Operation Paula

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Operation Paula
Part of the Western Front of World War II
A picture of a Heinkel He 111 with running engine
Heinkel He 111 formations prepare for another mission, somewhere in France, June 1940
Date3 June 1940
Location
Paris, France
Result German operational failure[1]
Belligerents
French Third Republic France Nazi Germany Germany
Commanders and leaders
French Third Republic Joseph Vuillemin Nazi Germany Hugo Sperrle
Nazi Germany Albert Kesselring
Units involved
Zone d'Opérations Aériennes Nord or Z.O.A.N I. Fliegerkorps
II. Fliegerkorps
IV. Fliegerkorps
V. Fliegerkorps
VIII. Fliegerkorps
Strength
120 fighters[2] 1,100 aircraft (460 fighters)
Casualties and losses
35 aircraft (31 fighters)
906 casualties
254 dead
(166 were servicemen)[2]		 10 aircraft (four bombers)[2]

Unternehmen Paula (Undertaking or Operation Paula)

Operation Dynamo, the Netherlands and Belgium had surrendered and most of the formations of the French Army were disbanded or destroyed. To complete the defeat of France, the Germans undertook a second phase operation, Fall Rot (Case Red), to conquer the remaining regions. In order to do this, air supremacy
was required. The Luftwaffe was ordered to destroy the French Air Forces, while still providing support to the German Army.

For the operation, the Germans committed five Air Corps to the attack, comprising 1,100 aircraft. The operation was launched on 3 June 1940. British intelligence had warned the French of the impending attack, and the operation failed to achieve the strategic results desired by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Air Force). However, the plight of the French ground and air forces at this stage meant that the failure of the operation would not impede the defeat of France.

Background

Main articles:
Battle of Belgium, and Battle of France

After the declaration of war on

Polish Campaign, in October 1939, the planners of the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (Luftwaffe High Command) and the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) turned their attentions to Western Europe.[5]

The

Panzer Divisions) in a drive to the English Channel. A diversion operation in Belgium and the Netherlands would precede this thrust, to lure the Allied Armies, including the British Expeditionary Force, into a trap.[8][9]

Launched on 10 May 1940, the revised version of Unternehmen Gelb (

Dutch Army and most of the elite French forces were destroyed in the encirclement. This left just second rate French units to combat the entire German Army. The Luftwaffe had played an integral part in disrupting Allied operations in this early phase. The Luftwaffe's participation was particularly crucial during the Battle of Sedan which enabled the German Army to carry out Operation Yellow. By early June the Dunkirk siege was over, and on 3 June, the Germans began preparations for the conquest of the rest of France under the codename Fall Rot (Case Red). For this to be as successful, air superiority would be required first, as it had been during Operation Yellow.[10]

Luftwaffe plans

Head-and-shoulders portrait of a uniformed Nazi German air force general in his 50s wearing an Iron Cross
Hugo Sperrle, commander of Luftflotte 3 (Air Fleet 3)

Hugo Sperrle had long planned attacks upon Paris and on 22 May he ordered Fliegerkorps II (Air Corps II) and Fliegerkorps V (Air Corps V) with Kampfgeschwader 77 (Bomber Wing 77) and Generaloberst (General Colonel) Ulrich Grauert's I Fliegerdivision, III./Kampfgeschwader 28 (Bomber Wing 28) to bomb Paris. Bad weather prevented the operation. Determined to continue with his plans, Sperrle ordered Otto Hoffmann von Waldau and Helmuth von Hoffman, Gruppenkommandeur (Group Commander) of III./KG 28,[11] to plan an operation named Paula the following day, on 23 May 1940.[12]

The operation was broad in its scope. As well as eliminating French airfields and aircraft factories around Paris,[13] in von Waldau's words, the bombing was to "achieve a desirable influence on the morale of the capital".[14] German reconnaissance aircraft reported 1,244 aircraft on airfields in and around Paris, including 550–650 single engine aircraft.[15] This French air power was to be destroyed along with the aviation factories in the area. French anti aircraft artillery (AAA) defences were mapped from tactical to operational level, and intelligence of French ground defences was therefore good.[16] The operation was due to be carried out on 30 May, but again, bad weather prevented it.[12]>

The operation was compromised by poor staff work and excessive confidence in the "invulnerable"

Wing Commander) of KG 77 complained about this. He asked the Headquarters of VIII Fliegerkorps, only to be told that the target was "Paris".[2] Sperrle responded to his request by removing KG 77 from the order of battle. The British intercepted Frisser's request to VIII Fliegerkorps, and passed it to the French. The French had intercepted similar messages and in response they doubled their aircraft strength to 120 fighters.[2]

Forces involved

German

Main article: Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945)

Units from both Luftflotte 2 and Luftflotte 3 (Air Fleet 1 and 2) were made available for the operation. Kampfgeschwader (Bomber Wings) and Jagdgeschwader (Fighter Wings) with aircraft from Lehrgeschwader 1, (LG 1), Kampfgeschwader 1 (KG 1), Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2), Kampfgeschwader 3 (KG 3), Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4), Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54), Kampfgeschwader 55 (KG 55) and Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76), escorted by fighter aircraft from Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2), Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26), Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27), Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53), Zerstörergeschwader 2 (ZG 2) and Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76) were to carry out the attack.[17]

