Focke-Wulf Fw.200. Part Seven. The Fw.200 in the Eastern Front.

 

When the Wehrmacht's 6. Armee was surrounded in Stalingrad, Hermann Göring boasted Luftwaffe's transport force hoping to carry the necessary supplies to break the perimeter. This idea, however, was soon proved to be erroneous. 

That was on of the two reasons why part of the KG.40 was sent to Pitomnik airfield, in the USSR, the other one was the shortage of small - and large- transport aircraft. Bombers were pressed into transports, albeit temporarily, with the four-engined ones having to make their part, even if they were not designed to lift significative loads. It is known that the airlift of the whole 6. Armee was impossible. 

A total of 18 Fw.200 belonging to 1. and 3./KG.40 operated from the airfield at Stalino, with the unit flying its first operation on 9th January 1943, although there were already some previous flights in the area during 1942. Under the temporal designation of Kampfgruppe zur besonderen Verwendung 200 (KGr.zb V.200), this force flew 36 tons of supplies into Stalingrad pocket and evacuated 156 wounded soldiers. However, as the Soviet encirclement advanced, the unit quickly switched to aerial supply drops by parachute, with each Condor carrying four containers under the wings. 

After the surrender of Stalingrad, KGr.zb V.200 was rebased to Zaparozhe airfield to keep doing whatever they could and, eventually a total of 41 supply drop missions were carried out to try and resupply the 6. Armee before the collapse. They also flew 35 additional sorties over the Crimea before being sent back to Berlin-Staaken in February 1943. 

When KGr.zb V.200 returned to Berlin, they had lost 9 Fw.200s and the unit was disbanded to be merged into a new one, 8./KG.40 which was sent to Bordeaux-Merignac under the command of Luftflotte 3. 

In the anti-shipping role, KG.40 was greatly helped by reports from Spain which alerted Fliegerführer Atlantik about sailing dates and times of Allied convoys out of Gibraltar. 

By December 1943 KG.40's crews were busy testing operationally the Heinkel He.177 with the Condors being assigned to Stab and all Staffeln of III. Gruppe, which was based at Cognac with approximately 26 aircraft. Additionally, 3. Staffel, attached to III./KG.40 operated their Condors off the Trondheim-Vaernes area, in Norway. Losses during the second half of 1943 were moderated, although new instructions were given to the crews to not execute attacks lower than 2.750 m (9.000 ft) due to the anti-aircraft fire that Allied ships could put up. 

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_200_Condor

2. Osprey Publishing - Combat Aircraft 115 - Fw 200 Condor Units of World War II

3. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 13 - Focke-Wulf Fw.200 Condor