Operation Steinbock
Encyclopedia
Operation Steinbock was the nocturnal Second World War
Luftwaffe
offensive operation
to destroy British military and civilian targets in southern England
, between January and May 1944. The attacks were mainly in and around the Greater London
area. In Britain, it was known as the "Baby Blitz
", due to the much smaller scale of operations compared to the Luftwaffes strategic bombing
of the British Isles in 1940–41.
Placed under the command of Generalmajor (Major General
) Dietrich Peltz
, Luftflotte 3
(Air Fleet 3), the Germans assembled 474 bombers for the offensive. The operation—running parallel to RAF Bomber Command
's campaign known as the Battle of Berlin
—was launched more for the sake of propaganda
and as a measure of retaliation than for any military objective. The operation achieved very little, and the force suffered a loss of some 329 machines during the five months of operations—an average of 82 per month—before it was abandoned. Luftwaffe commanders like Hugo Sperrle
had intended to use the bomber force against the Western Allies
′ invasion fleet, which he predicted would land in Northern France
in the summer of 1944. Eventually, the revenge attacks gave way to attempts to disrupt preparations for the impending Allied invasion of France (Operation Overlord
). Steinbock had however worn down the potential German bomber fleet to the extent it could not deliver any significant counter attacks when the invasion was actually launched in June 1944.
The offensive marked the Luftwaffes last large-scale bombing operation against England, and henceforth only the V1
cruise missile
s and V2
ballistic rockets were used for hitting the British Isles.
(OKL or High Command of the Air Force) was unable to prevent serious damage to German cities and industries by the ongoing Allied Strategic Bombing offensive. Erhard Milch
recommended doubling fighter production. However, in July 1943 RAF Bomber Command
had neutralised German night fighter defences, in particularly the Kammhuber Line
, by using "window" or "chaff" to jam German ground and air radar. The bombing of Hamburg
in July inflicted 26,000 casualties and destroyed large parts of the city and its industry. The overwhelming consensus in the Luftwaffe High Command was that the Luftwaffe should concentrate on defensive efforts against the Allied Air Forces. Adolf Galland
—General der Jagdflieger (General of the Fighter Force)—wrote:
But it was Göring, not the staff, that took this proposal to Hitler. After an hour, the Reichsmarschall
returned. Peltz described the scene:
After a time Göring stated that the Führer was right. Göring announced that the only way to stop such destruction was to initiate heavy retaliatory strikes at the enemy so that they would not dare risk another raid like Hamburg without the fear of similar retribution. Göring gave Peltz the authorisation to pool the resources together for Operation Steinbock (Capricorn).
was summoned to a conference where Göring informed him that he was to be placed in charge of a renewed large-scale bombing operation of Britain, and London in particular. It was hoped that the operation would commence during December, and though this proved unrealistic, by the third week of January 1944 a force approaching 600 aircraft had been amassed by stripping five Kampfgruppen (bomber groups) from the Italian front and by rebuilding existing bomber units in the West. On 3 December 1943 Göring issued orders for Unternehmen Steinbock ('Operation Capricorn'), with the objective of "avenging terror attacks of the enemy". Wolfram von Richthofen
was to provide Peltz with six Kampfgruppen, while Obdl would provide another three which were resting. The bombers were to carry a so-called "English mixture" ordanance load — 70% incendiaries and 30% high explosive bombs, including large 1 t (1.1 ST) bombs and mines.
Two He 177-equipped units were available for the start of the attack: I./KG 40 and 3./KG 100 operating the new heavy bomber from airfields at Rheine and Chateaudun with an initial combined strength of 46 aircraft.
Despite this force of Heinkel He 177
s, the inventory still consisted largely of twin-engined medium bombers. The Junkers Ju 188
s and Dornier Do 217
s were of relatively recent development, and the great majority of the Junkers Ju 88
s were of the A-4 model, essentially unchanged since 1941, when the original Blitz
had wound down.
