title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Later that day, 43 bombers dropped 50 tons of bombs on the town. The bombing has been controversial ever since. The attack, described by some as "terror bombing", was not planned as an attack on the populace and there is no evidence the Germans targeted civilian morale. Guernica acted as an important transportation hub for 23 battalions in positions east of Bilbao. Two battalions—the 18th Loyala and Saseta—were in the town. The attack prevented the fortification of the Guernica and closed the roads to traffic for 24 hours, preventing Republican forces from evacuating their heavy equipment across the bridge. While there is no evidence civilians were targeted, 300 Spanish people died, and there is no record of any German air commanders expressing sympathy or concern for civilians in the vicinity of a military target. Sperrle was not reprimanded for Guernica.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The Condor Legion supported the Nationaists in the Battle of Bilbao and played a large role in defeating a Republican offensive in the Battle of Brunete, near Madrid. In attacking airfields, using the flak battalion on the front line, and committing the 20 Bf 109 fighters in the fighter escort role the Nationalists gained air superiority over the 400-strong Republican Air Force. The Nationalists destroyed 160 aircraft for the loss of 23. Sperrle's men routed eight battalions of infantry and large numbers of tanks in the close air support and interdiction role. From this point on, the Legion possessed general air superiority and the flexibility to transfer rapidly to other fronts to support the land war.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Returning north, In August and September 1937 Sperrle's legion assisted Franco's victory at the Battle of Santander with only 68 aircraft—none of the Brunete losses had been replaced. The Republican reportedly lost 70,000 men captured. For the remainder of September the German command focused on the Asturias Offensive which ended the War in the North. Sperrle lost 12 aircraft and 22 men killed, amounting to 17.5 percent of his strength. The attacks, which faced opposition from only 45 Republican aircraft were effective and imposed up to 10 percent losses on some Republican infantry formations. Republican commander Adolfo Prada later stated the bombing had buried entire units in rubble.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In late 1937, Sperrle fought against the interference of Wilhelm Faupel, one of Adolf Hitler's advisors in Spanish affairs. The dispute became so damaging, Hitler removed both men from their positions. Sperrle transferred command of the Condor Legion to "Generalmajor" Hellmuth Volkmann and returned to Germany on 30 October. On 1 November 1937 Sperrle was promoted to "General der Flieger".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle was given command of Luftwaffe Group 3 (Luftwaffengruppenkommando 3) on the 1 February 1938 which eventually became Luftflotte 3 (Air Fleet 3) in February 1939. Sperrle commanded the air fleet for the remainder of his military career.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle was used by Hitler in his foreign policy to intimidate small neighbours with the Luftwaffe, which had earned a reputation in Spain. On 12 February 1938, Hitler invited Sperrle to a meeting at Berchtesgaden with Kurt Schuschnigg, chancellor of the Federal State of Austria. Generals Wilhelm Keitel, Walther von Reichenau were also in attendance. The meetings eventually helped pave the way for Anschluss, the Nazi seizure of Austria. The first meeting secured Austrian Nazi Dr Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Interior Minister. When Schuschnig announced a plebiscite on Austrian independence, Hitler ordered Sperrle's Luftkreis V to mobilise for an invasion on 10 March. On 12 March Sperrle's airmen dropped leaflets over Vienna. All three of Sperrle's combat units, KG 155, KG 255 and JG 153, moved into airfields around Linz and Vienna during the invasion.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 1 April 1938, Luftwaffengruppenkommando 3 and its subordinate command, Fliegerkommandeure 5, under Major General Ludwig Wolff, had one Jagdgeschwader (fighter wing), two Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) and one Sturzkampfgeschwader (Dive-bomber wing). Sperrle's air fleet was used to threaten the President of Czechoslovakia, Emil Hácha, into accepting Nazi rule and the formation of Slovakia. Sperrle possessed 650 aircraft in Fliegerdivision 5, which formed part of his command. His orders were to support the 12th Army in the event an invasion of Czechoslovakia was required. Albert Kesselring commanding "Luftwaffengruppenkommando" 2, was given half of the 2,400 aircraft supporting the invasion and the responsibility of supporting three field armies. The Munich Agreement ended the prospect of war and Sperrle's forces landed at Aš airfield as the Wehrmacht annexed the Sudetenland in October 1938.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In March 1939 Hitler decided to annex Czechoslovakia completely and risk war. He turned once again to the Luftwaffe to assist him achieving diplomatic results. The threat of aerial bombardment proved a crucial in forcing smaller nations to submit to German occupation. The successes confirmed Hitler's view that air power could be used politically, as a "terror weapon". In a series of meetings in Berlin, Hitler told Hácha that half of Prague could be destroyed in two hours, and hundreds of bombers were ready for the operation. Sperrle was asked by Hitler to talk about the Luftwaffe, to intimidate the Czech president. Hácha purportedly fainted, and when he regained consciousness, Göring screamed at him, "think of Prague!"


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The elderly President reluctantly ordered the Czechoslovakian Army not to resist. The aerial part of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia was carried out by 500–650 aircraft belonging to Sperrle's newly renamed air fleet, Luftflotte 3. The majority of these aircraft were concentrated in the 4 "Fliegerdivision" (4th Flying Division). The operational condition of the Luftwaffe was at 57 percent with 60 percent requiring maintenance, while depots had only enough replacement aero engines to cover 4 to 5 percent of frontline strength. Only 1,432 of the 2,577 aircrew available were fully trained. Just 27 percent of bomber crews were instrument trained. These problems effectively reduced fighter and bomber units to 83 and 32.5 percent of their strength. The Luftwaffe's saving grace was that the British, French and Czech air forces were in slightly worse condition in 1939.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 1 September 1939, the Wehrmacht invaded Poland prompting the British Empire and France to declare war in her defence. Sperrle's "Luftflotte" 3 remained guarding German air space in western Germany and did not contribute to the German invasion, made possible by the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. The air fleet's Order of battle had been stripped of almost all of the combat units it held in March 1939. Only two reconnaissance staffel (squadrons) and a single bomber unit attached to Wekusta 51 remained. Sperrle received the competent Major General Maximilian Ritter von Pohl as his chief of staff. The two men made for a "good partnership". Sperrle was also assigned Major General Walter Surén, appointed as the air fleet's chief signals officer. Surén planned and organised the German field communications for the offensive in 1940. While guarding the Western Front during the Phoney War, Sperrle's small fleet of 306 aircraft—which included 33 obsolete Arado Ar 68s—fought off probing attacks of French and British aircraft.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle developed a reputation as gourmet, whose private transport aircraft featured a refrigerator to keep his wines cool, and although as corpulent as Göring, he was reliable and as ruthless as his superior. Sperrle wanted his air fleet to take a more aggressive stance and won over Göring. On 13 September 1939 he was authorised to undertake long-range high altitude reconnaissance missions at extreme altitudes. Sperrle had already taken the initiative on 4 September when I./KG 53 carried out such an operation. Photographic operations over France authorised by the OKL began on 21 September, which the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht did not sanction until four days later. Sperrle lost eight aircraft over 21–24 November 1939, but succeeded in obtaining good reconnaissance results. The losses prompted his use of fighter escorts on the return journey. Reconnaissance operations were eased when Sperrle received KG 27 and KG 55 once the Polish campaign had ended.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: "Luftflotte" 3 was heavily reinforced in the spring, 1940. Sperrle's headquarters was based at Bad Orb. The air fleet was assigned I. "Flakkorps" under "Generaloberst" Hubert Weise, I. "Fliegerkorps" under "Generaloberst" Ulrich Grauert at Cologne, the II. "Fliegerkorps" under Generaloberst Bruno Loerzer at Frankfurt, and V. "Fliegerkorps" under command of General Robert Ritter von Greim at Gersthofen. "Jagdfliegerführer" 3 (Fighter Flyer Command 3) under the command of Oberst Gerd von Massow was assigned to the air fleet at Wiesbaden. Massow was replaced during the campaign by Oberst Werner Junck. For the coming battle, Sperrle had 1,788 aircraft (1,272 operational) at his disposal. Opposing Sperrle, was the "Armée de l'Air" (French Air Force) eastern (ZOAE) and southern (ZOAS) zones under "Général de Corps d'armée Aérien" René Bouscat and Robert Odic. Bouscat had 509 aircraft (363 operational) and Odic 165 (109 combat ready).


