KG 55 was one of the longest serving and well-known in the Luftwaffe. The wing operated the Heinkel He exclusively until , when only two staffeln of its four Gruppen Groups used the Junkers Ju 88 C.
Founded in May , the Geschwader Wing was a product of a late surge in expanding the size of the Luftwaffe medium bomber forces. The formation of the wing began on 1 May with the creation of the command Stab Gruppe Group and I. KG 55 first saw action in the German invasion of Poland in September During the Phoney War βSeptember βApril βthe bomber wing flew armed reconnaissance missions over France. In June the unit's Gruppen participated in Operation Barbarossa and spent the next years on the Eastern front.
KG 55 flew most of its operations on the southern sector in support of Army Group South , a front-level battle group of the German Army. KG 55's groups participated in the early successes which included the large battles of encirclements at Kiev and First Battle of Kharkov.
The command also took part in the Battle of Moscow and bombed the city. KG 55 continued to operate as a bomber unit and air supply unit to support the German Army and also undertook some strategic bombing operations in and In the aftermath of the Battle of Kursk the unit was increasingly forced to fly at night owing to the Soviet Air Force achieving air superiority. In October I. The Gruppen remained active until the last day of the war. The independent For the duration of the war, KG 55 flew 54, combat operations, dropped 60, metric tons of bombs, carried 7, metric tons of supplies from 1 September to 1 October The Geschwader lost men killed in action and missing.
On 1 April a unit called the Hanseatische Fliegerschule e. This organisation was formed into a Geschwader wing and created as a Kampfgeschwader battle or bomber wing on 1 May The command staffel squadron , or Stab unit, was created from KG , a defunct bomber unit on 1 May The organisation was created at Giessen aerodrome and was subordinated to Luftflotte 4 Air Fleet 4.