Apart from the numbers of conventional medium and heavy level bombers, the Luftwaffe also employed a number of fast bomber types, such as the Ju 88S (a cleaned up and boosted version of the Ju 88A-4) or the Messerschmitt Me 410
Hornisse and a number of fighter-bomber
s, known as Jabos in the Luftwaffe. These were more difficult to intercept due to their great speed, but carried limited payload and accuracy compared to the conventional bombers.
The composition of the force was never static. Bomber units were disbanded, pulled out for refits, conversions or redeployed to other theatres of operation as the situation demanded. By mid-March, Peltz's force had 232 servicable aircraft, as 3./KG 2 was withdrawn for conversion to the Ju 188, while III./KG 30, along with II. and III. Gruppen, KG 6 were redeployed to support the occupation of Hungary.
(ADGB) force.
The ADGB brief was the air defence of Britain by day or night. The commander of Fighter Command, Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory was transferred to take over the 2nd TAF, and the ADGB command given to Air Marshal Sir Roderic Hill. By January 1944 RAF Fighter Command’s 10 and 11 Groups were responsible for the defence of southern England. For night defence ADGB possessed seven Squadrons of Mosquito Mark XII, XIII and XVII night fighters totalling around 127 operational aircraft, all of which were equipped with airborne interception aids, including the latest Mk. VIII and Mk. X centimetric wavelength radars.
For the Urban defence of Greater London there were numerous heavy anti-aircraft (AA) batteries equipped with 3.7ins and 5.25ins guns. Many batteries were now equipped with the new gun-laying Mk. III radar, which made them highly effective in putting up a predicted AA barrage against air targets at night or in bad weather.
device called Kettenhund ("watchdog"), and some bombers also sported the FuG 216 tail-warning radar, to detect British night-fighters before they could make their attack on their bomber.
. The attack consisted of two waves with 447 bomber sorties, primarily Ju-88s and Do-217s, carrying 475 tons of bombs, with 60 per cent of the payload incendiaries. The first wave bombed from 2040 hours until 2209 and the second wave 0419 to 0545.Many bomber crews flew double sorties on this night.
Despite the extensive use of 'duppel' ( the Luftwaffe equivalent of the RAF's window anti-radar device) and target marking with white and green flares by KG 66 , the Luftwaffes pathfinders, hardly any bombers reached London and only some 30 tons were estimated to have fallen on the capital, with bombs and incendiaries scattered throughout the Home Counties
. The Houses of Parliament, Parliament Square, Westminster Hall, the Embankment, New Scotland Yard and parts of Pimlico were all hit by incendiaries. Some 14 people were killed and 74 injured.
Hitler was reportedly outraged that the Luftwaffe failed to find London though it was only 150–200 km (93.2–124.3 mi) from German ground control stations while the British were hitting German towns, not just city targets, from 1000 km (621.4 mi) away in bad weather. Peltz responded that the failures owed as much to the Luftwaffes lack of interference-free radio and navigational aids as to untrained crews, and that the British with their H2S
and Gee
systems were technologically ahead of the Germans. The lack of dedicated pathfinder units also caused navigational problems, as the few aircraft employed in this role were more at risk from electronic counter-measures and fighter interception. The heavy British defences forced the Luftwaffe to fly meandering 'dog-leg' courses and inexperienced German crews quickly got lost. Reconnaissance flights over England had also stopped, which prevented the Luftwaffe from gathering intelligence on British radar and radio frequency bands.
Approximately 40 bombers were lost to all causes. Luftwaffe records indicate 25 aircraft fell to enemy action, RAF Mosquitos claimed 16 bombers destroyed or probably destroyed, and the other 9 probably fell to anti-aircraft fire. Just as worrying for the Luftwaffe was a further 18 bombers were lost to non-combat causes, including pilot error, navigation error leading to running out of fuel or landing crashes at base.
