Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945)


Between 1933 and 1945, the organisation of the Luftwaffe underwent several changes. Originally, the German military high command, for their air warfare forces, decided to use an organisational structure similar to the army and navy, treating the aviation branch as a strategic weapon of war. Later on, during the period of rapid rearmament, the Luftwaffe was organised more in a geographical fashion.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was prohibited from having an air force, with the former German Empire's Luftstreitkräfte disbandment in 1920. German pilots were secretly trained for military aviation, first in the Soviet Union during the late 1920s, and then in Germany in the early 1930s. In Germany, the training was done under the guise of the German Air Sports Association at the Central Commercial Pilots School.
Following its 15 May 1933 formation in secret, the formation of the German air arm was openly announced in February 1935, with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring as its Commander-in-Chief, in blatant defiance of the Versailles Treaty. Initial plans were for long-term growth of the Luftwaffe over a period of five years with the intention of using the Luftwaffe as a strategic force. These plans were changed several times, especially after the June 1936 death of Walter Wever and the succession of Ernst Udet. The focus and role of the Luftwaffe became one of ground support for the German Army during its Lightning War campaigns. Göring, using his political capital, was able to get significant resources allocated to the Luftwaffe, more so than the army or the navy ; all three forces existing within the combined Wehrmacht German armed forces of the Reich. This made the Luftwaffe one of the most powerful air forces in Europe during its initial years. Partly due to its ground support role, the Luftwaffe was reorganised in a fashion similar to the army units, with one unit controlling a specific area. Each Luftwaffe unit was self-contained and had complete control over all aspects of Luftwaffe forces in that area.
Before becoming head of the Luftwaffe, Göring was Interior Minister of Prussia. In this position he had formed his own army, starting from a 400 men police department to regiment size. When Göring took over the Luftwaffe, he brought the regiment along with him to the Luftwaffe and created his own ground forces in the form of Luftwaffe Field Divisions and Paratrooper Regiments under the Luftwaffe. He eventually included a tank regiment, Flak units and a signals regiment under the Luftwaffe umbrella.

Formation and expansion

Before the 1930s and 1940s, air power had not matured enough to be considered a dominant weapon of war. Unlike the other two forces, air power did not have past experience to draw upon. This resulted in the air force having to learn from experience rather than the classroom. There were no cohesive ideas for the organisation of a structured, modern air force. One train of thought subordinated the air force to the army in support of land operations and to the navy for maritime tasks. It would be staffed by soldiers or sailors trained to fly.
The second theory envisioned a centralised, well organised air force to be used as a weapon of war, like the army and navy. German aviators from World War I, followed this thought process. Since they had the backing of the German political leadership, this is how the Luftwaffe was originally conceived and formed. Following the tradition of putting a soldier in charge of the army and a sailor in charge of the navy, an aviator was designated to lead the Luftwaffe: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, also the cabinet minister for aviation. Göring formed a Luftwaffe High Command for operational management.
Within the German air force leadership, the general opinion was that the Luftwaffe was a tactical rather than a strategic air force. Hence, in order to support the various army groups, the Luftwaffe was organised in similar fashion to the army. Its units had a flexible composition with sub-units being added or removed when necessary. These sub-units tended to be semi-autonomous and highly mobile. This offered the flexibility required to support the ground units.
From the start of the Spanish Civil War, the Luftwaffe was in action continuously without the time for rest or training. Multiple political acts and the consequent need for a show of strength forced the Luftwaffe to be in a perpetual state of readiness. This did not allow time for organisational strategy. Göring complicated the hierarchy by bringing the paratrooper and Flak Corps under his command. Due to his political differences with the army leadership, he raised his own police force as Prussian Minister of the Interior. This later became the Paratroop Tank Corps.
By September 1939, the Luftwaffe had a total of 4,000 aircraft and 400,000 personnel. This strength had grown to 1,700,000 by 1941. In total, 571,000 of these were in anti-aircraft units and another 18 percent were in the signals branch. Only 36 percent or 588,000 comprised aircrew, but this also included the aircraft maintenance personnel. When the war ended on 8 May 1945, more than 97,000 air-crew would be reported dead, wounded or missing.

