ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Sonderkommando Elbe

Okay kiddo, so Sonderkommando Elbe was a group of German fighter pilots during World War II. Their job was to do kamikaze attacks where they would crash their planes into enemy planes. They did this because there weren't enough German planes to go around and they wanted to take out as many enemy planes as possible.

But why did they call themselves Sonderkommando Elbe?

That's a good question! The word "sonderkommando" means "special unit" in German, and the Elbe part refers to the Elbe River in Germany, where the group was based.

But why did they have to do kamikaze attacks?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, there weren't enough German planes to go around, so they had to get creative with their tactics. Kamikaze attacks were a way for them to try to take out as many enemy planes as possible, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives.

That sounds really dangerous!

Yes, it was very dangerous. Kamikaze attacks were often seen as a last resort and were used when a mission was deemed too difficult to complete with traditional attack strategies.

Wow, thanks for explaining it to me!