2. Operation "Smerch" Don't dig a hole for another, you'll fall into it yourself Kozma Prutkov Larion. Ivan Kudryavtsev was the squad leader in our first year. When he arrived, he was quiet and modest. And suddenly, overnight, he became a dictator. The first

18 Operation Ples. From the first compartment of a firing submarine, two buglers are ahead, They play clearly and clearly Kozma Prutkov They are used to firing anti-ship torpedoes in the fleets and carried them out either according to plan or according to unexpected introductory meticulous

Plan
Introduction
1 Plan alternatives
2 Designation of strategic goals
3 OKH plan of October 19, 1939
4 Comments of the OKW
5 OKH plan of October 29, 1939
6 Criticism of the OKH plan
7 Remarks of Army Group "A"
8 Additions to the OKH plan
9 "Mechelen Incident"
10 "Long start"
11 OKH plan of January 30, 1940
12 Military staff games
13 Manstein Plan
14 Criticism of the Manstein Plan
15 Implementation of the Gelb Plan
16 Notes
17 Sources

Introduction

Plan "Gelb" or Gelb plan (German. Fall Gelb- Yellow plan) - code name German plan blitzkrieg against the countries of modern Benelux: Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and also France in 1940. Later it was partially implemented during the Nazi offensive, known as the French campaign. The plan became one of the stages strange war", which was skillfully used by the German command as a kind of strategic pause-respite. This allowed Germany to successfully complete the Polish campaign, implement the plan for the occupation of Denmark and Norway (the Danish-Norwegian operation), as well as prepare the invasion of France (the Gelb Plan itself), finally consolidate the results of the Anschluss (annexation of Austria) and the capture of the Sudetenland.

1. Plan alternatives

The first version of the Gelb military campaign, known as "OKH Plan", was rather theoretical, positional in nature. He was not destined to come true. Another option, known as the "Manstein Plan", was more successful and was successfully implemented on May 10, 1940 in the first phase of the French campaign. The result of the implementation of the plan was the occupation by German troops of the territories of Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and northern France.

2. Designation of strategic goals

The development of an offensive against France began on September 27, 1939. At a meeting of the commanders-in-chief and military commanders of staffs, Hitler emphasized: "The purpose of the war is to bring England to its knees, to defeat France."

The plan was opposed by the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, Brauchitsch, and the chief of the general staff, Halder. They even prepared a plan to remove Hitler from power, but, not finding the support of the commander of the reserve army, General Fromm, they abandoned the attempt.

On October 6, 1939, German troops completed the occupation of Poland, and on October 9, the commander of the armed forces, Brauchitsch, Goering and Raeder, was sent a "Message on the conduct of the war on the Western Front." In this document, based on the concept of "blitzkrieg", the strategic goals of the future campaign were determined:

“3. ... for the further conduct of hostilities I order:

a) on the northern flank Western front prepare an offensive through the territories of Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland. It is necessary to attack with as many forces as possible and as quickly as possible; b) the purpose of this operation is to destroy, if possible, large associations of the French army and allies on its side, and at the same time capture as much of the territory of Holland, Belgium and Western France as possible in order to create springboard for successful air and naval warfare against England and to expand the buffer zone of the vital Ruhr area."

“3. … Für die weitere Durchführung der Feindseligkeiten bestellt:

a) auf der nördlichen Flanke des westlichen Front bereiten Offensive teritorrii durch Luxemburg, Belgien und Holland. Die Offensive sollte so viel Kräfte wie möglich und so schnell wie möglich;b) Der Zweck dieser Maßnahme - zerstören die Möglichkeit der großen französischen Armee und Verbündete auf seiner Seite, und gleichzeitig zu nutzen, so viel Gebiet der Niederland e, Belgien und Westen Frankreichs zu schaffen, ein Sprungbrett für eine erfolgreiche Luft-und Seeweg Krieg gegen England und erweitern Sie den Puffer Die Umgebung von entscheidender Bedeutung Ruhrgebiet.”

The highest German generals reacted to Hitler's decree with doubt. One of the generals even shouted: "France is not Poland!" But, despite fears about the failure of the operation, the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, Walter von Brauchitsch, ordered the General Staff (OKH) to develop "Guelb Directive on the strategic deployment of troops" .

The ground forces command (OKH) took the Schlieffen plan of 1914 as the basis for the operation plan, but unlike the Schlieffen plan, the OKH plan did not aim for a complete victory in Flanders, but had an exclusively positional character - its complete implementation only led to the establishment of a positional front along river Somme.

Army Group "B" (Fyodor von Bock) - 2, 4 and 6 armies (37 divisions)

Army Group "A" (Gerd von Rundstedt) - 12th and 16th armies (27 divisions)

Army Group "C" (Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb) - 1st and 7th armies (25 divisions)

Army group "N" - 18th army (3 divisions)

Reserve - 9 divisions

The main blow was to be delivered by Army Group B on both sides of Liège, with the aim of defeating the Anglo-French forces in Belgium, along with the Belgian and Dutch armies. To the south will be Army Group A. The 12th Army will cover the southern flank of Army Group B, the 16th Army will attack in the direction of southern Belgium and Luxembourg. After marching through Luxembourg, the 16th Army is to take up defensive positions north of the western flank of the Maginot Line between the Saar and the Meuse. Army Group C will operate against the Maginot Line. Depending on the political climate, army group "N" was intended to defeat Holland. The directive ended with an order to Army Groups "A" and "B" to concentrate their troops in such a way that in six night marches they could take up exit positions for the offensive.

4. Remarks of the OKW

On October 21, 1939, the commander of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW), Wilhelm Keitel, criticized Hitler about the "Gelb plan". They boiled down to the following:

· Army Group "N" has unreasonably large forces. She has equally little chance of breaking through the fortified Grebbe line.

· The left-flank 4th Army of Army Group "B", advancing south of Liège, should strike to the west, and only in extreme cases - to the north-west.

· It is worth reviewing the composition of the 6th Army, which strikes north of Liege. The three tank and one motorized divisions allocated to it are not enough to develop success.

· After the start of the offensive and the withdrawal of French troops from the Maginot Line, ten divisions from Army Group C can be transferred to reinforce the advancing group.

Thus, the headquarters of the operational leadership of the OKW proposed to further strengthen the northern flank, mainly with mobile troops.

In the strategic plan of October 29, 1939, a broader goal was set - to destroy the allied grouping in the area north of the Somme and reach the English Channel. The 18th Army was additionally included in Army Group B, and the number of its divisions increased to 43 (including 9 tank and 4 motorized). The composition of Army Group A was reduced to 22, and Army Group C to 18 divisions. The liberated divisions reinforced the northern wing of the front. Army Group B was tasked to break through with one strike group north of Liege, to the Brussels area, and with another strike group south of Liege, to the area to the west of Namur, and then continue the offensive in a northwestern or southwestern direction. Army Group "A" had an auxiliary mission - to cover Army Group "B" on the southern and southwestern flanks; Army Group C, as in the plan of October 19, took up a position against the Maginot Line. The border with Holland was covered by the 6th Corps District, which was subordinate to Army Group B.

It was planned to complete the sweep by November 5th. On November 12, 1939, the offensive was to begin.

6. Criticism of the OKH Plan

Adolf Hitler called the plan prepared by the OKH the height of mediocrity. At one of the meetings to discuss the operational plan, Hitler, referring to Keitel and Jodl, noted:

“So this is the old Schlieffen plan with a reinforced right flank and the main thrust along the Atlantic coast. Twice such numbers do not pass!”

The repetition of the Schlieffen plan of the beginning of the century, the attack on France with a crescent-shaped movement through Belgium, did not suit him. In 1939 it was clearer than in 1914 that if there was any fighting between Germany and the Allies, it would be in Belgium, since the Maginot Line along the Franco-German border reliably protected France. Compared to the Maginot Line, the Belgian fortifications were very weak. It is obvious that the French also understood this and expected such a development of events. However, although Hitler had a different point of view, he wanted the offensive to start as quickly as possible:

"Time works for the enemy ... Our Achilles' heel is the Ruhr ... If England and France break through Belgium and Holland into the Ruhr, we will be in great danger."

