Spotlight

Junkers

Ju 52

17 Pages in detail

70 Origin
and history
72 Men behind
the Junkers
78 Ju 52 in profile
80 In combat Junkers at war
86 From the
archive

Main picture

Junkers Ju 52 M501 at Croydon Airport

on January 1, 1946. KEY

This month, Spotlight shines on a legendary

German aircraft that flew in several theatres of
war, as well as fulfilling civilian roles both before
and after the conflict. Nicknamed Tante Ju by
many, the distinctive three-engined transport
was rugged and dependable, despite its relatively
primitive appearance. With exclusive artwork and rarely
seen images, we look back on the service record of a
long-lived soldier of the skies.

Spotlight
Junkers
Ju 52

Ju 52
Scrutinizes the history of...

The Junkers

Above

Pictured at Ivato in
Madagascar, Ju 52
F-BALO served with
Air France for ten
years from 1945.
BOTH KEY

he venerable Junkers Ju 52
was the most significant
German transport aircraft
of World War Two. An
aircraft as famous for its unusual
appearance as for its remarkably
long service life, the Tante Ju
(Auntie Junkers) as it was sometimes
known, proved itself a rugged,
dependable and versatile machine.
With angular sides that resembled
corrugated fencing, and a distinctive
tri-motor configuration, the Ju 52
(also nicknamed Iron Annie) was
and still is an unmistakeable aircraft.
Designed by Ernst Zindel and
his team at Junkers headquarters
in Dessau, Germany, it was loosely
based on the W 33 that was produced
between 1927 and 1934, when just
under 200 were built. Like the W 33,
the Ju 52 was originally envisaged as
being powered by just one engine.
Seven prototypes were completed,
but all were far too ponderous and
slow. The first of these flew on
October 13, 1930. All subsequent
models were built with three engines,
and while the resulting aircraft was
still not among the fastest in the
skies, it was clearly fit for its intended
purpose as a transport for national
airline Luft Hansa.

70 FLYPAST October 2016

Early days

The first examples of the breed

were fitted with Pratt & Whitney
Hornet radials, but the majority
flew with BMW 123 nine-cylinder
engines, the latter being a licencebuilt version of the Hornet. Some
export models were powered by
Pratt & Whitney Wasp or Bristol
Pegasus VI units.
The Ju 52/3m (the designation
given to the definitive, three-engined
model) was initially produced as a
17-seat airliner. Used mainly by Luft
Hansa, it could fly from Berlin to
Rome in eight hours. The aircraft
was to find fame during World
War Two, but its first military
use appears to have been with the
Colombian Air Force in the 19321933 Colombia-Peru War, with
three examples fitted with floats to
operate from water. Bolivia used
four Ju 52s in the 1932-1935 Chaco
War (a struggle with Paraguay over
disputed territory), mostly for air
supply and medical evacuation.
In 1934, Junkers secretively began
developing its creation for military
use with the Luftwaffe, fitting it
with two bomb bays and defensive
armament in the form of three
7.92mm MG 15 machine guns.

Due to a number of problems with

the unpopular Dornier Do 11, the
Junkers was adopted as Germanys
primary bomber, at least until the
arrival of the Heinkel He 111 and
Dornier Do 17. The Iron Annie
was used extensively in the Spanish
Civil War, participating in the now
notorious bombing of Guernica in
April 1937. It continued to serve in
this role into the early days of World
War Two, targeting Warsaw and other
Polish cities in September 1939.

Wartime role

From this point onwards in the

conflict, the type was used as
a military transport typical
operations included dropping
paratroopers, evacuating casualties,
flying in essential supplies, and
standard transport duties. Eighteen
soldiers could be accommodated,
or 12 stretchers. For easy loading,
cargo or equipment could be
brought in through side doors by
means of a ramp, while supplies
could be jettisoned through two
double chutes. Containers could also
be dropped by parachute through
bomb bay doors. Even half-track
motorcycles could be secured within
and dropped with four parachutes.

SPOT FACT Ecuador, Uruguay and

Lebanon were among its many operators

Origin & history

Left

Junkers Ju 52 D-TABX
was one of many civilian
aircraft pressed into
Luftwaffe service. It wore
the red cross symbol to
indicate it was a noncombatant aircraft.

The first major operation of the

war involving Ju 52s took place
on April 9, 1940, when 52 aircraft
from Kampfgeschwader 1 flew in
troops to capture the Danish city
of Aalborg. Hundreds of Junkers
were then used to transport soldiers
to Norway. Large-scale attacks
were also made on the Netherlands

in May, although the huge losses

(278 on May 10 alone) may have
prompted the Luftwaffes decision
to avoid using the slow-moving trimotors in the Battle of Britain.
The Ju 52 lumbered on
throughout World War Two,
mostly serving as supply aircraft
with some providing personal

transport for high-ranking officials.

Antiquated it may have been, but
the type proved immensely reliable,
and continued to fly in civilian
hands for decades after the end of
hostilities. Many were built after
the war by CASA in Spain, and a
handful (mostly Spanish-built) are
still airworthy today.

Junkers Ju 52/3m

AT A GLANCE: RANGE (miles)

0

200

400

600

800
800

Construction:

AT A GLANCE: CRUISE (mph)

0

50

100

150

First Flight:
Powerplant:

138

Dimension:
Weight:
Performance:

AT A GLANCE: CEILING (feet)

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

Armament:
20,000

19,360

Crew:

A total of 4,845 were made in Germany, plus around 600 in Spain, France and
Hungary.
The single-engined prototype first flew on October 13, 1930, with the threeengined version flying on March 7, 1932.
Three 725hp (540kW) BMW123A-3 nine-cylinder radials; later 830hp BMW123Ts,
driving two-bladed propellers.
Span 95ft 11in (29.5m). Length 62ft 0in. Height 18ft 2in. Wing area 1,190 sq ft
(110.5 sq m).
Empty 12,610lb (5,720kg). Loaded 23,150lb.
Max speed 171mph (275km/h). Service ceiling 19,360ft (5,900m). Typical cruise
speed 138mph. Range 800 miles (1,287km).
Typically one 7.92mm machine gun in dorsal and ventral positions plus 500kg
bomb load. Some armed variants had a 13mm dorsal gun and additional
7.92mm beam guns.
Usually three two pilots and radio operator.