The first operation coincided with the Allied landings at Anzio
in Italy, and immediately three of the Kampfgruppen were returned to Italy. Bad weather also intervened, and the next raid on London was delayed until 28 January, with only Me 410 fast bombers and Fw 190 fighter-bombers taking part. On the following night a 285-strong bomber force, of mostly Ju-188s and Ju-88s attacked, and started a major fire in the Surrey Commercial Docks.
The bomber force lost 28 aircraft shot down. Following this operation I./KG 40 was withdrawn.
The two January attacks on London caused the death of about 100 people, with some 200 injured.
On 13/14th February 161 tonnes were dropped over England, with 4 tons on the capital.
A series of far more accurate raids now ensued, as on the 18/19th, with 200 sorties dropping 185 tons of bombs on Whitehall, Queen's Gate and in Pimlico in a short sharp 30 minute raid. Civilian casualties were 180 killed and 463 seriously injured.
On 20/21st February Whitehall was hit again as was Horse Guards Parade, St James's Park, the Treasury, the Admiralty, the War Office and the Scottish Office. Windows were also blown out in 10 Downing Street. Over 200 bomber sorties were flown. 216 were killed on the ground and 417 badly injured.
The 1,300 operational sorties carried out in February had produced mixed results. However, bomber losses for the month, at 72 aircraft, remained prohibitively high.
On the night of February 3/4th 240 aircraft set out for London.
For February 20/21st some 200 aircraft were committed, with I./KG 100 contributing 14 He 177s.
On the night of the 23rd 32 London boroughs recorded incidents, with 72 people killed in Chelsea following a direct hit on a block of flats near the Kings Road. In total there were 160 fatalities and 348 serious injuries that night. Targets on the night of February 24/2th were government buildings around the Westminster area, with over 170 aircraft targeting London.
From late April German attacks switched to the channel ports on the south coast of England, where shipping for the forthcoming Allied invasion of Europe was massing. However, the offensive yielded little tangible results for the Luftwaffe, at a high cost in aircrew and aircraft.
From late December 1943 to May 1944 Luftwaffe bomber strength in northern Europe fell from 695 to just 133 aircraft. In contrast on 6 June 1944, ADGB had 45 squadrons available to support the invasion, totalling some 809 serviceable aircraft.
Air raid casualties in Britain during the first five months of 1944 totalled some 1,556 killed, with 2,916 seriously injured.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
offensive operation
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...
to destroy British military and civilian targets in southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, between January and May 1944. The attacks were mainly in and around the Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
area. In Britain, it was known as the "Baby Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
", due to the much smaller scale of operations compared to the Luftwaffes strategic bombing
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
of the British Isles in 1940–41.
Placed under the command of Generalmajor (Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
) Dietrich Peltz
Dietrich Peltz
Generalmajor Dietrich Peltz was a German World War II Luftwaffe bomber pilot. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on February 1, 1939 from Luftwaffengruppenkommando 3 in Munich and redesignated Luftwaffenkommando West on September 26, 1944...
(Air Fleet 3), the Germans assembled 474 bombers for the offensive. The operation—running parallel to RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
's campaign known as the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin (air)
The Battle of Berlin was a British bombing campaign on Berlin from November 1943 – March 1944. The campaign was not limited solely to Berlin. Other German cities were attacked to prevent concentration of defences in Berlin, and Bomber Command had other responsibilities and operations to conduct...
—was launched more for the sake of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
and as a measure of retaliation than for any military objective. The operation achieved very little, and the force suffered a loss of some 329 machines during the five months of operations—an average of 82 per month—before it was abandoned. Luftwaffe commanders like Hugo Sperrle
Hugo Sperrle
Hugo Sperrle was a German field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. His forces were deployed solely on the Western Front and the Mediterranean throughout the war...
had intended to use the bomber force against the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
′ invasion fleet, which he predicted would land in Northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the summer of 1944. Eventually, the revenge attacks gave way to attempts to disrupt preparations for the impending Allied invasion of France (Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
). Steinbock had however worn down the potential German bomber fleet to the extent it could not deliver any significant counter attacks when the invasion was actually launched in June 1944.
