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''Kampfgeschwader'' 40 (KG 40) was a Luftwaffe medium and heavy bomber wing of World War II, and the primary maritime patrol unit of any size within the World War II Luftwaffe. ==Service history== Formed in July 1940 in Bordeaux-Merignac, the Geschwader was under the control of Fliegerführer Atlantik. The unit flew reconnaissance missions in the North Atlantic searching for enemy convoys and reported their findings to the ''Kriegsmarine''. Later, they also attacked ships directly. 1./KG 40 were equipped with the Fw 200C-1 and initial missions were flown from Danish bases from 8 April 1940 against British ships. In late June the unit was transferred to Bordeaux-Merignac, which was to be the main base until 1944. From July 1940 the Condors initially supported the Luftwaffe's assault on the UK with maritime recce and weather sorties, single aircraft flying a wide sweep into the Atlantic west of Cornwall and Ireland, and landing in Norway, making the return trip a day or two later. During August and September 1940 more intensive anti-shipping operations meant 1./KG 40 claimed over 90,000 tons of shipping sank. On 26 October 1940 ''Oberleutnant'' Bernhard Jope bombed the 42,000 ton liner ''Empress of Britain'', the ship later being sunk by a U-boat. Between August 1940 and February 1941, the unit claimed over 343,000 tons of ships sunk. The newer Fw 200C-2 was then available and differed only in having the rear ventral areas of the outer engine nacelles recessed with dual-purpose bomb racks fitted to carry a pair per aircraft of the quarter-tonne SC 250 bombs, or standard Luftwaffe 300 litre (79 US gallon) drop tanks in the bombs' place for longer ranged patrols. 4./KG40 was formed 1 January 1941 with the He 111, while the remainder of II Gruppe was formed 1 May 1941 at Lüneburg, with the Dornier Do 217. On 9 February 1941, five Focke-Wulf Fw 200 of I./KG 40 in cooperation with the heavy cruiser ''Admiral Hipper'' and attacked the British convoy HG 53. The convoy lost five ships to aerial attacks. By this time 1./KG 40 had been joined by two further ''Staffeln'', totalling a nominal 36 aircraft on strength. From mid-1941 kg 40 crews were instructed to stop attacking shipping and avoid combat in order to preserve numbers. Their prime purpose was now to locate and shadow convoys and continually report by radio their composition and course changes to allow the ''Kriegsmarine'' to direct the 'wolf-packs' of U-boats to close, intercept and engage. With the lack of suitable long-range aircover to counter KG 40 in mid 1941 the Allies converted several merchant ships to CAM ships ('catapult aircraft merchant' ship) as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient RN escort carriers became available. The CAM ship was equipped with a rocket-propelled catapult launching a single Hawker Hurricane, dubbed a "Hurricat" or "Catafighter". On 18 July 1941 the Fw 200C with combat wing code (''Geschwaderkennung'') of 'F8+AB' (and the crew of Hpt. Fritz Fliegel) were lost to AA fire while attacked by a CAM Ship Hurricane. On 3 August 1941 the 3.''Staffel's'' 'F8+CL' was damaged in combat with another CAM Hurricane flown by Lt. R. Everett RNVR launched by HMS Maplin and crash-landed in France with two dead and one injured aboard. On 1 Nov 1942 the 'Empire Heath' in convoy HG-91 launched her Sea Hurricane flown by F/O Norman Taylor DFM to chase the Focke-Wulf Fw 200C 'F8+DS' of 7./KG 40. The aircraft flown by Oblt. Arno Gross was shot down, with no survivors. KG 40's effectiveness in its role was hampered by poor serviceability, low production rates of the FW 200 and by repeated diversion of its long-haul capability aircraft to undertake transport duties in various theatres, especially for the airlift operations to supply beleaguered forces in the battle of Stalingrad. In early January 1943 1. and 3./KG 40 moved to Stalino as KGrzbV 200 to transport supplies to the Stalingrad 'pocket'. Both staffeln would later be remustered as a new 8./KG 40. The new 1. and 3./KG 40 began forming in Fassberg with He 177A bombers from the same month.. Later in the war, one or two ''Gruppen'' of KG 40 became one of several Luftwaffe bomber groups to use the Heinkel He 177A heavy bomber. By late 1943, the main role of the KG 40's Condors was to interdict Allied convoys to and from Gibraltar, whose departure was usually reported by German agents in Spain. Aircraft would take off in fours, flying out to an initial point at sea level and in close formation, before fanning out to fly parallel tracks some 25 miles (40 km) apart, periodically climbing to 1,000 ft (300 m) and making a broad circuit while they searched for shipping using their FuG 200 ''Hohentwiel'' low-UHF-band ASV radar. When contact was made the aircraft would send details of the convoy make-up and its course, and if feasible, make bombing attacks from a minimum altitude of 9,000 ft (2700m). And after the allied invasion in Normandy, KG 40 took heavy losses in attacks on the landing beaches; and in October 1944 KG 40 transferred to Germany, and was intended for conversion to the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. This never happened and the unit was disbanded on 2 February 1945. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kampfgeschwader 40」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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