Lufthansa in WWII

[Freiritter]

Sorry if this is OT. I was curious did the Luftwaffe ever take over Lufthansa in order to increase Luftwaffe airlift capability?

[DeBaer]

they confiscated the lufthansa's aircrafts (Ju52, G38 and so on) for use as military transporters, thats what i know.

[Arne]

Lufthansa was serving routes into neutral countrys (Spain, Sweden, Portugal) until as late as april 1945.

[Simon_G]

Also because Japan would not allow Luftwaffe aircraft to overfly the Soviet Union to Japanese territory, Ju-290 were stripped of weapons and flown from neutral Bulgaria to Ningxia in China during 1944.

Deutsch Luft Hansa pilots thought to have flown these missions to Ningxia for Japan Kommando included Flugkapitan Rudolf Mayr, Flugkapitan Nebel, Flugkapitan Mattias (died April 1946 in Soviet captivity), Flugkapitan Erich Warsitz, Flugkapitan Quenzler (Dornier Test Pilot), and test pilot Karl Patin.

Prior to Germany's invasion of Russia a DLH Bv222 flying boat flew services from Kirkenes and northern Finland to Japanese held Sakhalin Island.



Some Deutsch Luft Hansa services still operated in Norway after VE day.