Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

When did teams of horses and oxen begin pulling aircraft around the Luftwaffe flightline? And what is the operational history of these furry prime movers?

Teams of horses and oxen had to be essential equipment in the East from almost Day 1, no? (Nothing better to move aircraft and fuel bowsers around in the mud and snow.)

I have an image of a team of oxen pulling a (rare) two-seat Fw-190 in late 1944, (I think,) but I can't find any more.

Bronc

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

There was a photo (in a Holger Nauroth book I sed to have) of oxen towing an Me 163.

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

I have such photos. Commonplace at the end of the war

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

At the airfield Donaueschingen Süd (south) IV. JG 53 was based from October to early December.
20 years ago many eye withnesses told me the Me 109 were pulled by oxen at that time because of fuel save reason.
Regards
Rolf

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

Just to remind us that the use of animals to tow aircraft was not limited to the Luftwaffe.
Be it not for lack of fuel but more for practical reasons, the web has numerous pictures with (e.g.) elephants towing Allied a/c in India and Ceylon.
And for political reasons, the British pulled American-made airplanes across the US-Canadian border with horses to circumvent the American neutrality laws (see https://www.history.nd.gov/publicati...neutrality.pdf)

Leendert

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

I saw a brief three-second clip today (in a Russian Front documentary) of horses pulling a wooden sled loaded with a bomb with a He 111 in the background. Snowy scene. It looked cold, very, very cold.

Bronc

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

I'm having trouble believing that .. Jüterbog (near Berlin) late summer 1944

https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...6/JG%20300.jpg

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

Reference to a Fw-190 being towed by bulls/oxen probably this one:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3990...8935012040137/

If a/c is in motion, left wing threatens to bump into airmen..

Leendert

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

Yep. That's the one.

Bronc

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

On 3 May 1942 Göring ordered stringent measures to reduce the flying activities of the Luftwaffe in order to save machines and materials for the planned summer offensive in the east. These measures placed a limitation on the use of fuel, with strict rules for such things as taxiing, conversion flights, ferry flights and transport flights.

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

The title of this thread sounds like a booktitle!

So Rich, when will you publish a book about the cows, horses and donkeys in Luftwaffe service!? :-)

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

The Luftwaffe had to worry about fuel from the start of the war. They just never had enough and things got worse the longer the war went on. Also in the USSR the Germans made wide use of Russian Panje horses.

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

Hi all, this is Daniel using my father's account (as I do not have one).
I have an ULTRA message for 30th October, 1944, stating that Luftflotte Reich was to obtain 300 new draft oxen to help taxi aircraft around on airfields.


All the best,
Daniel (using my father's account).

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

My uncle's name was Ochs, which translates directly as Ox, and he spent a lot of time on the Luftwaffe flight lines LOL.

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

What an awesome scrap of valuable information!

Bronc

Re: Horses and Oxen on the Luftwaffe Flightline
 

The book "Stopped at Stalingrad' by Joel Hayward discusses the Luftwaffe's fuel problems.

One must point out that in the economic parts of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact the Germans recieved from the USSR large amounts of fuel ect which help enabled the Germans to win their early war victories.