page_title: Kampfgeschwader 3
section_title: Eastern Front
hierarchical_section_title: Kampfgeschwader 3 / War service / Eastern Front
context_page_description: Kampfgeschwader 3 "Blitz" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II.
  KG 3 was created in 1939 as the Luftwaffe reorganised and expanded to meet Adolf Hitler's rearmament demands. It was founded in May 1939 and by December 1939, had three active Gruppen. KG 3 operated the Dornier Do 17 and Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers.
  KG 3 served in the Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 which began the war in Europe. It spent the Phoney War on reconnaissance operations and dropping propaganda leaflets over France. In May and June 1940 it fought in the Battle of Belgium and Battle of France. In July 1940, the force took part in the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.
  In June 1941 it supported Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. KG 3 remained on the Eastern Front for the duration of the wing's existence as a bomber unit. III./KG 3 became the last Gruppe in the Luftwaffe to operate the Dornier Do 17. The Gruppe was also converted to the Heinkel He 111 and used as a delivery platform to launch V-1 flying bombs against the United Kingdom from the spring to late summer, 1944.
context_section_description: On 22 June 1941 Operation Barbarossa began the war on the Eastern Front. Stab. and I./KG 3 was based at Dęblin–Podlokowka with three and 41 aircraft respectively. Stab./KG 3 had two Ju 88s and a single Do 17 and I./KG 3 had 32 of its 41 Ju 88s operational. Both were under II Fliegerkorps, Luftflotte 2, supporting Army Group Centre.
  Dęblin–Ulez was home to II./KG 3, which fielded 32 operational Do 17s to of the 38 available. III./KG 3 moved to Suwałki, but owing to operations in the Balkans, only 18 of the 44 Do 17s were operational. Third group was placed under the command of Fliegerkorps VIII, Luftflotte 2.
  On 22 June I./KG 3 attacked Pinsk airfield. The target was the Red Air Force 10th Composite Air Division. The lack of preparedness on the Soviet side allowed the Staffelkapitän, 3./KG 3, Ernst-Wilhelm Ihrig was free to make six low-level passes. He claimed to have destroyed 60 aircraft on the ground. Soviet records showed the 39th High Speed Bomber Regiment (SBAP) of the Division lost 43 Tupolev SB bombers and five Petlyakov Pe-2s. I./KG 3 assisted in the capture of Brest-Livotsk and the destruction of the city fortress, flying operations on 28 June, along with II./KG 3 which specifically targeted Brest Fortress.
  II./KG 3 carried out bombing operation in the Smolensk (1 July), Bobruisk and Bryansk areas (3 July). I./KG 3 was mainly operational in the Mogilev region from 4 to 5 July. III./KG 3 attack Polotsk and Nevel on 4 July and on 5 July assisted III./KG 2 in attack Vitebsk. The raid destroyed 22 of the 183 aircraft claimed by the Luftwaffe on this date. II. fought in the Battle of Smolensk on 7 July while III./KG 3 rendered aid to Army Group Centre from 10–13 July. I./KG 3 bombed targets around Orsha on 19 July. All three Gruppen bombed Moscow on 22 July. On 24 July, III./KG 3, with I./KG 2, attacked the Soviet Reserve Front, with the 24th Army and 13th Army offensive in the Belyy and Yartsevo sector. The two German units claimed 40 vehicles that day. The aircraft of Luftflotte 2 destroyed 100 tanks, 1,500 motor vehicles, 41 artillery guns, 24 anti aircraft batteries between 29 July and 4 August supporting the destruction of the Smolensk encirclement.
  III./KG 3 was transferred to northward to support Army Group North. It was still under the command of Fliegerkorps VIII on 3 August. It was placed under the tactical command of Stab./KG 2. based at Dedovichi, it operated over the Lake Ilmen area. It staged through to Ryebitsy, and bombed Dno on 30 August. It supported the advance of the 18th Amy and the 4th Panzer Army to Lake Ladoga and Leningrad. II./KG 3, based at Orsha from 1 August, bombed Vyazma on 8 August and Kursk on 1 September. I./KG 3, based at Orsha from 30 July, and assisted the advance on Orel on 15 September and raided Vyazma again on 16th. I./KG 3 was involved in the Battle of Kiev in September.
  By 9 September 1941, KG 3 had been credited with the destruction of 450 aircraft on the ground, 21 in aerial combat, 30 tanks, 488 vehicles, 349 rail cars, seven armoured trains, 27 artillery guns and 14 bridges from 22 June. The Do 17 elements disrupted flew 290 sorties against troop concentrations, barracks, supply depots and interrupted rail traffic on 332 occasions.
  In October 1941 KG 3 supported Operation Typhoon, the Battle of Moscow. In the initial attacks, KG 3, with KG 53, focused on bombing Soviet airfields. III./KG 3 operated from Vitebsk on 1 October and when the offensive began the following day, the 3rd Panzer Army and the 9th Army toward Moscow. I./KG 3 was involved in the advance in the southeast, completing operations at Tambov on 25 November before withdrawing to Germany. It bombed Moscow twice during the offensive, on 20 October and 6 November. II./KG 3 bombed Kirov on the opening day, Moscow on the 27 October and 9 November, as well as Kaluga on 21 December, weeks after the Soviet counteroffensive. II./KG 3 lingered on the front until 22 February, and between then and April 1942 left for Germany to refit and rest. III./KG 3 remained in combat with the Kalinin Front and in action over the 
caption: Ju 88A of KG 3 Blitz, over Russia, September–October 1942
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