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: I. "Fliegerkorps" covered a line running from Eupen, to the Luxembourg border, westward through Fumay, south of Laon to Senlis and the Seine at Vernon through to the English Channel with just 471 aircraft. Cloudy conditions prevented the bomber wings from finding airfields, so industrial targets were attacked instead. II. "Fliegerkorps" operated from Bitsch to Revigny, to Villenauxe, then west north of Orléans and south of Nantes to the Atlantic Ocean south of the Loire river with only 429 aircraft. V. "Fliegerkorps" covered south of this line with 498 aircraft and the 359 fighters of "Jagdfliegerführer" 3.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Fall Gelb began on 10 May 1940. Sperrle's air fleet engaged in operations supporting "Generalfeldmarschall" Gerd von Rundstedt and Army Group A in the Battle of Belgium and Battle of France, as well as Army Group C. Sperrle's counter-air campaign started badly, reflecting poor photographic interpretation of targets, though he later claimed Luftflotte 3's operations were decisive in achieving air superiority. Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 achieved far greater success. Only 29 of the 42 airfields bombed were being used. Three RAF Advanced Air Striking Force bases were struck. Sperrle's men claimed 240 to 490 aircraft destroyed, mostly "in hangars"—Allied losses were actually 40 first-line aircraft. The penalty for failing to neutralise Allied fighter units cost Sperrle 39 aircraft. Loerzer lost 23—the highest loss of any air corps on the day.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Weiss' Flakkorps repulsed the RAF ASSAF attacks against the German advance, inflicting a 56 percent loss rate. From 10 to 13 May 1940 Sperrle's air fleet was credited with 89 aircraft destroyed in dogfights, 22 by flak, and 233 to 248 on the ground. The most successful day recorded was on 11 May; 127 aircraft were claimed—100 on the ground and 27 in the air. In a notable incident, 8./KG 51—one of the air fleet's units, bombed Freiburg in error causing 158 civilian casualties and killing 22 children. To cover up the mistake, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels blamed the British and French for the "Freiburg massacre".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle's bombers did lay the foundations of a break-through. Loerzer and Grauert's air corps ordered their reconnaissance aircraft to range approximately 400 kilometres into French territory. They avoided the Sedan area so not to attract the attention of the French to German forces advancing on it, they carefully monitored the Allied reactions. Sperrle's air corps commanders targeted air interdiction operations and ordered, attacks on rail communications to prevent the westward deployment of the French Army from the Maginot Line and to pin down Allied reserves by disrupting communications across the Meuse. 26 French rail stations were bombed as were 86 localities from 10 to 12 May. Sperrle maintained the pressure on airfields—44 were struck on the 11–12 May. Loerzer and V. "Fliegerkorps", under Greim, also bombed road traffic around Charleville-Mézières.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 13 May, Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist's 1st Panzer Army was poised to cross the Meuse at Montherme, with Heinz Guderian's XIX Army Corps at Sedan. To support the breakthrough, "Generalleutnant" Wolfram von Richthofen's VIII. "Fliegerkorps" was transferred to "Luftflotte 3". Loerzer, supplemented by some of Richthofen's forces, supported Guderian's breakthrough at Sedan. Sperrle arranged a single, massive bombing of the defences; Loerzer did not carry out the plan, but a series of bombing operations on the Meuse front. II. "Fliegerkorps" flew 1,770 missions, Richthofen's command flew 360. The bombing played an important role in allowing the breakthrough at Sedan, while Sperrle's fighters repulsed attempts by the Allies to bomb the bridge on 14 May, following their capture. German air defences accounted for 167 bombers destroyed.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: During the breakthrough to the English Channel, rail networks were attacked to prevent Allied forces rallying. Greim's V. "Fliegerkorps" subjected regrouping French forces to heavy air bombardment. From 13 to 24 May, 174 French rail stations were bombed as were 186 localities, while factories were struck on 35 on occasions and airfields 47 times. Guderian's advance tore through the heart of ZOAN's area and AASF's infrastructure threatening the western airfields of ZOAE. The British abandoned France on 19 May, a day before the German army reached the Channel at Amiens. Sperrle's subordinates, Richthofen and Greim lost 47 reconnaissance aircraft in five days in a bid to find targets.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: By this time, Sperrle's boundary with Kesselring ran down the Sambre to Charleroi. Sperrle's job was to protect Guderian's southern flank, though he was ordered to assist against an attempted counter-attack near Arras by supporting the 4th Army advance north. Grauert's I. "Fliegerkorps" contributed to 300 sorties over Arras. Loerzer and Greim protected Guderian along the Aisne, the former supporting the 2nd and 12th armies. Sperrle's subordinates flew only seven operations against airfields from 20 to 23 May, but 54 against rail stations and another 47 against localities.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle and Kesselring objected to the halt order during the Battle of Dunkirk. Neither man believed the pocket could be reduced by air power alone. Sperrle, according to Richthofen, was ambivalent and had made few provisions for an attack on the port, preferring to concentrate on his area of operations in the south. Richthofen and Kesselring argued their commands had suffered heavy losses and were in no position to gain air superiority. The campaign began promisingly when Grauert and Loerzer assisted in the bombing and destruction of the inner harbour forcing Allied shipping to use the poorer outer harbour. On 26 May, the chiefs of staff of I., II., V. and VIII. "Fliegerkorps" met at Château de Roumont, near Ochamps, with Sperrle for a conference on coordination issues. ULTRA at Bletchley Park intercepted Richthofen's signals and ten aircraft were dispatched to bomb the building, which was hit but caused little damage.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Kesselring's air fleet carried the burden of operations over Dunkirk, but Sperrle's men were also attacking shipping. Keller was ordered to destroy Belgian ports in support of the 18th Army, while 30 aircraft from Loerzer's II. "Fliegerkorps"—including 12 from KG 3—were lost in battle with Air Vice Marshal Keith Park's No. 11 Group RAF. Approximately 320 tons of bombs were dropped, which killed 21 German airmen prisoners of war awaiting transport to England and injured 100 more. From 27 May, Sperrle's I and II air corps attempted to gain air superiority over the Calais–Dunkirk area—Calais had fallen the previous day. Massow's "Jafü" 3 provided fighter escort. Over the ports, the German air fleets sank or damaged 89 ships (126,518 grt) and eight destroyers with a further 21 damaged. Sperrle and Kesselring failed to prevent the Dunkirk evacuation, despite flying 1,997 fighter, 1,056 bomber and 826 "strike" operations.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Gelb was complete, and the OKL prepared for Case Red. The Luftflotten were reorganised; Sperrle retained II. and V. "Fliegerkorps" along with I. "Flakkorps". The flak corps was reorganised into two brigades, with four regiments each with the firepower of 72 batteries. Sperrle was required to strike far deeper into France, and was given the majority of "Zerstörer" (destroyer aircraft) equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 110—half of them given to Greim and Loerzer. Sperrle could muster 1,000 aircraft. On 5 June, Sperrle's order of battle lists Richthofen's VIII corps and Massow's Jafü 3. Opposing them was 2,086 aircraft of the "Armée de l'Air", but production of aircraft was not matched by component manufacture, and only 29 percent were operational.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In a prelude to the offensive, Sperrle planned to carry out strategic bombing operations against Paris. Sperrle had long-planned for air attacks on Paris using II., V. and VIII. "Fliegerkorps" in May. He was forced to abandon the plan on 22 May because of weather, but the following day, the OKL prepared a plan for Operation Paula. The plan was to attack the estimated 1,000 French aircraft detected on Parisian airfields, but also to attack factories and destroy the morale of the French people. The operation was undone by poor staff work and excessive confidence in the Enigma machine. ULTRA intercepted a VIII. "Fliegerkorps" message to KG 77's commanding officer, which named Paris as the target. The ZOAN increased its operational strength to 120 fighters and were alerted an hour before the German bombers got airborne. The operation inflicted minor damage.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 5 June Sperrle's forces flew eight bombing operations against railways and localities, 21 to 31 against road targets, 12 against troop columns and 34 to 42 against French Army defences or strongpoints. II. "Fliegerkorps" alone flew 276 bombing missions. On 12 June, as the French front collapsed, Sperrle planned a new assault upon Paris, but it was declared an open city before it could be carried out. Sperrle was ordered to support Rundstedt advancing southward, with orders to encircle the Maginot Line, from the west. "Luftflotte" 3 carried out bridge interdiction operations in the Loire and on 17 June Guderian reach the border with Switzerland completing the encirclement. The campaign played out for a further five days, which came as Luftwaffe logistics were breaking down—fuel and ammunition shortages were acute and relied on air transportation. Sperrle attempted to prevent the British Operation Aerial—a second evacuation—but the only success was the sinking of "Lancastria", with 5,800 lives lost.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 20 June arrangements were made for the Armistice of 22 June 1940. Upon learning of it, Sperrle ordered the abandonment of a planned bombing operation against Bordeaux. At 21:00 on 24 June Sperrle ordered that "Luftflotte" 3 cease operations by 00:35 the next morning. In the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony Sperrle was promoted to the said rank.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In July 1940 Winston Churchill's government rejected peace overtures from Hitler. Hitler resolved to knock Britain out of the war. The OKL began tentative planning for Operation Eagle Attack to destroy RAF Fighter Command to gain air superiority, before supporting an amphibious landing in Britain, codenamed, Operation Sea Lion.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle thought the RAF could be defeated "en passant". His personal strategy to attack ports and merchant shipping was overruled by Göring, ostensibly because the ports would be required for the invasion. Kesselring's contemporary notes indicate he thought air superiority could only be attained for a short time, since most airfields and factories in Britain were out of range. Sperrle and Kesselring miscalculated, or were misled by intelligence, into underestimating the number of fighter aircraft available to Fighter Command—they put the RAF total at 450 aircraft when the real figure was 750. Chronic intelligence failures on British production, defence systems and aircraft performance inhibited the German air operation throughout the battle. Joseph Schmid, the OKL's chief intelligence officer, was primarily responsible for providing inaccurate and distorted information to senior German air commanders encouraging enormous over-confidence.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The "Luftwaffe" regrouped after the Battle of France into three "Luftflotten" (Air Fleets) . "Luftflotte" 2, commanded by "Generalfeldmarschall" Albert Kesselring, "Luftflotte" 5, led by "Generaloberst" Hans-Jürgen Stumpff was based in Norway and "Luftflotte" 3, under "Generalfeldmarschall" Sperrle. "Luftflotte" 2, whose units were based in northern Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France north of the Seine, would be concerned mainly with the area east of a line from Le Havre through Selsey Bill to the Midlands; "Luftflotte" 3, based in western France, would deal similarly with objectives west and north-west of that line. Each "Luftflotte" was to attack shipping off its own stretch of coast. Diversionary attacks, intended to draw off part of the defences from the south, would be made on north-east England, south-east Scotland and shipping in adjacent waters by "Luftflotte" 5 from Norwegian and Danish airfields.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Kesselring was responsible for all air force units in northern Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and north-eastern France while Sperrle was in control of forces in northern and western France. "Luftflotte" 3 was assigned Alfred Keller's "Fliegerkorps" IV, based in Brittany, Richthofen's "Fliegerkorps" VIII in the Cherbourg region, and Greim's "Fliegerkorps" V in the Seine area—precise boundaries between the air corps are not known. The entire bomber strength of Sperrle's air fleet was reserved for night bombing. Sperrle's command did not begin large-scale daylight attacks until the last week of September.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle's first task against the British Isles was during the Kanalkampf (Channel Battle) phase of what became known as the Battle of Britain. The aim was to draw out Fighter Command into dogfights by attacking Channel Shipping. Targeting British convoy systems, in July 1940 Sperrle's air fleet claimed 90 vessels sunk for approximately 300,000 tons—a third of this was claimed over August and September. The claims were widely optimistic. Only 35 ships were sunk during the Kanalkampf period. Sperrle was becoming disconcerted at the personnel, rather than aircraft, losses. Two days before Operation Eagle—scheduled for 13 August—he had lost two Gruppenkommandeur and a Staffelkapitän. Sperrle knew he could not afford to lose experienced officers at such a rate.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The emphasis of German air attacks switched to bombing Fighter Command bases and its infrastructure. On 13 August 1940, Sperrle's air fleet played a role in the failed "Unternehmen Adlerangriff" ("Operation Eagle Attack"). As night fell, Sperrle sent "Kampfgruppe" 100 (Bombing Group 100) to bomb Supermarine Spitfire factory at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham which failed to achieve anything. Sperrle, Kesselring, Grauert and Loerzer were summoned to Karinhall to explain why the operation has been a mess. At the meeting, it was decided to intensify attacks from all directions, including Air Fleet 5 in Norway, when the weather permitted.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On the 14 August, Sperrle began a smaller, prolonged, but widely scattered series of attacks on aerodromes and other targets in the western half of England. The attacks were not very effective and earned the "Luftflotte" a rebuke from Göring. The following day, between midnight and midnight, the "Luftwaffe" made 1,786 sorties. Conferring with his commanders, Göring condemned the lack of foresight which had sent many bombers of "Luftflotte" 3 on difficult missions suitable only for experienced picked crews. The "Reichsmarshall" also deplored the waste of effort caused by choosing targets of no strategic value as 'alternatives' for crews unable to reach their primary objectives. The 15 August became known as "Black Thursday" in the "Luftwaffe" due to the scale of the fighting and losses.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The 18 August 1940—known as The Hardest Day—proved disastrous for Sperrle's air fleet. "Luftflotte" 3 had poor intelligence; the British airfields the Air Fleet attacked had nothing to do with the battle for air superiority, for they belonged to RAF Coastal Command and Fleet Air Arm. Sperrle and his command remained unaware of the intelligence failures, and as one analyst remarked, they "literally did not know what they were doing. Any grass landing strip with a few buildings around it seemed to warrant a raid." From, the tactical perspective, improper positioning of Sperrle's fighter leaders allowed RAF pilots to mass attacks against isolated elements of dive-bombers, causing heavy losses. On 24 August Göring ordered Sperrle to conduct bombing operations against Liverpool, a major port city. Three days later, he decreed Sperrle's air fleet was to be used for night attacks exclusively and siphoned his fighter units off to Kesselring. 450 tons of bombs damaged the docks and damaged . Twenty-four hours earlier, Sperrle's last major daylight attack for several weeks against Portsmouth was repulsed by Park's 11 Group.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On the night of 28 August "Luftflotte" 3 attacked Liverpool. The night's bombing was reckoned the first major night attack on the United Kingdom. The process was repeated for three nights. "Luftflotte" 3 sent an average of 157 bombers a night to Liverpool and Birkenhead. About 70 percent of crews claimed to have dropped, on each night, an average of 114 tons of high explosive and 257 incendiary bombs. On 29 August 176 crews were sent, of whom 137 claimed to have reached the Mersey ports and to have dropped there 130 tons of high-explosive and 313 incendiary-canisters. For "Luftflotte" 3 the four raids involved the biggest effort they could make without impairing their capacity to operate for weeks to come. On the third night only some 40 tons of high explosive fell on Liverpool, Birkenhead, or close by. The docks were not hit and damage was mostly to suburban property. Sperrle lost only seven crews, reflecting the parlous state of RAF night fighter defences.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: At the beginning of September 1940, Sperrle could muster 350 serviceable bombers and dive-bombers and about 100 fighters, either for his own purposes or to support the 9th Army and, if necessary, the 6th Army in a landing. Sperrle lost Richthofen to Kesselring who took possession of some units in Normandy, and concentrated the available dive-bomber force near the Straits of Dover. Sperrle was sceptical about Fighter Command's reported losses. He had seen inflated claims made before in Spain, and advocated maintaining attacks on the RAF and the infrastructure supporting it. This strategy was about to change.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The battle over airfields continued into September. On the third day, Göring met with Sperrle and Kesselring. Göring was sure Fighter Command was exhausted and favoured attacking London to draw out the last of the British fighter reserves. Kesselring enthusiastically agreed; Sperrle did not. Kesselring urged Göring to carry out an all–out attack based on the unproven assertion that Fighter Command had been virtually destroyed. Sperrle dismissed Kesselring's optimism, and put British strength at the more accurate figure of 1,000 fighters. Nevertheless, Kesselring's perception prevailed. The disagreement between the two air fleet commanders was not uncommon, and although they rarely quarrelled, their commands were separate and they did not coordinate their efforts. Instead, they fought their own private campaigns.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The focus of air operations changed to destroying the docks and factories in the centre of London. The change in strategy has been described as militarily controversial. The decision certainly relieved the pressure on Fighter Command, but wartime records and post-war analysis has shown that Fighter Command was not on the verge of collapse as assumed by German intelligence. The consequences for "Luftwaffe" airmen were severe on 15 September 1940. German aviators met a prepared enemy and crew losses were seven times that of the British. Furthermore, Fighter Command did not commit its reserve during the main attacks as the German command predicted.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The bombing operations continued against Fighter Command into October 1940, but with gradually more emphasis placed on attacking industrial cities, primarily because it offered the only way to continue hostilities against Britain directly in the absence of invasion. Air strategy became increasingly aimless and confused. The damage to the British war economy and morale was minimal into 1941. The preference for night over day operations was evident in the number of bombing operations flown by the German air fleets. In October 1940, 2,300 sorties were flown in daylight and 5,900 at night, reducing losses from 79 in day operations to 23 at night. Sperrle's command flew the majority of the missions; 3,500 to Kesselring's 2,400.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle's air fleet received "Fliegerkorps" I in late August 1940. The corps contained specialist units equipped with Y-"Verfahren" (Y-Control), a night navigational aid which precipitated the Battle of the Beams. Several of Greim's air corps were assigned pathfinder units from KG 26 and KG 55 known as "Beleuchtergruppe" (illumination group). Sperrle had spent the last week of August and first week of September gearing up for large–scale night operations. Sperrle's air fleet assisted in the beginning of The Blitz which began in earnest on 7 September 1940. This night approximately 250 aircraft dropped 300 tons of high explosive and 13,000 incendiaries on the centre of London.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle's airmen flew 4,525 bombing operations in November 1940. The air fleet played a large role in the Birmingham and Coventry Blitz, with support from "Luftflotte" 2. Sperrle provided 304 of the 448 bombers in the Coventry attack. Surviving German records suggest that the aim of the Coventry raid was to disrupt production and reconstruction critical to the automotive industry, but also to dehouse workers. 503 tons of high explosive and oil bombs were dropped by the 449 crews that claimed to have hit the target. The destruction of the city centre cost the air fleet one bomber.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In November, 159 bombers from "Luftflotte" 2 and 3 bombed Southampton destroying much of the city. Bombers attached to the air fleet led attacks on Birmingham, part of 357-strong force. Incendiaries started fires that were visible from 47 miles (75 kilometres) away. The air fleet was involved in attacks on Liverpool (324 bombers). Over 20–22 December 205 and 299 bombers struck the city. The bombing, on targets such as Liverpool, were not followed up the next night, giving the city, inhabitants and defences time to recover. Ministry of Home Security Herbert Morrison warned that morale in the city might crumble under sustained bombing—he did report 39,126 grt of shipping had been sunk, 111,601 grt damaged. Half the berths were out of action and unloading capacity was reduced by 75 percent.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In December 1940 Sperrle's air groups flew 2,750 bombing operations against British cities, more than the 700 flown by Kesselring's command. Manchester—in close proximity to Liverpool—was first bombed in December 1940, beginning the Manchester Blitz. From 22 to 24 December Manchester was bombed on two successive nights by 270, then 171 bombers. Northern targets were expanded to include participation in the Sheffield Blitz. On 12 December the bombing of the city opened with attacks by 336 aircraft then a further 94 two days later. The bombing was carried out over the course of nine hours, destroying much of the city. London remained a primary objective. On the night of 9 December 1940, for example, 413 bombers hit the capital and on 29 December the bombing caused what became known as the Second Great Fire of London. On this night alone Sperrle's air fleet dropped 27, 499 incendiaries. It was not the heaviest raid on London—136 aircraft—but it was the most destructive.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 24 November 1940 148 of Sperrle's bombers began the Bristol Blitz. Around 12,000 incendiary bombs and 160 tons of high-explosive bombs were dropped. Park Street destroyed and the Bristol Museum hit. 207 people were killed and thousands of houses were destroyed or damaged. The city was targeted again on 3/4 January 1941. 30 air raids were carried out against Bristol according to wartime British sources. Approximately a little over 1,000 people were killed in the attacks. By January 1941, "Luftflotte" 3 had been reorganised. I. "Fliegerkorps" under Generaloberst Ulrich Grauert remained with Sperrle, but he was given two further air corps—VI. "Fliegerkorps" under Generalleutnant Kurt Pflugbeil and V. "Fliegerkorps" under General Greim was retained; eight bomber wings provided the striking power of Sperrle's air fleet.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In February 1941 bad weather limited Sperrle to 975 bombing operations. Bomber wings under Sperrle's command struck at Swansea. 101 high explosive and several hundred of other types of bombs were dropped disrupting the Great Western Line. In March the intensy of bmbing operations increased, "Luftflotte" 3 flew 2,650 operations. Attacks against Cardiff in March 1941 caused some of populace to evacuate the city, a phenomenon known as "trekking". Such incidents caused only temporary drops in morale. Other bombing operations were carried out against Liverpool by 316 aircraft, Glasgow by 236, Bristol by 162 bombers, London by 479 aircraft Portsmouth by 238 and Plymouth over two nights by 125 and 168 bombers.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In April 1941 the Midlands bore the brunt of German bombing raids with only three nights respite, 75 percent of them carried out by Sperrle's air fleet. Birmingham was bombed on consecutive nights by 237 and 206 aircraft. Coventry was also subjected to a 237-bomber attack. British ports were also targeted as part of 16 major and five heavy attacks. Plymouth, Glasgow and Belfast were bombed in mid-April and morale was severely effected. Plymouth was bombed on five of the eight nights from 21 to 30 April by 120, 125, 109, 124 and 162 aircraft. The Port of London was bombed by 685 aircraft on 16 April and by 712 on 20 April. April was the most intensive month of the Blitz for "Luftflotte" 3 in 1941—approximately 3,750 bombing operations in comparison to 1,500 by Kesselring's air fleet.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In May 1941, the final full-month of the German night offensive, Luftwaffe forces operating against western cities in Britain bombed Dublin, ostensibly in error. Luftflotte 3 regularly operated over North West England, against Liverpool and Manchester. On 31 May 1941, Sperrle's air fleet made a huge navigational error, and bombed the Irish capital, situated some 200 miles from their targets in Liverpool. During May units belonging to the air fleet were involved in the Hull and Nottingham Blitz. A last effort was made against London on 10 May. 571 bombing missions were flown against the embattled capital that night. During the month, Sperrle's men carried out the burden of night operations, flying 2,500 sorties in comparison to 1,300 from "Luftflotte" 2.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Approximately 40,000 British civilians had been killed, another 46,000 injured, and more than a million houses damaged during the Blitz. The German air fleets lost 600 German aircraft on night operations. The Coventry raid, which for a short time caused a decline of 20 percent of aircraft output, recovered. The effect on general industrial production was not significant. In five months of bombing docks and ports in 1941, only some 70,000 tons of food stocks were destroyed, and only one half a percent of oil stocks. Damage to communications was quickly repaired. Everywhere except in the aircraft industry the loss was too small a fraction of total output to matter seriously.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In early June 1941, the majority of German bomber units moved eastward to the soon-to-be Eastern Front, in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. "Luftflotte" 2, with elements of Sperrle's air fleet—from IV and IV "Fliegerkorps"—were reassigned.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle had been involved in the war at sea since the first phase of the Battle of Britain. He received an OKL directive on 20 October 1940 ordering him to attack shipping once again in the Thames Estuary. He ordered his dive-bombers into this service, but they were rapidly neutralised in November by a "dynamic defence". The most effective support for the U-boat campaign came from attacking ports, which Directive 23, issued on 6 February 1941, had ordered the German air fleets to do. Direct support to the Kriegsmarine in the Battle of the Atlantic was haphazard; successes were won by accident rather than by design. In late May 1941 "Luftflotte" 3 made a sole contribution to the surface fleet, when it tried, in vain, to save the battleship "Bismarck".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Within days, 41 of the 48 bomber groups engaged in operations over Britain departed for the soon-to-be Eastern Front in preparation for "Barbarossa". Of the remaining seven, five were to support the Kriegsmarine in the Battle of the Atlantic under the command of Fliegerführer Atlantik (Flying Leader Atlantic). The Atlantic command came under Sperrle's control upon formation but was subordinated to Sperrle officially on 7 April 1942. The name of the command was misleading, for it was tasked with maritime interdiction operations all around the British coast besides operating deep into the Atlantic.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Only two bomber groups remained under Sperrle's command at the end of 1941 for direct attack on Britain. The anti-shipping mine-laying force around Britain did not receive the support it required through the war, and the German effort remained half-hearted. Sperrle protested to the OKL, OKW and Göring upon the dissipation of mine-laying operations through 1941 and 1942. Greim's air corps was designated as leader of the effort in an effort to revitalise the campaign, but due to the demands of the Eastern Front, Greim departed in December 1941.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In the 46 months following July 1940, German aircraft sank 1,228, 104 tons of merchant shipping and damaged 1,953, 862 tons. Another 60, 866 tons were sunk or damaged by mines in 1942 and 1943. The failure to properly cooperate with the navy against shipping was a grave strategic error which prevented the achievement of greater results. Göring's intransigence was large factor in reducing the air effort. In May 1942, "Fliegerführer Atlantik" had only 40 aircraft and IX. Fliegerkorps, under Sperrle's command at Soissons, 90. The U-boat arm continued to press for greater air protection in the Bay of Biscay. In 1942, anti-shipping operations near the British coast proved too expensive, and the demands of the Mediterranean Theatre and Eastern Front diverted some of the precious Focke-Wulf Fw 200s. These aircraft would not return for Atlantic operations until the summer, 1943.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: For a brief period in March 1943—before the German defeat in Black May—Sperrle intended to increase his command to 22 groups (equivalent to seven "Geschwader", or wings) for Atlantic operations. Ulrich Kessler, commanding "Fliegerführer Atlantik", estimated that with Sperrle's proposed bomber forces, he could sink 500,000 tons of shipping per month. Kessler did not receive adequate support, despite the optimisim of their meeting. On 5 June, Sperrle informed the naval command that the rescue of sunk U-boat crews was to take precedence over aerial reconnaissance of convoys. Making matters worse,


