My interest was first sparked by a passage from ‘German Aircraft of the Second World War’ by J.R. Smith, Antony Kay with E.J. Creek (Putnam, 1972):

Perhaps the most interesting of the Fw 190 ground attack units were NSGr. 20 and III./KG 200. NSGr. 20 … was based at Twente and was equipped with Fw 190 G-1s each carrying a single SC 1800 bomb. During the winter and early spring of 1944–45 the unit made many near suicidal attacks on bridges. III./KG 200 … was formed at Staaken from I./SG 5 late in 1944. It was equipped with the Fw 190F-8 carrying two AB 250 or one AB 500 weapon container, or a single SC 1000 bomb. The unit was later joined by an experimental anti-shipping formation known as Sonderverband Einhorn which eventually became 13./KG 200 …

I didn’t begin working on the Einhorn story myself until November 1987 when at the Public Record Office I found:

Newly-arrived in Freiburg in June 1989, I bought a copy of Flugzeug magazine which included a review of Günther W. Gellermann’s book about KG 200, 'Moskau Ruft Heeresgruppe Mitte'. I found a copy the same day and so learned about Einhorn’s originswhile the some of the operations it flew became apparent once I visited the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv that week. In ‘Air War Italy 1944–45’ (Airlife, 1996), Ferdinando D’Amico, Gabriele Valentini and I limited our coverage of Einhorn almost entirely to its time in Italy but during the absurdly long, never-explained wait for that book to be published I used the rest of my material as ‘Special Publication No. 7, The Mythical Unicorn’ for the US-based researchers' group, Luftwaffe Circle (November 1994). I contributed material to Geoff Thomas and Barry Ketley’s ‘KG 200, the Luftwaffe’s Most Secret Unit (Hikoki, 2003)’ then came brief references in my ‘Kampfflieger Volume Four’ (Classic, 2005) and just short of 1,500 words on the unit that I contributed to ‘Schlachtflieger’ (Midland, 2007). My fullest version prior to the present one appeared as Chapter 25 of Richard Smith and Eddie Creek’s ‘Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Volume Three’ (Classic, 2013).

Imperial War Museum, London

‘A Short History of KG 200’ (Interrogation of Oberst Kurt Randel-Semper, KG 200 Operations Officer): British Air Ministry A.D.I.(K) Report No. 398/1945

USAAF Interrogation Report No. 187 on German suicide weapons by Capt. Robert E. Work, 28 November 1945

RAF Air Historical Branch 6: microfilms of captured German documents, Reels 2 and 174

GER/MISC/MCR18: Luftwaffe Gen.Qu. 6. Abt. aircraft loss returns (microfilm copies)

The National Archives, Kew, London

AIR 2/6385: Air Intelligence lists Nos 81–447(B) on enemy casualties and prisoners of war (January 1942–April 1945)

AIR 20/7704: Translations Vol. 5 – Second World War, No. VII/89: War Diary of Luftflotte 3 (Western front) September 1944

AIR 20/7892: Daily Telegraphic Intelligence Summaries (17 September 1943–3 May 1945)

AIR 22/82: 'A GAF Fighter-Bomber Unit on the Western Front' in Air Ministry Weekly Intelligence Summaries, 1945

AIR 26/380–382: Operations Record Book and Appendices, No. 276 Wing

AIR 23/6511: Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Forces Int/Opsums, Oct/Dec 1944

AIR 24/1532: RAF Regiment (January–June 1945)

AIR 24/3459: No. 1 FIU, RAF “A”, Technical Intelligence Report No. 14, Villafranca di Verone A/D (2 May 1945)

AIR 27/12: Operations Record Book No. 1 SAAF Squadron, December 1944

AIR 27/24: ORB No. 2 SAAF Squadron, December 1944

AIR 27/56: ORB No. 4 SAAF Squadron, December 1944

AIR 27/108: ORB No. 7 SAAF Squadron, December 1944

AIR 27/532: ORB Appendices Y, No 56 Squadron, 1 January 1945–31 March 1946

AIR 27/672: ORB Summary of events Y, No. 80 Squadron, April 1945

AIR 27/1361: ORB, No. 219 Squadron, 1 July–30 November 1944

AIR 27/1711: ORB, No. 318 (Polish) Squadron, December 1944

AIR 27/1804: ORB, No. 411 Squadron (RCAF), September 1944

AIR 27/2062: ORB No. 600 Squadron RAF, December 1944

AIR 29/191: ORB No. 8036 AMES, December 1944

AIR 37/9: 2nd Tactical Air Force: Western Europe: Immediate Interpretation and Daily Airfield Reports (1944–45)

AIR 37/1440: SHAEF (MAIN AND REAR): Daily Operational Intelligence Summaries Nos. 1-41 (incomplete) (1945)

AIR 40/152: Fw 190 C, D, F and G Aircraft

AIR 40/1460: 'M' Reports

AIR 40/2161: A.I.2(g) reports 1613–1750 (incomplete) (Jul 44–Mar 45)

AIR 40/2232: Egon—ground control of bombing aircraft on to targets, used by German Air Force units in Europe.

AIR 40/2264: PEARL/ZIP/GAM Reports Nos. 92-122, November 1944-June 45

AIR 40/2372: Second Tactical Air Force: reports on German Air Force activities (1945)

AIR 40/2373: Second Tactical Air Force: reports on German Air Force activities (1945)

AIR 40/2375: RAF Signal Intelligence Reports, 1945

AIR 40/2161: A.I.2(g) reports 1613–1750 (incomplete) (Jul 44–Mar 45)

AIR 40/2421: ADI(K) Report Nos. 214/1945, 231/1945, 232/1945 and 242a/1945

AIR 40/2837: German anti-shipping weapon: Bombentorpedo (underwater bomb) (1945)

AIR 40/2982: Preliminary reports on interrogation of POWs (1 Jan 44–31 Dec 45)

AIR 40/3101: CSDIC (UK) reports SRA 5800–5856: information obtained from German Air Force POWs (8 Feb–31 May 45)

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