KG 1, ZG 76 and LG 1 were under the command of I. Fliegerkorps. ZG 2, KG 3 and II./KG 2 were under the command of II. Fliegerkorps. KG 55 and III./KG 54 were under IV. Fliegerkorps. KG 51 served under V. Fliegerkorps. KG 4 and JG 26 were under the command of the IX. Fliegerdivision. JG 2 and JG 27 were under the command of VIII. Fliegerkorps. Jagdfliegerführer 3 lent JG 53 for the operation.[18]

Stab. and I./KG 2 moved to

Couvron, Oulchy-le-Château, (JG 2); Guise (JG 27); Épernay, Douzy, Charleville-Mézières, La Selve (JG 53).[18]

KG 2 put up 99 bombers for the raid and KG 55 committed 66 bombers from their three Gruppen.[26] Altogether the Luftwaffe fielded 640 bombers and 460 fighters.[27]

French

Tasked with the defence of the greater Paris area was the Zone d'Opérations Aériennes Nord or Z.O.A.N (Northern Zone of Air Operations).

Curtiss H-75s at Évreux-Fauville, G.C. II/4 Curtiss H-75 at Orconte, G.C. I/6 Morane 406s at Lognes–Émerainville, G.C. III/7 (Morane 406s) at Coulommiers, G.C. I/8 Bloch 152s at Claye-Souilly, and G.C. II/9 Bloch 152s at Connantre. These units were supported by night fighter units, (Groupement de Chasse de Nuit, Night Hunting Group), E.C.M.J. 1/16, E.C.N. 1/13, 2/13, 3/13 and 4/13 equipped with the Potez 631. All in all, these groups totalled 240 aircraft.[28][29] Only 120 fighters were made available to counter German attacks.[2]

The battle

On 3 June, the French units were warned an hour before the German bombers took off, but owing to equally poor staff work, few French squadrons heard the

marshalling yard centres. All damage inflicted was light. None were out of action for more than 24 hours.[2]

Most of the German bombers had passed over and had an altitude advantage over French fighters trying to gain height to intercept. Skirmishes were few and far between, but some French units suffered heavy losses. For the attack, the Germans had used the new C-250 Flammbombe (Flame Bomb) which had only been cleared for use 24 hours earlier. The incendiary bomb did some damage to hangars and parked aircraft.[32]

Aftermath

The Germans believed they had struck a mortal blow against the ALA.

over claiming of over 4:1 in the air and 16:1 on the ground. Six of the sixteen airfields hit reported serious damage, while fifteen factories reported slight damage.[2] French casualties on the ground were heavy, including 254 dead and 652 injured.[30] The French shot down 10 German aircraft, including four bombers. They claimed 16, suggesting mutual over claiming.[2] A further 21 vehicles were destroyed. All the French airfields were back in operation 48 hours later.[31]

Although the operation failed to achieve its goals, the first phase of the German invasion, Operation Yellow, had stripped the

German Army from defeating the French in June 1940, or the Luftwaffe in gaining air supremacy at the beginning of Fall Rot.[33] The main reason for German superiority in the air was the poor state of French air units' operational readiness. The Luftwaffe had a smaller margin of numerical superiority over the ALA at the start of Fall Rot as the French aviation industry was starting to reach full potential in production. Some 2,000 French aircraft were available despite the loss of 787 aircraft (473 fighters, 120 bombers and 194 reconnaissance aircraft). The French had 2,086 machines available on 5 June 1940, the first day of Fall Rot, but component production did not match the production of airframes. It was slow and poor, and as a result only 599 aircraft (340 fighters and 170 bombers) were serviceable; a rate of just 29 percent.[15] After the opening of the offensive, the Luftwaffe "ran riot" over French air space. Such was the superiority of the Luftwaffe at that point, some units were sent home to Germany to refit. The French collapsed altogether just 22 days later, and on 25 June France capitulated.[34]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Chant 1987, p. 180.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hooton 2007, p. 84.
  3. ^ Mackay 2003, p. 62.
  4. ^ Chant 1987, p. 10.
  5. ^ Healy 2008, pp. 3–5.
  6. ^ Healy 2008, pp. 5–8.
  7. ^ Bond 1975, p. 42.
  8. ^ Healy 2008, pp. 8–11.
  9. ^ Bond 1975, pp. 43–44.
  10. ^ Hooton 2007, pp. 47–48, 77.
  11. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, p. 114.
  12. ^ a b Hooton 2007, p. 82.
  13. ^ Weal 2000, p. 35.
  14. ^ Hooton 1994, p. 263.
  15. ^ a b Hooton 2007, p. 81.
  16. ^ Hooton 2007, pp. 82–83.
  17. ^ a b Hooton 2007, pp. 263–264.
  18. ^ a b Hooton 2007, pp. 78–79.
  19. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, pp. 23–31.
  20. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, pp. 193–201.
  21. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, pp. 36–48.
  22. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, pp. 49–60.
  23. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, pp. 13–22.
  24. ^ Hooton 2007, p. 78.
  25. ^ de Zeng, Stankey & Creek 2007, p. 188.
  26. ^ Hooton 2007, pp. 83–84.
  27. ^ Hooton 2007, pp. 62–63.
  28. ^ Jackson 1974, p. 80.
  29. ^ French Air Force order of battle, 5 June 1940.
  30. ^ a b c Hooton 1994, p. 264.
  31. ^ a b Jackson 1974, p. 81.
  32. ^ Mackay 2003, p. 63.
  33. ^ Hooton 2007, pp. 84–85.
  34. ^ Hooton 2007, pp. 85–86.

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Paula&oldid=1197762029"