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: the "Luftwaffe" did nothing effective to counter RAF Coastal Command's Bay of Biscay offensive against U-boat transit routes. From the Allied perspective, the Atlantic campaign became nothing more than a "skirmish" by the autumn, 1943.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The situation reached a climax in 1944. Kessler joined Karl Dönitz in outlining the hopeless military situation facing his Atlantic command. Göring was sensitive to criticism of the Luftwaffe in front of Hitler, and hastily removed him from command on 7 February 1944. The command was disbanded officially three weeks later. The remnants were subsumed into X. "Fliegerkorps". From 19 February to April 1944, there was a virtual absence of Luftwaffe reconnaissance over the Atlantic. Atlantic operations continued until 13 August 1944, when the headquarters of II. "Fliegerkorps" evacuated their Atlantic base at Mont-de-Marsan, despite contrary order's from Sperrle's staff once the German Western Front began to collapse.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle commanded all German air forces in France, Netherlands and Belgium upon the departure of Kesselring in mid–1941. At this time, Sperrle was permitted to keep two "Luftgaue" in southern Germany under his control to appease his "vanity". "Luftflotte" 3 became solely responsible for maintaining the pressure on British cities, sea communications and protecting German-occupied territory from RAF incursions, named the Circus offensives. The RAF Circus offensives were the brainchild of Air Chief Marshal Sholto Douglas, Air Officer Commanding Fighter Command and his principal lieutenant, Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, using Park's No. 11 Group. It formed the Air Staff's policy of "leaning" into Europe. Fighter Command began with Circus Number 1 on 10 January 1941.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle was stripped of most of the fighter forces leaving only two wings—JG 2 and JG 26. The two fighter wings covered the coast from Brittany to eastern Belgium. They would carry the burden of air defence in 1941 and 1942. Kesselring's departure left "Jagdfliegerführer" 2 (Fighter Flyer Command 2) under Theo Osterkamp responsible for air space from the Schelde to the Seine. Werner Junck inherited "Jagdfliegerführer" 3 which defended air space to the west of the Seine. Karl-Bertram Döring commanded "Jagdfliegerführer" 1 covering the Netherlands—each leader controlled a wing; JG 26, 2 and 1 respectively. JG 1 was added to Sperrle's command by 10 July 1942. Sperrle had only two bomber wings under his command—one of which formed part of "Fliegerführer Atlantik".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Between mid-June and the end of July 1941, Fighter Command flew some 8,000 offensive sorties, covering 374 bombers. They claimed 322 German aircraft for the loss of 123. Sperrle's forces lost 81 fighters from the approximate total of 200 in France and Belgium. The strength of the two fighter Geschwader fell to 140 in August 1941 and serviceability within these totals from 75 percent to 60 percent. July and August proved to be the busiest, with 4,385 and 4,258 interceptions.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: From July to December 1941 Circus operations cost Fighter Command 416 fighters in 20,495 sorties and RAF Bomber Command 108 in 1,406. Sperrle's fighters flew 19,535 sorties and lost 93 in the same period. Fighter Command claimed 731 German aircraft from 14 June to December 1941 whereas actual German losses were 103 leading post-war RAF analysis to conclude it lost four aircraft and 2.5 pilots for every German fighter destroyed. Rather than wear "Luftflotte" 3 down, the number of German fighter aircraft in the west increased from 430 on 27 September 1941 to 599 on 30 September 1942.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The new year of 1942 began with a continuation of the 1941 successes. In February 1942, the battleships "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" and the cruiser "Prinz Eugen" escaped from the French port at Brest in Operation Cerberus upon their return from the recent Operation Berlin. One of Sperrle's former wing commanders, "General der Jagdflieger" Adolf Galland, planned Operation Donnerkeil, an air superiority plan with Sperrle's chief of staff Karl Koller. From the "Luftwaffe"s perspective, the operation was a success against the odds. Sperrle was able to provide five bomber groups for the "Donnerkeil".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The Circus offensive in 1942 succeeded in putting Sperrle's air defences under pressure. Fighter Command flew 43,339 daylight sorties over Western Europe and Bomber Command 1,794. The largest air battle occurred on 19 August 1942 during the Dieppe Raid. "Luftflotte" 3's units won a significant victory over Fighter and Bomber Command. The British lost 106 aircraft; the Germans lost only 48 aircraft destroyed and 24 damaged. At the end of 1942, Leigh-Mallory replaced Douglas as AOC Fighter Command. The two men had presided over the loss of 587 fighters while Sperrle lost 108 through the year. The British losses were equivalent to 30 squadrons.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The "Luftwaffe" did not remain on the defensive in 1941 and 1942. Sperrle's air fleet carried out intensive air attacks on Britain and the limited German bomber force was reinforced over the winter, 1941–42. Concurrently, Sperrle with support from Hans-Jurgen Stumpff, continued to carry out air attacks on shipping. The Baedeker Blitz became the largest air offensive against Britain in 1942. The campaign was prompted by the bombing of Lübeck. Hitler ordered Sperrle to bomb British cities that held cultural significance. Hitler specifically outlined the terrorist purpose of the bombing offensive aimed at civilian centres for the greatest impact on the British populace. The blitz was accompanied by fighter-bomber attacks against London and coastal towns, which took place until June 1943. In April 1943, Sperrle's air fleet could still muster 120 aircraft for these operations. The purpose of these fighter-bomber ("Jabo") operations, which began from autumn, 1942, was for "reprisals", similar to the German bomber campaign.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 23 April 1942 the Baedeker offensive began with the Exeter Blitz and the Bath Blitz and extended west to Norwich. KG 2 carried the burden of campaign. In the Bath operation Sperrle's pilots flew at only 600 ft (180m) to magnify the damage. York was attacked and the cities suffered as German crews flew several missions per night. The offensive was halted on 9 May. Sperrle's bombers had suffered a 5.3 percent loss rate in 716 missions, a loss of 38 bombers. Bombing operations continued upon the cessation of Baedeker against Birmingham in July and Canterbury. "Luftflotte" 3 flew 2,400 night bomber sorties against Britain in 1942 and lost 244 aircraft; a loss rate of 10.16 percent. During the operations, Sperrle's wing commanders were forced to draw upon increasing numbers of instructor pilots—IV./KG 55, for example, lost a quarter of them. Sperrle's air fleet flew 7,039 bombing operations and dropped 6,584 tons of bombs.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 8 November 1942, Anglo-American forces landed in North Africa (Operation Torch). Hitler ordered Sperrle's forces to occupy the French-Mediterranean coast (Case Anton). The aerial component of Anton was Operation Stockdorf. Sperrle's command in the south was "Fliegerdivision" 2 commanded by Johannes Fink. Eight bomber and two fighter groups (approximately 30 aircraft in each) were selected for reconnaissance and anti-shipping operations by his order, dated 2 November. The air forces were to support the army, destroy any French aerial resistance and carry out interdiction of supply lines. Aside from anti-aircraft fire near Marseille, no serious resistance was encountered. The invasion provided bases for Sperrle's fleet to strike at shipping in the Mediterranean Sea but left him with only four fighter groups to defend northern France. "Luftflotte" 3's headquarters remained in France but it provided three bomber groups to Richthofen—commanding "Luftflotte 2"—for the defence against the Allied invasion of Sicily.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The "Luftwaffe" continued to defend Western Europe in 1943 as its offensive capabilities declined. The "Jabo" operations came to a halt in the summer, 1943 due to excessive casualties and the need to reinforce the Mediterranean. German bomber units flew less than 4,000 individual bomber sorties during the entire year. In March 1943, Hitler ordered the appointment of an officer to coordinate attacks on Britain. Dietrich Peltz was given command of IX "Fliegerkorps", part of Sperrle's air fleet for this task. By December 1943 Peltz had pooled 501 bombers. As Peltz organised the bomber command, German operations against Britain continued. The year began with 311 sorties in January 1943 which dipped to 176 the following month. It reached 415 in March before peaking with 537 sorties in October 1943 and concluding with 190 in December. That year 3,915 night bombing sorties were flown, costing 191 aircraft—March being the worst month with 38. The "Jabo" units flew 728 sorties and lost 65 aircraft. The total tonnage of bombs dropped was recorded as 3,576.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: In 1942 another threat emerged when the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) began bombing raids against targets in Belgium and France. The first operation was carried out on 29 June 1942. On 27 January 1943 it extended the American area of operations into Germany for the first time. In 1942 the USAAF flew 1,394 bomber and 1,081 fighter sorties over Western Europe. Sperrle's fighter pilots carried the burden of the defence in 1942. Later that year, JG 1 was assigned to "Luftwaffenbefehlshaber Mitte", later known as "Luftflotte Reich" (Air Fleet Reich) but saw little action since USAAF rarely crossed into the Netherlands. Thereafter, the air war only escalated. Sperrle resisted attempts by "Luftwaffenbefehlshaber Mitte" to gain control of anti-aircraft forces or to allow the physical degradation of his air fleet, and the offensive mindedness of the OKL favoured front-line units. Eventually, "Luftflotte" 3 lost "Luftgaue" VII, XII and XIII's anti-aircraft units.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: "Luftflotte" 3's order of battle contained only one complete fighter wing on 10 June 1943 and one group each from two other wings along with two independent squadrons ("staffeln"). The only fighter-bomber unit left was SKG 10, under the command of IX "Fliegerkorps". The sole combat unit under "Höherer JagdfliegerführerWest" commanded by Max Ibel was I./JG 27. "Jagdfliegerführer" 2 under Generalmajor Joachim-Friedrich Huth contained only II./JG 26 and three other squadrons.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On the same date the Combined Bomber Offensive began around the clock bombing of German-occupied Europe—the defence of these regions became known as the Defence of the Reich. The purpose of the offensive was to destroy the "Luftwaffe" and its supporting facilities in Europe through aerial bombardment and the destruction of German fighter defences in combat. Air superiority was to be achieved before Operation Overlord. The US Eighth Air Force operations created a crisis in July and August 1943. In March 1943, an immediate rise in losses had already been noted. A report from "Luftflotte" 3 recognised the size and defensive power of American bombers required a timely interception by massed formations for any chance of success. In July alone, western fighter forces lost 335 single-engine aircraft to all causes—18.1 percent of the available strength reported on 1 July. There was also a noticeable decline in the quality of pilot training.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On the German side, there was a call to unify German fighter forces and hold them back from the coast and keep them out of Allied fighter escort range. Regardless of the logic, Sperrle opposed the idea to preserve his command. Sperrle was sensitive to a centralised command for fighter forces and resisted. On 14 September 1943, the "Luftflotte" 3 area of operations covered most of France, with the exception of some regions in Alsace-Lorraine; Luxembourg, western and southern Belgium were his responsibility. Sperrle's headquarters remained in Paris. The largest organisation attached to Sperrle's command was 3. "Jagd" Division (3rd Fighter Division) based at Metz, under the control of Werner Junck. Sperrle had retained the "Luftgaue" in southern Germany and his air fleet was given control of the 5. "Jagd" Division. On 15 September 1943 to improve Sperrle's organisation the II. "Jagdkorps" was formed with the 5th and 4. "Jagd" Division. The improvement in command and control made little difference in the battle with the USAAF for neither division received the reinforcements it needed.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: From November 1942 – August 1943, the OKL missed a last chance to build a reserve to contest air superiority in the coming battles. The unwillingness of German air leaders to trade space for time forced the "Luftwaffe" into a battle of attrition that it could not win. At the end of 1943, the German air defences won temporary successes against the USAAF Eighth Air Force—the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission and Second Raid on Schweinfurt were defensive victories won at an exorbitant cost and with Sperrle's peripheral involvement. In February 1944, Big Week targeted German and French–based targets. The German fighter force was bled white over the following two months. Before June 1944, "Luftflotte" 3 remained weak and contained few ground-attack aircraft; nearly all were based on the Eastern Front. Sperrle's fighter pilots were required to attack the landing forces. Reinforcements came from "Luftflotte Reich", but none of the pilots had been trained for ground-attack operations.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: A major effect of the combined offensive on Sperrle's air fleet was the diversion and reinforcement of "Luftflotte Reich" at the expense of "Luftflotte" 3. By June 1944, the number of fighter aircraft available in the west numbered 170. Sperrle's air fleet had, at most, 300 fighter aircraft on 6 June 1944 to contest the D-day landings. The Western Allies amassed 12,837, including 5,400 fighters. The air fleet was particularly weak in night fighter units. Given the low priority for their production, Sperrle went for periods with no night–fighting capabilities despite the crucial geographical position of his air fleet and the exposure of important French industries to night attack. The diversion of resources extended to anti-aircraft artillery. On 14 May 1944, the OKL cancelled an order to divert five heavy and four light or medium batteries, each from "Luftflotte" 1 and 6, to Sperrle and instead rerouted them to "Luftflotte Reich". Sperrle did retain the III Flak Corps which could be used in ground combat.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Another facet of the air war was the night offensive against Germany. Bomber Command's area attacks against German industrial cities enraged Hitler and he ordered Sperrle to use Peltz's bombers to strike back. Sperrle's air fleet was reinforced on Göring's orders for the purpose of bombing London. The offensive was named Operation Steinbock and began in January 1944. The operational aspects were devised by Peltz. He remarked to Göring that he would need any aircraft capable of carrying a bomb. By December 1943, Peltz assembled 695 operational aircraft before the offensive. Of the aircraft, 467 were bombers, 337 of them operational. On 20 January 1944 this increased to 524, with 462 combat ready. Peltz was subordinated to Göring, bypassing Sperrle, who Hitler and Göring regarded as sybarite by this stage. The feeble offensive was mocked by the British, and Peltz' forces incurred a 10 percent loss rate per sortie, for little military gain and 329 bombers were lost. The offensive wasted the last German bomber reserves. The losses were a blow to Sperrle. He had wanted to use his bomber forces to attack the invasion forces during the night at the landing grounds and the embarkation points in England. Hitler and Göring rejected this strategy as "too passive".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle's air fleet Enigma signals had been cracked and ULTRA codebreakers from Bletchley Park deciphered signals sent by "Luftflotte" 3 headquarters to the OKW. Reading the reports, Allied intelligence deduced that the bombing operations against bridges, west of the Seine, and fighter activity between Mantes and Le Mans, had convinced the air fleet staff the invasion would take place in the Pas de Calais. The air fleet reports, dated 8 and 27 May 1944, expressed the view this activity pointed "unmistakably" towards that conclusion. Operation Fortitude reinforced that belief.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Allied attacks in May 1944 against bases had a devastating impact on "Luftflotte" 3 capabilities. ULTRA gave the Allies intelligence on the location and strength of German fighter units as well as the effectiveness of attacks. They knew when repairs to bases had been completed and when the Germans decided to abandon particular locations. The Allies pursued an intensive, well-planned campaign that destroyed the German structure near the English Channel and invasion beaches and forced Sperrle's air fleet to abandon efforts to prepare bases close to the Channel. Further damage was done to Sperrle's air defence network. Some 300,000 personnel worked in "Luftflotte" 3, 56,000 in signals. The fortification of radar sites after Dieppe had only highlighted them, and 76 of the 92 were knocked out by D-Day, blinding his "Jagdkorps".


