precautions against conventional forms of espionage, the German Command resorted to a method which was employed twenty years later, in our own time, by the Americans, and which when discovered gave rise to a serious crisis—secret aerial reconnaissance from great altitudes. The idea of spying inside Soviet territory by means of very fast and exceptionally high-ceiling aircraft was not an American invention. Hitler had practised the method successfully long before the Americans. This interesting chapter has so far not had the publicity it deserves. The evidence for it is in American secret archives. It may be assumed that it was the study of these papers which induced the Americans to experiment with their U-2s. The secret documents about German aerial reconnaissance bore the code name "Reconnaissance Group under the C-in-C Luftwaffe."
In October 1940 Lieutenant-Colonel Rowehl received a personal and top-secret order from Hitler: "You will organize long-range reconnaissance formations, capable of photographic reconnaissance of Western Russian territory from a great height. This height must be so exceptional that the Soviets will not notice anything. You must be ready by 15th June 1941."
Feverishly special machines were developed by various aircraft firms from the suitable available types. They were equipped with pressurized cabins, with engines specially tuned for high-altitude flying, with special photographic equipment and a wide angle of vision. In the late winter the "Rowehl Geschwader" began its secret flights. The first squadron operated from Seerappen in East Prussia and reconnoitred the area of Belorussia. The aircraft were He-111 machines with special high-altitude engines. The second squadron, operating from Insterburg, photographed the territory of the Baltic States as far as Lake Ilmen. They used the Do-215-B2, a special model made by the Dornier works. The machine had a ceiling of 30,000 feet. The area north of the Black Sea coast was photographed by the third squadron, operating from Bucharest with He-111 and Do-215-B2 machines. From Cracow and Budapest the special
squadron of the Research Centre for High-altitude Flying covered the area between Minsk and Kiev. They employed special Junkers models, the Ju-88B and Ju-86P—magnificent machines capable of reaching 33,000 and 39,000 feet respectively. That was a sensational height for those days.
The plan worked smoothly. The Russians noticed nothing. Only one machine had engine trouble, and made a forced landing in the Minsk area on 20th June, two days before the outbreak of war. But the crew were able to set their secret machine on fire before they were captured. The outbreak of the war caused the incident to be forgotten.
The long-range reconnaissance flights of the Rowehl Geschwader were virtually the only source of really significant intelligence material for the first phase of the campaign. All the airfields in Western Russia, including the well- camouflaged fighter bases near the frontier, were photographed. What the human eye would never have seen was revealed by special films. Surprisingly numerous units were spotted on forward fields, and huge concentrations of armour were made out in the forests in the north.
This information enabled a resounding blow to be struck against the Soviet defensive capacity. For days Field-Marshal Kesselring and his Air Corps commanders sat evaluating the aerial photographs and discussing operations.
There was just one problem that troubled them—the timing of their attack. Zero hour on 22nd June had been chosen to give the infantry enough light to make out their targets. That was why the artillery bombardment was scheduled to start at 0315 hours. On the Central Front, however, it was still dark at 0315, and air-force operations were therefore not yet possible. The Russian fighter and bomber formations, which would naturally be alerted by the artillery bombardment, would thus have thirty or forty minutes before the first
In October 1940 Lieutenant-Colonel Rowehl received a personal and top-secret order from Hitler: "You will organize long-range reconnaissance formations, capable of photographic reconnaissance of Western Russian territory from a great height. This height must be so exceptional that the Soviets will not notice anything. You must be ready by 15th June 1941."
Feverishly special machines were developed by various aircraft firms from the suitable available types. They were equipped with pressurized cabins, with engines specially tuned for high-altitude flying, with special photographic equipment and a wide angle of vision. In the late winter the "Rowehl Geschwader" began its secret flights. The first squadron operated from Seerappen in East Prussia and reconnoitred the area of Belorussia. The aircraft were He-111 machines with special high-altitude engines. The second squadron, operating from Insterburg, photographed the territory of the Baltic States as far as Lake Ilmen. They used the Do-215-B2, a special model made by the Dornier works. The machine had a ceiling of 30,000 feet. The area north of the Black Sea coast was photographed by the third squadron, operating from Bucharest with He-111 and Do-215-B2 machines. From Cracow and Budapest the special
squadron of the Research Centre for High-altitude Flying covered the area between Minsk and Kiev. They employed special Junkers models, the Ju-88B and Ju-86P—magnificent machines capable of reaching 33,000 and 39,000 feet respectively. That was a sensational height for those days.
The plan worked smoothly. The Russians noticed nothing. Only one machine had engine trouble, and made a forced landing in the Minsk area on 20th June, two days before the outbreak of war. But the crew were able to set their secret machine on fire before they were captured. The outbreak of the war caused the incident to be forgotten.
The long-range reconnaissance flights of the Rowehl Geschwader were virtually the only source of really significant intelligence material for the first phase of the campaign. All the airfields in Western Russia, including the well- camouflaged fighter bases near the frontier, were photographed. What the human eye would never have seen was revealed by special films. Surprisingly numerous units were spotted on forward fields, and huge concentrations of armour were made out in the forests in the north.
This information enabled a resounding blow to be struck against the Soviet defensive capacity. For days Field-Marshal Kesselring and his Air Corps commanders sat evaluating the aerial photographs and discussing operations.
There was just one problem that troubled them—the timing of their attack. Zero hour on 22nd June had been chosen to give the infantry enough light to make out their targets. That was why the artillery bombardment was scheduled to start at 0315 hours. On the Central Front, however, it was still dark at 0315, and air-force operations were therefore not yet possible. The Russian fighter and bomber formations, which would naturally be alerted by the artillery bombardment, would thus have thirty or forty minutes before the first
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