Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

END OF THE LUFTWAFFE
FINAL DESTRUCTION
GERMANS GIVE A HAND
The task of eliminating the last ves
tiges of German air power has taken
the Royal Air Force into Belgium,
Holland, Denmark and Norway as well
as all over the British zone of occupa
tion in Germany. Over 6,000 'targets'
have so far lieen discovered, ranging
from a complete factory, with stocks of
finished war material, to a farmhouse
where aircraft parts were found in the
barns. Disarmament experts have
now destroyed the greater part of
100,000 tons of explosives which have
been located, but huge dumps still
await destruction. One of the most
spectacular operations was the simul
taneous demolition of 800 tons of bombs.
Forty per cent, of the explosives dis
covered were gas bombs. German
demolitions and the deterioration of
some of the stores make the work haz
ardous and have involved a numlier of
Royal Air Force casualties.
Most of the 4,000 German planes dis
covered were found in SchleswigHol
stein and Denmark where the Luft
waffe withdrew in the final stages of
the war in Europe. Planes of special
interest to Royal Air Force technical
specialists have been sent to Britain
for inspection and much of the mate
rial is being allocated to the Allies. ]
The remainder will be destroyed. |
Three Royal Air Force Group' Head- j
quarters are controlled from the Dis- j
armament Headquarters at Bad Kils?n j
and Buckesburg. These three groups j
are sub-divided into Wings and Squad- j
rons. each with a definite area of the j
rial. The Royal Canadiau Air Force
provides, the entire staff of one Group
Headquarters and of one of its Wings.
Though the Royal Air Force in Ger
many still numbers some 50.000. SO per
cent, of the total manpower employed
in disarming the Luftwaffe is German.
Royal Air Force Disarmament Units
are dealing with 4S6.00U Luftwaffe
officers and men. After careful docu
mentation of their air force careers,
the majority have been discharged
though internationally agreed measures
are taken to control their future move
ments, but 25,O(JO have been retained
to work alongside a slightly smaller
number of war prisoners on disarm
ament and airfield maintenance. To j
replace the Luftwaffe uniform a new |
working dress has been designed based
on British battle dress. The clothes
rations and pay of these labor groups
come from German sources. Thus tht*
Germans are !-eing made to assist in
the final destruction of the Luftwaffe —
the Nazis' chosen instrumeut in their
plan for world domination.
$