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: From December 1943, the Germans planned to move reinforcements into "Luftflotte" 3 when the invasion occurred so it could then launch a decisive air attack against the landings in the first hours. The plan, known as Operation "Dr Gustav" unravelled immediately due to ULTRA intercepts learning the date and time of reinforcements. The Allied air offensive had devastated German fighter bases and units while "Steinbock" had removed the bomber force from the battle.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 5 June, the eve of the Normandy Campaign, "Luftflotte" 3 contained 600 aircraft of all types. It was expected that "Luftflotte Reich" would send forces to France. German meteorological reports misread the weather so that the invasion caught the command by surprise. Of his total strength, only 115 single-engine fighters were operational with 37 twin-engine fighters, 137 bombers, 93 anti-shipping aircraft, 48 ground-attack and 53 reconnaissance aircraft. Only 56 night fighters were combat ready in France. Sperrle's anti-shipping force, "Fliegerkorps" X, consisted of only 137 conventional bombers, a force totally inadequate to counter Allied naval forces. On 23 May 1944, Sperrle had 349 heavy and 407 Flak batteries at his disposal.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The Allies enjoyed air supremacy on 6 June 1944 and flew 14,000 missions in support of the invasion. On the first day, the British and Commonwealth landed 75,215 men and the Americans 57,500. A large force of 23,000 paratroops parachuted in during the night. "Luftflotte" 3 barely reacted. Nevertheless, Sperrle issued a pompous order of the day to his airmen:


