Twilight 1950

Introduction

Northern Army Group was assigned the following formations:

  • I German Div – (1st Panzergrenadier Bde, 7th Panzergrenadier Bde, 11th (Reserve) Panzergrenadier Bde, 1st Jägerregiment.)
  • I Austrian Div – ( 4th (Heavy) Mechanized Infantry Brigade, 7th (Light) Infantry Brigade)
  • I Dutch Corps – (1st, 4th and 5th (Reserve) Divisions)
  • I Belgian Corps – (1st Infantry and 16th Armoured Division, 10th, 12th and Luxembourg (Reserve) Brigades)
  • I British Corps – (1st, 3rd and 4th Armored, and 2nd Infantry Division)
  • III French Corps, as reserve corps – (2nd and 10th Armored, and 8th Infantry Division)
  • III US Corps, as reserve corps – (2nd Armored, 1st Cavalry, 5th (Mech) Infantry Division, 212th Field Artillery Brigade and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment )

The Army of the Netherlands in the aftermath of the Second World War was initially comprised of soldiers that had escaped the German invasion and had been stationed in the United Kingdom during the occupation period. Initial acquisitions included Sherman tanks and other armored vehicles and weapons left in military depots across the Netherlands. As the Cold War began to take shape in the 1950s, the Netherlands went through an armament upgrade phase replacing these tanks with 705 of the newer British made Centurion tanks. The Netherlands contributed three army divisions, each comprised of an armored brigade and two armored infantry brigades, which would make up I Netherlands Corps as part of NATOs Northern Army Group. On 27 March 1953 the Royal Netherlands Air Force officially became an independent part of the Dutch armed forces expanding from a single fighter squadron equipped with Spitfire Mk.IX fighters to seven Air Defense fighter squadrons equipped with Gloster Meteor F Mk.IV and Mk.VIII jet fighters in 1948 and 1951. After the Netherlands joined NATO the Tactical Air Command was established on 1 May 1951 consisting of seven new strike squadrons equipped with Republic F-84G Thunderjet fighter-bomber aircraft.

The harsh lessons of World War II made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy. In 1948 the army was 75,000 strong which grew to 150,000 by 1952, comprising two divisions (with 2 infantry and one armoured brigade) and two infantry brigades and interior forces of one parchute regiment, a light infantry regiment, 9 provincial regiments and 4 engineer battalions for home defence. These were equiped with Sherman Firefly, M4A1(76)W HVSS, M4 105mm and M24 Chaffee tanks, M7 105 mm HMC, M2A1 105mm Howitzers, Ordnance QF 3.7-Inch and Bofors 40mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Greyhound, Staghound and Daimler armoured cars, Loyd Carriers and M2/M3 half-tracks and, in 1952, 423 M26 and M26A1 Pershing heavy tanks. The air force consisted of six squadrons equipped with 175 Spitfire (LF.IXC and F/FR.XIVE) propeller driven fighters, 24 de Havilland Mosquito NF.XXX night fighters and Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson and Douglas C-47B Skytrain transports. These were replaced by 48 Gloster Meteor Mk.4 jet fighters and 43 Meteor T.7 jet trainers in July 1949 and 240 Gloster Meteor Mk.8 jet fighters in Nov 1950. In April 1951 Belgium would receive 21 Republic RF-84E recon aircraft, 213 Republic F-84G fighter-bombers In March 1952 and a further 24 Meteor NF.XI night fighters and 18 Fairchild C-119F Flying Boxcar transports in July and Sept 1952 as the air force went through a rapid expansion to 11 squadrons.

Like defeated Germany, Austria and its capital, Vienna, was split up into four occupation zones after WWII and Allied occupation forces established a lightly armed Austrian Gendarmerie to aid in maintaining order. The Soviets did not, already having in place a a huge contingent of Red Army troops and tanks to hold the zone and removed to the USSR the wartime German arms production industry located there. Formally, the four allies had agreed not to assist occupied Austria militarily beyond gendarmerie units however, as tensions mounted after the 1948-1949 Berlin Blockade and the begining of the Korean War, the United States created the core of a “future Austrian army” by secretly arming and training small Austrian section-sized units and supplying the Austrians with armed and unarmed M8 Greyhound armored cars. At the same time they also established a top-secret stockpile of weapons and ammunition in the American zone of Germany and in France that could be accessed should war break out with the Soviet Union.