Note: performance and weights varied according to role and configuration.

415

of the post-war French AAA.1 Toucan versions were built

October 2016 FLYPAST 71

Spotlight
Junkers
Ju 52

Masterpi
F

ew aircraft that were not

built for combat tasks have
enjoyed enduring and
acclaimed reputations. There
are some notable exceptions: Britains
Short Empire flying-boat (which
led to the Sunderland), the Douglas
DC-3/C-47 and the versatile
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch all performed
admirably in a multitude of roles.
But arguably, in terms of longevity,
performance and adaptability, the
Junkers Ju 52 must rank at the top.
In many respects, the definitive
Ju 52/3m had been a long time
coming. Its origins can be traced
back to the constructional methods
of Professor Hugo Junkers, and
later, to the innovation of his chief
designer, Ernst Zindel.

Metal man

Hugo Junkers was born

in the Rhineland town
of Rheydt on February

Professor Hugo Junkers celebrating his 75th birthday at a Munich skating

rink on February 3, 1934. ALL VIA AUTHOR UNLESS NOTED

72 FLYPAST October 2016

3, 1859. After school, he studied

at the Technical Universities at
Berlin-Charlottenburg, Karlsruhe
and Aachen. A man of slight build,
upright bearing and refined features,
with a penchant for wing collars way
after they went out of fashion, Hugo
possessed the air of a schoolmaster,
but was an ambitious inventor,
researcher and engineer.
In 1888 he began work on the
development of large gas engines
for Wilhelm von Oechelhuser
at Dessau, and the following year
the pair founded a joint venture
enterprise, though they parted
company in 1893. Two years
later, Hugo established Junkers
und Compagnie at Dessau and in
1897 was appointed Professor of
Thermodynamics at the Technical
University of Aachen.
Aged almost 50, Hugo began
to investigate aerodynamics and
aircraft construction. From 1910 he

SPOT FACT It flew with over 12 air

carriers including Swissair and Lufthansa

piece

Men Behind
the Ju 52

Robert Forsyth pays homage to the men who

created the legendary transport, the rugged Junkers
Ju 52

worked on the principles of vertical

flow, as well as thick wing profiles
incorporating rigid design. With a
colleague, Professor Hans Reiner,
Hugo set up the first experimental
wind tunnel in Aachen in 1912.
Crucially, in 1913 he began to
conduct tests using sheet metal as a
component of aircraft construction.
His work interested the German
military and in September 1915
Hugo oversaw production of the
Junkers J1, the worlds first all-metal
cantilever monoplane. Nicknamed
Blechesel (Tin Donkey) it first took
to the air on December 12, 1915
proving to the world that an allmetal aeroplane could fly, and it was
12mph (20km/h) faster than any
machine of the time.

Corrugations

There had been delays to Hugos

much-anticipated two-seat,
ground-attack biplane and in

1917 the German government

ordered the amalgamation of
Anthony Fokkers Schwerin-based
Fokker Flugzeugwerke and Hugos
interests to form Junkers und
Fokker Flugzeugwerke at Dessau.
It was felt that Fokker could bring
production management skills to
bear and overcome delays on the
aforementioned ground-attack
biplane.
In 1917 the company developed
the J7 monoplane fighter using
Duralumin for the first time. This
was a light metal alloy with the
strength of mild steel but only about
a third of the weight.
Junkers concluded that corrugated
Duralumin was a very suitable
material. Although parasitic drag
was more of a problem than with

500

Top right

Junkers workers at
Dessau using pneumatic
hand tools to assemble
the all-metal fuselage of
a Ju 52/3m in the late
1930s.
Above

The Junkers J1, the

worlds first all-metal,
cantilever monoplane.
LUFTHANSA

Left

The second prototype

Ju 52/1m, powered by
an Armstrong Siddeley
Leopard radial, in
floatplane form.
ROLLS-ROYCE

kg of bombs could be carried (in bomber versions)

October 2016 FLYPAST 73

SPOT FACT The Spanish Air Force operated the Ju 52,

nicknamed Pava, until well into the 1970s

Zindel came up with

a new, large transport
that would be
inexpensive to build,
be easy to maintain
and could operate
from grass airfields

74 FLYPAST October 2016

smooth skins, it was not much of an

issue considering the low speeds of
the time. The J7s corrugated skin
was fixed over a tube frame; it first
flew in September 1917.
In the dark wake of the war,
Junkers waited until the ban on
the manufacture of commercial
aircraft in Germany, imposed under
the terms of the Versailles Treaty
of 1919, was eventually lifted. In
October 1920, a quietly spoken,

23-year-old former infantryman,

who had been badly wounded
during the war, Ernst Zindel,
joined the firm. A ship designer by
profession, Ernst worked closely
with Hugo to produce a range of
all-metal, two- and three-engine
commercial transports and airliners.