On November 5, Brauchitsch again tried to dissuade Hitler from invading France. Hitler, in turn, reaffirmed that the offensive must begin no later than 12 November. However, on November 7, the order was canceled due to adverse weather conditions. Later, the start of the operation will be postponed 29 more times.

7. Remarks of Army Group "A"

Even during the preparation of the OKH plan, the chief of staff of Army Group A under the command of Rundstedt, Erich von Manstein, noted that his plan was too obvious. Another drawback of the OKH plan, according to Manstein, was that the German troops would have to face the British units, who would definitely be a harder enemy than the French. Moreover, this plan did not promise a decisive victory.

Thinking about this problem, Manstein concluded that it would be better to launch the main attack through the Ardennes in the direction of Sedan, which the Allies could not possibly have expected. The main idea of ​​this plan was "luring". Manstein had no doubt that the Allies would definitely react to the invasion of Belgium. But by deploying their troops there, they will lose a free reserve (at least for several days), load the roads to failure, and most importantly, weaken the Dinan-Sedan operational sector by “sliding north”.

Three-engine passenger Ju 52 / 3m were operated in many countries of the world. The largest number of cars served in the German airline Deutsche Lufthansa. She received the first Ju 52 / 3mce aircraft on May 1, and the second on September 10, 1932. From November, the Junkers entered the Munich - Milan - Rome line, and a few years later became the most common aircraft in the German civil aviation. They served both domestic and international lines. Ju 52/3m flew to all European capitals. In 1934, pilot Untukht flew from Berlin to Shanghai on a Junkers. From 1936, the Germans began flights to Kabul in Afghanistan. One of the longest routes of Lufthansa was the line Berlin - Rio de Janeiro via Seville and Bathurst.

All German civil aircraft had their own names, which were applied on board near the cockpit. They were given in honor of various prominent figures. About a dozen cars before the war were assigned as personal to the top leaders of the Reich. Hitler flew the Immelmann plane, Goering flew the Manfred von Richthofen, and Field Marshal von Blomberg flew the Hermann Goering. Ju 52 / 3m formed the backbone of the Lufthansa fleet until the end of World War II.

Since 1934, the Junkers have been operated by the Soviet-German company Deruluft on the Moscow-Berlin line. It owned three cars, which had the names "Condor", "Cormoran" and "Milan". The liners were registered in Germany. Landing in Moscow was carried out at the Central Airfield, but at one time they also landed in Bykovo. In winter, "Deruluft" cars were put on skis.

In general, Ju 52 / 3m were in the fleet of 30 airlines from 25 countries, in particular: Aero (Finland), AGO (Estonia), Olag (Austria), Sabena (Belgium), DDL (Denmark) and others. Junkers were bought even by states with their own developed aircraft manufacturing. For example, one car flew in the colors of British Airways. In Latin America, Ju 52 / 3m were part of the fleet of three companies in Brazil (Varig, VASP and Condor Syndicate). They were also available at Aeropost Argentina, LAB (Bolivia), CAUSA (Uruguay), SETA (Ecuador). In Peru, the Junkers used the local branch of Lufthansa.

Many Latin American companies were wholly or partly owned by German capital. In September 1941, under US pressure, Ecuador requisitioned two Ju 52 / 3m from the Condor Syndicate. One of them was handed over to the Americans as a trophy at the beginning of 1942. The American crew accepted the aircraft in Talara (Peru) and flew it to the Albrook Field base in the Panama Canal Zone. "Junker" became part of the US Army Air Force as C-79. The entire engine setup has been replaced. The place of the “native” BMW 132 engines was taken by the American R-1690-23 (also “hornets”) with a power of 525 hp each. The hoods were taken from the DC-2. The C-79 was operated by the 20th transport squadron until the end of 1943. Then it was sold to Costa Rica, and from there in 1948 it was resold to Nicaragua. A year later, the plane crashed on landing and was never recovered.

In Africa, Ju 52 / 3m served in Mozambique (DETA) and the Union of South Africa (South African Airways). In China, they were flown by German crews of the Eurasia Joint Society.

The first war in which the Ju 52/3m was used was in South America. Colombia fought with Peru. In August 1932, Peruvian troops captured the border port of Letizia in the upper reaches of the Amazon. Three "Junkers" of the Colombian Air Force deployed reinforcements to the border, which managed to stop the advance of the enemy. The conflict ended in July 1933.

Then the Bolivian-Paraguayan War began. In 1928, the American company Standard Oil found oil in the sparsely populated frontier region of Chaco. Perhaps this is what spurred the neighbors to conflict. In the same year, the first armed clashes took place on an ill-defined border. The lukewarm skirmishes escalated into something more serious when, in June 1932, the Bolivian president declared war on Paraguay.

In October 1932, the Bolivian company LAB received the first Junker from Germany. From the end of the year, he began regular flights to the front. Weapons, ammunition, food, and medicines were brought to the forward airfield of Villa Montes. They even moved cannons; at the same time, their carriages had to be disassembled. The wounded were evacuated on return flights. In 1933, two more planes arrived to the Bolivians, they were not even registered as civilians.

But the LAB crews, consisting of Germans, both local and hired in Germany, flew on all three machines. I had to work in difficult conditions. Heat during the day and rather cool nights, dust, primitive airfields without any equipment. Nevertheless, before the end of the war in July 1935, three Junkers transported up to 40,000 soldiers and 4,850 tons of various cargoes. True, this did not help the Bolivians - they still lost the war.

The last Bolivian Ju 52/3m crashed in November 1940.

Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have military aircraft. The Germans constantly tried to circumvent this limitation. After the Nazis came to power, these attempts became even more active.

Under the guise of a Lufthansa flight school, the training of bomber aircraft crews began. Formally, the school was subordinate to ... the railway department. It taught mainly navigation and blind flight techniques. Pilots practiced cross-country instrument flight at night and in the clouds. The school received both new Junkers from the factory and old cars from Lufthansa. All aircraft carried civil designations.

On April 10, 1934, the Reich Commissar for Aviation Goering gave a secret order to form the first bomber squadron in Nuremberg by October 1. It was supposed to consist of three squadrons.

It began with the creation of the Auxiliary Bomber Squadron. It was the first bomber aviation unit in Germany after the end of the World War. She disguised herself as the Lufthansa Line Inspectorate. The squadron was tasked with training flight and technical personnel. By April 1, 1934, she received 24 ordinary passenger Ju 52 / 3mge and three new Dornier Do 11 C bombers. But the latter were not very reliable in operation, so they were quickly removed from service. Only Junkers remained in the squadron.

Meanwhile, the appetites of the Nazis grew rapidly. At the end of 1934, the formation of four bomber squadrons began at once. Now, according to the state, the squadron included three groups (regiments). The group included two squadrons of 12 aircraft. Since the new Ju 86, He 111 and Do 17 bombers (created for political purposes as dual-purpose vehicles - passenger and military at the same time) existed only in the form of prototypes, these squadrons began to equip the Ju 52 / 3m and Do 11. At the same time, more reliable and better mastered "Junkers" accounted for more than two-thirds of the park.

The KG 152 Hindenburg squadron was the first to be completed, followed by KG 153, KG 154 and KG 155. Their squadrons were located at the airfields of Giebelyitadt, Tutov, Greifswald, Merseburg, Finsterwalde and Fasberg. Ju 52 / 3mg3e with full armament already arrived there.

In March 1935, the German government officially announced the revival of its Air Force - the Luftwaffe. The Reich Commissariat for Aviation was renamed the Reich Ministry. A rapid quantitative growth of military aviation began. It was on the Junkers that the most experienced Luftwaffe personnel were trained. Then came the stage of rapid introduction of a new generation of bombers. Nevertheless, Ju 52 / 3mg3e and Ju 52 / 3mg4e carried bomb weapons until 1937-1938. By the spring of 1938, the re-equipment of bomber aircraft was over. The old "Junkers" remained in service in only one group - IV / KG 152 in Finsterwalde. It became the core of the German military transport aviation.