The offensive marked the Luftwaffes last large-scale bombing operation against England, and henceforth only the V1
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
s and V2
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
ballistic rockets were used for hitting the British Isles.
Background
The strategic dilemma facing the Luftwaffe in 1943 was serious. The Oberkommando der LuftwaffeOberkommando der Luftwaffe
The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe was the air force High Command of the Third Reich.Air Force Commanders-in-Chief* Reich Marshal Hermann Göring * Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim -History:...
(OKL or High Command of the Air Force) was unable to prevent serious damage to German cities and industries by the ongoing Allied Strategic Bombing offensive. Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch was a German Field Marshal who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Germany following World War I, and served as founding Director of Deutsche Luft Hansa...
recommended doubling fighter production. However, in July 1943 RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
had neutralised German night fighter defences, in particularly the Kammhuber Line
Kammhuber Line
The Kammhuber Line was the name given to the German night air defense system established in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber.- Description :...
, by using "window" or "chaff" to jam German ground and air radar. The bombing of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in July inflicted 26,000 casualties and destroyed large parts of the city and its industry. The overwhelming consensus in the Luftwaffe High Command was that the Luftwaffe should concentrate on defensive efforts against the Allied Air Forces. Adolf Galland
Adolf Galland
Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland was a German Luftwaffe General and flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. He flew 705 combat missions, and fought on the Western and the Defence of the Reich fronts...
—General der Jagdflieger (General of the Fighter Force)—wrote:
Never before and never again did I witness such determination and agreement among the circle of those responsible for the leadership of the Luftwaffe. It was as though under the impact of the Hamburg catastrophe everyone put aside either personal or departmental ambitions. There was no conflict between the General Staff and the war industry, no rivalry between bombers and fighters; only the common will to do everything in this critical hour for the Defence of the Reich.
But it was Göring, not the staff, that took this proposal to Hitler. After an hour, the Reichsmarschall
Reichsmarschall
Reichsmarschall literally in ; was the highest rank in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II after the position of Supreme Commander held by Adolf Hitler....
returned. Peltz described the scene:
We were met with a shattering picture. Göring had completely broken down. With his head buried in his arms on the table he moaned some indistinguishable words. We stood there for some time in embarrassment until at last he pulled himself together and said we were witnessing the deepest moments of despair. The Fuhrer had lost faith in him. All the suggestions from which he had expected a radical change in the situation of war in the air had been rejected; the Fuhrer had announced that the Luftwaffe had disappointed him too often, and a change over from the offensive to defensive in the air against EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was out of the question.
After a time Göring stated that the Führer was right. Göring announced that the only way to stop such destruction was to initiate heavy retaliatory strikes at the enemy so that they would not dare risk another raid like Hamburg without the fear of similar retribution. Göring gave Peltz the authorisation to pool the resources together for Operation Steinbock (Capricorn).
The Luftwaffe
At the end of November 1943, Generalmajor Dietrich PeltzDietrich Peltz
Generalmajor Dietrich Peltz was a German World War II Luftwaffe bomber pilot. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
was summoned to a conference where Göring informed him that he was to be placed in charge of a renewed large-scale bombing operation of Britain, and London in particular. It was hoped that the operation would commence during December, and though this proved unrealistic, by the third week of January 1944 a force approaching 600 aircraft had been amassed by stripping five Kampfgruppen (bomber groups) from the Italian front and by rebuilding existing bomber units in the West. On 3 December 1943 Göring issued orders for Unternehmen Steinbock ('Operation Capricorn'), with the objective of "avenging terror attacks of the enemy". Wolfram von Richthofen
Wolfram von Richthofen
Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Freiherr von RichthofenIn German a Doctorate in engineering is abbreviated as Dr.-Ing. . was a German Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War...
was to provide Peltz with six Kampfgruppen, while Obdl would provide another three which were resting. The bombers were to carry a so-called "English mixture" ordanance load — 70% incendiaries and 30% high explosive bombs, including large 1 t (1.1 ST) bombs and mines.