One motor

In 1928 Hugo asked Zindel to

come up with a new, large transport

Men Behind
the Ju 52
South West African combatants
The first Junkers Ju 52 export was to
Canadian Airways in 1931. Powered by a
single Armstrong Siddeley Leopard radial,
CF-ARM was reassembled in Montreal and
made several flights over eastern Canada
and the northeastern US states. The Leopard
Junkers Ju 52/1m CF-ARM of Canadian Pacific on skis.
struggled with the harsh climate of North
America and it was replaced by a BMW VIIa.
Known as the White Elephant and the
Flying Boxcar it was the largest aircraft
in Canada at the time. Undertaking supply
flights to remote trapper stations along the
Hudson Bay, it carried dynamite, ore buckets,
lumber, furs and fish. From 1941 CF-ARM
served with Canadian Pacific, operating on
wheels, floats and skis with few difficulties.
Later fitted with an 825hp Rolls-Royce
Buzzard in-line, CF-ARM was eventually
scrapped in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1947.
A replica Ju52/1m was recreated in Winnipeg,
In 1979 a former Spanish Air Force CASACanada by a team of British Aerospace engineers.
built Ju 52 was acquired by the Wings and
The aircraft was rolled out in April 1985. KEY
Wheels Museum at Orlando, Florida. The
CASA 352L was donated to the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada at Winnipeg and
ferried there on May 11, 1982. Its three radials were removed and the airframe was converted
to Ju 52/1 configuration by a team from Bristol Aerospace. The aircraft was rolled out in
Canadian Airways colours in April 1985 and has been on display ever since.

that would be inexpensive to build,

able to carry a payload of 4,400lb
(2,000kg), be easy to maintain and
could operate from grass airstrips.
Zindel designed a low-wing cantilever
monoplane known by the project
reference EF 30.
Powered by a water-cooled 680hp
(507kW) BMW VIIa, the EF 30 was
estimated to have a maximum speed
of 118mph. The box-like fuselage
had a main freight hold 21ft (6.4m)
in length and, as Zindel described:
in the fuselage roof there was a large,
1.5m by 1.2m hatch for loading
heavy, bulky loads from above by
means of a crane.
Construction began in 1929 under
the designation Ju 52. Going against
the recommendations of senior
airline personnel figures it was to be,
exclusively, a freighter.
On September 11, 1930, the
prototype Ju 52/1m, (1m, standing
for one motor), D-1974, embarked
on its maiden flight from Dessau.
All went well with the need for only
a few minor alterations. A second
example was completed in January
1931, fitted with a British 800hp
Armstrong Siddeley Leopard radial.
The Junkers team became frustrated
by the lack of orders. Even as limited
production was under way, Junkers

585

and Zindel knew they would have

to adapt their design. With the rapid
increase in commercial aviation
and passenger traffic, the national
airline Deutsche Luft Hansa (DLH)
was demanding a SchnellverkehrsGroflugzeug (high-speed large
transport aircraft). Greater speed and
a larger payload meant more engines.

Tri-motor

Intuitively, in April 1931 Zindel had

overseen the installation of dummy,
engineless nacelles with two-blade
propellers fitted to each wing of a Ju
52/1m in order to assess drag. The
effect proved minimal and aside from
minor strengthening of the wings
and undercarriage, it was relatively
straightforward to create a three-motor
using the basic airframe of the /1m.
Based on the Pratt & Whitney
Hornet radial, the planned air-cooled
BMW 132 wing engines were canted
outwards slightly so that directional
stability could be maintained if one
engine failed.
Initial testing revealed drag
problems. Zindel and BMW
technicians re-engineered the design
to incorporate a cowling, influenced
by the British Townend ring, around
the cylinders of the centre engine to
reduce drag but maintain cooling.

Cladding over the undercarriage struts

was streamlined as a result of tests in
the Junkers wind tunnel. One of the
most recognisable aircraft of all time,
the Ju 52/3m, had arrived.

First war

An order for two Ju 52/3ms from

Lloyd Areo Boliviano of Bolivia was
received in 1932. The pair had not
long arrived in Bolivia when they
were commandeered and hastily
adapted as military transports by the
nations air arm, the Fuerza Area
Boliviana. They were destined for
service in the infamous Chaco
War, Latin Americas bloodiest 20th
century conflict.
The Bolivian Ju 52s gave a good
account of themselves during the war.
They flew twice-daily supply drops to
troops trapped in the Chaco region.
These were extremely hazardous
sorties, conducted at low level under
baking hot skies or in bad weather
and often in the face of enemy
ground fire.
On one occasion a Ju 52/3m was
used to transport two complete
batteries of artillery, one gun
being carried at a time, as well
as ammunition. Overnight, the
temperature would fall by 40,
compelling crews to drain the
oil from the engines to prevent it
freezing and causing damage.
The sight of a Ju 52/3m arriving at
a remote airstrip, laden with supplies
signalled to beleaguered troops hope
and relief, and for the wounded,
escape via airlift. The tri-motors
sturdy metal construction was well
suited to the primitive, mountainous
landing grounds where fuel would
usually have to be hand-pumped
into the wing tanks, a procedure that
took hours. It was a challenging

Top, left to right

Dr Ernst Zindel, designer

of the Ju 52.
Bolivian military
personnel heaving a
75mm field gun through
the port-side loading
hatch of a Ju 52/3m
during the Chaco War
in 1933.
Freshly manufactured
ESAC 250/IX electricallyoperated vertical bomb
stowage cells of the type
installed in the Ju 52/3m.
Bottom left

Ten Ju 52/3ms clustered

on the concrete at
Berlin-Tempelhof in the
mid-1930s.

Ju 52s were built after the end of World War Two

October 2016 FLYPAST 75

SPOT FACT The Spanish produced

the aircraft until 1952

52s of Austria, Belgium, Denmark,

Hungary, Poland, Sweden and
Switzerland gave Tempelhof a
distinctly international atmosphere.

