From 1944-1945, the Germans experimented with Japanese-style kamikaze tactics on two fronts. One front was the Leonidas Squadron, a idea created by Otto Skorzeny, Hajo Hermann and spearheaded by female pilot Hanna Reitsch. The idea was to attack Allied shipping by ramming Messerschmidt ME 328s loaded with 900 kilogram bombs into Allied shipping. Hitler at first, disliked the idea, believing self-sacrifice to be inconsistent with the German character, but eventually supported it. Problems with converting the ME 328s resulted in a manned version of the V-1 flying bomb called the Fiesler Fi 103R (codenamed Reichenberg) being developed instead.
Another front was the Sonderkommando Elbe, a special unit of the Luftwaffe in which pilots would deliberately ram their planes into Allied bombers, under the command of Major Otto Kohnke. Sonderkommando Elbe planes, mostly consisting of Messerschmidt BF 109s, were fitted with steel propellers and their weapons were removed, their only weapon being 1 MG-131 millimetre machine gun with 60 rounds of ammunition. The idea was that the planes, four in each squadron, consisting of novices except for the leader who was to be a experienced pilot, were to climb to 36,000 feet, higher than US escort fighters could reach and then dive into their targets.
Both squadrons would only see action in April 1945. The Leonidas Squadron took part in suicide missions between 17-20 April 1945, consisting of ramming into bridges held by the Red Army on the Oder River. The Luftwaffe reported seventeen bridges destroyed, though this is dismissed as a exaggeration.
Sonderkommando Elbe saw action on April 7, attacking a US bombing raid. Out of the 1,380 US aircraft attacked that day, 17 were lost and 189 damaged This was the only action in which the Sonderkommando Elbe took part.
So, what if earlier in the war, the Germans decided to adopt the Japanese concept of death before dishonour and encouraged their soldiers, sailors and airmen to participate in suicidal tactics (human wave attacks by the Wehrmacht, kamikaze attacks by the Luftwaffe, manned torpedoes by the Kriegsmarine, etc)? What impact would this have on the war?
Another front was the Sonderkommando Elbe, a special unit of the Luftwaffe in which pilots would deliberately ram their planes into Allied bombers, under the command of Major Otto Kohnke. Sonderkommando Elbe planes, mostly consisting of Messerschmidt BF 109s, were fitted with steel propellers and their weapons were removed, their only weapon being 1 MG-131 millimetre machine gun with 60 rounds of ammunition. The idea was that the planes, four in each squadron, consisting of novices except for the leader who was to be a experienced pilot, were to climb to 36,000 feet, higher than US escort fighters could reach and then dive into their targets.
Both squadrons would only see action in April 1945. The Leonidas Squadron took part in suicide missions between 17-20 April 1945, consisting of ramming into bridges held by the Red Army on the Oder River. The Luftwaffe reported seventeen bridges destroyed, though this is dismissed as a exaggeration.
Sonderkommando Elbe saw action on April 7, attacking a US bombing raid. Out of the 1,380 US aircraft attacked that day, 17 were lost and 189 damaged This was the only action in which the Sonderkommando Elbe took part.
So, what if earlier in the war, the Germans decided to adopt the Japanese concept of death before dishonour and encouraged their soldiers, sailors and airmen to participate in suicidal tactics (human wave attacks by the Wehrmacht, kamikaze attacks by the Luftwaffe, manned torpedoes by the Kriegsmarine, etc)? What impact would this have on the war?