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There was no aviation unit in the Waffen SS. In the early days of the Allgemeine SS, which many refer to as “the Black SS”(because of their uniforms), there was an aviation branch (SS-Fliegersturm), but this was eventually absorbed into the NSFK and was never really assigned combat or military missions. One could be in the Luftwaffe and also belong to the Allgemeine SS; however, there were very few. SS personnel could, and did, undergo flight training in the Luftwaffe. Two of the more famous rated officers in the SS were Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the security branch (SD) of the SS (which included the Gestapo), and Sepp Dietrich, who commanded the 1st SS Pz Div “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler”. Hitler’s personal pilot, Hans Bauer, was an SS vice Luftwaffe officer. In the last year of the war as the Luftwaffe disbanded various flying units due to lack of fuel, numerous flying personnel were assigned to the Waffen SS, and even the Allgemeine SS units guarding concentration camps. In fact, it was such a commandeered Luftwaffe officer assigned to Mauthausen who saved those inmates from complete annihilation when he revealed plans to seal them in a cave to an Austrian Red Cross worker. The latter managed to get out of the camp and reach the American lines, where he convinced elements of Patton’s 3rd Army to dispatch a tank platoon to liberate Mauthausen (which was in the Soviet zone of occupation and not an objective for their seizure).
SS-Fliegersturm
The SS-Fliegersturm (SS Flying Company) was established in Munich in November 1931, remaining operational until it was absorbed by the Deutscher Luftsport Verband (DLV) in September 1933. Its members wore standard black Allgemeine-SS uniform, and those who were qualified pilots wore pilots wings (consisting of the standard early model SA/SS national emblem of an eagle perched on a wreathed swastika; to the eagle’s left is a black disk with SS runes, and to the right is a black disk with the runic “SA” insignia. These items are all surmounted on a wing-shaped background). On the right collar patch was an aluminum winged propeller with swastika, while standard SS rank insignia was worn on the left collar patch. The SS-Fliegersturm was divided into Fliegerstaffel. One of these was SS-Fliegerstaffel Süd (HQ: Munich) led by SS-Sturmbannführer Eduard Ritter von Schleich (a holder of the Pour le mérite for his heroism and leadership of bombing operations during World War I. A Fliegerstaffel “Ost” was commanded by SS-Sturmführer (and eventual SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS) Wilhelm Bittrich, who joined the unit on 1. July 1932 and led it from October 1932 to 8. Mar. 1934 (these dates are from Mark Yerger’s Waffen-SS Commanders, Volume 1, and conflict somewhat with the aforementioned statement, from John Angolia’s Cloth Insignia of the SS, that the SS-Fliegersturm only existed from November 1931 to Sepember 1933.
Reinhard Heydrich
SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, a talented civilian pilot prior to the war, flew combat missions with the Luftwaffe. His first mission was as a gunner in Kampfgeschwader (Bomber Wing) 55 on 12. September 1939. He then passed an examination as a Bf-109E pilot, serving as an Oberleutnant der Reserve and Adjutant of Jagdgeschwader 77 during the invasion of Norway in April 1940. He then flew reconnaissance flights over England and Scotland in a Bf-110 outfitted for aerial photograph. He rose to the rank of Major der Reserve, flying further missions as a reconnaissance pilot in the Russian Campaign. In the process, he received the Iron Cross First Class and the Operational Flying Clasp (Reconnaissance) in Silber (Frontflug-Spange für Aufklärer in Silber).
Buschmann Staffel
There was at least one Luftwaffe unit whose personnel received their payment from SS-organization. The unit had various names and usually just called the Buschmann Staffel. The personnel consisted almost totally from Estonian volunteers. The first planes unit had – PTO-4 – were also Estonian built and origin. The unit got its orders from Kriegsmarine, all technical support from Luftwaffe as Kriegsmarine was not allowed own air assets and payments from SS-organization as it was the only organ which was allowed to “hire” foreigners. All this changed later when the unit was formally taken into Luftwaffe as Seeaufklärungsgruppe 127.