Ju 52 / 3m were used as bombers in civil war in Spain.

In July 1936, the Spanish generals rebelled against the government of the republic. After the death of General Sanjurjo in a plane crash, General Franco, who arrived from the Canary Islands, became the leader of the rebels. The troops supporting him were mainly in that part of Morocco, which was then a Spanish colony. They needed to be thrown across the strait. The fleet, for the most part, remained loyal to the republic. The soldiers decided to transport by air. But Franco also had few planes. However, the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany came out on his side.

On July 19, the rebels sent their representatives to Rome and Berlin. Three days later, Franco sent a telegram to Hitler asking for ten transport aircraft with crews. On July 24, after a meeting with representatives of the rebels, the Fuhrer ordered to give 20 Junkers.

The Luftwaffe headquarters received an order on the 25th, and a day later the first aircraft took off from Berlin's Tempelhof airfield. In total, until August 9, ten vehicles went to Morocco by air - Ju 52 / 3mg3e with weapons removed. German civil designations were applied to their sides and wings. Formally, these Junkers were sold to Hispano-Morocco de Transneptes (HISMA). The crews were recruited in the squadrons of the Luftwaffe and replenished with experienced pilots from the Lufthansa. All the staff, of course, were dressed in civilian clothes.

Lieutenant R. von Moro was appointed commander of the transport unit. The already mentioned E. Milch, who by this time had become a general, was watching the dispatch of equipment to Spain.

They flew through Italy with a landing in Sicily. One Junker entered Republican-controlled territory and landed at Barajas Airfield. Convinced of a mistake, the Germans immediately took off, but again sat down at the Republicans for the second time. The aircraft was requisitioned, and it began to be converted into a bomber. The work was stopped due to the protest of the German embassy, ​​and in October the Francoists bombed the car itself.

Ten more "Junkers" arrived in Morocco by sea. They were sent by steamer from Hamburg on 29 July. At the destination, the cars were unloaded on August 11.

Immediately after their arrival, German pilots began regular flights from Tetouan (Morocco) to the Tablada airfield near Seville. In the very first days they transferred 500 soldiers. This allowed the rebels to go on the offensive and move north of the city.

Aircraft made up to four sorties a day. At the same time, instead of 17 people, the norm was taken on board up to 40. The record was set by the pilot Henke (from Lufthansa), who transported 243 soldiers and officers in a day. Together with the troops, the aviation transferred ammunition and weapons, including machine guns and small cannons.

From the beginning of August, Italian aircraft also began to operate on the "air bridge" from Morocco. By the end of the month, 7,350 people had already been airlifted to Spain. These included units of the Foreign Legion and Moroccans. On August 5, under the cover of Italian aviation, sea transportation began. Therefore, the importance of the air route gradually weakened. Flights stopped in mid-October. In total, during the operation, 868 flights were made, 14,000 soldiers, 44 guns and 500 tons of various cargoes were transferred. Hitler said: "Franco must erect a monument to the Ju 52. The victory of the revolution in Spain is due to this aircraft."

On August 20-21, the Junkers used to dump food, ammunition and medicines to the rebels defending the Alcazar fortress in Toledo.

But the Ju 52 / 3mg3e was used in Spain not only as military transport aircraft. Since the beginning of August, they began to work as bombers. On August 3, 1936, the German crew bombed for the first time on the accumulation of Republican troops. Ten days later, two Junkers attacked the battleship Jaime I near Malaga. The leader of the pair, Lieutenant von Moro, could not hit the target, but the crew of his wingman, the already mentioned pilot Henke, achieved two hits with 250-kg high-explosive bombs. On the battleship, 47 sailors were killed and wounded.

Success led to the decision to create an impromptu bomber squadron, simply called "Moro's squadron". By the end of August, the Germans had installed machine guns and cluster bombs on six aircraft.

By this time, the Spanish rebels themselves were also already armed with Ju 52 / 3m3e. Apparently, they received all the cars that they sent by sea. In August 1936, Group B was formed in Salamanca under the command of X. Diaz de Lecea. It consisted of three units of three aircraft each. Specialists from the "Moro squadron" helped in the training of the crews.

On August 14, bombers from group "B" had already attacked the republican airfield of Getafe near Madrid, and two days later another - Cuatro Vientos. On 27 and 28 August they bombed the capital of Spain. The raid on Getafe on October 4 turned out to be very effective. A pair of "Junkers" destroyed nine aircraft on the ground.

In the meantime, in Stettin and Swinemünde, they were loading onto ships of the Condor Legion, a German air force created specifically for military operations in Spain. Its main strike force was the K88 group. Initially, it was divided into three squadrons of 12 bombers. The group mainly received improved Ju 52 / 3mg4e, but there were also earlier "g3s". The equipment was distilled to Salamanca through Italy. After arriving in Spain, K88 absorbed the Moro squadron. She was reorganized, forming four squadrons of nine cars.

"Junkers" took Active participation in the battles near Madrid in the autumn of 1936. While the Republicans were flying on all sorts of junk, low-speed three-engine bombers worked quietly during the day. But in October, Soviet I-15 and I-16 fighters were unloaded from the ships. Pilots arrived for them. On November 4, I-15s shot down the first Junker over the suburbs of Madrid. The pilot Lieutenant Kolbitts died, the rest of the crew escaped with parachutes.

On the same day, Soviet pilots intercepted in the clouds a flight of Ju 52 / 3m, flying to Madrid, and attacked the last bomber. The damaged car turned back, but did not reach its airfield. I had to sit where I needed to. The navigator died of his wounds.

The next day, according to Soviet data, two "Junkers" were shot down, on November 6 - another one (it is interesting that the enemy on this day recognizes the loss of not one, but two bombers; the first, with a Spanish crew, died, the second, on which the background flew Moreau, forced to sit not far from the front, the German pilots were not injured).

Soviet pilots rated the Ju 52/3m as a fairly serious opponent. Here is what Ya.I. Chernykh fighter pilot, who returned from Spain, to Alksnis: “The machine is very tenacious. We came close, shot at her, you feel that the bullets are flying into the car, but it does not fall and does not burn. High combat survivability was ensured by a multi-spar wing, thick tubes of rudder control rods, and distribution of fuel over a large number of protected tanks. If the motor mount was damaged, the engine was held by safety cables.

Nevertheless, the losses of the "Junkers" grew. They were destroyed not only in the air, but also on the ground. According to Soviet data, the first five bombers were put out of action at the airfield in Seville, which on October 28 came under attack from the republican SB and Pote 54. On November 11, bombs fell on aircraft parking in Avila. There, among other aircraft, two Junkers were destroyed.

But the Ju 52 / 3m continued to fly during the day, dropping bombs on Madrid from medium altitudes. So, on November 19, almost 40 tons of deadly cargo were brought down on the city, and the republican fighters in response shot down one Junker and damaged two.

At the end of December, the "Junkers" from K88 began to operate on the Northern Front, in the area of ​​Santander and Bilbao. There were few Republican planes there.

Basically, these were "motley" obsolete cars. This allowed the Ju 52 / 3m to continue to operate fairly confidently during the day. But on January 4, 1937, two bombers became victims of the republican I-15s at once. One, shot down by S. Bulkin, fell near Bilbao, the second, attributed to S. Petrukhin, crashed on the way to the Vitoria airfield.

Near Madrid, Francoist aircraft tried to reduce their losses by increasing fighter escort, but this did not give significant results. Already in October 1936, the first cases of the use of "Junkers" at night were noted. During several raids on the San Javier airfield, they damaged a total of eight SBs, two of which had to be written off. On the night of January 11, 1937, enemy planes bombed Madrid and the Campo Real airfield in the dark. However, Junkers groups with a powerful escort (three to five or more fighters per bomber) met during the day until April 1937. As Ju 52 / 3m day bombers, they participated in the battles on the river. Jarama and in Guadalajara.

