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Video: German suicide pilots against the Red Army
2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55
Like the Japanese in the Pacific, the Germans in Europe had their own suicide squadron. The last hope of the Third Reich, they also failed to change the outcome of the war.
Everyone has heard of Japanese suicide bombers, the so-called "kamikaze", who rammed American warships on their planes at least once. Few people know, however, that they weren't the only World War II pilots who deliberately participated in suicidal missions. In the Third Reich, a similar unit of fanatics was created, and it acted against the Soviet troops.
Leonidas Squadron
“Here I voluntarily agree to be admitted to the suicide group as a guided bomb pilot. I fully understand that my participation in such activities will lead to my death, - these were the words in an application for admission to the 5th squadron of the 200th Luftwaffe Bomber Squadron, whose task was to stop the advance of the Allied troops at the cost of the lives of German pilots. Over the entire period of the war, more than 70 volunteers joined it.
Hannah Reitsch. German Federal Archives
It is curious that the idea of creating a unit of suicide pilots was born to the Germans earlier than the Japanese. Back in February 1944, she was offered by the saboteur No. 1 of the Third Reich Otto Skorzeny and Luftwaffe officer Hayo Herrmann, and was supported by the Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler and the test pilot Hanna Reitsch, famous in Germany. It was she who convinced Hitler to give the order to start the Selbstopfer project (German: Self-sacrifice).
Unofficially, the 5th squadron was called "Leonidas Squadron" in honor of the Spartan king, who, according to legend, with 6 thousand Greek soldiers fought staunchly and died in an unequal battle against 200 thousand Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The same heroic self-sacrifice was expected from the German pilots.
In search of the deadliest weapon
Me-328. Tomás Del Coro (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The first step was to decide which aircraft would be used to destroy enemy equipment, ships and infrastructure. Hannah Reitsch insisted on converting experimental Messerschmitt Me-328 fighters into suicide aircraft, but they did not perform well in tests.
The idea to use the Fiziler Fi 103R "Reichenberg" projectile, developed on the basis of the V-1 cruise missile, also failed. It had unsatisfactory flight characteristics: it was poorly controllable and constantly strove to fall on its side.
Not everyone in the Luftwaffe shared Hannah Reitsch's idea of fanatical self-sacrifice. The commander of the 200th bomber squadron, which included the Leonid squadron, Werner Baumbach opposed the waste of aircraft and human lives.
Fi 103R "Reichenberg". Public domain
He suggested using the Mistel project, also known as Folder and Son. An unmanned Ju-88 bomber filled with explosives was attached to a light fighter, the pilot of which controlled the entire system. When reaching the target, he unhooked the bomber diving at the enemy, and he himself returned to the base.
The slow-moving Mistel became easy prey for Allied fighters and was used to a limited extent on the Western and Eastern Fronts. In the 5th squadron, he was not widely used.
In battles
Due to the ongoing disputes between the commanders of the Luftwaffe, their inability to find a consensus and find the most effective aircraft weapon for their suicide pilots, "Leonidas Squadron" did not become any formidable force.
Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Imperial War Museums
Its pilots set off on their suicidal missions only at the end of the war, when the Red Army was already approaching Berlin. At the same time, they used all the aircraft that still remained at their disposal. These were mainly fighters Messerschmitt Bf-109 and Focke-Wulf Fw-190, stuffed with explosives and with half-empty gas tanks - for flight only in one direction.
The targets of the German "kamikazes" were the bridges across the Oder built by Soviet troops. According to Nazi propaganda, 35 suicide pilots managed to destroy 17 bridges and crossings in the attacks. In reality, only the railway bridge in Kustrin was destroyed.
Having caused a little confusion among the advancing units of the Red Army, "Leonidas Squadron" was not capable of anything big. When on April 21, Soviet troops approached the city of Yuterbogu, where the suicide base was located, flights were stopped, personnel were evacuated, and the unit itself virtually ceased to exist.
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