Sonderkommando Elbe

Sonderkommando "ELBE" was the name of a World War II Luftwaffe task force assigned to bring down Allied bombers by ramming German aircraft into them mid-air, with the desperate strategic aim of causing the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces to halt or at least reduce their air campaign against Germany.

History
Sonderkommando literally means "special command", and Elbe is one of the main rivers in Germany. While the Luftwaffe had a ready supply of airplanes at this point in the war, well-trained pilots and fuel were two components in short supply. Despite the grim prospects of survival of such a mission, the unit was not a true "suicide unit" in that the pilots were expected to either attempt to bail out just before colliding with the Allied aircraft, or attempt to bail out after colliding. This is quite unlike the Japanese kamikaze attacks against Allied ships in the Pacific Theatre, in which Japanese forces loaded their pilots' aircraft with explosives, most often within the structure of the aircraft, and therefore had no chance of survival, as the explosives detonated with the crash of the aircraft itself - purpose-designed into the nose of the dedicated Ohka rocket-powered suicide aircraft. The closest airframe design that Germany ever developed in purpose to the Ohka was the Reichenberg R-IV manned version of the pulsejet-powered V-1 flying bomb.

The aircraft of choice for this mission was usually a later G-version (Gustav) of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, stripped of armor and armament. The heavily stripped-down planes had one synchronized machine gun (usually a single MG 131 in the upper engine cowling) instead of up to four automatic weapons (usually including a pair of 20mm or 30mm underwing-mount autocannon) on fully equipped Bf 109G interceptors, and were only allotted 60 rounds each, a normally otherwise insufficient amount for bomber-interception missions. To accomplish their mission, Sonderkommando Elbe pilots would typically aim to ram one of three sensitive areas on the bombers: the empennage with its relatively delicate control surfaces, the engine nacelles which were connected to the highly explosive fuel system, or the cockpit itself. One of the most famous reports of cockpit ramming was against a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, nicknamed "Palace of Dallas", along with another bomber that the German plane careened into after slicing the cockpit of the "Palace of Dallas".

Adding to the last-ditch nature of this task force, the only mission was flown on 7 April 1945 by a sortie of 180 Bf 109s. While only 15 Allied bombers were attacked in this manner, eight were successfully destroyed.

Similarities to Japanese kamikaze units
Unlike that of Japan, Germany′s geographical position did not allow mass self-sacrificing attacks on enemy troops and installations. The largest targets that Germans were able to hit with ramming tactics were Allied four-engined bombers and some strategic bridges over the Oder, with their Mistel composite attack aircraft.

Successful missions
Rank / Name / Former Unit e/a Unit Status
 * Uffz. Heinrich Rosner, (ex-III/JG.102), 2 B-24 Liberators of the 389th Bomb Group; 1st B-24 rammed was lead bomber "Palace of Dallas", then careened into 2nd B-24—deputy lead bomber—unknown, Survived
 * Obfw. Werner Linder, (ex-EJG.1), 1 B-17 Flying Fortress 388th Bomb Group, KIA
 * Fhr. Eberhard Prock, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, KIA, Shot while descending in his parachute.
 * Fw. Reinhold Hedwig, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, KIA, Shot down by 339 Fighter Group P-51.
 * Uffz. Werner Zell, 1 B-17 100th Bomb Group.
 * Uffz. Werner Zell, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, WIA Shot down by P-51.
 * Ogfr. Horst Siedel, 1 B-17 452nd Bomb Group, KIA
 * Lt. Hans Nagel, (ex-IV/JG.102), 1 B-17 490th Bomb Group, KIA, Shot it down by conventional armament, damaged a second B-17 by ramming.
 * Fritz Marktschaftel
 * Uffz. Klaus Hahn, 1 B-17 487th Bomb Group, WIA - Left arm by 4 P-51Ds fire.
 * Heinrich Henkel, 1 B-24 "Sacktime" 467th Bomb Group, Survived.
 * Unknown Bf 109 pilot, 1 B-17 100th Bomb Group, KIA
 * Unknown Bf 109 pilot, 1 B-17 490th Bomb Group, KIA

Luftwaffe records claim at least 22-24 American aircraft fell victim to the Sonderkommando Elbe unit.

(WIA - wounded in action / KIA - killed in action)