Two He 177-equipped units were available for the start of the attack: I./KG 40 and 3./KG 100 operating the new heavy bomber from airfields at Rheine and Chateaudun with an initial combined strength of 46 aircraft.
Despite this force of Heinkel He 177
Heinkel He 177
The Heinkel He 177 Greif was the only operational long-range bomber to be operated by the Luftwaffe. Starting its existence as Germany's first purpose-built heavy bomber just before the war, and built in large numbers during World War II, it was also mistakenly tasked, right from its beginnings,...
s, the inventory still consisted largely of twin-engined medium bombers. The Junkers Ju 188
Junkers Ju 188
The Junkers Ju 188 was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-on to the famed Ju 88 with better performance and payload...
s and Dornier Do 217
Dornier Do 217
The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by German Luftwaffe during World War II as a more powerful version of the Dornier Do 17, known as the Fliegender Bleistift . Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber, its design was refined during 1939 and production began in late 1940...
s were of relatively recent development, and the great majority of the Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
s were of the A-4 model, essentially unchanged since 1941, when the original Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
had wound down.
Apart from the numbers of conventional medium and heavy level bombers, the Luftwaffe also employed a number of fast bomber types, such as the Ju 88S (a cleaned up and boosted version of the Ju 88A-4) or the Messerschmitt Me 410
Messerschmitt Me 410
The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse was a German heavy fighter and Schnellbomber used by Luftwaffe during World War II. Though essentially a straightforward modification of the Me 210, it was designated the Me 410 to avoid association with its notoriously flawed predecessor.-Design and...
Hornisse and a number of fighter-bomber
Fighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
s, known as Jabos in the Luftwaffe. These were more difficult to intercept due to their great speed, but carried limited payload and accuracy compared to the conventional bombers.
The composition of the force was never static. Bomber units were disbanded, pulled out for refits, conversions or redeployed to other theatres of operation as the situation demanded. By mid-March, Peltz's force had 232 servicable aircraft, as 3./KG 2 was withdrawn for conversion to the Ju 188, while III./KG 30, along with II. and III. Gruppen, KG 6 were redeployed to support the occupation of Hungary.
The British defences
As a result of the reorganisation required for the invasion of Europe on 15 November 1943 RAF Fighter Command was split in two; many of the Spitfire and Hawker Typhoon Squadrons formed the 2nd Tactical Air Force, while others were now formed into the Air Defence of Great BritainAir Defence of Great Britain
The Air Defence of Great Britain was a RAF command comprising substantial Army and RAF elements responsible for the air defence of the British Isles...
(ADGB) force.
The ADGB brief was the air defence of Britain by day or night. The commander of Fighter Command, Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory was transferred to take over the 2nd TAF, and the ADGB command given to Air Marshal Sir Roderic Hill. By January 1944 RAF Fighter Command’s 10 and 11 Groups were responsible for the defence of southern England. For night defence ADGB possessed seven Squadrons of Mosquito Mark XII, XIII and XVII night fighters totalling around 127 operational aircraft, all of which were equipped with airborne interception aids, including the latest Mk. VIII and Mk. X centimetric wavelength radars.
For the Urban defence of Greater London there were numerous heavy anti-aircraft (AA) batteries equipped with 3.7ins and 5.25ins guns. Many batteries were now equipped with the new gun-laying Mk. III radar, which made them highly effective in putting up a predicted AA barrage against air targets at night or in bad weather.
Radar
To confuse British radars, the ventral gondolas of some Ju 88s were fitted with an active radar jammerJammer
Jammer may refer to:* Jammer keyboard* Jammer, a device used in radar jamming and deception, a technique in electronic warfare to inhibit or halt the transmission of signals* Swim jammer, a type of male competitive swimwear...
device called Kettenhund ("watchdog"), and some bombers also sported the FuG 216 tail-warning radar, to detect British night-fighters before they could make their attack on their bomber.
