Luftstreitkräfte
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| Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte | |
|---|---|
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| Founded | 1910 |
| Country |  German Empire |
| Size | In 1918: 2,709 frontline aircraft 56 airships 186 balloon detachments About 4,500 flying personnel |
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte or Imperial German Army Air Service (Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches), was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I (1914–1918).
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[edit] Founding
It was founded in 1910 prior to the outbreak of the war with the emergence of military aircraft, which were initially intended to be used primarily for reconnaissance and artillery spotting in support of armies on the ground, just as balloons had been used in the same fashion during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 and even as far back as the Napoleonic Wars. It was the world's first air force, since France's embryonic army air service (Aviation Militaire), which eventually became the Armée de l'Air, had also been founded later in 1910. Britain's Royal Flying Corps was founded in 1912, but when it was merged in April 1918 with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force it became the world's first independent air force, as opposed to a specialist department of the army or navy.
[edit] Organisation
The Luftstreitkräfte organisation changed during the war substantially to accommodate the new types of aircraft, doctrine, tactics and the needs of the ground troops, in particularly the artillery. During this time evolved the system of organisation and unit designations that would be reintroduced in the Luftwaffe in 1933.
- (AFA) Artillerieflieger-Abteilung
- (AFS) Artillerieflieger-Schule
- AFP - Armee-Flug-Park
- BZ - Ballonzug
- Bogohl/BG - Bombengeschwader
- Bosta - Bomberstaffel
- etc - Etappe
- FFA - Feldflieger-Abteilung
- FLA - Feldluftschiffer-Abteilung
- FestFA - Festungsflieger-Abteilung
- FA - Flieger-Abteilung
- FA A - Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie)
- FlgBtl - Flieger-Bataillon
- FBS - Fliegerbeobachter-Schule
- FEA - Fliegerersatz-Abteilung
- FS - Fliegerschule
- JG - Jagdgeschwader
- Jasta - Jagdstaffel
- JastaSch - Jagdstaffel-Schule
- KEK - Kampfeinsitzerkommando
- Kest - Kampfeinsitzerstaffel
- Kagohl/KG - Kampfgeschwader
- Kasta - Kampfstaffel
- Luft - Luftschiff-Truppe
- LsBtl - Luftschiffer-Bataillon
- Marine - Marine-Flieger
- RBZ - Reihenbildzug
- Schlasta - Schlachtstaffel
- Schusta - Schutzstaffel
[edit] Aircraft
During the war, the Imperial Army Air Service utilised a wide variety of aircraft, ranging from fighters (such as those manufactured by Albatros-Flugzeugwerke and Fokker), reconnaissance aircraft (Aviatik and DFW) and heavy bombers (Gothaer Waggonfabrik, better known simply as Gotha, and Zeppelin-Staaken).
[edit] Designation system
During the First World War German aircraft had a designation that included (1) the name of the manufacturer, (2) a function letter, and (3) a Roman number. The three-part designation war needed for a unique designation to simplify logistics support of the many types of aircraft in operation.
During the war the designation system experienced some changes. The most important change was that the letter 'D' initially was only used for biplane fighters, and 'E' for monoplane fighters and 'Dr' for triplane fighters. By the end of the war, the 'D' designation was also used for single-seat, including monoplane fighters.
- A Unarmed reconnaissance monoplane aircraft (examples like the Rumpler Taube and Fokker M.5)
- B Unarmed two-seat biplane, with the observer seating in the forward position to the pilot
- C Armed two-seat biplane, with the observer in the rearward position to the pilot
- CL Fast two-seater, multi-role aircraft
- D Doppeldecker - biplane, but later any fighter
- E Eindecker - monoplane
- Dr Dreidecker - triplane
- G Grosskampfflugzeug - bomber
- J Schlachten - Ground-attack aircraft
- K Kampfflugzeug - later redisignated with a G.
- R Riesenflugzeug - long-range bomber.
(Edit 5/8/08) The "D" "E" and not listed "F" designations, contrary to what the original poster infers only stood for Type D, Type E and Type F.
Type D: a single-seat, armed biplane over 150HP.
Type E: a single-seat, armed monoplane. Armed Type A aircraft became Type E aircraft. The original Fokker D-VIII was the Fokker E-V.
Type F: a single-seat, armed Triplane. The Dr was adopted to differentiate the "fixed" production triplanes from the pre production Fokk F-Is.
It is only a coincidence that most D types were Doppeldeckers and E types were Eindeckers. FMI please see: http://www.wwi-models.org/misc/desig.html (End of edit)
During 1916 the German High Command, realising they would never match the allies in terms of numbers, reorganised their forces by creating specialist defensive fighter units, or Jastas in order to counter the offensive operations of the Royal Flying Corps and the French Air Force.
[edit] Pilots
The fighters thus received the most attention in the annals of military aviation, since it produced high-scoring "aces" such as Manfred von Richthofen, popularly known in English as "The Red Baron" (in Germany, he was known as "der Rote Kampfflieger" [Red Air Fighter]), Lothar von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Hermann Göring, Oswald Boelcke, Max Immelmann (the first airman to win the Pour le Mérite, Imperial Germany's highest decoration for gallantry, as a result of which the decoration became popularly known as the "Blue Max"), and Werner Voss. As well as the German Navy, the German Army also used Zeppelin airships for bombing military and civilian targets in France and Belgium as well as the United Kingdom.
[edit] Insignia
Initially all German and Austro-Hungarian military aircraft in service used the Iron Cross insignia. The Balkenkreuz, a black Greek cross on white, officially replaced the earlier marking from late March 1918, although the last order on the subject, fully standardising the new national marking, was dated June 25, 1918.
[edit] Establishment
By the end of the war, the German Army Air Service possessed a total of 2,709 frontline aircraft, 56 airships, 186 balloon detachments and about 4,500 flying personnel.
[edit] Statistics
Casulties totalled 8,604 aircrew killed/missing/prisoner, 7,302 wounded, and 3,126 aircraft, 546 balloons and 26 airships. Some 5,425 Allied aircraft and 614 kite balloons were claimed destroyed. [1]
After the war ended in German defeat, the service was dissolved completely on May 8, 1920 under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which demanded that its aeroplanes be completely destroyed.
[edit] References
- ^ p.?, Clark
[edit] Sources
- Clark, Alan, Ace High: The War in the Air over the Western Front 1914-18, Putnam Pub Group, 1973 ISBN 978-0399111037
[edit] See also
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