Later, in the central part of Spain, the Junkers switched exclusively to night operations. By the beginning of the battles for Brunete, the Francoists had 12 Ju 52 / 3m (groups 1-G-22 and 2-G-22), the Condor Legion had 25 (group K88).

On the night of July 26, 1937, Republican fighters carried out the first night interception. The Soviet pilot M. Yakushin on the I-15 at an altitude of 2000 m attacked a single Junker from squadron 3 / K88 near the front line. The bomber caught fire and crashed. The entire crew was killed.

The next night, A. Serov discovered at an altitude of 3000 m a Ju 52 / 3m illuminated by a searchlight. He fired at it, but the bomber got away. Almost immediately, Serov noticed the second plane and joined him in the tail. Despite the fire of the top gunner of the Junkers, after the third round, the Soviet fighter set fire to the German. Four members of the bomber's crew bailed out and were taken prisoner. After that, Serov chased after the third car, but burned all the fuel and was forced to sit down at the front line.

I. Eremenko won another victory on the night of September 14-15. He shot down the Junkers of the rebels. Interestingly, the captured aircraft commander turned out to be a Russian white émigré.

On October 15, more than 60 Republican fighters stormed the Garapinillos airfield. The smoke from the fires was visible almost 100 km away. It was possible to destroy a significant number of aircraft of various types. Three Ju 52 / 3m burned out completely, several more were damaged.

In the north, the "Junkers" longer adhered to the practice of conducting operations during the day, and, despite the weakness of the Republican air force on this front, they periodically paid for it. On April 13, 1937, anti-aircraft gunners shot down one of the three planes that bombed Bilbao. The car crashed in the Mondragon area. On July 19, two Junkers fell on republican territory, shot by fighters.

It was on the Northern Front that the well-known massive raid on the small town of Guernica took place, which became a symbol of fascist barbarism. On April 26, 1937, German and Italian planes practically wiped it off the face of the earth. At the same time, both the nearby bridge and the military factory on the outskirts remained intact, and more than 1,500 civilians died. 18 Junkers from K88 took part in the raid. The lead car was driven by Major Fuchs. When the noise arose in the foreign press, at first the Francoists blamed everything on the republican sappers, who allegedly blew up the town during the retreat, then they began to talk about a navigational error. Now it is already known that it was a deliberate act of intimidation, plus the development of tactics for the destruction of cities by aviation.

From February 1937, K88 units began to re-equip themselves with new equipment. In mid-May, two squadrons were already flying the new He 111B bombers. The last time the Junkers were actively used in the north of the country was in October (and during the daytime), by the end of the month the re-equipment of the group was completed.

The Germans handed over most of the Ju 52 / 3m, which had become redundant, to the Francoists, the rest were used as transport aircraft. In mid-August 1938, according to Republican intelligence, the enemy had about 25 Junkers left. It is known for sure that on December 23 in two groups of night bombers (1-G-22 and 2-G-22) there were 13 vehicles; three more were in the Condor Legion.

The Francoist Junkers made their last sortie on March 26, 1939, the day the republican government capitulated. In April, all the surviving cars were assembled at the airfield in Leon. There were 23 of them. In total, according to various sources, the Germans sent from 55 to 61 Ju 52 / 3m to Spain, including two vehicles on floats.

One aircraft, captured by the Republicans at the end of 1936, was delivered to the USSR at the beginning of the next year, tested and studied.

In February 1930, Lufthansa and the Chinese government agreed to establish a joint Eurasia airline. From September 1934 to September 1938 she received nine Ju 52/3mge. These planes flew on domestic and international (to Southeast Asia) lines. The crews were recruited mainly from Lufthansa personnel. After the Japanese attack on China in July 1937, Eurasia continued to function.

On August 1, Japanese aviation destroyed one of the company's liners at the Kunming airfield. By December 1939, Eurasia lost four more aircraft from enemy actions and accidents. After the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which created the "axis" Berlin - Rome - Tokyo, the Chinese government ceased the company's activities, but until August 1941 its aircraft and crews continued to work as if they were in government service.

In September, the Germans left China, the vehicles were accepted by the crews of the Chinese Air Force.

Aircraft were used as transport aircraft, mainly for the transportation of high-ranking officials. President Chiang Kai-shek himself has repeatedly made trips around the country on them. In particular, on one Ju 52 / 3mge he flew to meet with the communist leader Mao Tse Tung.

Three Chinese Junkers were destroyed by Japanese bombers in Hong Kong on December 8, 1941. It is not known when the last Chinese Junker was written off.

By the beginning of 1938, only one group remained in the Luftwaffe, armed with three-engine "Junkers" - IV / KG 152 in Fünsterwald. She was assigned to the 7th Airborne Division. On March 13, 1938, the group conducted its first combat operation - during the Anschluss of Austria, its planes landed a battalion of paratroopers at the Thalerhof airfield in Graz. 54 cars participated.

On April 1 of the same year, this unit became known as KGrzbV 1 - the 1st Special Purpose Group. At this time, she had 39 aircraft. Part of the equipment and crews were allocated as the core new group KGrzbV 2 in Brandenburg. Each of the groups in the state was to have four squadrons of 12 aircraft and a headquarters link of five vehicles. In the summer of 1939, two more such groups were created.

All of them were united in the KGzbV 1 squadron. At the end of August, the formation of the second squadron, KGzbV 2, and then the third, KGzbV 172, began. The latter, which consisted of two groups, received 59 Junkers requisitioned from Lufthansa along with the crews. During the invasion of Poland, it was planned to land a large landing near Poznan, but it was not needed. Transport aircraft were mainly engaged in the supply of advanced units and the removal of the wounded. So 19,760 people and 1,600 tons of various cargoes were transferred. To do this, it was necessary to hastily assemble three more transport groups at the expense of equipment and personnel of flight schools. On September 25, the "Junkers" in the role of bombers participated in a major raid on Warsaw. At the same time, small incendiary bombs of 2 kg each were loaded into the fuselage and thrown out of the doors manually. Polish fighters were no longer seen in the sky. Bombing was carried out as at a training ground. The Junkers dropped 72 tons of incendiary and 486 tons of fragmentation and high-explosive bombs. After the capture of the city, the Fuhrer personally examined its destruction from the board of a personal aircraft.

During the fighting, the Poles managed to shoot down a dozen Ju 52 / 3m, another 44 (according to other sources - 47) vehicles were written off due to various damages (including due to accidents). At the same time, several aircraft ended up on the territory occupied by the Red Army. On October 8, at least three Junkers were on our side: two in Lvov and one stuck in a meadow near the village of Shklo. All this equipment was returned to the Germans, although not in a complete set. The disappearance of the equipment was attributed to the Poles, although it was carefully packed and taken to the Air Force Research Institute.

Following Poland, it was the turn of Denmark and Norway. The German General Staff called the operation to capture them "Weserübung" - "Teachings on the Weser". By its beginning, the forces of transport aviation had increased significantly. Only for the transfer of the first wave of airborne troops involved ten groups and four separate squadrons. At the same time, almost all military transport aviation in Germany was equipped with Ju 52 / 3m. Only one squadron had a mixed composition, and three groups were equipped with seaplanes. A total of 573 three-engine Junkers were involved in the operation.

On April 9, 1940, these machines landed on airfields in southern Norway. The sites were captured by paratroopers, after which German airfield teams arrived there by air. They ensured the unloading of infantry, various weapons and equipment. According to this scheme, the Germans captured the airfields of Forneby in Oslo and Sola in Stavanger. The landing in Sola, however, was not particularly successful - all Norwegian planes flew north just a few minutes before the arrival of German transport workers. But the paratroopers managed to prevent the explosion of an important bridge in Vordingborg.