Order of battle
The following Luftwaffe units particated in Operation Steinbock:and had the following establishment of operational aircraft at the start of 1944- KG 2 Holzhammer
- Stab (3 Do 217)
- I./KG 2 (35 Do 217)
- II./KG 2 (31 Ju 188)
- III./KG 2 (36 Do 217)
- V./KG 2 ( 25 Me 410)
- KG 6
- Stab (3 Ju 88)
- I./KG 6 (41 Ju 188)
- II./KG 6 (39 Ju 88)
- III./KG 6 (37 Ju 88)
- KG 30 Adler
- II./KG 30 (31 Ju 88)
- KG 40
- I./KG 40 (15 He 177)
- KG 54 Totenkopf
- Stab/KG 54 (3 Ju 88)
- I./KG 54 (25 Ju 88)
- II./KG 54 (33 Ju 88)
- KG 66
- I./KG 66 (23 Ju 88 and Ju 188)
- KG 76
- Stab/KG 76 (4 Ju 88)
- KG 100
- I./KG 100 (27 He 177)
- SKG 10
- I./SKG 10 (20 Fw 190)
January
The first attack on London was mounted on the night of 21/22 January. Codenamed Unternehmen Mars, sections of the British capital were given codenames after devastated German cities — Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, to emphasize the retaliatory nature of the operation for the air crews. The first raid targeted the area designated as 'München'—the Waterloo area of LondonWaterloo, London
Waterloo is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated east of Charing Cross. The area is part of a business improvement district known as Waterloo Quarter, which includes The Cut and the Old Vic and Young Vic theatres, including some sections in the...
. The attack consisted of two waves with 447 bomber sorties, primarily Ju-88s and Do-217s, carrying 475 tons of bombs, with 60 per cent of the payload incendiaries. The first wave bombed from 2040 hours until 2209 and the second wave 0419 to 0545.Many bomber crews flew double sorties on this night.
Despite the extensive use of 'duppel' ( the Luftwaffe equivalent of the RAF's window anti-radar device) and target marking with white and green flares by KG 66 , the Luftwaffes pathfinders, hardly any bombers reached London and only some 30 tons were estimated to have fallen on the capital, with bombs and incendiaries scattered throughout the Home Counties
Home Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
. The Houses of Parliament, Parliament Square, Westminster Hall, the Embankment, New Scotland Yard and parts of Pimlico were all hit by incendiaries. Some 14 people were killed and 74 injured.
Hitler was reportedly outraged that the Luftwaffe failed to find London though it was only 150–200 km (93.2–124.3 mi) from German ground control stations while the British were hitting German towns, not just city targets, from 1000 km (621.4 mi) away in bad weather. Peltz responded that the failures owed as much to the Luftwaffes lack of interference-free radio and navigational aids as to untrained crews, and that the British with their H2S
H2S radar
H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing...
and Gee
GEE (navigation)
Gee was the code name given to a radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II.Different sources record the name as GEE or Gee. The naming supposedly comes from "Grid", so the lower case form is more correct, and is the form used in Drippy's publications. See Drippy 1946....
systems were technologically ahead of the Germans. The lack of dedicated pathfinder units also caused navigational problems, as the few aircraft employed in this role were more at risk from electronic counter-measures and fighter interception. The heavy British defences forced the Luftwaffe to fly meandering 'dog-leg' courses and inexperienced German crews quickly got lost. Reconnaissance flights over England had also stopped, which prevented the Luftwaffe from gathering intelligence on British radar and radio frequency bands.
Approximately 40 bombers were lost to all causes. Luftwaffe records indicate 25 aircraft fell to enemy action, RAF Mosquitos claimed 16 bombers destroyed or probably destroyed, and the other 9 probably fell to anti-aircraft fire. Just as worrying for the Luftwaffe was a further 18 bombers were lost to non-combat causes, including pilot error, navigation error leading to running out of fuel or landing crashes at base.