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Men of "Luftflotte" 3! The enemy has launched the long-announced invasion. Long have we waited for this moment, long have we prepared ourselves, both inwardly and on the field of battle, by untiring, unending toil. Our task is now to defeat the enemy. I know that each one of you, true to his oath to the colors, will carry out his duties. Great things will be asked of you, and you will show the bravest fighting valor. Salute the Führer.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle's sentiments were delusional. "Luftflotte" 3 launched less than 100 sorties including 70 by single-engine fighters. During the evening and night, bombers and anti-shipping squadrons mounted 175 more sorties against the invasion fleet. Sperrle lost 39 aircraft with 21 damaged, 8 due to non-combat causes.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: "Luftflotte" 3 received 200 fighters from Germany within 36 hours of the invasion. An additional 100 followed by June 10. Their effectiveness was reduced by the destruction of air bases which forced units to deploy to inadequately prepared airfields. Most of the 670 aircraft that reinforced Sperrle were used up as air bases were under constant attack and the anti-shipping effort failed.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: ULTRA monitored the movements of air units. On the night of June 7/8, the bomber and anti-shipping aircraft managed to fly 100 sorties, while the day forces flew 500 on 8 June—400 by single-engine fighters; Luftflotte 3 lost 68 aircraft during the day. In the first week of operations 362 aircraft were lost. In the second week, another 232 aircraft were destroyed. Thus, in the two weeks from 6 to 19 June, they lost nearly 75 percent of the aircraft that "Luftflotte" 3 had possessed on 5 June. From 6 to 30 June the Germans had lost 1,181 aircraft in 13,829 sorties. Of those sorties flown, 9,471 were fighter sorties.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: German fighters loaded with bombs were unable to defend themselves and suffered heavy losses. They accomplished little, and soon fighter units ceased ground-attack operations. "Luftflotte" 3 used the latest novelty weapons in a bid to attack Allied shipping—the Mistel, Messerschmitt Me 262 and Henschel Hs 129 debuted in June and July 1944 in very small numbers. Radio-guided missiles sank just two vessels and damaged seven in Normandy. Torpedo aircraft sank two and damaged only three more. The anti-shipping effort was a failure. Some 1,200 attacks against shipping and 900 mine-laying operations were made in June, to little effect.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: On 9 July ULTRA intercepted messages from Sperrle notifying his units that "ruthless" fuel economy measures be made and forbade the non-essential expenditure of fuel. Another decrypted message from "Luftflotte" 3 to OKL stated that air attacks had depleted fuel stocks to such an extent that June's allocation would have to last to the end of July. II. "Jagdkorps" was ordered by Sperrle to cease ground-attack and night operations in August owing to the fuel crisis. In August 1944, as the German army retreated from France, Sperrle's air fleet could fly only 250 missions to cover it.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: The performance of Sperrle's III Flak Corps was an exception. The Allied air forces lost 1,564 aircraft in June 1944, the majority to flak. The losses forced a reduction of activity in July and August 1944. The US Ninth Air Force command was critical of German fighter defences but noted that flak defences were effective and the source of constant attrition. The American air command suffered a 10–15 percent monthly attrition rate from April to July 1944.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle was dismissed from his post on 23 August 1944, hours before American and French forces liberated Paris and overran his headquarters. As the German front collapsed in the aftermath of the Falaise pocket, the air fleet ground organisation fled east across the Seine. Hitler charged the personnel of "Luftflotte" 3 with desertion and held Sperrle responsible. On 22 September 1944 his former command was downgraded from air fleet to air command.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: By the time of his dismissal, Sperrle had purportedly long since lost faith in the German war effort and in Hitler and Göring's military leadership. He had become lazy and had a tendency to indulge in the trappings and luxury that occupied France offered. Sperrle became indebted but retained sufficient standing with Hitler for him to be loaned or given 50,000 Reichsmarks. In February 1945, Hitler gave him 100,000 Reichsmarks for his 60th birthday. During the war Hitler had occasionally given Sperrle artwork that may have been looted from occupied territories.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Analysts of Sperrle's performance have been critical of his perceived inaction in Normandy and point to critical contemporary army reports on the failures of his command. Others have questioned Sperrle's influence on the conduct of operations and suggested he was a convenient scapegoat for Göring. Sperrle remained embittered after the defeat in France. He was deemed unfit for a senior command and spent the rest of the war in the Führerreserve, effective from 5 October 1944. On 1 May 1945, Sperrle was arrested by the British Army and became a prisoner of war.


