[4] Stab./KG 51 was held in reserve in southern Germany and took no part in the Invasion of Poland which began World War II in Europe.

Instead the nine aircraft at Fisser's disposal were used to drop propaganda leaflets over France on 6 November 1939 and flew other reconnaissance missions during the Phoney War.

On the first day of the offensive, I./KG 51, now under the command of Major Hans Bruno Schulz-Heyn (since 19 December 1939), were mid-way through conversion to the Ju 88.

8./KG 51 set out but through navigational error bombed the German border town Freiburg causing 100 civilian casualties and killing 57, including 22 children.

[2] To cover up the mistake, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels blamed the British and French[6] for, what became known to the Germans, as the "Freiburg massacre.

[1] I. and II./KG 51 utilised the dive-bombing capability of their Ju 88s and, with the rest of Fliegerkorps V, protected Heinz Guderian's XIX Army Corps' southern flank in Air interdiction.

Fisser, whom Kammhuber had replaced on 27 March 1940 to allow him operational experience, assumed the commanding officer role again later that day.

[13] II./KG 51 appears to have supported the advance in eastern France to the Switzerland border from 1 June, completing the encirclement of the Maginot Line.

[15] In July 1940, the Luftwaffe began the Kanalkampf phase of the Battle of Britain bombing convoys in the English Channel.

The Stab unit's only aircraft belonged to Fisser and he paid the price of leading from the front on 12 August 1940 when his Ju 88 was shot down.

[20] On 12 August first group raided the Portsmouth and Isle of Wight area during which KG 51's commanding officer Fisser was killed.

[4][23] On 24 August, KG 51 executed a speedy attack on the Home Fleet base at Portsmouth and in less than four minutes 50 tons of bombs were dropped.

[25] Another source states that RAF Warmwell, Weymouth and Portland were the targets and the German formation split into three to attack them.

In the mistaken belief that RAF Fighter Command was finished and an attack on London would force it to commit their last reserves, the Germans began The Blitz.

[37] All three groups were involved in Operation Mondscheinsonate (Moonlight Sonata), which was the code word for the attack on Coventry on 14 November 1940.

The war diary of KG 51 remarked that day, "Skillful and aggressive attacks by Russian fighter units ensured that the struggle for air supremacy was no easy game.

[12] In From the 24 September and into October KG 51 and its air corps attack the rail lines and traffic as the First Panzer Army advanced to the Sea of Azov.

[58] In October KG 51 flew 412 missions, claimed 10 aircraft shot down, 315 vehicles destroyed, eight trains, one heavy cruiser, two freighters, for three bombers lost.

Further damage was done on 23 March when nine Ju 88s of KG 51 sank the minelayers Ostrovskiy and GS-13 and a motor torpedo boat in Tuapse harbour.

So great was the loss of shipping that Soviet land forces were ordered to cease all offensive operations to conserve supplies.

It was involved in the enormous bombing operations against the city and on 19 June 1942, 2./KG 51 sank the floating anti-aircraft batter Number 3, named by the Soviets as Ne'tron ("Don't Touch Me"), in Svernaya Bay.

[77] On 8 January KG 51's commanding officer Oberst Heinrich Conrady was killed in action by ground fire over the Manychskaya bridgehead.

It left the base of Poltava for Germany to convert to heavy fighters and redeploy to Defence of the Reich duties.

On 9 May KG 51's commanding officer Major Egbert von Frankenberg und Proschlitz defected to the Soviet Union taking many secret documents with him.

Surviving intelligence maps show the crude oil and ball bearing plant at Saratov was also considered.

[88] During repeated attacks between 4 and 22 June, all of the plant's 50 buildings, 9,000 metres (30,000 feet) of conveyors, 5,900 units of process equipment and 8,000 engines were destroyed or damaged.

It moved to Vinnitsa on 4 January 1944 and then to Lublin four days later and attacked Soviet spearheads around Zhytomyr On 6 February 1944 it was re-designated III./KG 3.

It moved to Horsching in Austria on 9 September and received Göring on 11 October, and he relieved the commanding officer form his duties.

Some aircraft stayed in France as night fighter units but the group was withdrawn to Schwabisch-Hall on 15 August as the front in Normandy collapsed.

It was ordered to fly raids against Sevastopol in early 1942 and to attack partisans in the Kholm and Yelena unit areas in summer 1942.