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(詳細はSecond World War the German ''Luftwaffe'' was the main support weapon of the German Army (''Heer''). It fought and supported the ''Wehrmachts war effort throughout the six years of conflict and contributed to much of Nazi Germany's early successes in 1939-1942. After the turn in Germany's fortunes, it continued to support the German ground forces until the German surrender on the 8 May 1945. ==Poland== Poland - Operation ''Fall Weiss'' (1 September - 6 October 1939) On 1 September 1939 German forces invaded Poland, triggering World War II. The Luftwaffe begun the invasion by bombing the undefended civilian town of Wieluń. The Luftwaffe was an instrumental component of the Blitzkrieg battle plan. The Luftwaffe assigned two airfleets to the campaign.Albert Kesselring's ''Luftflotte 1'' was equipped with 807 aircraft, which was augmented by 92 Seaplanes of ''Fliegerfuhrer der Seeluftstreitkrafte''. Alexander Löhr's ''Luftflotte 4'' had 627 aircraft, augmented by 30 Slovak aircraft. A further 406 fighters were retained as part of home defence against potential Polish attack, while another 333 Reconnaissance machines, under the command of ''Kommandeur der Luftwaffe'', were attached to the Army.〔Hooton 2007 Vol 2, p. 85.〕 The Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka'' carried out the first mission of the campaign, twenty minutes before war was officially announced.〔Weal 1997, p. 20〕 This same aircraft was to score the first aerial victory of the war when ''Kettenführer'' Leutnant Frank Neubert shot down a Polish PZL P.11c fighter aircraft piloted by Captain Mieczysław Medwecki.〔Weal 1997, p. 22〕 The Polish Air Force, contrary to popular belief, was not destroyed on the ground. Most of their units had dispersed to pre-arranged heavily camouflaged airfields in the hours leading up to the invasion. Most of the airfields bombed by the Luftwaffe destroyed empty hangars, and unserviceable machines. The Poles suffered heavy losses but managed to inflict considerable losses on the Luftwaffe. The Polish Air Force bomber units did attempt to strike at the German Panzer Divisions and slow the speed of advance. Equipped with PZL.37 Łoś bombers, these units were virtually annihilated by the 5 September. The Messerschmitt Bf 110 was proving itself to be more than capable in both the escort and bomber intercept role and accounted for the majority of these kills, which pleased Hermann Göring, a fan of the twin-engined heavy fighter.〔Weal 1999, p. 14-15〕 The Polish fighter units were still active, and were inflicting small losses on the Luftwaffe, however the ''Jagd'' and ''Zerstörergruppen'' were increasing their ground attack roles. As a result, many Polish fighters were caught taking off, when they were at a considerable disadvantage. It was indirect rather than direct air support which won the Luftwaffe air-superiority. By destroying communications the Luftwaffe increased the pace of the advance which overran Polish airstrips and early warning sites and caused logistical problems for the Poles. Many Polish Air Force units were now low on supplies, 98 of their number withdrew into neutral (at that time) Romania. The polish initial strength of 397 had been reduced to just 54 by 14 September and air opposition virtually ceased.〔E.R Hooton 2007 Vol. 1, p. 87〕 Part of the Luftwaffe's operations involved the destruction of the small but modern Polish Navy. The Luftwaffe had few units capable of effective anti-shipping operations. One of these units was 4.(St)/TrGr 186 - a Stuka unit which originally had been trained to operate from the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin.〔U. H.-J. Israel, Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin, Herford, 1994.〕 4.(St)/TrGr 186's most notable success was to sink the destroyer ''Wicher'' and mine-layer ''Gryf''. The Luftwaffe had been successful in neutralizing Polish air and sea power within first days of campaign, and with air superiority established the Luftwaffe was free to concentrate on attacking supply and communication links with devastating effect. The outdated Polish Army was denied what mobility it had left as traveling by road became perilous and the rail networks had been largely destroyed.〔Taylor & Mayer 1974, p. 45〕 The Stuka became the symbol of the German war machine throughout the campaign. Operating without opposition, it supported the Panzer Divisions by acting as flying artillery. On one occasion six Polish divisions trapped by encircling German forces were forced to surrender after a relentless four day assault by StG 51, StG 76 and StG 77. Employed in this assault was the 50 kg fragmentation bombs which caused appalling damage to enemy ground troops. Demoralized, the Poles surrendered. The Wehrmacht however was given a shock soon afterwards. The Polish 'Poznan' and 'Pomorze' armies counter-attacked, threatening to break the flank of the German 8. ''Armee'', and to cut off the 10.''Armee''. The Luftwaffe was called upon for a maximum effort in what became known as the Battle of Bzura. The Luftwaffe's offensive broke what remained of Polish resistance in an "awesome demonstration of air power".〔E.R Hooton 2007 Vol.1, p. 91〕 The Luftwaffe quickly destroyed the bridges across the Bzura river. Afterward the Polish forces were trapped out in the open, and were attacked by wave after wave of Stukas, dropping 50 kg 'light bombs' which caused huge numbers of casualties. The Polish flak positions ran out of ammunition and they retreated to the forests but were then 'smoked out' by the Heinkel He 111s and Dornier Do 17s dropping 100 kg incendiaries. The Luftwaffe had left the Army with the simple task of mopping up survivors. ''The Sturzkampfgeschwader'' alone dropped 388 tonnes of bombs during this battle.〔E.R Hooton 2007 Vol.1 , p. 91〕 The expenditure of munitions was beyond expectations. The Luftwaffe had expended a third of their explosives (some 3,000 tonnes).〔Hooton 2007 Vol. 2 p. 43〕 The Luftwaffe's aircraft had performed well. The Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111 were faster than the Polish fighters and were able to outrun them. Many losses occurred through anti-aircraft fire. According to a Luftwaffe General Quartermaster report as of 28 September 1939 German forces lost 285 aircraft to all causes, while 279 aircraft were damaged at 10% or above and were written off or required major repairs. Aircrew losses were 189 dead, 126 wounded and 224 missing.〔Bekker, Cajus (1964): Angriffshöhe 4000〕〔Hooton, p. 93.〕 Polish resistance ended completely on 6 October 1939. 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「Operational history of the Luftwaffe (1939–45)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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