Editing Luftwaffe (section)

===World War II===
[[File:Spitfires camera gun film shows tracer ammunition.jpg|thumb|left|[[Gun camera]] film showing tracer ammunition from a Supermarine Spitfire hitting a [[Heinkel He 111]] bomber on its starboard quarter]]
When World War II began in 1939, the Luftwaffe was one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world. During the [[Invasion of Poland|Polish Campaign]] that triggered the war, it quickly established air superiority, and then air supremacy. It supported the German Army operations which ended the campaign in five weeks. The Luftwaffe's performance was as the OKL had hoped. The Luftwaffe rendered invaluable support to the army,<ref>{{harvnb|Hooton|2007b|p=93}}</ref> mopping up pockets of resistance. Göring was delighted with the performance.<ref>{{harvnb|Hooton|2007b|p=91}}</ref> Command and control problems occurred, but flexibility and improvisation in both the army and the Luftwaffe solved these problems. The Luftwaffe was to have in place a ground-to-air communication system, which played a vital role in the success of 1940's {{lang|de|[[Manstein Plan|Fall Gelb]]}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Buckley|1998|p=127}}</ref>

In the spring of 1940 the Luftwaffe assisted the {{lang|de|Kriegsmarine}} and {{lang|de|Heer}} in the [[Operation Weserübung|invasion of Norway]]. Flying in reinforcements and winning air superiority, the Luftwaffe contributed decisively to the German conquest.<ref>{{harvnb|Corum|1997|pp=274–275}}</ref>

In May and June 1940, the Luftwaffe contributed to the unexpected German success in the [[Battle of France]]. It destroyed three Allied Air Forces and helped secure the defeat of France in just over six weeks.<ref>{{harvnb|Corum|1997|pp= 275–277}}</ref> However, it could not [[Battle of Dunkirk|destroy the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk]] despite intense bombing. The [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|BEF]] escaped to continue the war.<ref>{{harvnb|Killen|2003|pp=114–116}}</ref>

During the Battle of Britain in summer 1940, the Luftwaffe inflicted severe damage on Britain's [[Royal Air Force]], but did not achieve the air superiority that Hitler had demanded for [[Operation Sea Lion|the proposed invasion of Britain]], which was postponed and then canceled in December 1940.<ref>{{harvnb|Killen|2003|p=149}}</ref> The Luftwaffe ravaged British cities during the Blitz of 1940–1941, but failed to break British morale, and the RAF shot down German planes by over a two to one ratio. Hitler had already ordered preparations for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

In spring 1941 the Luftwaffe helped its [[Axis powers|Axis]] partner, Italy, secure victory in the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkans Campaign]] and continued to support Italy or the [[Italian Social Republic]] in the [[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean, Middle East and African theaters]] until May 1945.

In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Despite destroying [[German-Soviet air war 22 June 1941|thousands of Soviet aircraft]],<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1                = Stahel
 | first1               = David
 | author-link1         = David Stahel
 | year            = 2009
 | title                = Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East
 | url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=k-bubnhoueEC
 | series               = Cambridge Military Histories
 | issn= 1754-758X
 | edition              = reprint
 | publisher            = Cambridge University Press
 | publication-date     = 2012
 | page                 = 301
 | isbn                 = 978-0521768474
 | access-date          = 16 July 2021
 | quote                = In the opening days of Barbarossa the Luftwaffe inflicted carnage on the Soviet air force [...]. One authority put the figure at 4,614 Soviet aircraft destroyed by the end of June, 3,176 of these being eliminated on  the ground and 1,438 in the air. By comparison, German losses amounted to just 330 planes.
}}
</ref> the Luftwaffe failed to destroy the [[Soviet Air Forces|Red Air Force]] altogether. Lacking strategic bombers (the very "Ural bombers" that Wever had asked for six years before) the Luftwaffe could not strike at Soviet production-centres regularly or with the needed force.<ref>{{harvnb|Killen|2003|pp= 171–184}}</ref> The [[Aerial warfare during Operation Barbarossa|Axis and Soviet air operations during Operation Barbarossa]] consumed vast numbers of men and planes. As the war dragged on, the Luftwaffe was eroded in strength. German defeats at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] in 1942 and in the [[Battle of Kursk]] in 1943 ensured the gradual decline of the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}} on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].