title: Hugo Sperrle

text: Sperrle was captured by the Allies and charged with war crimes in the High Command Trial at the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials but was acquitted. He was again acquitted in June 1949 following a second hearing before a court in Munich. The court concluded that Sperrle had never been a member of the Nazi Party nor one of its affiliate organizations. After the war, he lived quietly and died in Munich on 2 April 1953. He was buried at the village cemetery in Thaining, Bavaria.


title: Sell Your Haunted House

text: Sell Your Haunted House () is a 2021 South Korean television series directed by Park Jin-seok for Korean Broadcasting System. Starring Jang Na-ra, Jung Yong-hwa, Kang Hong-seok, and Ahn Gil-kang, the series follows an exorcist real estate agent. She performs exorcism on real estates where ghosts appear, and joins hands with a con-artist to unearth a secret. It premiered on KBS2 on April 14, 2021 and aired on Wednesday and Thursdays at 21:30 (KST).


title: Sell Your Haunted House

text: Hong Ji-ah (Jang Na-ra) is a real estate broker and an exorcist. She owns Daebak Real Estate which offers the service to clean out buildings in which ghosts frequent and people have died in. She inherited the ability to exorcise from her deceased mother.


title: Sell Your Haunted House

text: Oh In-beom (Jung Yong-hwa) is a con-artist who uses ghosts to earn money. He has a tragic past where his uncle died with no exact explanation why.


title: Sell Your Haunted House

text: Hong Ji-ah and Oh In-beom team up to solve the secret behind her mother and his uncle's deaths 20 years ago.


title: Sell Your Haunted House

text: On 21 September 2020, it was reported that Jang Na-ra and Jung Yong-hwa have received proposal to pair in an occult drama and they are considering it positively. In November 2020, the drama production company Monster Union confirmed the drama "Daebak Real Estate" for first half of 2021. On 12 February 2021, it was reported that Jang Na-ra and Jung Yong-hwa were preparing for the drama. Kang Hong-seok and Baek Eun-hye had previously worked together in the tvN Wednesday and Thursday drama "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim" (2018). Ahn Gil-kang and Baek Ji-won had previously worked together in the KBS2 weekend drama "Once Again" (2020).


title: Barbican Centre

text: The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory. The Barbican Centre is a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in the centre's Concert Hall. In 2013, it once again became the London-based venue of the Royal Shakespeare Company following the company's departure in 2001.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The Barbican Centre is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It was built as the City's gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million (equivalent to £480 million in 2014) and was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. The Barbican Centre is also known for its brutalist architecture.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The second-floor library is one of the five City of London libraries. It is one of the largest public libraries in London and has a separate arts library, a large music library and a children's library which regularly conducts free events. The Barbican Library houses the 'London Collection' of historical books and resources, some of which date back 300 years, all being available on loan. The library presents regular literary events and has an art exhibition space for hire. The music library has two free practice pianos for public use.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The Barbican Centre had a long development period, only opening some years after the surrounding Barbican Estate housing complex had been finished. It is situated in an area which was badly bombed during World War II.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The Barbican Centre, designed by Peter Chamberlin, Geoffry Powell and Christoph Bon of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the Brutalist style, has a complex multi-level layout with numerous entrances. Lines painted on the ground help would-be audience members avoid getting lost on the walkways of the Barbican Estate, within which the centre is located, on the way to it. The Barbican Centre's design – a concrete ziggurat – has always been controversial and divides opinion. It was voted "London's ugliest building" in a Grey London poll in September 2003.


title: Barbican Centre

text: In September 2001, arts minister Tessa Blackstone announced that the Barbican Centre complex was to be a Grade II listed building. It has been designated a site of special architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion and the ambition of the project. The centre was designed by architectural practice Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, who were also responsible for the upscale residential area surrounding the centre (the Barbican Estate), as well as the nearby Golden Lane Estate. Project architect John Honer later worked on the British Library at St Pancras – a red brick ziggurat.


title: Barbican Centre

text: In the mid-1990s, a cosmetic improvement scheme by Theo Crosby, of the Pentagram design studio, added statues and decorative features reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 2005–2006, the centre underwent a more significant refurbishment, designed by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and Roger Westman, which improved circulation and introduced bold signage in a style in keeping with the centre's original 1970s Brutalist architecture. That improvement scheme added an internal bridge linking the Silk Street foyer area with the lakeside foyer area. The centre's Silk Street entrance, previously dominated by an access for vehicles, was modified to give better pedestrian access. The scheme included removing most of the mid-1990s embellishments.


title: Barbican Centre

text: Outside, the main focal point of the centre is the lake and its neighbouring terrace. The theatre's fly tower has been surrounded by glass and made into a high-level conservatory. The Barbican Hall's acoustic has also been controversial: some praised it as attractively warm, but others found it too dry for large-scale orchestral performance.


title: Barbican Centre

text: In 1994, Chicago acoustician Larry Kirkegaard oversaw a £500,000 acoustic re-engineering of the hall "producing a perceptible improvement in echo control and sound absorption", music critic Norman Lebrecht wrote in October 2000 – and returned in 2001 to rip out the stage canopy and drop adjustable acoustic reflectors, designed by Caruso St John, from the ceiling, as part of a £7.5 mn refurbishment of the hall. Art music magazine "Gramophone" still complained about "the relative dryness of the Barbican acoustic" in August 2007.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The theatre was built as the London home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which was involved in the design, but decided not to renew its contract in 2002 after claiming a lack of performing space, plus the artistic director, Adrian Noble, wanting to develop the company's touring performances. The theatre's response was to extend its existing six-month season of international productions, "Barbican International Theatre Event", to the whole year. On 23 January 2013 Greg Doran, RSC artistic director, announced the company's return to the Barbican Centre in a three-year season of Shakespeare's history plays.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where the Barbican Centre theatrical performances are occasionally staged, and the City of London's Barbican Library, neither part of the centre, are also on the site. The Museum of London is nearby at Aldersgate, and is also within the Barbican Estate.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The Barbican Centre features in Michael Paraskos's novel "In Search of Sixpence" as the home of the lead character, Geroud, and also a bar called "The Gin Bar" loosely based on the Gin Joint bar at the Barbican Centre.


title: Barbican Centre

text: The centre has been used as a filming location for numerous TV shows and films, including the BBC series Luther and in the Disney+ series Andor.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: James Rudolph O'Malley (15 March 1904 – 27 February 1985) was an English character actor and singer who appeared in many American films and television programmes from the 1940s to 1982, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley. He also appeared on the Broadway stage in "Ten Little Indians" (1944) and "Dial M for Murder" (1954).


