''Sonderkommando'' "''Elbe''" was the name of a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

task force assigned to bring down

heavy bombers Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore ...

ramming In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, ...

them in mid-air. Its sole mission took place on 7 April 1945, when a force of 180 Bf 109s managed to ram 15 Allied bombers, downing eight of them. The task force was created to cause losses sufficient to halt or at least reduce the

Western Allies The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...

bombing of Germany World War II (1939–1945) involved sustained strategic bombing of railways, harbours, cities, workers' and civilian housing, and industrial districts in enemy territory. Strategic bombing as a military strategy is distinct both from close ...

. The pilots were expected to

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

out either just before or after they had collided with their target.

History

''Sonderkommando'' means "special command", and the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

is one of the main rivers in Germany. The task force's aircraft were mostly later G-versions (''Gustav'') of the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

. Stripped of most armor and armament, the planes had one synchronized machine gun (usually a single

MG 131 The MG 131 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr'' 131, or "Machine gun 131") was a German 13 mm caliber machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. The MG 131 was designed for use at fixed, flexible ...

in the upper engine cowling) instead of up to four automatic weapons (usually including a pair of 20mm or 30mm underwing-mount

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...

) on fully equipped Bf 109G interceptors, and were only allotted 60 rounds each, a normally insufficient amount for bomber-interception missions. ''Sonderkommando Elbe'' pilots were trained to

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

one of three sensitive areas on the bombers: the

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

with its relatively delicate control surfaces, the

engine nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

s which were connected to the highly explosive fuel system, or the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

itself. One of the most famous reports of cockpit ramming was against a

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...

, nicknamed "''Palace of Dallas''", along with another bomber that the German plane careened into after slicing the cockpit of the ''Palace of Dallas''.

Order of battle

Successful missions

Rank / Name / Former Unit e/a Unit Status *Uffz. Heinrich Rosner, (ex-III/JG.102), two B-24 Liberators of the 389th Bomb Group; the first B-24 rammed was lead bomber 44-49524; Rosner's aircraft then careened into an unidentified second B-24, possibly the deputy lead bomber 44-49533 "Palace of Dallas" Survived *Obfw. Werner Linder, (ex-EJG.1), 1

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

388th Bomb Group,43-38869 or 42-97195 (both Aircraft rammed) Linder KIA *Fhr. Eberhard Prock, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, KIA, Shot while descending in his parachute.* *Fw. Reinhold Hedwig, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, KIA, Shot down by 339 Fighter Group P-51.* *Uffz. Werner Zell, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, WIA Shot down by P-51.* *Ogfr. Horst Siedel, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, KIA* *Lt. Hans Nagel, (ex-IV/JG.102), 1 B-17 490th Bomb Group, KIA, Shot it down by conventional armament, damaged a second B-17 by ramming.43-38082 "Lady Helene" *Uffz. Klaus Hahn, 1 B-17 43-39126 487th Bomb Group, WIA – Left arm by 4 P-51Ds fire. *Heinrich Henkel, 1 B-24 "''Sacktime''" 467th Bomb Group, WIA by P-51s, Survived. *Unknown Bf 109 pilot, 1 B-17 42-97071 100th Bomb Group, KIA *Unknown Bf 109 pilot, 1 B-17 43-38514 "EZ Goin" 100th Bomb Group/349th Bomb SQ (Plane badly damaged but flyable) KIA(?) *Unknown Bf 109 pilot, 1 B-17 380550 490th Bomb Group, KIA ''Luftwaffe'' records claim at least 22–24 American aircraft fell victim to the ''Sonderkommando Elbe'' unit. (WIA – wounded in action / KIA – killed in action) *As noted above there are four Luftwaffe claims of ramming against B-17s of the 452nd Bomb Group; two claims can be confirmed: **B-17 42-31366 "Old Outhouse" of 731st Bomb Sq **B-17 44-8634 "Ida Wanna" of the 731th Bomb Sq American Air Museum
/ref>

References

*"''Kamikaze''", Dogfights Season 1 *"''The Luftwaffe's Deadliest Mission''", Dogfights Season 1 *Adrian Weir "The Last Flight of the Luftwaffe", Arms and Armour Press 1997 *David Irving "Goering: Eine Biographie", Reinbeck bei Hamburg 1989 *Alfred Price "The Last Year of the Luftwaffe", Arms and Armour Press 1991 *David Irving "Hitler's War", Macmillan 1977 *"Rise and Fall of the German Air Force 1933–1945", St. Martin Press 1983 *William Green "Warplanes of the Third Reich", Macdonald and Jane΄s 1970 *Martin Caidin "Flying Forts", Ballantine Books 1968 *Werner Girbig "Six months to oblivion",

Schiffer Publishing Schiffer Publishing Ltd. (also known for its imprints Schiffer, Schiffer Craft, Schiffer Military History, Schiffer Kids, REDFeather MBS, Cornell Maritime Press, Tidewater Publishers, Thrums Books, Geared Up Publications ) is a family-owned publi ...

1991 *David Baker "Adolf Galland: The authorized biography", Presidio Press 1997 *Herrmann Hajo "Eagle's Wings", Airlife 1991

External links

Suicide Wing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonderkommando Elbe Military units and formations of the Luftwaffe Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945

History

Order of battle

Successful missions

See also

References

External links