British historian [[Frederick Taylor (historian)|Frederick Taylor]] asserts that "all sides bombed each other's cities during the war. Half a million Soviet citizens, for example, died from German [[Strategic bombing during World War II|bombing]] during the invasion and occupation of Russia. That's roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids."<ref name=Hawley>{{Cite news|first= Charles |last= Hawley |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,341239,00.html |title=Spiegel Interview: 'Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously' |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=11 February 2005 |access-date=2 February 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629145324/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,341239,00.html |archive-date= 29 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Luftwaffe defended [[German-occupied Europe]] against the growing offensive power of [[RAF Bomber Command]] and, starting in the summer of 1942, the steadily building strength of the [[United States Army Air Forces]]. The mounting demands of the [[Defence of the Reich]] campaign gradually destroyed the Luftwaffe's fighter arm. Despite its belated use of advanced turbojet and rocket-propelled aircraft for bomber-destroyer duties, it was overwhelmed by Allied numbers and a lack of trained pilots and fuel. A last-ditch attempt, known as [[Operation Bodenplatte]], to win air superiority on 1 January 1945 failed. After the ''Bodenplatte'' effort, the Luftwaffe ceased to be an effective fighting force.
[[File:Adolf Hitler among soldiers at a field airport on the Eastern Front January 1943.jpg|thumb|[[Adolf Hitler]] visiting Luftwaffe soldiers January 1943.]]
German day- and night-fighter pilots claimed more than 70,000 aerial victories during World War II.<ref>{{harvnb|Dierich|1976|p=35}}</ref> Of these, an estimated 745 victories were attributed to [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] jet fighters.<ref>{{cite book| first1=Hugh |last1=Morgan |first2= John |last2=Weal |title=German Jet Aces of World War 2 |publisher= Osprey Publishing |series =Aircraft of the Aces No 17 |location= London |date=1998 |page= 78 |isbn=	9781855326347}}</ref> [[Anti-aircraft warfare|Flak]] shot down 25,000–30,000 Allied planes. Broken down according to the different Allied forces, about 25,000 were American planes,<ref>SAF/FMCE, USAF Summaries for 1945–2005, United States Air Force Statistical Digest, 1983</ref> about 20,000 British, 46,100 Soviet,<ref>Г. Ф. Кривошеев, Россия и СССР в войнах XX века – Потери вооруженных сил Статистическое исследование, Москва "Олма-Пресс", 2001, p. 430 (G. F. Krivoseev, Russia and USSR in the XX century wars. Armed forces losses: statistical research, Olma-Press, Moscow, 2001, p. 430)</ref> 1,274 French,<ref>E.R. Hooton, Luftwaffe at War – Blitzkrieg in the West: Volume 2, Chevron/Ian Allan, London, 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-85780-272-6}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2023}} 375 Polish,<ref>John Ellis, World War II: A Statistical Survey: The Essential Facts and Figures for All the Combatants, Facts on File Inc., 1993, p. 259</ref> and 81 Dutch as well as aircraft from other Allied nationalities.

