Luftwaffe Bombers the Uphill Struggle
e n e c o r Lost Cause: LUFTWAFFE BOMBERS THE UPHILL STRUGGLE BY BARRETT TILLMAN IN WORLD WAR II, the Luftwaffe produced a galaxy of combat airmen whose records can never be approached. Maj. Erich Hartmann remains the world’s leading fighter ace, and Col. Hans-Ulrich Rudel dominates the lethal trade of tank buster. Their names, and others, are known to two generations of aviation-history students. But who were the Reich’s bomber stars? Who most of the European war, from September has heard of Maj. Rudolf Midler, with 680 1939 to May 1945. missions over Europe, the Mediterranean and Consider the case of Carl Francke. Russia, or of Maj. Hans-Georg Batcher’s 658 On September 26, 1939, the British Royal sorties, including some 200 Russian missions Navy deployed a powerful task force in the in five months of 1942? Four other German North Sea. Sighted by Luftwaffe recon, the bomber pilots logged more than 500 combat aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal became the focus flights. of attention as nine He 111s and four Ju 88s American bomber crews in Europe flew tours launched on short notice from Westerland in of 25 to 35 missions before rotating home. northern Germany. The hasty takeoff, coupled I A few returned for second tours. In Royal Air with low clouds, dispersed the Germans. Force (RAF) Bomber Command, a tour usually Kampfgeschwader (KG) 26’s Heinkels attacked was 30 “ops,” with many crews surviving nearby British cruisers without result, and three multiple tours. Still, 100 bomber missions was of the Junkers pounced on the battle cruiser rare.
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