Organisational levels

All aspects of aviation including the Luftwaffe, came under the control of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the Reich Air Ministry. Since the Luftwaffe was one of the three armed forces, it came under the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces from a military command point of view .
Göring was the cabinet minister of aviation during most of this period. He also served as the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe. As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for civil aviation and all aspects of aircraft manufacturing and supply. Operationally, the Luftwaffe command was shared by the Inspector of Combat Flight and the Inspector of Fighters along with the Secretary of State for Aviation.
The German air force was divided into three operational branches:
  • Flying Troops
  • Anti-Aircraft Artillery
  • Air Signal Troops
These three branches were further divided into sub-branches such as Paratroops, air engineering, air medical corps and air-crew. Since the Luftwaffe was organised in a geographical fashion rather than on a strategic functional basis, it had independent administrative as well as operational command structures. Each geographical area had its own supply and maintenance corps. For this reason, any aviation units moving within that geographical area did not need to carry its own maintenance staff. This allowed for a great deal of mobility within the Luftwaffe.

Strategic

Strategically, all three German military forces were part of a single service called, "The Defensive Power" controlled by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ; the head of the OKW was part of the Cabinet. Within the OKW, each service was headed by its own operational command:
The top levels of control of the Luftwaffe resided with the RLM, the German Air Ministry and its operational branch, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, or Air Force High Command. These institutions together were responsible for the direction of research, production and overall maintenance of aircraft.
As head of the Luftwaffe, Göring was responsible for the war effort and for the resources sent to a particular region. As a cabinet minister, he was able to get significant resources and personnel allocated to the Luftwaffe compared to other branches of the armed forces. In 1945, close to the end of the war, Robert Ritter von Greim replaced Göring as Commander in Chief.

Operational

The OKL, as the operational branch of the RLM, had complete control over unit movements, formation and personnel transfers. It had a strength of 25,000 personnel in 1939. On an operational level, the Luftwaffe was divided into air fleets, not entirely unlike the nearly contemporary United States Army Air Corps and USAAF numbered air forces. Each air fleet was responsible for a particular geographic region. They were self-contained units equipped with all types of aircraft and their own supply elements, maintenance staff, administration and legal departments.
At the start of the war the Luftwaffe had four Luftflotten, each responsible for roughly a quarter of Germany. As the war progressed, three more were created as the areas under German rule expanded. Luftflotte 5 was created in 1940 to direct operations in Norway and Denmark. Luftflotte 6 was created on 6 May 1943 from Luftwaffenkommando Ost in Central Russia to direct operations on the central Russian front. The last Luftflotte created was Luftflotte Reich on 5 February 1944 and was to direct operation in Germany.
Each Luftflotte in turn was divided into many air districts and air corps. The commander of each Luftflotte was responsible for all fighter as well as support operations within that region. A fighter leader was responsible for fighter operations within that region and reported to the commander. The purpose of a Luftgau was to provide administrative and logistical support to each airfield, whereas the Fliegerkorps controlled all operational matters. The Luftgau headquarters command consisted of one Generalmajor and a staff of 50 to 100 officers. Each Fliegerkorps would have a number of smaller units under its command.

Tactical

Each Geschwader within the Fliegerkorps was roughly the size of an RAF wing or United States Army Air Forces group, with about 90 to 120 aircraft under its command. These numbers varied as sub-units were added or removed. Each Geschwader had a particular task and was mostly equipped with aircraft appropriate to that task. Other types of aircraft were also sometimes attached. A Geschwader was commanded by a Geschwaderkommodore, with the rank of either a Major, lieutenant colonel or colonel. The unit also had other staff officers with administrative duties such as the adjutant, technical and operations officers. These were usually, experienced aircrew still flying on operations. Other specialist staff were navigation, signals and intelligence personnel.
A Gruppe was the basic autonomous unit in the Luftwaffe. It had no exact equivalent in the Allied forces since it was smaller than a USAAF group or an RAF wing, but was also larger than an Allied squadron. In the fighter force, a Gruppe consisted of 40 to 80 aircraft. A Gruppe was usually commanded by a Major or Hauptmann.
Each Staffel usually had nine to 12 aircraft and was commanded by a Hauptmann or Oberleutnant. As such it was slightly smaller than a British, Soviet or US squadron.
Specialised, independent Gruppen or Staffeln sometimes sat below the level of a Fliegerkorps.
A Schwarm, consisted of four to six aircraft within a Staffel. A bomber Schwarm was divided into a Kette of three aircraft. As such, a bomber Schwarm was equivalent to a flight in the Western Allied air forces. A Kette was also the term used for a "v" formation.
A fighter Schwarm was divided into two Rotten of two aircraft, equivalent to a pair in the English-speaking world. As such a fighter Schwarm was equivalent to a section/element in the Western Allied air forces. The term Rotte was also used for a formation of two aircraft: the smallest tactical unit, consisting of a leader and a wingman. A Stab was attached to each Geschwader.