When the Osterreich Bundesheer (Austrian Federal Army) was finally formed, Austria quickly established a Bereitschaftstruppe Panzergrenadierbrigade and Jagerbrigade suplimented by territorial Landwehr units, including artillery, antitank, antiaircraft, engineering and logistics elements. The Austrian Air Force was established solely for the support of the Army, employing training and transport aircraft and light helicopters. They also received 64 French Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-5/A-6 and 72 Turkish Fw-190A-3 fighters, which were refubished and fitted with US 3.5-inch and 5-inch FFAR rockets for ground attack (as per Fw-190F-8). Though they did receive 12 DeHavilland Vampire T.11 jet trainers in 1951 that could be pressed into service as fighter/bomber aircraft, the Luftstreitkräfte would include no dedicated fighter aircraft until the early 1960s, relying instead on extensive ground-based anti-aircraft artillery assets. Austria’s first tanks would be 35 Panzer IV G/H medium tanks from Turkey (replaced by American Sherman tanks) and 28 StuG IV and 6 Jagdpanzer IV/48 tank destroyers aquired from France during 1950-1952 that had been orginally destined for Syria. In 1952 they would receive 56 Charioteer tanks from Britain, 46 M24 Chaffee light tanks and 41 M7B2 Priest self-propelled artillery pieces and 37 M2/M3 half-tracks directly from the Americans as well 108 M2 105mm howitzers, 24 M1 155 mm field guns (towed by Diamond M19 heavy-duty tractors), and 24 surplus M1 57mm anti-tank guns. They would also receive WC52 and WC54 3/4-ton trucks, GMC 2.5-ton trucks, Willys MB 1/4-ton Jeeps and previously captured German equipment, from helmets and small arms to 31 refurbished PaK-40 75mm L/46 antitank guns, that had been kept warehoused after the war.

The Deutsche Wehrmacht was dissolved following World War II and when the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949 any plans for a German military were forbidden by Allied regulations. There was a discussion among the United States, the United Kingdom and France over the issue of a revived (West) German military though France, in particular, was reluctant to allow Germany to rearm in light of recent history. In 1951 the Federal Border Protection Force, a mobile but lightly armed military police force (Feldjäger) of 10,000 men, was formed and a proposal to integrate West German troops with soldiers of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria in the Northern Army Group of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizaion (NATO) was proposed. With growing tensions between the Soviet Union and the West, especially during the Korean War, the seeds of a new West German force started in 1950 when the Amt Blank (Blank Agency), the predecessor of the later Federal Ministry of Defence, was formed and former high-ranking German officers were tasked by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to clandestinely begin West German rearmament, a process that was already underway in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). This effort was surreptitiously assisted by the Americans and British and, later, the French and Italians (as well as Sweden and Switzrland) just as was being done by the Soviets in the east. Though France and the United Kingdom were wary of any revival of German martial potential, American political figures stated that West Germany needed to be included in a defensive system and that “several divisions of German troops should be armed by the United States without Germany herself being permitted to manufacture arms.” Select salvaged armoured vehicles were stripped down to the hulls (which could no longer be fabricated in Germany) and rebuilt while artillery was shipped to France and Britain as “scrap” and returned, refurbished and modified, as “pipe”. This was paid for via Military Assistance Program funds from the United States, however shipments of artillery ammunition didn’t begin until mid-1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, and accellerated in Oct of that year with China’s entry into the war.

Though the Deutsche Marine existed as little more than a cadre under American sponsership from 1949-52, with only a few hundred mine sweepers and auxillary ships at its disposal. In contrast, by mid-1951 the Heer consisted of a Jägerregiment (Heerjager, Gebirgsjäger, Fallschirmjäger), two Panzerbrigaden and a Heimatschutz (Home Guard/Reserve) Panzerbrigaden while the Luftwaffe was able to piece together a combat Geschwader and Heimatgeschwader (Reserve), with the primary responsibility of the reserve formations being training and home defence. Although these formations would be later equipped with American and some British material they were initially restricted to recovering, salvaging and refurbishing – due to the clandestine nature of the operaton and with Allied help -, any WWII Wehrmacht arms and equipment that could be found in Germany or could be otherwise aquired elsewhere in Europe. This included not only small arms, that existed in abundance, but also artillery, armour, transport and aircraft. The problem was in finding sufficient supplies of ammunition, as any stockpiles of German munitions had already been disposed of, so guns and howitzers were modified to fire similar European, British and American ammunition instead. The armoured brigades consisted of an armoured battalion, two armoured infantry battalions, an armoured artillery battalion (or motorized field artillery battalion for the Heimatschutz) and a supply battalion. The Jägerregiment consisted of three (motorized) infantry battalions, an anti-tank battalion, a field artillery battalion and a supply battalion. The Luftwaffe Heimatgeschwader consisted of three fighter squadrons, a medium bomber/reconnaissance squadron and a transport squadron (mostly late-model Junkers Ju 52) while the frontline combat Geschwader consisted of one fighter, one ground attack, one medium bomber/reconnaissance and one transport squadron (Douglas C-47 Skytrain), with both formations containing propeller driven and jet powered aircraft.

