‘The large-scale operations in the east continue.’
Aircrew walking to a line of Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors which stand in readiness. The Fw 200 was used to transport supplies into Stalingrad in 1942. In the later stages of the war the aircraft came to be used solely for transportation, its role as a reconnaissance aircraft taken over by the Junkers Ju 290.
Loading a Heinkel He 111 with an SC 250-kg bomb for a mission in the Soviet Union.
Moving a Heinkel He 111 over a waiting bomb by manpower.
Every measure was taken to conserve fuels on the Eastern Front.
Scavenging for fuel from stranded Soviet railway tankers.
Meteorology balloon. Coloured red for high visibility against the blue of the sky and the white clouds, these Met balloons provided an invaluable means of measuring wind velocities at different heights. The theodolite is used to calculate the balloon’s height and position. Even today, with the latest satellite technology available, thousands of weather balloons equipped with radiosonde transmitters are released every day throughout the world to measure wind speed and direction.
A typically impromptu repair and maintenance station beside an airfield on the Eastern Front.
The crew of a Nachtflug, a night-time flight, buckle up in readiness for their mission over Soviet territory.
Two young airmen demonstrate their fleece-lined flightsuits for wintery conditions encountered in the east.
Far right: Updating the tally on the tail of a Messerschmitt Bf 109, with the red stars indicating Soviet targets on the Eastern Front.
Dornier Do 17s flying over enemy territory on the Eastern Front.