Later, units that were rapidly moving north were also supplied by air. About 160 tons of fuel were transported alone. Reinforcements were also transferred by planes. At the same time, they had to land on any more or less suitable sites. On April 14, the Norwegian biplane Fokker C.V found 11 Junkers on the ice of Lake Hartvigvann, which landed a unit of mountain rangers. These planes from the group KGrzbV 102 got stuck on the lake due to lack of fuel on the way back. Six "Fokkers" dropped bombs on them, but missed - only a few transport workers were damaged by shrapnel. After refueling, the Norwegians carried out a second raid on stationary vehicles. This time two of them were burned and four more were damaged. By April 16, the Germans were able to deliver a certain amount of fuel to the lake, but the Norwegian pilots destroyed three aircraft with a new strike and completely disabled five. One "junker-su" managed to fly away, but the pilot got lost and landed in Sweden, where the car was interned. Soon the ice melted, and all the other planes went to the bottom.

In total, during the Norwegian campaign, Ju 52 / 3m transported more than 29,000 people, 2414 tons of various cargoes, plus 118 tons of aviation gasoline for aircraft at advanced airfields.

The next step of the Nazi strategists was an offensive in the west. According to the Gelb plan, the main blow to France was delivered through Belgium and the Netherlands. The airborne troops played an important role in the capture of strategic objects. The landing of parachute, glider and landing troops was provided by about 430 Ju 52 / 3m, consolidated into seven air groups.

The operation began on May 10, 1940. In Belgium, the Germans set the task of capturing an important transport hub in the Maastricht region. There were three bridges across the Albert Canal - at Veldweselt, Vroenhofen and Kann. All of them were controlled from Fort Eben-Emael - a powerful modern defensive structure.

Early in the morning, 11 Junkers delivered nine DFS 230 landing gliders to the target, two of them unhooked along the road due to problems. The gliders landed right in the courtyard of the fort. The paratroopers pierced the armored caps of the gun turrets with cumulative charges and threw grenades at the gunners. The Germans managed to paralyze the fort until the approach of motorized units. Paratroopers landing from other aircraft captured two of the three bridges.

Landing troops were widely used in the Netherlands. "Junkers" landed right on the airfields of the Dutch Air Force, at airports, and even on wide highways. Luftwaffe fighters and bombers were the first to appear, destroying enemy aircraft and suppressing anti-aircraft weapons. Immediately after this, the transporters were landing. The infantry was unloaded under fire, often while continuing to steer along the lane. Together with the soldiers, machine guns, small guns, small-caliber anti-aircraft guns were delivered by air. Dutch aviation diligently stormed the airfields captured by the Germans. For example, on May 10, 11 Dutch aircraft stormed Ipenburg and Valkenburg, where, according to intelligence, up to 50 Junkers had accumulated. They dropped bombs on the parking lots and fired on the transport workers and the landing force with machine guns. The Dutch lost five vehicles, but many Junkers remained on the ground to burn out.

The enemy and fighters were pretty battered. On the morning of May 10, several Fokker D.XXI monoplanes intercepted 55 Ju 52 / 3m from the KGrbzV 9 group. Dutch pilots shot down 18 cars one after another; Anti-aircraft gunners also made their contribution.

All landing operations in the Netherlands, including the capture of bridges over the Meuse at Dordrecht, were generally successful. But the losses were huge. Separate groups lost up to 40% of their composition. In total, the Luftwaffe lost 162 Junkers. Since the damaged vehicles remained in the hands of the Germans, some of them were restored. From two or three, one plane was assembled. A total of 53 transport workers were repaired.

The aircraft fleet was restored due to the new release and requisition of cars from Lufthansa. However, the most

the battered squadron KGzbV 1 had to be temporarily disbanded, as well as groups KGrzbV 11, 12 and 101. In total, until the surrender of France in June 1940, the Germans lost 242 Ju 52 / 3m.

Three-engine "Junkers" were used in World War II not only by the Germans and their allies, but also by opponents. After the declaration of war, the South African Air Force requisitioned 11 Ju 52 / 3mge from South African Airways. They became part of the bomber-transport group, assembled from former passenger aircraft.

In the autumn of 1940, South African soldiers were transferred to the border with Somalia. Then, already as part of the 50th squadron, the Junkers provided supplies for the troops advancing north and took out the wounded. They also periodically made flights to South Africa and Egypt. In 1942, the squadron was re-equipped with American C-47s.

In October 1940, Mussolini asked Hitler for help. He needed planes to transport troops to Albania. Italy, which at that time owned Albania, used it as a springboard to attack Greece. But the Greeks not only repulsed the attack, but also launched an offensive themselves. The Fuhrer came to the aid of an unlucky ally.

One group of Junkers (53 vehicles) was sent to Foggia in eastern Italy. On December 9, German planes began flying to Tirana from there. In 50 days they transported 30,000 soldiers and 4,700 tons of cargo. Return flights delivered 8346 wounded.

Since the flights were made far from the front, the Germans had no losses.

German transport aircraft returned to the Mediterranean at the beginning of 1941. From February they began to carry out flights to Libya for Rommel's Afrika Korps. The Ju 52 / 3m group was stationed at the Comiso airfield in Sicily. Aircraft made up to three flights a day, while the crews were in the air for up to 12 hours. Every day, up to 1000 people and 25 tons of cargo were delivered through the Mediterranean Sea. English fighters diligently hunted for the leisurely transporters, and the Germans constantly suffered significant losses.

April 6, 1941 Germany attacked Yugoslavia and Greece. In preparation for this campaign, three new transport groups were formed. They, along with other units, were concentrated in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), uniting them into the XI air corps. From there, part of the aircraft flew to Larissa in the northern part of Greece, already captured by the Germans. There they refueled and took on board the landing force.

The task was to capture the bridge over the Corinth Canal. The operation involved six tugs with gliders and 40 Junkers with paratroopers. Parachute troops captured the surrounding heights and took up defense. The gliders had to take the bridge itself. One of the gliders hit the abutment and crashed; the rest sat down safely. The paratroopers managed to disarm the guards, but an English battery opened fire on the bridge. The shell hit the explosives planted in the support, and the bridge flew into the air.

The largest airborne operation carried out by the Germans in World War II, of course, was the occupation of. Crete. For this purpose, ten transport groups were assembled plus a separate squadron of glider tugs (also on Ju 52 / 3m) - a total of 493 serviceable vehicles.

Early in the morning of May 20, 1941, after being hit by bombers, the DFS 230 gliders disengaged from the tugboats and began to land in the designated places. The main task of the first wave was the destruction of anti-aircraft batteries. This was followed by the landing of paratroopers. They were thrown out in four places. In total, 10,000 people parachuted. This was not seen even at the pre-war maneuvers of the Red Army. Paratroopers were shot in the air, and on the ground they immediately had to engage in battle with English and Greek soldiers. The losses were very great.

By the end of the second day of fighting, paratroopers captured the Maleme airfield. Although the artillery fired on him, the "Junkers" landed one by one, unloading the 5th division of mountain rangers. The wrecked planes were on fire, they were extinguished, the wreckage was dragged to the side and new cars were taken. Aviation delivered everything necessary to the island - ammunition, food, medicines, as well as heavy weapons and vehicles. In total, more than 13,000 soldiers, 353 guns and 771 motorcycles were transferred to Crete during the landing. The latter were partially transported on an external sling between the landing gear.

The island was captured, but at the cost of heavy losses. By May 31, only 185 serviceable aircraft remained in the XI Air Corps, that is, less than half of the original composition. Some groups again had to be disbanded. By the time of the attack on the USSR, German transport aviation had not yet managed to fully restore its combat capability.

On June 22, 1941, German troops crossed the border of the Soviet Union. Large airborne landings were not planned here, but the rapid advance to the east often forced them to resort to supplying advanced units with aviation. The four transport groups sent to the territory of the USSR were clearly not enough. Already in December, Hitler ordered the formation of five new groups specifically for the Eastern Front. The personnel for them were assembled from instructors and cadets of flight schools.