The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 raised the apparent threat of all Communist countries working together and forced NATO to develop concrete military plans in Europe. In September 1950, the NATO Military Committee called for an ambitious buildup of conventional forces to meet any Soviet advance, seeking to provide the forces necessary for NATO’s Long-Term Defence Plan, calling for an expansion to ninety-six divisions. During the NATO meeting France declared that they opposed the expanson and did not want Germany or Austria to join NATO for fear of provoking a Soviet response. At this time, NATO could call on about fifteen ready divisions in Central Europe, and another ten in Italy and Scandinavia. The 1950 Austrian general strikes in late-Sept/early-Oct force France to reconsider its opposition and they agreed to an increase to 35 divisions over the next five years. The Korean War experience persuaded Washington that Germany or Austria might become “Europe’s Korea” and they sped up rearmament so that, by the end of 1951, the American stockpile in France had amassed 227 thousand tons of materiel earmarked for German and Austrian armed forces. In October 1950, the Chinese directly intervened in the Korean War and committed several “volunteer” Armoured and Infantry Divisions and Air Regiments to Korea. In April 1951, Stalin took the decision to involve the Soviet Union in the war, providing material aid, military “advisors” and an entire Aviation Corps. The appearance of Soviet MiG-15s in Korea immediately challenged UN air superiority and losses of bombers, jet fighters and WWII era ground attack aircraft began to mount. At the same time, anticipating an American response, Soviet forces were placed on high alert. President Truman now faced a hostile China, a Sino-Soviet partnership, and a defense budget that had quadrupled despite his best efforts in eighteen months.

On 1 May 1951 West Berlin and West Vienna were cut off from all outside contact and placed under siege as Soviet forces crossed the border into West Germany and western Austria. The Austrian Government imediately withdrew to their prepepared facilities in Salzburg, though many members found themselves trapped in Vienna, and activated their Allied trained division strength Austrian Self Defence Force, placing it under the command of Allied Occupaton Forces in Austria. A Corps strength formation comprised of one American, British and French division, and now the ASDF, this formation fought muliple delaying action as part of a fighting withdrawal to the Italian border where it was reinforced by NATO forces there. Non-NATO countries, such as Sweden and Switzerland, immediately declared their neutrality along with Yugoslavia and Finland. The Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, reinforced by the Northern Group of forces and supported by Polish and Czechoslovakian forces, invaded West Germany at the same time as the Central Group of Forces, supported by Hungarian forces, invaded Austria. The Soviet Southern Group of Forces, supported by national forces of Bulgaria and Romania would later invade Yugoslavia so as to flank defending Allied forces in Austria and directly threaten NATO forces in Italy.

Refurbished German Equipment:

[Note: all numbers are approximate and do not include strategic (parts) spares]

Artillery:

