German joke in bomber units circa 1942-43

[RyanCrierie]

From a book on KG51 I'm reading:

Triumphal Entry through the Brandenburg Gate, 1961

175 Air Force bands march by with rousing tones. Then there's a long gap. With measured tread, decked out in gold from head to foot, the Marshal of the World goes by. The Marshal of the Hemisphere follows and then, after another gap of a mile or more, the Marshal of the Underworld. Then the people break into cheers. The star-clustered darlings of the German people, the fighter pilots, march past, pushing in front of them the Giant's Cross to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on its self-propelled mounting.

Another long gap. Then come 25 Marshals of the Nation, all under 30, in their sleek white uniforms. Then a small boy with a banner which says: 'I am the advance party of the rear party, forgotten in Greece.'

There follows an old lady, bowed in grief and supported by the appropriate Party dignitaries; she is the widow of the last long-range reconnaissance pilot. Then a grey-haired man, his face furrowed deep with care, a brief case under his arm and in it a Top Secret telegram: 'My grateful recognition to the bomber crews'.

And then the crowd freezes and there appears a cart drawn by four white horses, and on it a cage, and in the cage a man in chains, and round him eight attendants, each with a placard: 'Warning. Do not excite. Public danger.' And he is the last surviving dive-bomber pilot, and had served in every theatre.

Tanned brown and bearing their victories lightly, the staff-officers march through the Brandenburg Gate. As usual the technical personnel were unable to take part in the parade, as they had not been told about it in time.'

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

From a book on KG51 I'm reading:

Triumphal Entry through the Brandenburg Gate, 1961

175 Air Force bands march by with rousing tones. Then there's a long gap. With measured tread, decked out in gold from head to foot, the Marshal of the World goes by. The Marshal of the Hemisphere follows and then, after another gap of a mile or more, the Marshal of the Underworld. Then the people break into cheers. The star-clustered darlings of the German people, the fighter pilots, march past, pushing in front of them the Giant's Cross to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on its self-propelled mounting.

Another long gap. Then come 25 Marshals of the Nation, all under 30, in their sleek white uniforms. Then a small boy with a banner which says: 'I am the advance party of the rear party, forgotten in Greece.'

There follows an old lady, bowed in grief and supported by the appropriate Party dignitaries; she is the widow of the last long-range reconnaissance pilot. Then a grey-haired man, his face furrowed deep with care, a brief case under his arm and in it a Top Secret telegram: 'My grateful recognition to the bomber crews'.

And then the crowd freezes and there appears a cart drawn by four white horses, and on it a cage, and in the cage a man in chains, and round him eight attendants, each with a placard: 'Warning. Do not excite. Public danger.' And he is the last surviving dive-bomber pilot, and had served in every theatre.

Tanned brown and bearing their victories lightly, the staff-officers march through the Brandenburg Gate. As usual the technical personnel were unable to take part in the parade, as they had not been told about it in time.'

[:D][:D][:D]

[Marc von Martial]

LOL, that's great!

[DuckofTindalos]

Su-poib!

[RyanCrierie]

In terms of personnel a Luftwaffe Bomber Geschwader was around 2,500 strong.

Casualties for the Battle of Britain Period of 20 July 1940 to 31 March 1941 (9 months or so):

94 men killed, wounded, missing, or taken prisoner:

21 x Aircraft destroyed completely
4 x Aircraft damaged so severely they had to be cannibalized for parts
13 x Aircraft damaged in varying terms.

In terms of aircrew, KG 51 lost about 10.4 men a month, for a total of 3% of the entire establishment strength.

For the time that KG 51 was on the Russian Front, from 22 June 41 to about early Spring 44 (one gruppe stayed on the Eastern Front until then before being withdrawn to convert to Me 410s), about 30+ months, they suffered quite heavily, although specific numbers are not available for aircraft, this story does show how bad aircraft losses got:

About ten o'clock in the evening on November 4th [1942], one of the Russian harassing bombers happened to drop a light bomb into the fuel dump at the edge of Armavir airfield. There was a flash, and the flames spread to the fuelled and bombed-up aircraft. Since the field had several units on it, and was packed with more than a hundred Ju 88s and He 111s, there was no lack of combustible material. Only one of the II Gruppe aircraft survived without damage. The unit was forced to move back to Bagerovo on the Kerch peninsula, to get a new set of aircraft.

Personnel losses are more accurate, KG 51 lost 703 men during the Russian campaign, an average of 24.3 men a month for 28% perecent losses during the entire campaign. There's a reason the chapter on Russia in the book is titled "Russia - The Luftwaffe's Verdun"