Moving an army

Top left

German and
Spanish Nationalist
personnel gather
around a Ju 52/3m
of the Legion
Condor.
Above

The rugged
construction of the
Ju 52s airframe
is apparent in this
view of preserved
D-AQUI undergoing
overhaul by
Lufthansa, prior to
its return to flight.
KEY

Bottom right

A formation of three
Spanish-flown Ju
52/3ms of the 3
Escuadrilla Tres
Marias, Grupo
de Bombardeo
Nocturno, on a
combat mission with
both dorsal and
ventral gunners at
their positions.

task for a small number of Junkers

to drop the supplies needed to keep
thousands of cut-off men provided
with food, water, ammunition and
general equipment.

Airline ambitions

The exploits of the Bolivian

transports, with some irony, made
senior figures within the German air
ministry and DLH sit up and take
notice.
The ambition and scale of DLHs
development and expansion under
the Nazi government during the
1930s knew almost no bounds.
On June 15, 1932, airline test
pilot Willy Polte evaluated a Ju
52/3m and his report was so positive
that DLH placed a large order.
Even the Fhrers personal pilot,
SS-Gruppenfhrer Hans Baur, flew
one of the early Ju 52s and found it
to offer a major improvement over
other transports of the time.
Fitted out as relatively luxurious
airliners, DLH started using its
Ju 52/3ms on its Berlin-London,
Berlin-Rome and Munich-Vienna
routes, as well as on the night service
from Berlin to Knigsberg. From
the vast airport at Berlin-Tempelhof,
with its extended runways and ultramodern architecture, DLHs Junkers
flew over a progressively expanding
route network. In addition, the Ju

76 FLYPAST October 2016

Even as commercial air travel gained

in popularity and more Ju 52s were
being built, the clouds of war were
amassing over Europe. Particularly
volatile was Spain, where civil war
had broken out. There in 1936, as
in Bolivia in 1932, the Junkers was
pressed into service as a military
airlifter, when Hitler agreed to
send a fleet of 20 Ju 52/3mges to
Morocco, with the task of airlifting
Moroccan troops of Francisco
Francos Ejrcito de Africa (Army
of Africa) to temporary landing
grounds at Jerez de la Frontera and
Seville in Spain in order to bolster
the Nationalist military effort in the
southern part of the country.
These flights were highly
dangerous; the Ju 52/3ms were laden
to capacity. All seating was removed
and the Moros would sit on the
metal floors clutching their rifles
and personal packs with their knees
drawn up to their chins.
From late July 1936 the Junkers
usually flew three to four missions
per day across the Alboran Sea and
the Strait of Gibraltar at between
8,200 and 11,500ft in order to
evade government ship-mounted
anti-aircraft guns. By October 11,
the Ju 52s had hauled 13,523 men
and nearly 60,000lb of equipment
and supplies, including 36 pieces of
artillery and 127 machine guns to
the Spanish mainland.
It was the first time that such an
airlift had been attempted and
with such success. Harking back
to this operation in 1942, Hitler
commented famously: Franco
ought to erect a monument to the
glory of the Junkers 52.

Makeshift bomber

While it was important as a transport,

for the duration of the Spanish Civil
War, Ju 52/3ms flew successful
bomber operations, both with the
German Legion Condor and with
the Spanish Nationalist Air Force. Yet
only a few years earlier the inter-war
Reichswehrs Heereswaffenamt (Army
Ordnance Office) had concluded
that the tri-motor had no future
whatsoever as a bomber.
The shift had come as a result
of Generalleutnant Erhard Milch,
Secretary of State at the Reich Air
Ministry, expressing the opinion in
1935 that, in the absence of anything
else being immediately available
to the new Luftwaffe in adequate
numbers, the Ju 52/3m could be used
as a Behelfsbomber (emergency or
provisional bomber).
Zindel recalled: All considerations
had been directed towards the
deployment of the three-engined
passenger aircraft exclusively for use in
times of peace. In reality, even the idea
of horizontal suspension of small 50kg
bombs in the Ju 52s large fuselage,
was really not at all suitable and the
bombs would be restricted by the
limited space between the four main,
low-wing, cross-spars... Never for a
moment did we intend for the Ju 52
to be used for military purposes.
The expedient solution was an
electrically-operated suspension cell
a vertical bomb rack developed in the
1920s; six of which could be installed
quite easily in three bomb bays
between the spaces in the Ju 52/3ms
cross-members. These cells could hold
either six 551lb SC-250 or two dozen
110lb SC-50 Minenbomben (aerial
mines) or 90 SC-10 Splitterbomben
(fragmentation bombs).

Horror at Guernica

In Spain, the Behelfsbombers were

assigned to the Legion Condors

Men Behind
the Ju 52

Kampfgruppe 88 (K/88 bomb

group 88). Comprising three Staffeln
(squadrons), numbering officially
at least, 12 aircraft each, K/88 flew
sorties from airfields in the Salamanca
area in support of the Nationalist
offensive on Madrid in 1936.
On November 15, a large formation
of 34 Ju 52s took off from Salamanca
to bomb the port of Cartagena in a
rare strategic attack. It was decided to
make every effort to prevent bombers
from having to fly over mountainous,
Republican-held territory.
Thus, 40 tons of aviation fuel
and six tons of oil together with
signals equipment and personnel,
meteorologists and mechanics, were
shipped from Cadiz to North Africa
under escort from warships and
submarines. Loaded with maximum
bomb loads, the Ju 52/3ms made the
hazardous landing in Africa at midday
and took off four hours later in pairs
for Cartagena with intervals of ten
minutes between each pair.
By 17:30 hours, the Junkers were
over the target and reconnaissance
aircraft reported huge fires raging in
the port. Enemy warships anchored
there were forced to withdraw, but
two vessels were hit and burst into

flames, and the port was put out of

commission. The next day, all the
bombers returned safely to Salamanca.
That evening they went out to attack
Madrid once again.
Missions continued throughout the
civil war, often at low level against
enemy transport, troop columns and
fortifications, despite the Junkers
relatively low speed and minimal
defensive armament. Occasionally,
missions took place at night.
On April 26, 1937 between 16:30
and 19:30, Ju 52s from K/88 took
part in the infamous air attack on
the Basque town of Guernica. The
assault saw the first effective use of
carpet bombing as a technique,
killing hundreds of civilians in the
process. It was immortalised in the
famous Picasso painting, which

graphically captures the horror.