  • 106mm Panzerfaust 150 RPG (1% of 6.7 million produced) w/ Swedish-made ammo [replaced by Swedish Pansarskott m/45 & m/46 RPG]
  • 88mm Panzerschreck (ManPAT, 1% of 289,151 produced) and Raketenwerfer 43 (vehicle mounted AT, 5% of 3000 produced) modified to fire US 89mm ammo. [replaced by US 90mm M20 “Super Bazooka”]
  • 7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40 (5% of 450 built) w/extended barrel and modified to fire US 75mm M20 RCL ammo. [replaced by US M20 RCL]
  • 10.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40/42 firing Swiss produced 105×155 mmR ammo. [replaced by M40 RCL in 1953]
  • 10.5 cm GebH 40 (5% of 420 built) modified to fire US 105mm ammo. [replaced by US 105 mm Howitzer M3]
  • 10.5 cm leFH 18/18M (1% of 11,795 built) and 10.5 cm leFH 18/40 (1% of 10,265 built) modified to fire Swedish (Bofors)105×155 mmR ammo. [replaced by US 105 mm M2A1]
  • 10.5 cm sK 18 (1% of 1433 built) modified to fire Swedish (Bofors) high velosity 105mm ammo in the AT (particularly SPATG) role.
  • 15 cm sIG 33 (1% of 4600 built) modified to fire Italian 149.1mm ammo.
  • 15 cm sFH 18M (1% of 6756 built) and 15 cm sFH 37(t) modified to fire Italian 149.1mm ammo. [replaced by US 155 mm Howitzer M1]
  • 15 cm sFH 42 (1% of 5403 built as Obice da 149/19 M37/41/42) modified to fire Italian 149.1mm ammo.
  • 17 cm K 18 (173mm) heavy howitzer (10% of 338 built) modified to fire UK 7.2-inch (183mm) ammo. [replaced by UK BL 183mm howitzer]
  • 21 cm Mörser 18 (211mm) heavy howitzer (10% of 711 built) modified to fire Italian 210mm ammo.
  • 5 cm Pak 38 (L/60) (1% of 9566 built) and modified to fire US/UK 57mm ammo. [replaced by US/UK 57mm M1/Mk.IV ATG]
  • BK 5 cm autocannon and automatic 5 cm FlaK 41 (10% of 200 built) modified to fire US/UK 57mm ammo. [replaced by UK 57mm Molins Gun Mk.III]
  • 7.5 cm Pak 39 (L/48) (1% of 4827 built) & Pak 40/KwK 40 (L/46 & L/48) (1% of 20,000 built) firing French manufactured ammo. [replaced by UK 17-pdr (76.2mm) ATG]
  • BK 7,5 cm autocannon firing French manufactured ammo. [replaced by French 75 mm SA49 autocannon in 1952]
  • 8 cm PAW 600 (10 % of 260 built) modified to fire UK 20-pdr (84mm) ammo. [replaced by UK 20-pdr ATG]
  • 8.8 cm KwK 36 (L/56) (1 % of 1347 built) & Pak 43/KwK 43 (L/71) (1 % of 2100 built) modified to fire US 90mm ammo. [replaced by US 90mm M3 ATG]
  • BK 3,7 cm (37x263mmB) autocannon (10% of 500 built) modified to fire US 37×223mmSR ammo. [replaced by US 37mm M9 autocannon]
  • MK 103 (30×184mmB) autocannon modified to fire newly developed French and British 30×113mm ammo. [30×113mm NATO, replaced by US 37mm M10 autocannon in the ground attack role]
  • MK 108 (30×90mmRB) aircraft autocannon firing French and British produced ammo for use by Heimatgeschwader fighter aircraft. [replaced by MK 103 (NATO) in frontline Luftwaffe fighter aircraft]
  • 2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling (1% of 144,000 built) firing commonly manufactured 20mm ammo.
  • 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43 (1% of 20,243 built) modified to fire US 37mm ammo. [replaced by US 37mm M1 AAG]
  • 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37 (1% of 21,310 built) modified to fire US 90mm ammo. [replaced by US 90mm M1 AAG]
  • 10.5 cm FlaK 38 (1% 4200 built, including 42 from France) modified to fire US 105mm AA ammo.
  • 12.8 cm FlaK 40 (1% of 1125 built) &12.8 cm Pak 44 (10% of 51 built) modified to fire UK 5.25-in (130mm) ammo. [replaced by UK 5.25-in Mk.II AT/AAG]

Armoured vehicles:

