Kampfgeschwader 2

Kampfgeschwader 2 Holzhammer (KG 2/Battle Wing 2) was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during the Second World War. The unit was formed in May 1939. The unit operated the Dornier Do 17 light bomber, Dornier Do 217 and Junkers Ju 188 heavy bombers. During the course of the Second World War KG 2 lost 767 aircraft destroyed and 158 damaged. According to H.L. de Zeng at al, it suffered 1,908 personnel killed in action or missing in action and 214 as prisoners of war. Broken down further, for the duration of the war KG 2 lost 1,228 killed, 688 missing, 656 wounded and with 214 captured, for a total of 2,786 in both combat and non-combat operations.

Stab/.KG 2 and I./KG 2 were formed on 1 May 1939 at Cottbus. II./KG 2 was formed at Liegnitz, Silesia. The crews converted onto Junkers Ju 86. The unit spent most of the summer training and recruiting personnel from the flight schools in night flying.

On 25 August the unit was transferred to Jesau and participated in the Invasion of Poland. Stab/KG 2 was withdrawn on 20 September and placed under the Command of Luftflotte 3 carrying out reconnaissance missions over France. I. KG 2 attacked airfields at Wilna and Lida and Plock on 1 September and again on 2 September. From 2–3 September it supported the German Third Army and German Fourth Army north of Warsaw. From 4–11 September rail targets were again bombed. Troop concentrations became the main targets after this until the end of the fighting in Poland. Stab./ KG 2 and II. KG 2 also operated in support of I. Gruppe. Altogether, the three Grupen had contributed 84 Dornier Do 17Z aircraft to the campaign.

I./KG 2 supported German Army Group A's crossing of the Meuse. It supported Heinz Guderian's Panzerkorps in the vicinity of Sedan during the battle of 12–14 May. It fielded 36 Dornier Do 17s, with 22 aircraft serviceable. It also hit French Air Force airfields in Amiens, Reims, Champagne and Arras. Between 21 and 31 May 1940, I. Gruppe supported ground forces during the Battle of Dunkirk. On 3 June 1940 it participated in the huge aerial offensive against French air power in Operation Paula.

II./KG 2 committed 36 Do 17s (28 operational) to the western campaign in Fliegerkorps II. It assisted in all the major operations of the French Campaign. III./KG 2 supported the other two Gruppen with 36 Do 17s, with 30 serviceable. The worst day of the western campaign for KG 2 was 27 May, when Major Werner Kreipe's III. Gruppe lost 11 out of 27 Do 17s to RAF fighters over Dunkirk.

In mid-1940, I./KG 2 deployed up to 43 Do 17s (27 operational) against Britain while based at Epinoy.^{[citation needed]} The Geschwader took part in the first large dogfight over the English Channel, on 10 July 1940 – the day usually considered to be the beginning of the Battle of Britain. In an attack on Convoy "Bread", KG 2 sank two ships and one 700-ton sloop and damaged four RAF fighters. In return three Do 17s were lost and three damaged, along with three Messerschmitt Bf 110s destroyed and a single Messerschmitt Bf 109, with two damaged.

On 10 August, KG 2 attacked Convoy "Booty", losing three Dorniers and six damaged. On 13 August ("Eagle Day"), KG 2 took off at 4:50 am led by Geschwaderkommodore Johannes Fink to attack targets in southern Britain. They were to be escorted by Bf 110s from ZG 26 led by Oberstleutnant Joachim-Friedrich Huth. The weather was poor and German ground controllers ordered the fighters back to base. The message did not get through to II. and III./KG 2. Huth tried to signal them by flying in front of them and performing aerobatics. Fink ignored him and flew on. He flew around the coast to his target: Eastchurch airfield on the Isle of Sheppey. Albert Kesselring had issued orders for bombers to abandon missions if their escorts did not show up. But some Bf 109s from Erprobungsgruppe had not received the order either and Fink failed to turn back as he was not disobeying the directive. The return would take KG 2 across No. 11 Group's territory, which would have been disastrous. Owing to the radar plotters missing the raiders, and the Observer Corps misjudging the bearing or route of the raid, the RAF failed to prevent the target being attacked. On the return journey No. 74 Squadron RAF, No. 111 Squadron RAF and No. 151 Squadron RAF managed to intercept, shooting down five Do 17s. KG 2 claimed destroyed ten Supermarine Spitfires on the ground and wrecked the airfield. In fact it would seem none were lost. The Geschwader also took part in heavy fighting on 18 August, known later as "The Hardest Day".

By 7 September, the strength of I./KG 2 had fallen to 19 machines, with only 12 operational. II./KG 2 began operations over Britain with 35 Do 17s, 31 operational. By 7 September this had fallen to 30 and 20 respectively. III./KG 2 succeeded in replacing most of its losses; the number employed on 13 August was 34 Do 17s and 32 operational. The figures were the same on 7 September.