Description

Here is your chance to own a pennant for a Flak Commander in the Luftwaffe. Cotton construction with a bevo style weave eagle machine sewn to the pennant. With a repaired tear as shown in the photos, which may or may not be period. Single sided and without the reverse. Measures roughly 14-1/8″ long and around 9-3/8″ tall which makes it a perfect display size.  With  the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles  Treaty, the Luftwaffe’s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26  February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the  Versailles Treaty through German re-armament and conscription would be  announced on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a Luftwaffe detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War,  provided the force with a valuable testing ground for new tactics and  aircraft. Partially as a result of this combat experience, the Luftwaffe had become one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and  battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II broke out  in 1939. The Luftwaffe also operated Fallschirmjäger paratrooper units.The Luftwaffe proved instrumental in the German victories across Poland and Western  Europe in 1939 and 1940. During the Battle of Britain, however, despite  inflicting severe damage to the RAF’s infrastructure and, during the  subsequent Blitz, devastating many British cities, the German air force  failed to batter the beleaguered British into submission. From 1942,  Allied bombing campaigns gradually destroyed the Luftwaffe ‘s fighter arm. From late 1942, the Luftwaffe used its surplus ground, support and other personnel to raise Luftwaffe Field Divisions. In addition to its service in the West, the Luftwaffe operated over the Soviet Union, North Africa and Southern Europe.  Despite its belated use of advanced turbojet and rocket propelled  aircraft for the destruction of Allied bombers, the Luftwaffe was overwhelmed by the Allies’ superior numbers and improved tactics,  and a lack of trained pilots and aviation fuel. In January 1945, during  the closing stages of the Battle of the Bulge, the Luftwaffe made a last-ditch effort to win air superiority, and met with failure.  With rapidly dwindling supplies of petroleum, oil, and lubricants after  this campaign, and as part of the entire combined Wehrmacht military  forces as a whole, the Luftwaffe ceased to be an effective fighting force.  Free shipping ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD & I don’t charge PayPal fees like some of the other guys! KA