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: "The New York Times" drama critic Theodore Goldsmith praised O'Malley's performance in "Ten Little Indians", calling him "a rara avis, a comedian who does not gauge the success of his efforts by the number of laughs he induces at each performance".


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: Born into an Irish family in Burnley, Lancashire, O’Malley began his career in entertainment in 1925 as a recording artist and then as principal singer with Jack Hylton and his orchestra in the United Kingdom from 1930 to 1933. Known at that time as Pat O'Malley, he recorded more than four hundred popular songs of the day. In 1930 he sang "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about aviator Amy Johnson, performed by Jack Hylton's band. He began a solo recording career in 1935 in parallel with his work with Hylton.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: At the end of 1935 Hylton and O'Malley came to the United States to record with a band composed of American musicians, thus emulating Ray Noble and Al Bowlly. The venture was short-lived. O'Malley remained in the US, known professionally as J. Pat O'Malley (to avoid confusion with another film actor named Pat O'Malley); he had a long and varied acting career, including the 1943 film "Lassie Come Home" as "Hynes".


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: O'Malley guest-starred in 1951 as a sheriff on the syndicated western series, "The Adventures of Kit Carson". From 1950-55, he appeared in five episodes of "The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse". From 1951-57 he was cast in eight episodes of another anthology series, "Robert Montgomery Presents". Other television work from this period include roles in "Spin and Marty" film (1955) and serial (1955-57) as the always-faithful ranch steward, Perkins.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: In 1956 he guest-starred in "The Guilty", one of the last episodes of the NBC legal drama "Justice." In 1958 he was a guest star in "Peter Gunn" (Season 1, Episode 3, "The Vicious Dog") as Homer Tweed.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: He also appeared in the syndicated "City Detective" in the episode "Found in a Pawnshop" (1955). In 1960 O'Malley was cast in another syndicated series, "Coronado 9". In 1959 and 1960 O'Malley portrayed a judge and a newspaper editor in three episodes of the ABC western series "The Rebel" as a roaming former Confederate soldier.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: On January 6, 1959, O'Malley played a priest in the episode "The Secret of the Mission" on the syndicated adventure series "Rescue 8".


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: The same year, he guest starred on the TV Western "Gunsmoke" as the title character “Print Asper” (S4E36).


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: O'Malley was cast as Walter Morgan in the 1959 episode "The First Gold Brick" of the NBC western series "The Californians". In 1959-1960 he made eight appearances as Judge Caleb Marsh in "Black Saddle". In 1959 he was cast as Dr Hardy in an early episode of "Hennesey". In season 3, Episode 10 of the television series "Wanted: Dead or Alive" , "The Medicine Man", O'Malley played Doc. He also appeared in the role of a bank president in an episode of "The Real McCoys" titled "The Bank Loan", which was released January 15, 1959.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: In 1960 O'Malley made guest appearances on "The Tab Hunter Show", "The Law and Mr. Jones", "Johnny Midnight", "Johnny Staccato", "Harrigan and Son", "Adventures in Paradise", "The Islanders", "Going My Way", "The Tall Man," and as Jim Phelan on "Lawman" episode titled "The Swamper." He made numerous guest appearances on CBS's "Perry Mason", including as the defendant in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor" and as the murderer in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Roving River". O'Malley also appeared in "The Twilight Zone" episode "The Chaser".


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: In 1961 O'Malley appeared in 3 episodes of "Tales of Wells Fargo", in different roles. In the episode "The Has-Been" he had the title role, playing a fading entertainer grieving over the loss of his wife. In one scene, O'Malley sang and danced as he performed for an imaginary audience in an abandoned dance hall. Later that year he guest-starred in the television version of "Bus Stop" and the following year appeared in two episodes of "The Twilight Zone", "The Fugitive" and "Mr. Garrity and the Graves". He also guest-starred twice on "The Lloyd Bridges Show" in that series' 1962-1963 season. He then co-starred in the 1964 episode "This Train Don't Stop Till It Gets There" of "The Greatest Show on Earth".


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: During the 1963-1964 season O'Malley appeared in eight episodes of "My Favorite Martian" and returned to "The Twilight Zone", playing a bit part in the episode "The Self-Improvement of Salvatore Ross". In the 1964-1965 season, he was cast in "Wendy and Me". O'Malley appeared in the "Hogan's Heroes" episode "How to Cook a German Goose by Radar" in 1966, and the 1967 episode "D-Day at Stalag 13". In 1966 he also appeared as Ed Breck in the episode "Win Place and Die" of the sitcom "Run, Buddy, Run". He appeared occasionally as Vince in "The Rounders". In the 1966 episode "The Four Dollar Law Suit" of the syndicated western series "Death Valley Days", O'Malley played a lawyer. In the January 19 and January 25, 1967 episodes of "Batman", he played an eccentric inventor, Pat Pending, who is robbed by Catwoman.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: In 1969 O'Malley portrayed Carol Brady's father in the first episode of ABC's "The Brady Bunch". The name Fleming was used in O'Malley's first two appearances on "The Fugitive" (Season 1, "See Hollywood And Die"; Season 3, "Crack in a Crystal Ball"). In 1973 O'Malley co-starred in the comedy "A Touch of Grace". He made several appearances on "Maude" between 1973 and 1975; and he performed on other series such as "It Takes a Thief", "One Day at a Time", "Emergency!", "Adam-12", "The Practice", "Three's Company", and "Taxi". O'Malley also appeared on the ABC television series "Family" in 1979. And on "Barney Miller" in the 1975 episode "You Dirty Rat" as Mr. Holliman, the likeable homeless man who fell asleep and spent the weekend in Siegel’s department store.


title: J. Pat O'Malley

text: Walt Disney engaged O'Malley to provide voices for animated films such as the Cockney coster in the "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" sequence in "Mary Poppins" (1964); Cyril Proudbottom in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949); and the role of Colonel Hathi and the vulture Buzzie in "The Jungle Book" (1967). His voice can be heard in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), in which he performs all the character voices in "The Walrus and the Carpenter" segment (excepting Alice), including Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Walrus, the Carpenter, and Mother Oyster. Actor Dick Van Dyke has said that O'Malley was his dialect coach on "Mary Poppins", attributing his infamous Cockney accent in that film to O'Malley.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Flydubai Flight 981 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Dubai International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates, to Rostov-on-Don Airport, Russia. On 19 March 2016, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft serving the flight crashed during a go-around, killing all 62 passengers and crew on board. The plane crash is known as the Rostov Airport disaster.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The flight occurred at night and the weather at Rostov was poor. Flight 981 aborted its first landing attempt and went into a holding pattern for nearly two hours before making a second landing attempt. After aborting the second attempt, the aircraft climbed sharply during the go-around procedure, then descended rapidly and crashed onto the runway.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Flydubai is an Emirati state-owned low-cost carrier, with its hub in Dubai. Its chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is also the chairman of Dubai-based Emirates. Flydubai was founded and commenced operations in 2009 and expanded rapidly. By the end of 2015, it flew to over 100 destinations, including 11 in Russia. Its entire fleet consisted of Boeing 737-800s at that time. Flydubai launched its Rostov-on-Don service in September 2013 with two scheduled flights per week.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The airline had no previous fatal accidents before and had an "excellent safety record". In 2015, Flydubai passed the safety audit of the IATA, and several days before the crash had become an official member of the organisation. In the aftermath of the crash, Flydubai pilots raised concerns about rostering-related fatigue. A pilot told "BBC News" on a condition of anonymity that staff had insufficient time to rest between shifts. The pilot shared their concern with a senior member of the staff, who replied that "we don't have a fatigue issue at Flydubai." Another employee said it was their belief that, of the 25 active pilots (out of a total of 600) who resigned from the airline in 2016, most had done so because of "fatigue, rosters and quality of life." It was the opinion of some of those pilots that an accident was inevitable. In response to the allegations, Flydubai stated that, "we are unable to disclose confidential information relating to our employees."


