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Walther Wever (pilot)
Walther Wever (16 January 1923 – 10 April 1945) was a Luftwaffe flying ace during the Second World War. The son of former Chief of the Luftwaffe General Walther Wever, Wever served during 1943 on the Eastern Front and from 19 June 1943 until 10 April 1945 he claimed 44 aerial victories in 250 combat missions. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Career Wever was born on 16 January 1923 in Munich in the Weimar Republic, the son of ''General der Flieger'' Walther Wever. Following flight training in mid-1943 he was posted to 3. '' Staffel'' (3rd squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing).For an explanation of ''Luftwaffe'' unit designations see Organization of the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. At the time, 3. ''Staffel'' was commanded by ''Hauptmann'' Heinz Lange and was subordinated to I. '' Gruppe'' (1st group) of JG 51 headed by ''Major'' Erich Leie and stationed at an airfield named Orel-Slobodka located appr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of Germany, being the List of German states by area, third smallest state in the country by area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.6 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, as well as the List of EU metropolitan areas by GDP, fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organization Of The Luftwaffe (1933–1945)
Between 1933 and 1945, the organization of the Luftwaffe underwent several changes. Originally, the German military high command, for their air warfare forces, decided to use an organizational structure similar to the army and navy, treating the aviation branch as a strategic weapon of war. Later on, during the period of rapid rearmament, the Luftwaffe was organized more in a geographical fashion. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), Germany was prohibited from having an air force, with the former German Empire's ''Luftstreitkräfte'' disbandment in 1920. German pilots were secretly trained for military aviation, first in the Soviet Union during the late 1920s, and then in Germany in the early 1930s. In Germany, the training was done under the guise of the German Air Sports Association ( (DLV)) at the Central Commercial Pilots School ( (ZVF)). Following its 15 May 1933 formation in secret, the formation of the German air arm was openly announced in February 1935, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Frantic
Operation Frantic was a series of seven shuttle bombing operations during World War II conducted by American aircraft based in Great Britain and southern Italy, which landed at three Soviet airfields in the Ukrainian SSR. From there, the planes flew bombing missions en route back to their bases in Italy and Great Britain. Frantic was meant to open up new German-held areas of Europe to strategic bombing by the United States Army Air Forces, but saw mixed results, with German leadership perceiving the operation as an American propaganda campaign to impress the Soviets. Frantic also highlighted significant tensions between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, which proved both unfamiliar with and unfriendly to hosting foreign aircraft for joint operations. After its seventh bombing mission, in mid-September 1944, Frantic was discontinued. Overview American plans to use air bases in the USSR began as United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) staff studies soon after the German inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuttle Bombing
Shuttle bombing is a tactic where bombers fly from their home base to bomb a first target and continue to a different location where they are refuelled and rearmed. The aircraft may then bomb a second target on the return leg to their home base. Some examples of operations which have used this tactic are: * The Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942: 16 B-25s of the 17th Bombardment Group bombed Tokyo from the , with the intent to land in various locations in Eastern China. * The Battle of Stalingrad, September 1942: Luftflotte 4 of the Luftwaffe employed shuttle bombing tactics during the intense aerial bombardment of the city in the early days of the battle. * Operation Bellicose, June 1943: On the night of 20/21 June the RAF bombers departed from their bases in the United Kingdom and bombed Friedrichshafen, landing in Algeria, where they refuelled and rearmed. On the return leg they bombed the Italian naval base at La Spezia. * Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943: The 4t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Rockwell B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft. VIII Bomber Command of the United States Army Air Forces was established early in 1942. The first combat units arrived in the United Kingdom in June and combat operations began in July with first heavy bomber operations in August. Its bomber units were deployed in the UK, chiefly around East Anglia. From June 1943 it was the daylight bombing part of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany. VIII Bomber Command was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staffelkapitän
''Staffelkapitän'' is a command appointment, rather than a military rank, in the air force units of German-speaking countries. The rank normally held by a ''Staffelkapitän'' has changed over time. In the present-day German ''Luftwaffe'' – part of the ''Bundeswehr'' – the position is usually held by an ''Oberstleutnant'' (lieutenant colonel) or ''Major''. World War II In the ''Luftwaffe'' of the World War II ''Wehrmacht'', a full-strength ''Staffel'' had nine to 12 operational aircraft; as such it was slightly smaller than a full-strength squadron (at least 12 aircraft) in the air forces of other countries. Hence a ''Luftwaffe'' ''Staffelkapitän'' usually held the rank of an ''Oberleutnant'' or ''Hauptmann''. (In other countries, a squadron was normally commanded by, at the very least, a Major or direct equivalent rank, such as an RAF Squadron Leader.) An acting or newly-appointed ''Staffelkapitän'', for the first weeks of their assignment, was known as ''Staffelführ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviators Who Became Ace In A Day
