Leonidas Squadron

900 kilograms (2,000 lb) bomb. Heinrich Himmler approved the idea, and suggested using convicted criminals
as pilots. The Luftwaes High Command was unenthusiastic; Erhard Milch turned the plan down as impractical,
and Hermann Gring showed little interest. Adolf Hitler
was against the idea of self-sacrice, believing that it was
not in keeping with the German character, and furthermore did not see the war situation as being bad enough to
require such extreme measures. Despite this, he allowed
Reitsch to proceed with the project after she had shown
the plan to him in February 1944. Gnther Korten, the
Luftwaes head of general sta, gave the matter to the
commander of KG 200 to deal with.[1]

Focke-Wulf Fw 190s that were used for total operations

Over 70 volunteers, mostly young recruits, came forward; they were required to sign a declaration which said,
I hereby voluntarily apply to be enrolled in the suicide
group as part of a human glider-bomb. I fully understand that employment in this capacity will entail my own
death.[2]

The Leonidas Squadron, formally known as 5th Stael

of Kampfgeschwader 200 was a unit which was originally formed to y the Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg),
a manned version of the V-1 ying bomb, in attacks
in which the pilot was likely to be killed, or at best to
parachute down at the attack site. The Reichenberg was
never used in combat because Werner Baumbach, the
commander of KG 200, and his superiors considered it
an unnecessary waste of life and resources, and preferred
instead to use the Mistel bomb, piloted from an aircraft
which released it and returned.

Problems were experienced in converting the Me 328,

and the decision was taken to use instead a manned version of the V-1 ying bomb, the Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg); however, it never entered operation.
On 9 June 1944, Karl Koller announced that a Gruppe
of KG 200 equipped with special Focke-Wulf Fw 190s
was ready for total operations. Each aircraft carried a
heavy bomb, due to whose weight the machines could not
carry enough fuel for a return ight, and the pilots were
trained only using gliders. This project came to nothing, and Werner Baumbach, now the commander of KG
200, persuaded his friend Albert Speer that it would be
more productive to use the men against Russian power
stations than the Allied invasion eet; Speer passed this
on to Hitler.[1]

History

The establishment of a suicide squadron (stael) was originally proposed by Otto Skorzeny and Hajo Herrmann.
The proposal was supported by noted test pilot Hanna
Reitsch. The idea proposed was that Germany would use
volunteers as suicide pilots in order to overcome the Allies numerical advantages with their fanatic spirit. The
idea had roots in German mythology that was gloried
by Nazi propaganda. Hitler was reluctant, but eventually
agreed to Reitschs request to establish and train a suicide attack air unit, with the proviso that it would not be
operated in combat without his approval. The new unit,
nicknamed the Leonidas Squadron, became part of KG
200. It was named after Leonidas I, the king of Sparta
who in 480 BC resisted the invading Persian army at the
Battle of Thermopylae with 300 elite warriors who fought
to the last man.

2 Suicide sorties

During the Battle for Berlin the Luftwae ew Selfsacrice missions (Selbstopfereinstze) against Soviet
held bridges over the Oder River. These 'total missions
were own by pilots of the Leonidas Squadron under the
command of Lieutenant Colonel Heiner Lange from 17
April until 20 April 1945, using any aircraft that were
available. The Luftwae claimed that the squadron deReitschs plan was to attack Allied invasion shipping us- stroyed seventeen bridges. However, the military histoing the Messerschmitt Me 328 as a suicide weapon which rian Antony Beevor, writing about the incident, thinks
would dive into the sea underneath ships and explode a that this was exaggerated and that only the railway bridge
1

at Kstrin was denitely destroyed. Beevor comments

that thirty-ve pilots and aircraft was a high price to pay
for such a limited and temporary success. The missions
were called o when the Soviet ground forces reached the
vicinity of the squadrons airbase at Jterbog and were in
a position to overrun it.[3]

See also
Kamikaze
Sonderkommando Elbe
Suicide bombings

References

[1] Deist, Wilhelm; Meier, Schreiber et al. Germany and the

second World War. Oxford University Press. pp. 336
337. ISBN 0-19-822889-9.
[2] Hyland, Gary; Anton Gill (1999). Last Talons of the Eagle. Headline. pp. 220222. ISBN 0-7472-5964-X.
[3] Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin
Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5. Page 238

Further reading
Muller, Richard R.; Losing air superiority: a case
study from the Second World War originally published in Air & Space Power Journal, Winter, 2003.
Generaloberst Gnther Korten ordered the formation of the Leonidas Squadron, which would operate aging bombers, attack gliders, and manned
ying bombs in this manner. The unit ultimately
disbanded after extensive training and political indoctrination (source: Gellermann, Gunther W.;
Moskau ruft Heeresgruppe Mitte (Koblenz: Bernard
& Graefe, 1988), 42-60.).
Noy, Uri; Luftwae Bomber Wing KG 200 (a
blog site) The new unit, nicknamed the Leonidas
Squadron, also became part of KG 200.

External links
Fieseler Fi-103R Reichenberg

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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