By November however, the Ju 52
had largely been phased out as a result
of the arrival of the new Heinkel
He 111. The last Ju 52 bombing
operation was flown by Spanish crews
against the Republican-held town of
Belmez on March 26, 1939. Despite
doing everything asked of it as a
Behelfsbomber in Spain, the Ju 52/3m
transport lacked manoeuvrability,
power, sufficient defensive armament
and communications.
But this was just the European
military debut for an aircraft that
became truly multi-role and saw
service with the Luftwaffe, not just
as a general airlifter, but also as a
bomber, paratroop-carrier, ambulance,
floatplane, mine-hunter, trainer,
courier and VIP transport.

Above left

After the war, this Ju 52

fuselage was used as a
clubhouse at the Miles
aircraft factory. What
appears to be the remains
of a Miles M32 Libelulla
lie underneath the nose.
KEY

Above

The versatility of the

Ju 52 design was
considerable, with several
floatplane variants being
constructed. This civilian
Canadian example shows
the complex float layout.
KEY

Ju 52 floatplanes were used by Columbia in the 1932-1933 Columbia-Peru War

October 2016 FLYPAST 77

Spotlight
Junkers
Ju 52

Lord

of the Ring
Andy Hay artwork of a Ju 52 that was fitted with a mine-sweeping
degaussing ring

Artwork

Junkers Ju
52/3mg7e PD+KH
of MSGr1, based at
Budars, Hungary
in 1944. ANDY HAY2016

he Junkers Ju 52 was
put to many uses during
World War Two, though
it was primarily utilised
as a transport. Its reputation for
being rugged and dependable, and
its ability to operate from rough or
hastily prepared strips meant that it
was in constant demand, despite its
relatively crude, pre-war design, and
outdated corrugated fuselage.
Its most distinctive configuration
was as a minesweeper. A small
number of Ju 52/3ms were adapted

78 FLYPAST October 2016

to carry a large degaussing ring

beneath the fuselage, an electrical
loop that enabled it to detonate
magnetic mines. Although the
addition of the ring made the aircraft
unusually cumbersome, the Ju 52s
performed well in this field, being
one of the few designs capable of
carrying such large equipment
efficiently.
Our subject is Ju 52/3mg7e
PD+KH which operated with
Minensuchgruppe 1 (MSGr1) from
Budars airfield, Hungary, in the

summer of 1944. Before becoming

adapted as an MS (mine-searching)
variant, it was fitted with a large
loading hatch for cargo operations
typically transporting military
equipment or troops. Some of these
machines fell into enemy hands
in the closing days of the war,
occasionally with the degaussing ring
still fitted (see page 86).

SPOT FACT France produced the type

between 1945 and 1947

Ju 52
in profile

prototypes were completed as single-engined aircraft

October 2016 FLYPAST 79

Spotlight
Junkers
Ju 52

outh of mainland Greece lies

the island of Crete, a stepping
stone to North Africa and
the fourth largest island in
the Mediterranean. In 1941 Cretes
position gave it a strategic importance
to both Germany and Britain. For the
British the island served as a base from
which bombing operations could
be carried out against the Axis oil
fields in Romania. For Germany its
occupation would serve as a protective
screen against Allied strength in the
western Mediterranean.
By April 30, 1941 some 25,000
British troops had been evacuated
there from Greece and from mid-May
more were landed as reinforcements.
An attempt was to be made to hold
on to Crete to prevent it giving
the Germans a hold in the eastern
Mediterranean.
Hitler wanted to eliminate any
threat to southeast Europe posed by

80 FLYPAST October 2016

Tante
enemy air or naval forces in the eastern
Mediterranean. Operation Merkur,
the codename given to the German
airborne and amphibious conquest of
Crete, was fraught with difficulties.
The island would have to be seized
between the conclusion of operations
in Greece and the start of a new
campaign against Russia.
The means to achieve this utilised
the Luftwaffes Fallschirmjger
(paratroop) arm. This new form of
warfare had covered itself in glory
during the Blitzkrieg on Europe the
previous year.
Carrying the paratroopers would
be an unprecedented assembly of
transport aircraft the lumbering,
trusted and capable Junkers Ju 52. As
a mark of respect for these venerable
ladies, the tri-motors had become
universally known as Tante Ju
Auntie Ju a benign, elderly person
who would always look after you.

