Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (StG 1) was a prominent Luftwaffe dive bomber wing during World War II, primarily equipped with the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka (including B, R, and D variants) and operating from May 1939 until its redesignation as Schlachtgeschwader 1 (SG 1) on 18 October 1943, after which it transitioned toward close air support and ground-attack roles. Formed with I. Gruppe at Insterburg in East Prussia on 1 May 1939 from I./StG 160 under Major Werner Rentsch, followed by the Stab at Juterbog on 18 November 1939 under Oberst Eberhard Baier (later succeeded by Oberstleutnant Walter Hagen and Gustav Pressler), and subsequent II. and III. Gruppen in 1940, StG 1 flew some of the earliest missions of the war on 1 September 1939, striking the Dirschau bridge and Polish targets to open the invasion of Poland as an independent Gruppe under Luftflotte 1. It participated extensively in Operation Weserubung in Norway with long-range Ju 87R aircraft for maritime interdiction, sinking or damaging numerous Allied warships and supply vessels; supported the Western Campaign and Battle of Britain under VIII. Fliegerkorps with anti-shipping strikes in the English Channel; took part in the Balkans Campaign; and then played a major role on the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa and subsequent campaigns, including the battles of Bialystok-Minsk, Smolensk, and Kursk, providing close air support to the Heer while suffering heavy losses (60 Ju 87s in aerial combat by the end of Barbarossa alone). Throughout its existence, StG 1 conducted precision dive-bombing for offensive counter-air, anti-tank warfare, air interdiction, and limited anti-partisan operations across multiple theaters, earning numerous Knight's Cross awards for its crews and commanders such as Paul-Werner Hozzel, Helmut Mahlke, and Anton Keil, before its reorganization reflected the Luftwaffe's shift from dedicated dive bombing to more versatile Schlacht units amid growing Allied air superiority.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Generalmajor Walter Hagen (1897-1963) was a German Luftwaffe officer and highly decorated Stuka pilot who rose from World War I cavalry and naval aviation service to command key dive-bomber formations in the Second World War. Born in Kiel, Hagen volunteered for the Husaren-Regiment 13 in 1915, transferred to pilot training in 1917, and flew with naval aviation units before becoming a Junkers test pilot in the interwar years; he re-entered the Luftwaffe in the 1930s, establishing the carrier-based I./Trägergeschwader 186 (Stuka component) in 1938. As Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./186 (later redesignated III./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1), he led his unit through the Polish and French campaigns, where its precision attacks on airfields, bridges, troop concentrations, railway facilities, and an ammunition train near Beaune exemplified the devastating effectiveness of Ju 87 dive-bombers in close air support; for these achievements and the Gruppe’s overall successes, Hagen received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 July 1940. Promoted to Oberstleutnant and appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 in June 1940, he directed operations over the English Channel, the Balkans, the Mediterranean from bases in Trapani (striking Malta, Tobruk, and naval targets), and then the Eastern Front after June 1941. By late 1940 his Geschwader had sunk 210,000 GRT of Allied shipping and heavily damaged another 306,500 GRT, a record that, together with sustained battlefield impact across multiple theaters, earned him the Eichenlaub (77th award) on 17 February 1942 as Oberstleutnant. Later commands included Fliegerführer roles in Tunisia, Albania, and Kroatien (redesignated Fliegerführer Nord-Balkan), culminating in leadership of the 17. Flieger-Division until war’s end; promoted to Generalmajor on 1 July 1944, he was wounded in a Fi 156 crash in Tunisia in March 1943, mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht, and ultimately released from U.S. captivity in 1947, dying in his native Kiel after a long illness.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturzkampfgeschwader_1
https://www.ww2.dk/air/attack/stg1.htm
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