  • Sd.Kfz. 250 series armoured half-track – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Sd.Kfz. 10 series half-track – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • “Maultier” series half-track – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier – w/ 10x 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 rocket tubes. – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Raketenjagdpanzer auf Maultier – w/ twin X-7 or (larger) X-10 ATGM launchers and 6 missiles. – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • PSW 223 – w/ turret mounted 20mm KwK 38 L/55 gun (about 1% of the 2379 produced = two squadrons of 12 vehicles, plus spares) – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Aufklärungspanzer 38(t) “Luchs” – w/ 2 cm KwK 38 (26 units) (1% of 70 built, plus 1% 1025 Panzer 38(t) Ausf. E/F/G modifie, plus 2% of 450 Ausf. H modified = two squadrons of 12 vehicles, plus spares) – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Bergepanzer 38 light recovery vehicle (10% of 170 produced = one squadron of 12 vehicles, plus spares)
  • PzKpfw 38(t) MTW/MKW “Kätzchen” engineer vehicles w/2 crew (commander/gunner, driver) + 6 passengers in open-top superstructure w/ pintel mounted 7.92 mm MG34 on modified Geschützwagen 38(t) Ausf. M chassis (60 units, similar to later Swedish Pbv 301, converted from 2% of 942 Marder III Ausf. M, converted from 10% of 179 Grille Ausf. K and 10% of 102 Munitionspanzer 38(t) (Sf) Ausf. K, converted from 10% of 141 Flakpanzer 38(t) Ausf. M, converted from 10% of 30 Sturmpanzer 38(t) Ausf. M)
  • Jagdpanzer 38(t) “Hetzer” – w/ 75mm (L48) StuK 40 (as per Czech ST-1 and Swiss G13) (3% of the 2827 produced, including vehicles purchased from Czechoslovakia via Switzerland = two squadrons of 12 vehicles, plus spares) Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Stormartillerivagn 38(t) w/10.5 cm leFH 18 (as per Swedish Sav m/43) (two squadrons of 12 vehicles converted from surviving Jagdpanzer 38(t))
  • Vollkettenaufklarer 38(t) “Waldkatze” – w/ Pz III turret mounting 5 cm KwK 39 (two squadrons of 12 vehicles converted from surviving Jagdpanzer 38(t)) Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • PzKpfw VI A “Tiger I” – w/ 8.8 cm KwK 36 modified to fire US 90mm ammo. (4% of the 1347 produced = three squadrons of 12 vehicles) – Heimatschutz (Reserve)
  • Jagdpanzer VI A “Jagdtiger I” w/ 10.5 cm sK 18 modified to fire Swedish 105mm ammo in Jagdpanzer IV superstructure on Tiger I chassis. (1% of the 1433 produced = one squadron of 12 vehicles plus spares)
  • Sturmpanzer VI A “Sturmtiger I” w/ 15 cm sIG 33 modified to fire Italian 150mm ammo in “Jagdtiger I” chassis. (one squadron of 12 vehicles)
  • SdKfz 2 “Kettenkrad”, in addition to normal motorcycles (Fallschirmjäger transport)
  • Kübelwagen (10% of 50,435 produced) (Jäger and Gebirgsjäger transport)
  • RSO Caterpillar Tractor (10% of 23,000 produced)
  • Sd.Kfz. 251 series armoured half-track
  • Sd.Kfz. 11 series half-track
  • Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS) half-track
  • Panzerwerfer 42 auf sWS w/ 10x 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 rocket tubes
  • Raketenjagdpanzer auf sWS w/ twin X-7 or (larger) X-10 ATGM launchers and 6 missiles.
  • PSW 234/2 “Puma” w/ 5 cm KwK 39 (10% of the 478 produced = two squadrons of 12 vehicles, plus spares)
  • AFV’s based on surviving Geschützwagen III/IV (494 ex-Nashorn, 714 ex-Hummel, 150 ex-Munitionsträger) (10% of the 1358 produced, including 5 from France, plus 1% of 8553 Pz IV chassis, plus 1% of 2000 Jagdpanzer IV and 1% of 1139 StuG IV chassis)
  • Panzer III/IV MTW/MKW “Kätz” engineer vehicles 2 crew (commander/gunner, driver) + 10 passengers w/ turret mounted 7.92 mm MG34 twin machine guns (MTW) or w/ pintel mounted 7.92 mm MG34 machine guns (MKW) (60 units, as per US M39 AUV w/superstructure from Jagdpanzer IV)
  • Panzerwerfer III/IV (tracked MRL) w/ 30x 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 rocket tubes (superstructue from 3% of 8423 StuG III Ausf. G = four batteries of six vehicles)
  • Panzerspähwagen III/IV “Leopard” w/ Pz IV H/J turret (two squadrons of 12 vehicles)
  • Panzerartillerie III/IV “Wespe” w/ 10.5 cm leFH 18/2 modified to fire US 105mm ammo. (four batteries of six vehicles) (Note: 676 SPG’s plus 159 ammo carriers originally built) )
  • Panzerartillerie III/IV “Grille” w/ 15 cm sFH 18/43 modified to fire Italian 150mm ammo (four batteries of six vehicles) (Note: 389 SPG’s plus 102 ammo carriers originally built)
  • Panzerartillerie III/IV “Hummel” w/ 15 cm sFH 18/1 modified to fire Italian 150mm ammo. (four batteries of six vehicles)
  • Flakpanzer III/IV “Wirbelwind” w/ turret mounted 2 cm Flak 38 quad AA guns (10% of 95 “Wirbelwind” and 10% of 45 “Ostwind” turrets = four batteries of six vehicles)
  • Flakpanzer III/IV “Kugelblitz” w/ turret mounted 30mm MK 103 twin AA guns (four batteries of six vehicles) (only 5 built, new builds using surplus Crusader III, AA Mk II / Mk III turrets)
  • Flakpanzer III/IV “Coelian” w/ turret mounted 37mm twin AA guns (four batteries of six vehicles) (using surplus M19 turrets of 285 built)
  • Flarpanzer III/IV Flugabwehrraketenpanzer w/ twin Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling SAM’s mounted on Panzerwerfer III/IV chassis. (four batteries of six vehicles)
  • Raketenjagdpanzer III/IV w/ twin X-7 or (larger) X-10 ATGM launchers and 10 missiles mounted on Panzerwerfer III/IV chassis. (four batteries of six vehicles)