Operation Merkur

To carry paratroops to Crete

from bases in Greece, ten Ju
52/3m-equipped Kampfgruppen zur
besonderen Verwendung (KGrzbV,
special purpose bomb groups) were
assigned to XI Fliegerkorps - see
panel. Two waves of three Ju 52
Kampfgruppen, each having its own
objective, spearheaded the aerial
armada.
Following an initial Luftwaffe
bombing strike, the first wave was
scheduled to drop over Maleme
to secure the airfield for further
airborne landings and also over
the beaches of Khania to break
local enemy resistance. The second
surge would cover the airfields
at Rethimnon and Heraklion to
open the way for landings bringing
mountain troops the following day.
By early May, however, many of XI
Fliegerkorps Ju 52/3ms had been

17

SPOT FACT The aircraft was

designed by Ernst Zindel

e Ju
engaged in carrying supplies during
the campaigns in Yugoslavia and
Greece and were badly in need of
overhaul. Pulled back to Germany,
the repair shops worked around-theclock to restore the transports to full
serviceability.
Upon return to Greece, conditions
at the landing grounds were woefully
inadequate, with little infrastructure.
Fuel for the Ju 52s was shipped
to Greece from Romania via the
Aegean and from Italy via the
Corinth Canal, but three tankers
had been held up at Corinth while
the destroyed bridge there was
repaired.
The tankers finally docked late
on May 17. It was not until the
following day that fuel began to
arrive at the airfields where it took
another two days to replenish the
Junkers tanks.
Despite these adversities, over

Ju 52
in Combat

During the invasion of Crete and the Battle of

Stalingrad massed Junkers Ju 52s played a vital role.
Robert Forsyth explains

the night of May 19/20, ground

crews and paratroops worked hard
to prepare with little opportunity
for sleep. Weapons, equipment
and clothing were checked and
re-checked, and the Junkers loaded
with weapons containers, as well
as, in some aircraft, artillery pieces
with parachutes fitted. Then the
parachutists climbed aboard to wait.

Armada to Crete

In the early hours of May 20, the

engines of hundreds of Ju 52/3ms
thundered into life, sending dust
towering over the airfields. It took
20 minutes for these mechanically
generated clouds to disperse
and although at some fields,
groundcrews doused the earth with
water, the effort had little effect in
the dry, warm atmosphere. It took
many Junkers almost an hour to
assemble.

One paratrooper recalled: While

it is still dark, on airfields at Megara,
Corinth and a great number of other
places, the radial engines of the Jus are
roaring, flares are fired; white lights
which curve up into the night sky.
At that signal, shuddering and
quivering with the throbbing power
of their engines, the first of the 500
aircraft, which have been collected
for Merkur, roll along the runway,
gather speed and take off. The wing
lights are soon lost to sight in the
dust storm, which every departing
aircraft has thrown up, and only
then does the realisation come that
each machine taking off creates a
thick, opaque, blinding cloud of
sand.
Commencing at 08:00 hours,
V-shaped, three-aircraft sections
of Ju 52s dropped the paratroops
from 330 to 460ft (100 to 140m)
at 15-minute intervals. Every

Below

A line-up of Ju 52/3m
bombers of KG 152 in
typical pre-war splinterpattern camouflage
at Greifswald on May
27, 1938.

Operation Merkur
Units
KGrzbV 60, 101, 102, 106
KGrzbV 40, 105, I/LLG 1
KGzbV 1, 172

Greek bases
Topolia, Dadion
Tanagra, Eleusis
Megara, Corinth

Tactical commander
Oberst Rdiger von Heyking
Oberst Ulrich Buchholz
Oberst Gustav Wilke

Notes: KGzbV - Kampfgruppen zur besonderen Verwendung (special purpose bomb

group); LL - Luftlandes (airborne forces).

17

was the typical number of passengers that could be flown in the pre-war airliner
October 2016 FLYPAST 81

SPOT FACT The aircrafts unusual metal skin

was made of corrugated duralumin
nearly all the Ju 52s made it back
from Crete from the first mission,
several were badly shot up and some
machines crashed on landing.
Limited servicing resources and
lack of tow trucks meant damaged
aircraft could not be repaired or
cleared from the runways quickly
enough. Refuelling also took much
longer than anticipated.
Oberst von Heyking telephoned
the Chief of Staff at XI Fliegerkorps
and requested the postponement of
the take-off of the second wave.
When they did get airborne, the Ju
52s lacked the benefit of the surprise

Above

A German
Fallschirmjger
jumping from a Ju
52/3m low over
the countryside
during the western
campaign in May
1940.
Right

Paratroopers train
on the practice mat
as a row of Ju 52s
stand behind. KEY
Below

A gunner on board
a Ju 52/3mge
moving his 7.92mm
MG 15 machine gun
in the dorsal gun
mount.

second or third parachute carried a

weapons container.
As the paratroops landed around
Maleme and sought to recover their
weapons, a fierce battle ensued
against soldiers of a New Zealand
brigade. Some of the Fallschirmjger
were killed during their descents,
others shortly after landing. One
battalion was dropped far to the east
of its planned landing zone.
Fifty Ju 52s of KGrzbV 102 made
their approach over Khania Bay
and had to fly inland to avoid the
paratroops being blown out to sea
by the wind. This meant they were
compelled to pass over enemy antiaircraft guns at Pirgos and near
Modhion and this was
where the bulk of the
relatively few Junkers
losses occurred. When they
turned back towards
Greece, they were less
seven aircraft.

82 FLYPAST October 2016

Second wave

After refuelling, it was planned

that the Junkers would take off for
a second run, but this time there
were greater problems. Firstly, it
proved impossible to have all the
Ju 52s ready for a return run by
the intended time of 13:00 because
many had not returned from the
first flight until around 10:00.
Once again, clouds of dust plagued
organisation on the overcrowded
airfields. Furthermore, although

and shock that preceded the first

wave; there was no escort, advance air
strikes or glider-borne assault. Pilots
of the Junkers struggled to locate
the drop zones and there were signal
problems.
Nevertheless, five gruppen made for
Rethimnon, where the Fallschirmjger
took the airfield and pushed forward
in the direction of Suda Bay. Five
more were destined for Candia where
the airfield was seized and prepared for
future landings.