The highest-scoring day-fighter pilot was [[Erich Hartmann]] with 352 confirmed kills, of which all but 7 were on the Eastern front against the Soviets. The leading aces in the west were [[Hans-Joachim Marseille]] with 158 kills (most of which were against British Commonwealth forces in the [[Desert campaign]]), and [[Georg-Peter Eder]] with 56 kills of aircraft from the USAAF (of a total of 78). The most successful night-fighter pilot, [[Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer]], is credited with 121 kills. 103 German fighter pilots shot down more than 100 enemy aircraft for a total of roughly 15,400 aerial victories. Roughly a further 360 pilots claimed between 40 and 100 aerial victories for round about 21,000 victories. Another 500 fighter pilots claimed between 20 and 40 victories for a total of 15,000 victories. Part of the reason German pilots scored such high victory totals was that they were in combat for the duration of the war-unlike the Allies, who rotated their flyers out of combat after a certain amount of time to recuperate or to impart their skills in training other pilots -  German pilots flew until they were killed, captured, or too badly wounded to keep flying. It is relatively certain that 2,500 German fighter pilots attained ace status, having achieved at least five aerial victories.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{harvnb|Obermaier|1989|p= 241}}</ref><ref>Uwe Feist, ''The Fighting Me 109'', Arms and Armour Press, London, 1993, p. 51</ref> These achievements were honored with 453 German single and twin-engine ([[Messerschmitt Bf 110]]) day-fighter pilots receiving the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]. Intense personal rivalry may have played an important role in motivating high-performing aces (who scored the vast majority of aerial victories). Public recognition in the form of medals and mentions in the army bulletin spurred efforts of peers who had previously flown with award-winners<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ager |first1=Philipp |last2=Bursztyn |first2=Leonardo |last3=Leucht |first3=Lukas |last4=Voth |first4=Hans-Joachim |title=''Killer Incentives: Rivalry, Performance and Risk-Taking among German Fighter Pilots, 1939–45'' |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |volume=89 |issue=5 |date=October 2022 |pages=2257–2292 |doi=10.1093/restud/rdab085}}</ref>
. 85 night-fighter pilots, including 14 crew members, were awarded the Knight's Cross.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{harvnb|Obermaier|1989|p=14}}</ref> Some bomber pilots were also highly successful. ''Stuka'' and {{lang|de|Schlachtflieger}} pilot [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]] flew 2,530 ground-attack missions and claimed the destruction of more than 519 tanks and a battleship, among others. He became the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War. Bomber pilot [[Hansgeorg Bätcher]] flew more than 658 combat missions, destroying numerous ships and other targets.

Luftwaffe losses, on the other hand, were high as well. The estimated total number of destroyed and damaged for the war totalled 76,875 aircraft. Of these, about 43,000 were lost in combat, the rest in operational accidents and during training.<ref>Alessandro Giorgi, ''Chronology of World War II 1939–1945'', 2017</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2023}} By type, losses totalled 21,452 fighters, 12,037 bombers, 15,428 trainers, 10,221 twin-engine fighters, 5,548 ground attack craft, 6,733 reconnaissance planes, and 6,141 transports.<ref>John Ellis, ''World War II: A Statistical Survey: The Essential Facts and Figures for All the Combatants'', Facts on File Inc., 1993, p. 258</ref>

According to the General Staff of the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}} the losses of the flight personnel until February 1945 amounted to:<ref name="Hahn, Fritz 1945">Hahn, Fritz. ''Waffen und Geheimwaffen des deutschen Heeres 1933–1945. Band I. Infanteriewaffen, Pionierwaffen, Artilleriewaffen, Pulver, Spreng- und Kampfstoffe''  Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1986 – {{ISBN|3-7637-5830-5}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2023}}

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:right;
!
!Officers
!Enlisted
|-
!Killed in action 
|6,527
|43,517
|-
!Wounded in action
|4,194
|27,811
|-
!Missing in action 
|4,361
|27,240
|-
!Total
|15,082
|98,568
|}

According to official statistics, total Luftwaffe casualties, including ground personnel, amounted to 138,596 killed and 156,132 missing through 31 January 1945.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Schramm |first1= Percy E. |title= Die deutschen Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg |url= https://www.zeit.de/1949/43/die-deutschen-verluste-im-zweiten-weltkrieg/ |work= Die Zeit |date= 21 November 2012 |language= de-DE |access-date= 1 February 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180710010422/https://www.zeit.de/1949/43/die-deutschen-verluste-im-zweiten-weltkrieg |archive-date= 10 July 2018 |url-status= live}}
</ref>