Medium tank regiment:

AFV’s based on surviving Pz V “Panther”
(including 50 Panthers from France and 12 (demilled) from Romania in 1950)

  • Panzer V Ausf. F “Panther” w/ 7.5 cm KwK 42 (two squadrons of 12 vehicles)
  • Panzer V Ausf. H “Panther” w/ 8 cm PAW 600 modified to fire UK 20-pdr ammo. (two squadrons of 12 vehicles)
  • Sturmpanzer V “Heuschrecke” w/ turret mounted 105 mm howitzer modified to fire US 105mm ammo (one squadron of 12 vehicles)
  • Jagdpanzer V “Jagdpanther” w/ 10.5 cm sK 18 modified to fire Swedish 105mm ammo. (about 3% of 415 produced including 10 from UK = one squadron of 12 vehicles)

Heavy tank regiment:

  • PzKpfw VI B “Tiger II” w/ 8.8 cm KwK 43 modified to fire US 90mm ammo. (10% of the 492 produced = three squadrons of 12 vehicles)
  • Jagdpanzer VI B “Jagdtiger II” w/ 128mm anti-tank gun modified to fire UK 5.25 inch ammo. (15% of the 88 produced = one squadron of 12 vehicles)
  • Sturmpanzer VI B “Sturmtiger II” w/ 15 cm sIG 33 modified to fire Italian 150mm ammo in salvaged “Jagdtiger II” chassis. (one squadron of 12 vehicles)

Aircraft:

Jagdstaffeln 71 – Heimatgeschwader (Reserve)
Focke-Wulf Ta 152 “Höhenjäger”
(only 48 built) [6 aircraft in one Flight]
Dornier Do 335 “Pfeil”
(only 37 built) [6 aircraft in one Flight]
Heinkel He 162 “Spatz”
(5% of 320 built) [12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]

Jagdstaffeln 73 and 74 – Heimatgeschwader (Reserve)
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9 – fitted with two 20 mm MG 151 autocannon and a 30 mm MK 108 Motorkanone as per D-11.
(1% of 5400 built, best of 136 from France and Turkey) [48 aircraft, plus spares, in eight flights]

Bomberaufklärungsstaffeln 51 – Heimatgeschwader (Reserve)
Heinkel He 111 H-20 (Medium Bomber)
(1% of 1136 built) [12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]
Junkers Ju 88 S-3 (Medium Bomber)
(.1% of 15,183 built) [12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]

Jagdstaffeln 31
Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a “Schwalbe” (including reconfigured Me 262 A-2a “Sturmvogel”)
(1% of 1430 built, plus 12 re-engined S-92 aircraft from Czechoslovakia Via Switzerland)
[24, plus spares, in four flights in fighter role only]

Jagdbomberstaffeln 32
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-8 (Ground Attack) -fitted with US 37mm M10 autocannon on underwing mounts, as per Ju-86G.
(1% of 1300 built) [12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]
Messerschmitt Me 410A/B-1U4 (Ground Attack) – fitted with two Bordkanone 3,7 and one Bordkanone 5.
(1% of 1189 built) [12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]
Henschel Hs 129 (Ground Attack) – fitted with one Bordkanone 7,5)
(1% of 865 built) [6 aircraft, plus spares, in one flight]

Bomberaufklärungsstaffeln 33
Junkers Ju 188 S (Medium Bomber)
(1% of 1234 built) [12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]
Junkers Ju 388 Störtebeker (High Altitude Recon)
(10% of 100 built) [6 aircraft, plus spares, in one flight]
Arado Ar 234 “Blitz” (Medium Bomber)
(5% of 214 built, retro-fitted with BMW 003 engines)
[12 aircraft, plus spares, in two flights]