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Fw 190 became the backbone of the (Fighter Force) of the . The twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Bf 109, allowing its use as a day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and to a lesser degree, night fighter. The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941 and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Supermarine Spitfire (early Merlin-powered variants)#Mk V (Mk V (Types 331, 349 and 352)), Spitfire Mk. V, the main front-line fighter of the Royal Air Force (RAF), particularly at low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained its superiority over Allies of World War II, Allied fighters until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Koller (general)
Karl Koller (22 February 1898 – 22 December 1951) was a German '' General der Flieger'' and the Chief of the General Staff of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during World War II. Early life Koller was born in Glonn in Bavaria. He enlisted in the army in 1914 and, after infantry service, transferred to aviation. He passed pilot training in 1916, flew in observation and fighter squadrons and was captured by the British in May 1918. After his release in 1919, he served in various police capacities and shifted to the Luftwaffe in 1935. An exemplary officer, he in 1936 graduated valedictorian at the Air War Academy. World War II Koller was the Chief of Staff for Hugo Sperrle during the Blitz. For Operation Sealion, the planned invasion of the United Kingdom by the Wehrmacht, ''Oberstleutnant'' Koller was to serve as the Operations Officer of Luftflotte 3 in co-ordination with the German 9th Army. Koller became the ''Chef der Luftwaffenführungsstabes'' ("Chief of the Luftwaffe Operation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
