Eagles of the Third Reich: Men of the Luftwaffe in WWII (Stackpole Military History Series) Read Free

the south. This was because the primary mission of the Luftwaffe during the first two days of the campaign was to destroy the Polish air forces, not to support the ground units. It was to assume this mission only after air supremacy had been clearly established.
     
TABLE 3: ORDER OF BATTLE OF THE GERMAN ARMY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1939

Army Group North
Col. Gen. Fedor von Bock
Third Army
Gen. Georg von Kuechler
Fourth Army
Gen. Gunther von Kluge
Army Group South
Col. Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt
Eighth Army
Gen. Johannes Blaskowitz
Tenth Army
Gen. Walter von Reichenau
Fourteenth Army
Gen. Wilhelm List
Army Group C
Col. Gen. Ritter Wilhelm von Leeb
Army Detachment A
Col. Gen. Baron Kurt von Hammerstein *
Fifth Army
Gen. Curt Liebmann
First Army
Gen. Erwin von Witzleben
Seventh Army
Gen. Friedrich Dollmann
    * Still in formation. Army Detachment A was not activated until September 10, 1939.
    On the western front, 2nd Air Fleet deployed the 3rd Air Division (Maj. Gen. M. Putzier) and the 4th Air Division (Lieutenant General Keller), while the 3rd Air Fleet controlled the 5th Air Division (Maj. Gen. Ritter von Greim) and the 6th Air Division (Maj. Gen. Otto Dessloch). Second Air Fleet had 309 aircraft (165 bomb carriers) and 3rd Air Fleet had 264 airplanes, of which 120 were bomb carriers. Another 153 aircraft were attached to the army units on the western front, while 150 fighters under Luftgaue VI (Muenster), XI (Hamburg), VII (Munich), XIII (Nuremberg), and XII (Wies baden) provided fighter defense for western Germany. In all, there were 876 aircraft in the West of which only 285 (or 32.5 percent) were bomb carriers. 10 Table 4 shows the disposition of the 2,985 first-line aircraft the Luftwaffe had on September l. Table 5 shows the Order of Battle for the 1st and 4th Air Fleets.
    The Luftwaffe was opposed by three Polish air divisions, which were subordinate to the army, as Poland had no separate air force. The Polish 1st Air Division (1st, 5th, 6th Air Regiments) and 3rd Air Division (2nd, 3rd, and 4th Air Regiments) were headquartered at Warsaw, while the 2d Air Division (7th and 8th Air Regiments) was still in the process of forming in the interior. The main non-divisional unit was Naval Air Group Putzig, a mixed force of seven bomber, fighter, reconnaissance, and antiaircraft squadrons, located in the Baltic sector. 11
     
TABLE 4: ORDER OF BATTLE OF THE LUFTWAFFE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1939

Unit
Aircraft
Bomb Carriers
% Bomb Carriers

1st Air Fleet 
   795
   519
65.3
1st Air Division
(444)
(309)
Lw Cmd East Prussia
(324)
(210)
Air Fleet units
  (27)
    (0)
4th Air Fleet
   507
   360
71.0
2d Air Division
(315)
(240)
Air Cmd z. b. V.
(183)
(120)
Air Fleet units
    (9)
    (0)
(Total, operational LW:
1,302
   879
67.5)

Under OKL
   123
    18
Attached to army
   288
Home Air Defense, East
   216
______
______
TOTAL, EASTERN FRONT:
1,929
   897
46.5

2d Air Fleet
   309
   165
53.4
3d Air Division
4th Air Division
3d Air Fleet
   264
  120
45.5
5th Air Division
6th Air Division
Attached to army
   153
Home Air Defense
   150
______
______
TOTAL, WESTERN FRONT:
   876
  285
32.5

Naval Air Units
   180

LUFTWAFFE TOTAL:
2,985
1,182
39.6
    Source: Speidel MS.
    The principal tactical unit of the Polish air forces was the group. Each group had two to four squadrons, which had ten to twelve aircraft each. Upon mobilization, these units came under the direct operational control of the army or the navy. The Polish air force had ten reconnaissance groups, seven fighter groups, five fighter-bomber groups, and six groups of liaison aircraft. In all, they had 935 airplanes, including 350 reconnaissance planes, 300 fighters, 150 fighter-bombers, and 135 liaison aircraft. A large number of their planes were obsolete. The main Polish fighter was the PZL P.11, which was made by the National Aviation Plant (Panstwowe Zaklady Lotnicze) in Warsaw. These high-wing monoplanes dated back to 1931. They were