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators. In recognition of the pilots' qualifications and responsibilities, most militaries and many airlines worldwide award aviator badges to their pilots. Definition The first recorded use of the term ''aviator'' (''aviateur'' in French) was in 1887, as a variation of ''aviation'', from the Latin ''avis'' (meaning ''bird''), coined in 1863 by in ''Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne'' ("Aviation or Air Navigation"). The term ''aviatrix'' (''aviatrice'' in French), now archaic, was formerly used for a female pilot. The term ''aviator'' (''aviateur'' in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ilyushin Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term for a ground-attack aircraft, became a synecdoche for the Il-2 in English sources, where it is commonly rendered Shturmovik, StormovikStapfer, 1995 and Sturmovik.Rastrenin, 2008 To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was known by the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was called the "Hunchback", the "Flying Tank" or the "Flying Infantryman". Its postwar NATO reporting name was Bark.Gunston 1995, p. 106. During the war, 36,183 units of the Il-2 were produced, and in combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330Jane's 1989, p. 529. were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in aviation history, as well as one of the most produced piloted aircraft in history along with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas A-20 Havoc
The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American light bomber, attack aircraft, Intruder (air combat), night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was ordered by France for their air force before the USAAC decided it would also meet their requirements. French DB-7s were the first to see combat; after the fall of France, the bomber served with the Royal Air Force under the British military aircraft designation systems#Names, service name Boston. From 1941, night fighter and Intruder (air combat), intruder versions were given the service name Havoc. In 1942 USAAF A-20s saw combat in North Africa. It served with several Allies of World War II, Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the Soviet Air Forces (''VVS''), Soviet Naval Aviation (''AVMF''), and the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. A total of 7,478 aircraft were built, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yakovlev Yak-4
The Yakovlev Yak-4 (Service names Yak-4, BB-22bis (''Blizhnij Bombardirovschik'', russian ''ближний бомбардировщик'', "short-range bomber")) was a Soviet Union, Soviet light bomber used during World War II. It was developed from the Ya-22/Yakovlev Yak-2, Yak-2. Design and development The Yak-4 was an improved version of the Yak-2 with more powerful Klimov M-105 engines and a number of other changes that were made to try to rectify the problems of the Yak-2. Two additional fuel tanks were added in the outer wings to bring the total capacity up to and the gunner's canopy was bulged to give him more room to use his ShKAS machine gun. The upper fuselage was redesigned to improve the gunner's field of fire and the oil coolers were relocated from the sides of the engine nacelles to the 'chin' position to improve their performance. Operators ; *Soviet Air Forces, VVS Specifications (Yak-4) References Further reading * External links Yak-4 description on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karachev
Karachev () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Karachevsky District in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Population: History First chronicled in 1146, it was the capital of one of the Upper Oka Principalities in the Middle Ages, until its rulers moved their seats to Peremyshl, Russia, Peremyshl. In the 14th century it became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1503 it passed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Karachev was part of the Oryol Governorate from 1796 to 1920. Its old architecture was heavily damaged during World War II. Karachev was occupied by the Wehrmacht, German Army from 5 October 1941 to 15 August 1943. The Germans operated a Nazi prison and temporarily also the Dulag 185 German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp in the town. Local Jews were confined in a Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany, ghetto and eventually massacred by the occupiers on 12 December 1941, with some 100 victims. Ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oryol
Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Federal District, as well as the Central Economic Region. First founded as a medieval stronghold of the Principality of Chernigov, Oryol was part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Lithuania in the Late Middle Ages, late medieval period, and then Russia since the early modern period. It has served as the seat of regional administration since 1778. The city is particularly known for the infamous Oryol Prison, former prison for political and war prisoners of Russian Empire, Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. History Early history While there are no historical records, archaeological evidence shows that a fortress settlement existed between the Oka River and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
