By April 1945, the German front in the west had disintegrated and in the east the Red Army had encircled Berlin. Despite its belated use of advanced turbojet and rocket propelled aircraft for the destruction of Allied bombers fleets, the Luftwaffe was overwhelmed by the Allies' superior numbers and improved tactics, and a lack of trained pilots and aviation fuel. All but overrun, the mass surrender of German military personnel began. All that remained of the Luftwaffe were scattered wrecks over airfields that were virtually aircraft 'graveyards'. the Luftwaffe was disbanded in 1946.

Wreckage of Luftwaffe aircraft at Hopsten in the summer of 1945 [Via www.forgottenairfields.com]

Captured Luftwaffe equiptment - Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters awaiting disposal at Flensburg airfield in Germany, 2 August 1945 [Via © IWM (CL 3307)]

Cattle grazing amongst Junkers Ju 88 bombers awaiting disposal at Flensburg airfield in Germany, 2 August 1945 [Via (© (IWM CL 3306)]

Two members of a Royal Air Force Disarmament Wing check an aircraft wreckage dump at Flensburg airfield. Here the fuselage of a Junkers Ju.52 transport aircraft can be seen lying over a Focke Wulf Fw.190 [Via © IWM (CL 3304)]

An officer from a Royal Air Force Disarmament Wing check propellors removed from German aircraft at Flensburg airfield [Via © IWM (CL 3305)]

Junkers Ju 88 night fighters awaiting scrapping at Grove airfield in Denmark, 2 August 1945 [Via © IWM (CL 3303)]

German prisoners of war remove the machine guns from a Messerschmitt Bf 110G night fighter under the supervision of a Royal Air Force armament officer, 1945 [Via © IWM (CL 3298)]

German prisoners of war paint British markings on a Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighter in preparation for the aircraft to be flown to England for evaluation, August 1945 [Via © IWM (CL 3297)]

British troops inspecting abandoned German Gotha Go 145 training aircraft at Celle airport, 13 April 1945 [Via © IWM (BU 3432)]

British troops inspecting abandoned German Gotha Go 145, and a solitary Arado Ar 96, training aircraft at Celle airport, 13 April 1945 [Via © IWM (BU 3433)]

A hangar full of wrecked German aircraft at Schmarbeck airfield, Germany, 20 April 1945. In the foreground are Heinkel He 111 and He 177 bombers [Via © IWM (BU 4123)]

A Junkers Ju 88G aircraft in a hangar at Wunstorf airfield, captured by the 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, 8 April 1945 [Via © IWM (BU 3262)]

A Junkers Ju 88 aircraft in a hangar at Wunstorf airfield, captured by the 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, 8 April 1945 [Via © IWM (BU 3261)]

An abandoned Messerschmitt Bf 109G and a pair of Ju 88G night-fighters in a hangar at Wunstorf airfield in Germany, captured by 6th Airborne Division, 8 April 1945 [Via © IWM (BU 3260)]

A British soldier examines a row of partially complete Messerschmitt Me 109G fuselages in a hangar at Wunstorf airfield, captured by the 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, 8 April 1945. The aircraft have been disassembled and their paintwork stripped as part of a refurbishment that was never completed [Via © IWM (BU 3265)]

German prisoners of war assist a sergeant of a Royal Air Force Disarmament Wing make an inventory of aircraft spare parts at Kjeller airfield neat Oslo [Via © IWM (CL 2914)]

Bf 109 G-10 (Erla-built) "White 13" of III./ JG 300, Wunstorf, 13 April 1945 [Via falkeeins.blogspot.com]

Abandonned Bf 109 G-10, G-14 and Fw 190 A's, taken at Plzen airport in June 1945 [Via forum.12oclockhigh.net]

Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-8, white 21, W.Nr 682989, 1./JG 301, Nuremberg, 1946 [Via www.ahctv.com]

Sheeps grazing near an abandoned a Luftwaffe hangar in Leipzig, 1945 [Via i.imgur.com]

Focke Wulf Fw 190D9 Werk nr 631444 abandoned Eschwege near Kassel 1945 [Via www.asisbiz.com]

Heinkel He 219A0 Werk Nr 190176 left abandoned Germany 1945 [Via www.asisbiz.com]

Abandoned on a Danish airfield, 1945. The He 177 was the Luftwaffe's only (and unsuccessful) attempt at fielding a four-engine long-range bomber [Via damijwh.blogspot.com]

A night fighter version of the Ju88 with radar (the tentacles on the nose are the antennas) abandoned on a Danish airfield in 1945 [Via www.manufaktur.dk]

Me 262A Schwalbe abandoned on a German airfield graveyard 1945 [Via www.asisbiz.com]

JG 51, Fels am Wagram, in May 1945 after the Red Army had overrun the airfield (Veteran collection by Marc-André Haldimann) [Via www.forgottenairfields.com]

Abandoned Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe jet fighter, Germany, 1945 [Via www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org]

1 Me 262A1a Schwalbe JV44 aircraft destroyed before being abandoned Brandenburg 1945 [Via www.asisbiz.com]

An Me 262B-1a/U1 night fighter, with Neptun radar antenna on the nose and second seat for a radar operator, surrendered to the RAF at Schleswig in May 1945 [Via www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org]