Ju 52
in Combat
When the Junkers dropped the
Fallschirmjger of the second wave,
they were vulnerable to enemy
infantry fire. Losses were heavy at 50%
of the force, with many men being
killed as they came down or caught
by enemy fire as they landed. Several
units alighted in the wrong place
because the Ju 52 crews were unable
to identify the correct drop zones and
units became split up.
During approach one paratroop
commander, observing previously
landed men lying in cover on the
ground, requested the pilots of the
Ju 52s carrying his men to go around
two or three times until an area that
appeared to be free of enemy troops
and suitable for a jump could be
found.
As with the first wave, the paratroops
suffered losses in weapons through
their inability to locate their containers
once they were on the ground. Some
containers were hit by ground fire and
exploded in mid-air.
Several Ju 52/3ms were lost and by
the evening of the first day none of
the objectives had been taken. The

Left

The wrecks of two Ju

52/3ms of I/KGzbV 1
littering the Cretan
landscape, their
undercarriages having
collapsed on rough
ground at Maleme in May
1941.
Below left

Hartvigvannet in Norway,
May 1940. This Ju 52,
supported by oil drums,
unusually features
antennae. This Tante Ju
was bombed by Fleet Air
Arm Fairey Swordfish on
May 24, 1940. KEY
Below

At the conclusion of Merkur on

June 1, 1941, there were just 185
Ju 52s left. Eight were posted
as missing, 143 were listed as
destroyed and a further 120
reported as badly damaged

Aircraft of KGzbV 1 in
formation over the
Mediterranean either on
their way to, or returning
from, North Africa.

Germans were put onto the defensive.

At the conclusion of Merkur on
June 1, 1941, there were just 185
Ju 52s left. Eight were posted as
missing, 143 were listed as destroyed
and a further 120 reported as badly
damaged. With more than 20 of the
units aircraft destroyed KGrzbV 40
had been virtually wiped out. In the
days between May 20-31 operational
readiness in Ju 52s declined from 493
on the 20th, to 273 on the 23rd, and
185 on the 31st.
Nevertheless, as the staff of the 4th
Air Fleet noted: The Ju 52 was again
successful. The value of the parachute
troops lies in their use of this

4,845

were built in total

October 2016 FLYPAST 83

SPOT FACT It was produced in Germany

between 1931 and 1945

Above

The scene at a
rear airfield in
Russia as supplies
are prepared for
loading on Ju 52s.
Right

An ungainly
magnetic
degaussing ring
hanging beneath a
Ju 52.

aircraft, which is equally indispensable

for training purposes and for air
transport in general.
Just how vital the Ju 52 was would
become apparent on the Russian front
18 months later.

Closing the gap

On the evening of November 22,

1942 Generaloberst Friedrich
Paulus, commander of the German
Sixth Army, which was surrounded
by Soviet forces amid the frozen
ruins of Stalingrad, radioed a
regional Luftwaffe commander:
Army completely encircled
ammunition situation critical; food
supplies on hand for six days; the
army intends to hold the territory
between Stalingrad and the Don
River and has made the necessary
preparations. Success depends
upon closing the gap on the
southern front and on whether or
not adequate food supplies can be
delivered by air...
This startling signal set in motion a
desperate attempt on the part of the
Luftwaffe to keep the trapped army
supplied by air, according to Hitlers
orders. To accomplish this daunting
task, Generaloberst Wolfram von
Richthofen, commander of 4th
Air Fleet, could count upon the Ju
52/3m transports of KGrzbV 50,
102, 172 and 900, all under the
leadership of Oberst Otto-Lutz
Frsters Stab/KGzbV 1 (Stab
headquarters).
At the start of the operation, there
were six airfields in the pocket,
with only those at Pitomnik and
Basargino were big enough to
support large-scale movements. The
others were effectively grass landing
strips that lacked radio and air
traffic control facilities. To properly
support the airlift, the Germans
ideally needed 25 airfields.
The Ju 52 crews comprised highly
experienced men who were veterans
of Scandinavia, France, the Balkans,

84 FLYPAST October 2016

Crete and North Africa. Some

were former Deutsche Luft Hansa
pilots, or they were highly qualified
instructors. Others were fresh from
the air training schools.
Some of the Tante Jus were in
desperate need of servicing while
others were factory-fresh. Many
came in from Greece, Italy and
North Africa, but then had to
be refitted at Kirovograd and
Zaporozhe before being sent out for
air supply and airlift operations.

Uneven struggle

From November 25-29, 1942,

Ju 52/3ms delivered 269 tons of
supplies to Stalingrad. Amid appalling
conditions, freezing temperatures,
and poor visibility, one of the most
senior Luftwaffe officers at Pitomnik
observed: Twenty-six Jus arrived in
close formation Two were shot
down, loaded with motor fuel. They
went up in flames. Incredible sight.
By early December, the airlift force
had 320 Ju 52/3ms in ten gruppen,
all of varying strength. By this stage
the Junkers were operating 160 miles
(257km) away from Pitomnik at
Tatsinskaya; well within their 680mile cruising range. Each could carry
two tons of supplies per flight at an
average cruising speed of 133mph
(215km/h), but it was a difficult task.
At such a speed, the trip would take
around 75 minutes each way.
With an additional 3 hours for
turn-around at Pitomnik, refuelling,

reloading, taxying, and crew changes,

each sortie could take six hours. Berlin
assumed that even with only 30% of
the aircraft operational at any given
time (about 95 Ju 52s) this would still
equate to 768 tons of provisions per
day, a total of 384 sorties.
One Luftwaffe commander noted
starkly on December 2: After
yesterdays snow, everything is frozen
now. We can still get He 111s out,
but Ju 52s only after 11:30 and in two
convoys. Lack of heating equipment.
Not enough was supplied for the large
number of aircraft. Transport aircraft
have no business to be here. Thawing
takes too much time and is too much
work. Next day: No take-offs. No
supply. Icy rain. Snow. Cloud.
Fifty Ju 52s flew in what was
described as the worst weather to
take around 140 tons of ammunition,
fuel and supplies on December 4. The
following day saw an all-time high
supply figure of 300 tons delivered.
On the 7th, 100 He 111s and 60 Ju
52s carried approximately 380 tons.
But there were constant air attacks
on the airfields at Morosowskaya and
Tatsinskaya, and on the 9th four Ju
52/3ms were destroyed at the latter,
by which time the Luftwaffe had lost a
total of 38 of the tri-motors.
Although Tatsinskaya had been
taken back by the determined efforts
of the 28th, dangerous levels of
attrition caused by the airlift were
eating away at the Ju 52/3ms and their
crews. Losses in the period December