At the beginning of 1942, the Red Army broke through the front south of Lake Ilmen and surrounded the 16th Army of General von Busch. About 100,000 German soldiers and officers ended up in the “cauldron” near Demyansk. The grouping of Lieutenant General von Seydlitz rushed to help. She managed to break through the narrow, 4 km wide, "Ramushevsky corridor" (passing through the village of Ramushevo). It was completely shot through by Soviet artillery. The only way to supply the encircled was by air. The Germans collected suitable aircraft along the entire front, pulled them from the rear, and even transferred a group of KGrzbV 500 from the Mediterranean theater. But even this was not enough. In Germany, five groups were hastily completed, two of which received Ju 52 / 3m, and in two they were combined with obsolete bombers.

On February 20, 1942, the first four Junkers landed in Demyansk. Only before landing, the intense fire of the anti-aircraft gunners cut off the Soviet fighters pursuing them. The whole armada began to run between Demyansk and the airfields behind the encirclement. In the Kholm area, cargo was dropped by parachute.

At first, German planes flew in small groups and singly, changing routes all the time. Ambush anti-aircraft gunners and fighters advanced to the forward sites were waiting for them. Only the 161st Fighter Aviation Regiment shot down 12 Junkers in a short time, including Lieutenant Usenko destroyed three aircraft in one sortie. The transporters were hunted not only by our fighters, but also by bombers and attack aircraft. IL-2s with cannon fire quite successfully dealt with clumsy three-engine vehicles. Stormtroopers went to hunt for the "Junkers" one by one or in small groups. Protected by powerful armor in front, the pilots, ignoring the fire of the enemy shooter, shot the transporters from cannons point-blank. Sergeant Ryaboshapka shot down four enemy planes in a short period of time. The record was set by Senior Lieutenant V. Oleinik, who accounted for six Junkers destroyed in the air and eight on the ground. German vehicles loaded with ammunition or fuel often exploded in the air. Sometimes attack aircraft worked as "beaters", directing groups of transport workers under the blows of our fighters.

Fleeing from the air threat, the German pilots began to fly close to the ground, descending to 15-20 m. But there the planes came under intense fire from small arms. Passengers shot back with machine guns and threw hand grenades. But soon heavy losses forced the Germans to build a bypass route. They spent more fuel on it, but the route ran over snow-covered forests, bypassing settlements and roads. They flew into the encirclement already in the evening and returned at dawn. The Soviet 6th Air Army concentrated its efforts on strikes against airfields in the Demyansk area. After a large group of transport workers was discovered at some site during the day, at night it became a target for U-2 biplanes, which bombarded it with incendiary ampoules. Twin-engine bombers navigated through the fires, destroying the airfield with high-explosive bombs. When in the morning the German airfield teams hurriedly filled up the funnels and removed the burned-out aircraft, our Il-2 attack aircraft appeared and dispersed the workers with machine-gun fire and at the same time shot the equipment that was on the field. After such a combined strike, the airfield was usually inactive for several days. This tactic also ensured significant enemy losses in equipment. At the Glebovshchina airfield, aerial photography showed up to 70 crashed aircraft.

On the one hand, by the end of April, the Germans managed to deliver more than 65,000 tons of various cargoes to the surrounded, transport 30,500 reinforcements and evacuate 35,400 wounded. On the other hand, they lost 265 aircraft, mostly Ju 52 / 3m. Only attack aircraft shot down from March to November 1942, according to Soviet data, more than 60 Junkers. Nevertheless, the "air bridge" saved the 16th Army. In March 1943, she managed to break through to her own. At the airfields in the Demyansk area, the enemy abandoned 78 damaged aircraft, mostly transport aircraft.

Another big problem for the German command was the supply of the African Corps. Allied fleets and aircraft hindered shipping between Italy and the North African coast. At the same time, everything needed had to be delivered from Europe. The more important became air transportation.

The transport aviation force stationed in Italy and Greece was constantly growing. "Junkers" usually flew across the Mediterranean in large groups (up to 25-30 cars) in close formation at low altitude. Fighter cover on the route, as a rule, was absent. To increase the defensive capability of the groups, they began to include "waffentregers" - converted Ju 52 / 3mg4e with enhanced weapons. All vehicles of this type belonged to the 11/KGzbV 1 group.

When in November 1942, under pressure from the British, the Italian army and the African Corps rolled back, and the Allied landings landed in Algiers, it was time to organize an "air bridge" to Tunisia. But no matter how hard the Germans tried, they failed to ensure the full supply of either their units, let alone the Italians. They only lost a large number of aircraft. But these losses could not be compared with what they lost during Battle of Stalingrad…

On November 19, Soviet troops closed the ring around the 6th Paulus Army that entered Stalingrad. Surrounded needed to deliver approximately 750 tons of various cargoes per day. Goering promised the Fuhrer to do so. A large number of aircraft were concentrated at the Morozovskaya and Tatsinskaya airfields to the west of the city. These included 375 Ju 52/3m.

They began to fly to the sites inside the encirclement. Mass transportation began on November 23. They flew during the day. Transport workers acted in small groups and one by one. Sometimes they were accompanied by fighters, but more often they were not: there were not enough fighters for all. The destruction of transport aircraft became the main task of Soviet pilots and anti-aircraft artillery. They shot down up to 30-50 cars a day, about a third of all those flying across the front line. So, four Soviet fighters overtook a group of 17 Ju 52 / 3m and four Bf 109 fighters near Bolshaya Rossoshka. An unexpected attack deprived the Germans of five Junkers and one Messerschmitt.

Heavy losses forced the enemy to change tactics. Small groups with strong cover were released forward, diverting Soviet fighters, followed by the rest of the machines. Having lost air supremacy, the Germans began to fly late in the evening and early in the morning, as well as in conditions of poor visibility, masking themselves with clouds. Enemy fighters covered only takeoff and landing inside the ring. Since mid-December, transport workers have generally stopped flying during the day.

Soviet aviation also destroyed transport aircraft at airfields. Tatsinskaya and Morozovskaya were regularly bombed. Every day they bombed and stormed all the sites in Stalingrad several times. Long-range aviation regiments worked at night, as well as light night bombers and pairs of U-2 illuminators and Il-2 attack aircraft. On November 30, 15 Junkers were burned on the ground, on December 1 - 13, on December 10 - 31 (including 22 at the Basargino airfield), on December 11 - 58! On December 30, six dive bombers from the 35th Guards Bomber Regiment destroyed about 20 aircraft in Tormosin.

The Germans managed to deliver no more than 90 tons of cargo to the city daily. This was clearly not enough. The encirclement was shrinking. Airfields were captured one by one. Soviet troops. The Junkers took off and landed on them until the last moment, until the tanks burst into the airfield. In the end, only one airfield remained at the disposal of the 6th Army - Nursery, cluttered with broken aircraft. Our pilots managed to thwart the enemy's attempts to evacuate the command staff. So, in one of the downed Ju 52 / 3m, officers of the headquarters of the 376th Infantry Division, led by its commander, were killed.

By January 11, 1943, the enemy managed to deliver only 5227 tons of cargo to Stalingrad at the cost of huge losses. When transport planes lost the ability to land, they began to drop cargo with and without parachutes. "Parcels" often fell in the wrong place and were gladly picked up by the Red Army. More than half of the dropped “arrived” for other purposes. There was a case when a bag with orders fell right in the camp for German prisoners of war.

By the time Paulus gave the surrender order on February 2, 1943, the Luftwaffe had lost 266 Junkers and more than 1,000 aircrew. Interestingly, ours estimated their successes a little more modestly - 250 destroyed and captured Ju 52 / 3m. All airfields near Stalingrad were lined with abandoned aircraft of varying degrees of serviceability. Only in Bolshaya Rossoshka they counted more than 40, in Basargino -17. Retreating, the Germans tried to disable machines that could not take off. Sometimes planes that looked serviceable were mined. Some of the captured "Junkers" were later restored and used in the rear.