The first operation coincided with the Allied landings at Anzio
Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...
in Italy, and immediately three of the Kampfgruppen were returned to Italy. Bad weather also intervened, and the next raid on London was delayed until 28 January, with only Me 410 fast bombers and Fw 190 fighter-bombers taking part. On the following night a 285-strong bomber force, of mostly Ju-188s and Ju-88s attacked, and started a major fire in the Surrey Commercial Docks.
The bomber force lost 28 aircraft shot down. Following this operation I./KG 40 was withdrawn.
The two January attacks on London caused the death of about 100 people, with some 200 injured.
February
240 sorties were flown on 3/4th February, with only 26 tons of bombs falling on London and scattered bombing across South east England. Fires were started in Hackney and Tilbury with 17 killed and 12 injured in the capital.On 13/14th February 161 tonnes were dropped over England, with 4 tons on the capital.
A series of far more accurate raids now ensued, as on the 18/19th, with 200 sorties dropping 185 tons of bombs on Whitehall, Queen's Gate and in Pimlico in a short sharp 30 minute raid. Civilian casualties were 180 killed and 463 seriously injured.
On 20/21st February Whitehall was hit again as was Horse Guards Parade, St James's Park, the Treasury, the Admiralty, the War Office and the Scottish Office. Windows were also blown out in 10 Downing Street. Over 200 bomber sorties were flown. 216 were killed on the ground and 417 badly injured.
The 1,300 operational sorties carried out in February had produced mixed results. However, bomber losses for the month, at 72 aircraft, remained prohibitively high.
On the night of February 3/4th 240 aircraft set out for London.
For February 20/21st some 200 aircraft were committed, with I./KG 100 contributing 14 He 177s.
On the night of the 23rd 32 London boroughs recorded incidents, with 72 people killed in Chelsea following a direct hit on a block of flats near the Kings Road. In total there were 160 fatalities and 348 serious injuries that night. Targets on the night of February 24/2th were government buildings around the Westminster area, with over 170 aircraft targeting London.
March
In March there were four attacks on London followed by raids on Hull and Bristol. On 14/15th March, 100 German aircraft dropped incendiaries and high explosives across Westminster, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Rochester Row, Monck Street, Cliveden Place and two churches in Medway Street and Flask Lane were hit, set alight or damaged. On 21 March Paddington Railway Station was also hit.April
Attacks on the capital continued until the night of 20/21st April 1944. By this time 31 major raids had been flown since January, 14 against the British capital. Peltz's force had dropped a total of some 2,000 tons of bombs at a cost of 329 bombers lost.From late April German attacks switched to the channel ports on the south coast of England, where shipping for the forthcoming Allied invasion of Europe was massing. However, the offensive yielded little tangible results for the Luftwaffe, at a high cost in aircrew and aircraft.
Aftermath
Although the "Baby Blitz" attacks had involved more Luftwaffe aircraft than any other raids on the UK since 1941, the effectiveness of air and ground defences, the relative inexperience of the German bomber crews, and the sheer lack of bomber numbers meant relatively minor damage and few casualties were inflicted. The initial bomber strength was built up at great expense from the operational requirements of the Luftwaffe. Most bombs failed to reach their targets, and those that did represented only a fraction of what was hitting Germany. Failure to properly target the assembly areas for Operation Overlord meant that there was no significant impact on the allied time table for the invasion. The raids were -ironically- to prove more costly regarding German military capability than for the British, draining the Luftwaffe of irreplacable aircrew and aircraft and thus reducing the potential defensive air response to oppose Operation Overlord. After the failure of this conventional bombing campaign, the Nazi leadership, still bent on revenge, sought unconventional ways to attack Britain. This desire was to manifest itself in the V1 and V2 campaigns late that year.From late December 1943 to May 1944 Luftwaffe bomber strength in northern Europe fell from 695 to just 133 aircraft. In contrast on 6 June 1944, ADGB had 45 squadrons available to support the invasion, totalling some 809 serviceable aircraft.
Air raid casualties in Britain during the first five months of 1944 totalled some 1,556 killed, with 2,916 seriously injured.