World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
4 Jan 2011 07:51:08 PM

LUFTWAFFE LOSSES IN WORLD WAR II:

Between 1939 TO 1945 3,500,000 served in the Luftwaffe.
165,000 Killed in Action
155,000 Missing in Action
192,000 Wounded

Did You Know...

The Bomber Arm was given preference and received the best pilots.
The training schools did not give preference
to fighter pilots... and paid for it later, as the losses mounted.
As the war continued the training schools produced more fighter pilots, later on former bomber pilots were retrained to fly single-engine fighters.

KEEP THE BEST MEN:

The Luftwaffe, like the USAAF took in the
most qualified men. Those that washed out on multi engine or twin engined bombers and single-seat fighters, were assigned to light aircraft or for medical conditions, that kept them from flying high-performance aircraft.
Those that failed flight training, went on to
train as navigators/bombardier, gunners or
ground/maintenance NCOs others later became
maintenance/ordnance officers.

LUFTWAFFE FIELD DIVISIONS:

During the last part of the war, Luftwaffe Field Divisions were formed, these airmen had absolutely no training, poorly equipped and led they were not infantry, and were just thrown into battle. What a waste of technical trainng.

The Luftwaffe like most other countries in Europe also had NCO pilots as the war progressed those that survived, became Commissioned officers.

2.  Bill says:
15 Jan 2015 09:19:53 PM

UNIFORM OF THE DAY:

Let's see what our Luftwaffe airman has been issued. Looks like the K So/34 flight suit it has a diagonal zipper in front, chest pockets, zipper leg pockets, zippers around the trouser leg cuffs and medical dressings, some crew members wore an inflatable vest underneath the flight suit.
His headgear is the M40 side cap and the LKp W 101 helmet /w M295 or M306 goggles, oxygen mask, fliers heated boots, gloves, small knife if he had to cut his parachute lines in case of an emergency and parachute not shown.

SELF PROTECTION:

Crew members were also armed with a mix of semi-automatic pistols of German manufacture or taken from the occupied countries and issued to flight crews. In the event of a crash landing, the machine guns could be taken from the bomber and used in a defensive position. If anyone has more information post it here, I'd like to read it