All further major operations of the German military transport aviation were associated with the Eastern Front, more precisely with attempts to supply one or the other encircled grouping. After Stalingrad, she was never able to restore her former power. In May 1943, the Luftwaffe had five transport squadrons, four of which were armed with Ju 52 / 3m.

In the spring of 1943, the "Junkers" were used for the export of soldiers of the 17th Army from the Kuban. Then they had to deliver goods to the blocked Crimea. For this, a TG 2 squadron was transferred from the Mediterranean Sea, which became unnecessary there after the defeat of the Axis troops in North Africa.

In April 1943 the Ju 52/3m was used for the last time as a bomber. During the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, they dropped bombs and leaflets on the city.

In March - April of the following year, four groups of "Junkers" tried to deliver the necessary goods to units of the 1st tank army, driven into the "bag" at Kamenetz-Podolsky. In May, the Germans organized an airborne assault for the last time. Paratroopers landed near the Yugoslav city of Drvar tried to capture the headquarters of Tito's partisans, but unsuccessfully - Soviet pilots took him to Italy.

Since the summer of 1944, the activity of the German transport aviation began to decline - there was not enough fuel. But sporadic attempts to help the encircled continued. In January 1945, the Junkers broke through into the besieged Budapest. The last significant operation was the "air bridge" in Breslau in February - April of the same year. They flew here only at night. Nevertheless, the Germans lost 165 vehicles (not only the Ju 52 / 3m type).

"Junkers" tried to fly to besieged Berlin. On April 29, an aircraft from the TG 3 squadron dropped cargo in the area of ​​​​the Reich Chancellery.

As of April 25, the Luftwaffe had another 190 Ju 52/3m. They continued to come across to our pilots even after the official surrender of Germany. On May 8, Captain Dobrov and Senior Lieutenant Struchalin discovered two Junkers near Fr. Bornholm. They were heading towards Sweden. One transport was shot down, however, Dobrov's "yak" also received damage from return fire. The next day D.A. Matveev from 486th fighter regiment shot the Junkers in the Brno region in Czechoslovakia. This may have been the last Ju 52/3m destroyed in World War II.

After the surrender, the allied armies got about 140 vehicles in various conditions.

"Mausi" - "mice", such a nickname was given to minesweepers Ju 52 / 3m (MS) by German pilots. They were first used in combat conditions in September 1940 off the Dutch coast. The planes were supposed to destroy magnetic bottom mines dropped by British bombers.

Soon, six squadrons of minesweepers operating in the North, Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, as well as off the Atlantic coast of France, entered service. After the appearance of mines with acoustic fuses by the enemy, the squadrons began to consist of half of the vehicles with magnetic windings and half of the carriers of the "K" containers.

The usual tactics of the Mausi looked like this. A link of aircraft with magnetic windings went in a wedge at a height of 10 to 40 m above the water. With an interval of 200 m, they were followed by a link with explosive charges.

In November 1943, the Luftwaffe had 74 minesweepers, united in a mine-sweeping group. Soviet pilots met them more than once over the Black Sea in 1943-1944. near the mouth of the Danube. At the end of November 1943, an IL-2 shot down one Ju 52 / 3m (MS) in the Ochakov area.

In April 1944, six aircraft of this type were sent to Hungary, where they trawled the Danube. From the beginning of 1945, most Mausi were laid up due to lack of fuel.

The first six Ju 52 / 3m arrived in Hungary in 1937. They were operated by the Malert airline. During the war, they were transferred to the Air Force, to the 2nd Transport Squadron. In the summer of 1942, they worked on the Don, providing transportation for the 2nd Hungarian Army. In September, one Ju 52 / 3mg7e transferred by the Germans was added to them. For the most part, these aircraft were engaged in the evacuation of the wounded. In October 1944, five Hungarian Junkers burned American Mustangs at the Bergend airfield. The last aircraft remaining with the Hungarians in December of the same year participated in transportation to Budapest surrounded by Soviet troops.

The Germans sold a total of 33 Ju 52/3m to Romania. The first of them arrived in November 1941. In the winter of 1941/42, our pilots came across them near Stalingrad. Some of them were shot down. At the beginning of 1944, the "Junkers" took out the Romanian soldiers and officers from the besieged Crimea. After the transition of Romania to the side of the Allies in August of the same year, the Romanians captured German aircraft that were on their airfields. Among them were 11 Ju 52/3m; six of them were later taken to the USSR. In Romania, the last Junkers were operated until the early 1960s.

The Italian Air Force in 1940 requisitioned the Ju 52 / 3mlu of the Ala Littoria airline. It was used as a military transport. In September 1943, after a coup in Italy, the Germans captured the car. For some time she served in Lufthansa.

Bulgaria in 1939 acquired two Ju 52 / 3mg4e. Although they were registered as civilians, they were actually used by the Air Force. In 1943, two Ju 52 / 3mg10e were added to them. In September 1944 Bulgaria declared war on Germany. A month later, the grouping of Bulgarian troops was surrounded by the Germans in the Ratunda-Drenyak area.

Planes delivered various cargoes to the encircled. The Bulgarian "Junkers" made 13 sorties and dropped 14 tons of food and ammunition. In Bulgaria, Ju 52 / 3m were operated until the mid-1950s.

As already mentioned, at the end of 1936, the Spanish Republicans managed to capture a practically intact Ju 52 / 3mg3e. In January of the following year, he was already near Moscow, at the airfield of the Air Force Research Institute. Our car received the masking designation DB-29 (or DB-29 -3M-BMW). There was snow, and skis from TB-1 began to be fitted to the aircraft. After a test flight, the shock absorbers had to be strengthened. By March 10, the Junkers had already completed five flights.

Captain Stefanovsky was appointed the lead pilot, and military engineer 3rd rank Antokhin and captain Datsko also flew with him. In addition to them, the Junkers were tested by more than a dozen pilots, including the head of the Research Institute, Divisional Commander Bazhanov. In total, 70 flights were made by car with a total duration of 32 hours 45 minutes.

Testing ended in May. In general, the aircraft was declared obsolete. Although at low altitudes, the DB-29 was slightly superior in speed and rate of climb to the TB-3 with M-34RN engines, its flight data was considered insufficient for a modern bomber. At the same time, they noted the ease of piloting, the availability of the machine for pilots below average qualification. The report states: "The aircraft is very reliable and very easy to operate both on the ground and in the air."

Junkers could be quickly disassembled into knots, numerous hatches provided access to parts that needed to be checked, adjusted or lubricated. Gas tanks were easily removed from the wing through large hatches. It took only 15 minutes to fill the car with fuel, and even less with oil. If necessary, gasoline was quickly merged in flight through special valves. To prevent splashes from falling on the wing, canvas sleeves fell out under the necks. In general, 55 new products were found on the Junkers, which they considered useful for the domestic aircraft industry. They noted the successful design of welded gas tanks, wheels and their brakes, chassis shock absorbers, and many elements of electrical equipment.

The defense capability of the bomber was tested by air battles with both fighters and SB and DB-3 bombers. All of them could easily catch up with a slow-moving and not very maneuverable car. The "German" had a lot of non-shooting angles from which he could be attacked. Armament Ju 52 / 3m as a whole was considered completely obsolete.

The conclusion of the testers read: “Despite the outdated design of the aircraft as a whole, it deserves special attention».

After the tests, the head of the Air Force Alksnis ordered: “The aircraft should be kept as an exhibit for further study by workers of serial aircraft factories and designers of these factories ...” The car entered factory No. 156 in Moscow, where it was disassembled, measured and carefully studied.

Passenger Ju 52 / 3m in Moscow were not new - they regularly landed at the Central Airfield. Military vehicles again met our Red Army soldiers in Poland. Our mechanics even dismantled one of them on their own before returning it to the Germans.

After the Baltic republics joined the Soviet Union, two Ju 52 / 3m of the Estonian airline AGO entered the fleet of the Baltic Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet. We began to call them Yu-52. For some time they were operated on the line Riga - Velikiye Luki - Moscow.