4,400

tons

00

Ju 52
in Combat

28 to January 4, 1943 stood at 62

aircraft, of which 15 were classified as
missing, while 12 aircrew had been
killed with 52 missing and a further
20 wounded. Around half of the
casualties both men and machines
had been caused by the weather.
By the time Stalingrad fell on
February 2, more than 150,000 Axis
soldiers, most of them German, had
been killed or wounded during the
fighting in and around the city. As
many as 108,000 were taken prisoner
91,000 in the last three days of
the battle with 35,000 wounded
evacuated.
Between November 24 and February
3, the transport and bomber units
of the 4th Air Fleet had flown 8,350
tons into the pocket, an average
of 116 tons per day. This included
thousands of litres of fuel, 1,122
tons of ammunition, 2,020 tons of
rations, and 129 tons of miscellaneous
supplies. The peak delivery (reached
on December 7) was 362.6 tons.
Around 24,900 wounded and sick
men were evacuated by air, at a cost of
488 aircraft and 1,000 airmen. A total
of 266 Ju 52s were lost during the
Stalingrad airlift.

Minesweeper

As the German war effort slowly

but surely waned from mid-1943,

despite its relative vulnerability and

with skies increasingly teeming
with enemy fighters in both the
west and the east, the Ju 52/3m
continued flying doggedly for the
Luftwaffe. The Tante Ju crews
demonstrated considerable bravery
and determination.
Perhaps the most unusual role
was that of the minesweeper. The
Ju 52/3m MS Mausi was fitted
with a distinctive 14ft 10in (4.52m)
diameter horizontal duralumin Gauss
ring attached to the underside and
suspended by struts from the wings,
engine and rear fuselage. The ring
contained 44 annular windings of
10mm aluminium cable through
which was passed a 300-amp DC
current, creating a charged electric
field.
The Junkers would sweep along a
designated grid on a single polarity,
reversing the polarity on return.
They would fly low over the water at
around 124mph, but were frequently
at the mercy of bad weather and
sea conditions, although in good
conditions it was quite common for
crews to fly two or more sorties a day.
The first unit to take delivery of
the type was Sonderkommando
(special duties) Mausi, which was
formed at Gilze-Rijen in Holland in
September 1940 under the command

of Leutnant Ellgass. Results achieved

prompted the establishment of more
Minensuchstaffeln in October 1942.
These units covered the Atlantic
Ocean, and the Baltic, Adriatic and
Black Seas.
In April 1944, small numbers of Ju
52s were deployed to Hungary and
tasked with detecting and destroying
magnetic mines dropped by the
RAF into the River Danube. During
the final months of the conflict, Ju
52/3m Mausis patrolled the Atlantic
coast of France to keep sea lanes clear.
In some of their last missions of
the war, as the Soviet Army pushed
into Reich-held territory from the
east, formations of Ju 52s were used
to land and later air-drop supplies to
the surrounded, but German-held
fortress cities of Budapest, Breslau,
Posen, Glogau, Schneidemhl and
Arnswalde. This involved extremely
hazardous, low-level flying at night,
often over enemy-held areas.
In September 1942, Hermann
Gring proclaimed to representatives
of the German aircraft industry: I
should give myself the highest marks
for recognising in good time the
need for a fleet of transport aircraft
and for building up such a fleet of Ju
52s. It would take days to say what
this transport fleet has accomplished
and what situations it has eased.

Above

An abandoned Ju 52/3m
on a Russian airfield in
January 1942. The aircraft
is missing its engines, and
an opened cowling lies
underneath the wing. KEY
Below

Junkers Ju 52/3m 1Z+FZ

of 15/KGzbV 1 flying low
over a frozen river in
Russia during the winter
of 1942/1943. ALL VIA
AUTHOR UNLESS NOTED

tons of cargo was transported by Bolivian Ju 52s in the 1932-1935 Chaco War
October 2016 FLYPAST 85

Spotlight

Ju 52
Photo File

Junkers
Ju 52

Archive
From the

Below

Equipped with floats, a Ju 52/3m in service with Swedish airline AB

Aerotransport, one of eight operated by the company between 1932 and 1948.

A collection of rarely seen images of the Junkers

in both military and civilian service

Spotlight Next Month

Yakovlev
Yak-9
Next month, our Spotlight will focus on
a mass-produced Russian fighter that
played a key role in World War Two.
While the Yakovlev Yak-9 may lack the
fame of the Spitfire and Mustang, it
was an essential weapon in the Soviet
arsenal, and continued to operate
post-war with the North Korean Air
Force. We examine the history of the
Yakovlev fighter in our November issue,
on sale in the UK on October 1 see
page 48 for our latest money-saving
subscription offers.

Navigation skills are taught aboard a Ju 52/3m from the flying school at Neuruppin, near Brandenburg, Germany.

A captured Ju 52/3m MS equipped with degaussing ring for minesweeper operations. Some of the aircrafts
German markings are visible beneath the covering paint. ALL KEY

86 FLYPAST October 2016