KG 200
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KG 200 (Kampfgeschwader 200 or Bomber Wing 200) was a secret Luftwaffe bomber unit during World War II. The unit was the Luftwaffe's special operations wing that carried out long-distance reconnaissance flights, tested new aircraft designs and tested and flew special missions with captured aircraft.
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History
The unit's history began in 1934, when the Luftwaffe, impressed with Colonel Theodor Rowehl's aerial reconnaissance missions over Poland, formed a special squadron under Rowehl's lead that was attached to the Abwehr, Germany's military intelligence department. As the Abwehr started to lose the Führer's good will during the war, a new reconnaissance unit, the 2nd Test Formation, was formed in 1942 under the command of Werner Baumbach. This unit was united with 1st Test Formation in March 1944 to form KG 200. From then on, all aerial special-ops missions were carried out by KG 200 under Baumbach's command.
Organisation
KG 200 consisted of 2 operational squadrons; several other squadrons were planned but did not become operational before the end of the war. The squadrons operated in complete secrecy from several bases spread out over all of Europe; individual squadron members and their airbases' ground crews knew little if anything at all about the extent of KG 200's organisation.
- 1st squadron was responsible for delivering secret agents and spies to their destinations behind enemy lines. It operated under direct command of the Sicherheitsdienst.
- 2nd squadron was in charge of all other missions, including long-range reconnaissance, delivery flights to Japan and special bombing missions.
- 3rd squadron was to use Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters armed with torpedoes for coastal defense.
- 4th squadron was used for pilot training; it was also intended to carry out suicide missions.
- 5th squadron was planned as a long-range unit using Junkers Ju 90 and Ju290 planes. Had it become operational, this squadron would have been responsible for reconnaisance flights and delivery of agents to the United States.
Missions
The unit carried out a wide variety of missions:
Long-range reconnaissance
Before the beginning of the war, aerial reconnaisance was usually carried out by relatively unconspicious civilian Lufthansa planes equipped with cameras. This practice was continued throughout the war as long as civilian airlines remained operational; later on, recon missions were most often carried out by Junkers Ju 90s flying at very high altitudes or by flying boats. Due to the lack of German aircraft with sufficient range, some recon missions even used captured American B-17 and B-24 bombers.
The Mistel program
Beginning in 1942, to compensate for its lack of heavy bombers, the Luftwaffe started to experiment with packing some of its war-weary Junkers Ju 88 bombers with explosives and guiding them to their targets with a fighter airplane mounted on the back of the unmanned bomber. Although not as effective as the Luftwaffe planners had hoped, the Mistel program was continued until the end of the war. From March 1944, all Mistel missions were carried out by pilots of KG 200.
Suicide missions
In the last months of the war, a small number of high-ranking German officers pressed for a suicide fighter program as a last-ditch effort to stop Allied bombing runs over the Reich. This program, known as Selbstopfer ("self sacrifice"), was intended to use piloted V1 rockets to attack enemy bombers and ground targets. Several test flights were carried out by KG 200, and mass production of the converted rockets had begun, but the program was stopped due to intervention from Baumbach who felt that these missions would be a waste of valuable pilots.
Special missions
The unit also carried out a variety of special missions, like parachuting spies behind enemy lines, operating radar-jamming aircraft, carrying out long-range transport flights to Japan, clandestine bombing missions and infiltrating American bomber formations with captured aircraft in an attempt to spread confusion.
External links
- KG 200 history at 2 World War 2 (http://www.2worldwar2.com/kg200.htm)
- World War 2 magazine article about KG 200 (http://history1900s.about.com/library/prm/blsecretkg1.htm)