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The aircraft involved was a five-year-old Boeing 737-8KN, registered as A6-FDN, MSN 40241, powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B27 engines. Its first flight was on 21 December 2010, and it was delivered to Flydubai on 24 January 2011. The aircraft had passed a C-grade maintenance check on 21 January 2016.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Flight 981 carried enough fuel for 8.5 hours of flight; it had been flying for six hours prior to the crash.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The captain was 37-year-old Aristos Sokratous, from Cyprus. He had over 6,000 hours of total flying time, including 4,905 hours on the Boeing 737. Sokratous was promoted to captain a year and a half before the crash. At the time of the crash, he had intended to quit the airline after accepting a job from Ryanair, which would allow him to be based with his family in Cyprus. His wife was due to give birth to their first child a few weeks after the crash. According to several Flydubai staff members, Sokratous decided to leave the airline mainly because of fatigue and lifestyle issues and Flight 981 was one of his last flights with the airline.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The first officer, 36-year-old Alejandro Cruz Álava, was from Spain. He had more than 5,700 hours of flying time, with 1,100 of them on the Boeing 737. He started flying with Flydubai in 2013, two years before the crash, and had previously flown two regional airlines in the Spanish Canary Islands – Binter and Naysa – before joining the airline.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: According to the final report by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), the accident flight was both pilots' first ever flight to Rostov. The captain had experience flying into other Russian airports, but the first officer did not.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The meteorological conditions in Rostov-on-Don airport were described as "adverse". The cloud base was at , with light rain showers and a haze. The wind velocity was , gusting to , from 230 degrees, with severe turbulence and moderate wind shear on the final approach course.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Flight 981 was scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport at 21:45 Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4) on 18 March 2016 and arrive at Rostov-on-Don Airport at 01:20 Moscow Standard Time (UTC+3) the next day. It departed from Dubai after a 35-minute delay, at 22:20 GST. When Flight 981 arrived at the initial fix, to begin the approach to Rostov-on-Don, two other flights had landed during the previous twenty minutes.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: An alert from Flight 981's onboard windshear warning system caused the pilots to abandon their landing approach a few kilometres from the runway. The flight entered a holding pattern near the airport, awaiting improvement to the weather. While Flight 981 was holding, Aeroflot Flight 1166 made three unsuccessful attempts to land and then diverted to nearby Krasnodar Airport, landing there at 02:59.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Nearly two hours later, during their second approach to runway 22, the airspeed suddenly increased by , an indication that the aircraft had encountered windshear, and again the crew initiated a go-around. In contrast to the first go-around, they retracted the landing gear and reduced the flap setting. This caused the nose to pitch up significantly, which the captain (who was flying the airplane) had to counter with considerable effort on the control column. The captain pressed the nose-down trim switch, but continued to push the control column as well. This caused the aircraft to pitch down and enter a 45 degree descent. At 03:42 it crashed onto the runway not far from the threshold, and caught fire. Pieces of the aircraft were strewn across runway 22 during the impact.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: All 62 people on board, 55 passengers and 7 crew members, died in the crash. Of the passengers, 44 (including four children) were Russian citizens. Eight other passengers came from Ukraine, two from India and one from Uzbekistan. Thirty of the passengers were tourists on a package tour from Natalie Tours, one of the largest Russian tour operators.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On the day of the crash, an investigative commission was established by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) to determine the circumstances and causes of the crash. The investigation was led by Russian air accident investigators, and included representatives of the aviation authorities of the United Arab Emirates (the state of the aircraft's registration and operator), the United States (where the aircraft's designer and manufacturer is headquartered) and France (where the aircraft's engines were designed). The U.S. team consisted of air accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), experts from Boeing and representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The Russian Investigative Committee opened an investigation into any possible safety violations leading to the crash, and allocated more than 50 investigators to work on the case. In a statement, it listed "crew error, technical failure, adverse weather conditions and other factors" as possible reasons for the crash. Terrorism was ruled out as a possibility as no traces of explosives were found.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 20 March 2016, investigators completed a survey of the wreckage. Russian and Emirati experts started an analysis of the radar data, flight crew–ATC communications and meteorological information. Both flight recorders were recovered from the crash site and delivered to the Interstate Aviation Committee in Moscow.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 20 and 21 March 2016, investigators from Russia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and France, extracted the memory modules from their protective casings and downloaded the data from both the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Both recorders functioned normally until the time of impact. While their outer casings sustained some damage, the quality of both recordings was good. A transcript of the communication between the Captain and First Officer was prepared, as the data was analyzed. They also began synchronizing information from the flight recorders, ATC data and meteorological information.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 21 March 2016, investigators in Rostov-on-Don finished collecting debris from the crash site and started reconstructing the fuselage layout in a hangar. Another group of investigators, based in Moscow, together with Emirati investigators, airline representatives and experts from Cyprus and Spain, started to collect and analyse materials on the aircraft's airworthiness, Flight 981's preparation before departure, and the training of its flight crew.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 23 March 2016, Russian and foreign investigators began to test the Rostov Airport's radio communication equipment, examine ATC communications with other flight crews before the crash and evaluate the actions of the ATC and the airport's meteorological services. Using data retrieved from the flight recorders, as well as information from the aircraft maintenance log and flight documentation, the investigators began to analyse the operation of all Flight 981's aircraft systems, including the flight control system and engines, and also analyze the actions and state of the flight crew during the entire flight.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 29 March 2016, the IAC announced that preliminary analysis of information from the flight recorders showed no failures of any aircraft systems, engines or other components had been discovered to date. The airworthiness certificate was valid, all necessary maintenance history was in good order at the time of departure. A transcript of more than two hours of the last crew communications was prepared but was not released to the press as international and Russian rules of air crash investigation forbid publication. The IAC requested Boeing provide technical documentation to aid in assessment of the aircraft's system operations and about all similar previous incidents with Boeing airframes.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 26 November 2019, the IAC published the final report stating that the crash was caused by an incorrect aircraft configuration and incorrect crew piloting, and the subsequent loss of the pilot-in-command's situational awareness in nighttime instrument meteorological conditions. The incorrect configuration refers to performing the go-around procedure with retracted landing gear and flaps but with the maximum available thrust consistent with the Windshear Escape Maneuver combined with a light aircraft that led to a substantial excessive nose-up moment.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: In light of the disaster, the Governor of Rostov Oblast, Vasily Golubev, announced that the government would pay 1 million rubles (about 15,000 USD) to the families of the victims. The day after the crash, 20 March, was designated as a day of mourning in the region.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 21 March 2016, Flydubai opened a Family Assistance Centre for the families of the victims in Rostov-on-Don. It announced a payment of US$20,000 per passenger for the "immediate financial needs" of their families. The airline resumed regular flights to Rostov as soon as the airport reopened after the crash, but assigned a different flight number for it.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: In a press conference, the airline's CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, informed Emirati journalists that specialists from the engineering, safety, and security departments of Flydubai are working closely on the ground with the Russian investigators. He asked the media to refrain from speculation and "give the investigators time to do their job and come out with results".


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Five days after the crash, on 24 March 2016, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan went to Moscow to discuss the course of the crash investigation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: Aviation expert Alexander Knivel pointed out multiple similarities between Flight 981 and Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363. In both cases, a Boeing 737 impacted the airfield at a high vertical speed while attempting a go-around. The Flight 363 investigation, conducted by the Interstate Aviation Committee, ruled that the 2013 accident was the result of pilot error; one dissenting commission member, a Rosaviatsiya representative, filed an alternative opinion report, claiming the commission ignored a possible mechanical malfunction of the Boeing 737's elevator controls.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 28 March 2016, Artyom Kiryanov, a Russian Civic Chamber member, called for Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency and the IAC to suspend the flying certificates of all Russian-owned and -operated Boeing 737 Classics and Next Generation series, until the end of the Flight 981 investigation – citing concerns about the elevator controls in all 737s. After this news reached the U.S., the Boeing company's stock went down 0.81% on the New York Stock Exchange.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: On 12 April 2016, the American law firm Ribbeck Law, on behalf of several relatives of the victims, filed a lawsuit against Boeing in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago, pursuing financial compensation of US$5 million per passenger on the flight.


title: Flydubai Flight 981

text: The crash was featured on season 22 of the Canadian documentary series "Mayday", titled "Holding Pattern".


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: In measure theory, Lebesgue's dominated convergence theorem provides sufficient conditions under which almost everywhere convergence of a sequence of functions implies convergence in the "L" norm. Its power and utility are two of the primary theoretical advantages of Lebesgue integration over Riemann integration.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: In addition to its frequent appearance in mathematical analysis and partial differential equations, it is widely used in probability theory, since it gives a sufficient condition for the convergence of expected values of random variables.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Lebesgue's dominated convergence theorem. Let formula_1 be a sequence of complex-valued measurable functions on a measure space . Suppose that the sequence converges pointwise to a function formula_2 and is dominated by some integrable function formula_3 in the sense that


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Remark 1. The statement ""g" is integrable" means that measurable function formula_3 is Lebesgue integrable; i.e.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Remark 2. The convergence of the sequence and domination by formula_3 can be relaxed to hold only almost everywhere provided the measure space is complete or formula_2 is chosen as a measurable function which agrees everywhere with the everywhere existing pointwise limit. (These precautions are necessary, because otherwise there might exist a non-measurable subset of a set , hence formula_2 might not be measurable.)


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Remark 3. If formula_13, the condition that there is a dominating integrable function formula_3 can be relaxed to uniform integrability of the sequence ("f"), see Vitali convergence theorem.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Remark 4. While formula_2 is Lebesgue integrable, it is not in general Riemann integrable. For example, take "f" to be defined in formula_16 so that it is one at rational numbers of the form formula_17, with and coprime and formula_18, and zero everywhere else. The series ("f") converges pointwise to 0, so "f" is identically zero, but formula_19 is not Riemann integrable, since its image in every finite interval is formula_20 and thus the upper and lower Darboux integrals are 1 and 0, respectively.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Without loss of generality, one can assume that "f" is real, because one can split "f" into its real and imaginary parts (remember that a sequence of complex numbers converges if and only if both its real and imaginary counterparts converge) and apply the triangle inequality at the end.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Lebesgue's dominated convergence theorem is a special case of the Fatou–Lebesgue theorem. Below, however, is a direct proof that uses Fatou’s lemma as the essential tool.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: Since "f" is the pointwise limit of the sequence ("f") of measurable functions that are dominated by "g", it is also measurable and dominated by "g", hence it is integrable. Furthermore, (these will be needed later),


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: The second of these is trivially true (by the very definition of "f"). Using linearity and monotonicity of the Lebesgue integral,


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: By the reverse Fatou lemma (it is here that we use the fact that |"f"−"f"| is bounded above by an integrable function)


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: If the assumptions hold only everywhere, then there exists a set such that the functions "f" 1 satisfy the assumptions everywhere on "S". Then the function "f"("x") defined as the pointwise limit of "f"("x") for and by for , is measurable and is the pointwise limit of this modified function sequence. The values of these integrals are not influenced by these changes to the integrands on this μ-null set "N", so the theorem continues to hold.


title: Dominated convergence theorem

text: DCT holds even if "f" converges to "f" in measure (finite measure) and the dominating function is non-negative almost everywhere.