Luftwaffenfelddivision

German Airforce Ground Troops 1941-1945

Luftwaffe cacciatori provide fanteria cover for an 8,8 cm FlaK 36 deployed in an anti-tank role. The Luftwaffe committed non-specialist troops to ground combat as early as 1941, when Partizans threatened German airfields e supply lines in Russia. These ad hoc fanteria units were called Alarmeinheiten, due to the nature of their deployment. The costly 1941 campaign in Russia led to a severe manpower shortage. Fanteria replacements were sought by the army, e the large pool of non-specialist Luftwaffe personnel looked like a good source. In order to keep these men in the airforce, even if they were fighting as fanteria, the Luftwaffe raised reggimenti di fanteria of its own which were attached to army divisions engaged at Volkhov, Demyansk, e Kholm in 1942. The defenders of Kholm distinguished themselves under the command of General Meindl (Luftwaffe), e they set an unfortunate precedent for the establishment of Luftwaffe Field Divisions. In settembre of 1942, Luftwaffe high command issued a call for volunteers to join one of 22 new Luftwaffe Field Divisions to be formed on the Eastern Front. It was an attempt to keep army recruiters away from Luftwaffe manpower, ed it turned out to be a serious mistake.

The cadre of these new formations consisted of Fallschirmjägers ed other Luftwaffe ground troops con previous combat experience. The combat strength of a Luftwaffe Field Division (LwFD) only compared to an army fanteria brigade, but they received new veicoli ed equipaggiamento which might have been used to return depleted army division to nearly full strength. The LwFDs were short on transport, artiglieria, cannoni anticarro ed other divisional support elements, they lacked training e ground combat experience, yet they were routinely expected to defend divisional sectors of the front line. Not surprisingly, when these sectors were attacked in strength, they could not be held for long. Imminent breakthroughs forced adjacent army divisions to pull back in order to avoid encirclement e destruction.

Due to their poor combat performance, the Luftwaffe Field Divisions were finally transferred to the army in novembre of 1943. Most of the Luftwaffe officers were replaced by army fanteria officers, e the formations were redesignated as Field Divisions (Luftwaffe). Beginning in novembre of 1943, the Field Divisions (L) were reorganized under the new 1944 fanteria division establishment.

Soldatini Disponibili

• Luftwaffe Fanteria in Smock & Field Cap, 20 mm IT Figures
  • Mitraglieri con mitragliatrice leggera, 20 mm IT soldatini LUFT.9
  • Artiglieri anticarro, 20 mm IT soldatini LUFT.14
• Luftwaffe Fanteria wearing Zeltbahn, 20 mm Britannia Miniatures
  • Light Mortar e 2 Crew, 20 mm Britannia Miniatures LUFT.20
  • Artiglieri anticarro, 3 soldatini, 20 mm Britannia Miniatures LUFT.21

Bibliografia

• Luftwaffe Field Divisions 1941-45. Kevin Conley Ruffner, Ron Volstad
• Demjansk - Der Kessel im Eis. 14 Tage Abwehrkampf ... Franz Kurowski
• Feldflugplätze und Fliegerhorste der Luftwaffe 1935-1945. Dietrich Alsdorf
• Die Luftwaffe. John Pimlott
• Uniformen und Abzeichen der Luftwaffe 1940–1945. Brian Leigh Davis
• Die Luftwaffe. Die deutsche Wehrmacht, Bd.3. Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia

Utilizzo Storico

• Eastern Front
  • Alarmeinheiten, 1941
  • Feldregimenter der Luftwaffe, 1942
  • Felddivisionen der Luftwaffe, 1942-1943
  • Felddivisionen (Luftwaffe), 1943-1945
• Greece (Leros), 1943
• Macedonia e Yugoslavia, 1944
• Italia, 1944
• Francia, Low Countries, e Germania, 1944-1945
• Norway, 1945

Conversione

• Luftwaffe ground troops wearing the Zeltbahn o camouflage smocks may be painted as fanti dell’esercito tedesco.

Giocatori di wargame will find the Luftwaffe Field Regiment interesting to simulate, because if its unusual composition of fanteria leggera e FlaK at the battalion levels. Separate battaglioni may be attached to army formations fighting on the Eastern Front.

Domande più frequenti

Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Tedeschi della Seconda Guerra Mondiale

– Pubblicato: 09.09.2002 – Aggiornato: 18.06.2008
© 2002-2011 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.