Aircraft of the Luftwaffe, just like the Soviet ones, violated the border from time to time. So, on July 28, 1940, a single Junker passed over Kaunas. Two flights of I-15bis from the 31st Fighter Wing went up to intercept. In the area of ​​​​Mariampol, the German car was overtaken and given several warning bursts, after which the Ju 52 / 3m went towards the border.

At the end of 1940 Soviet Union ordered 10 Junkers in Germany in a cargo version. In February - April of the following year, three of them flew around and took off. But these machines did not arrive in the USSR. This was due to the fact that the delegation headed by I.F. Petrov, having familiarized herself in Germany with the Ju 52 / 3m, converted into a flying laboratory for testing engines, asked to hand over five out of ten ordered machines in this version. The firm agreed to finalize only one aircraft with a deadline of October 1941.

After the start of the war, two Baltic Junkers were evacuated to Siberia, where they were used on the Moscow-Irkutsk air route. On July 14, 1942, the head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet B.C. Molokov sent a letter to Stalin asking him to allow the use of captured German aircraft in the rear. In October of the same year, the first Junker was added to the Aeroflot fleet, and a month later, another one. But due to the lack of spare parts, out of four Yu-52s, only two could fly. All four cars at that time were registered with the West Siberian Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (the administration of the highway was disbanded).

But at the beginning of the next year, the situation changed dramatically. Near Stalingrad, many German transport aircraft were captured. Brigades were sent there from the air repair bases for the selection and primary repair of vehicles. Upon closer examination, the Junkers turned out to be not as serviceable as it seemed to the infantrymen and tankmen who captured them. The fuselages, wings and engines were in place, but the tires were punctured, the engines were out of order, there were not enough instruments and radio stations. Yes, and a long standing under the snow did not benefit the technique.

The most suitable Yu-52s were brought “to condition” right on the spot, since there were enough spare parts around. What is not on one plane was on another. On April 1, 1943, the Civil Air Fleet already had 14 Junkers, and the NKAP had one more German transport. 11 of them were concentrated in the Moscow Department. Of the subsequent receipts, three more Yu-52s were given to the NKAP and two to an exhibition of trophies deployed in the Central Park of Culture and Recreation. Gorky in Moscow.

On some Junkers, Soviet radio stations MRK-005 appeared (only where there were no German ones). Rubber was used from TB-3, skis from Li-2. A tail wheel from the Il-4 was put on one aircraft.

Meanwhile, the collection of trophies continued. In May 1943, air repair base No. 405 sent a brigade led by engineer Pevzner to Stalingrad. A total of 29 vehicles were selected. 15 were considered suitable for restoration, and the rest were taken for spare parts. The Junkers were repaired by air repair bases No. 401, 403, 405 and plant No. 243.

Major alterations fell on base No. 405, which was considered the lead one. Among them, the project of replacing three BMW 132 engines with two domestic ASh-62IR should be mentioned. The drawings were developed by the engineers of base No. 405, and an experimental motor mount was also made there. By September 28, 1943, her static tests were completed. In October - November, one "Junkers" was reworked for a pair of ASh-62IR, but it is not known whether it was completed.

From the end of the spring of 1943, Yu-52s began to be widely used for transportation in the European part of the USSR. At first, they acted on the air defense services like a red rag on a bull. When a characteristic silhouette appeared, the firing immediately opened. On April 29, anti-aircraft artillery fired on a plane flying from Syzran to Kuibyshev. There were no casualties, no holes. But on May 12, Yu-52, which was coming from Chelyabinsk, came under fire near the bridge in Ulyanovsk. The car made an emergency landing at the Strigino airfield. Mechanics found two decent holes in the right wing. Such incidents were not isolated.

Many planes were idle due to lack of rubber. On October 25, the Civil Air Fleet had 31 Yu-52s, including 23 serviceable ones, but six of them turned out to be “undressed”. It was even proposed to replace the German wheels with wheels from Li-2. On the basis of No. 405, a set of drawings was completed. True, things did not go further.

On September 21, Aeroflot resumed regular service on a number of airlines. Yu-52 worked on the Sverdlovsk-Krasnoyarsk and Kuibyshev-Tashkent-Alma-Ata routes.

By winter, the Junkers were put on skis. The skis were different: both from Li-2 (they were installed on base No. 405), and from TB-1, and special ones. The latter were developed at the Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet. They were first mounted on the L-23 aircraft in October 1943.

In 1943, the task was to get 25 Yu-52s. The plan was overfulfilled: according to the documents of the Civil Aviation Air Force, 27 Junkers were handed over. As of January 1, 29 Yu-52s were in service (including 21 serviceable ones). Lost only one. On October 24, 1943, the plane with the number L-37 crashed and burned down near the Asha station. The crew died.

As the situation at the front changed, there were more and more trophies. "Junkers" continued to enter the Civil Air Fleet, making up for relatively small losses (in 1944 they lost three aircraft, in 1945 - two). The number of cars gradually increased, but there was never such a quantitative jump as after the Battle of Stalingrad. On June 1, 1944 there were 30 of them, on January 1, 1945 - 31.

According to the GKO decree of December 12, 1944, all captured Yu-52s were to be handed over to the Civil Air Fleet. But there were also exceptions. One "Junker" served for quite a long time in the sanitary detachment of the Air Force of the Baltic Fleet. Three flying minesweepers were operated after the war in the Black Sea. They destroyed magnetic mines off the Crimean coast, in the Odessa area and at the mouth of the Danube.

But most of the trophies still went to civil aviation. After the capitulation of Germany, planes, engines, various equipment and spare parts were sent to the Soviet Union by echelons. By October 1, 1945, the Civil Air Fleet already had 37 Junkers. Of these, five perfectly serviceable aircraft arrived from Romania - they were seized by order of the Allied Control Commission.

Now the "Junkers" worked not only in the Moscow Department. Already from 1944, the Civil Air Fleet, which had considerably replenished its composition with Li-2s and American S-47s, could afford to equip rear units with new vehicles. They began to push the Yu-52 to the outskirts of the country. Seven planes were sent to Turkmenistan to transport sulfur. They had to replace the obsolete and extremely worn-out G-2s. Four Yu-52s had been working there since the end of 1944. Or rather, three were working - the fourth was waiting for new engines for a long time. One of these planes (the pilot of Borovoy) crashed on March 15, 1945 during an emergency landing on two engines.

Two cars arrived in Yakutia. Two planes in Tajikistan served the line to Kulyab. Among the pilots there were two women. One of them, Komissarova, died in an accident in 1945.

In Central Asia, the Yu-52 engine installation was revised. German engines suffered greatly from sand dust. Even in winter, piston rings wore out in 15–20 flight hours. In the first days of June 1945, air filters designed by the Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet were installed on the right and middle engines of the L-68 aircraft. On the left, at the suggestion of local craftsmen, the suction pipe was installed not under the engine nacelle, but above it. After successful tests on the Ashgabat-Tashauz and Ashgabat-Darvaza lines on all aircraft in Turkmenistan, medium-sized engines were equipped with new suction pipes. Later, another version of the pipe appeared, tested on the L-35 machine.

The last Yu-52 entered the Civil Air Fleet in 1946. After the Li-2 and S-47, released from front service, entered the line, there was no longer a great need to use German aircraft. On June 28, 1947, an order was issued by the head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet on the decommissioning and further use of captured equipment. After fault detection, by the end of the year, nine of the most worn-out Yu-52s were written off, another one crashed in an accident. On December 1, there were 23 Junkers in total. From now on, they were ordered to be used only as cargo in remote areas. For example, in the East Siberian Directorate, Yu-52 entered the 10th transport detachment and began to carry food to the mines.

In 1948, ten more Junkers disappeared from the lists. According to the results of the aircraft fleet census conducted in May, two aircraft remained in stock - one was waiting for decommissioning, the second flew the resource to Eastern Siberia. As of June 1, there was only one Yu-52 on the lists. By the end of the year, he was gone.

Captured Junkers were also operated by departmental aviation. In June - August 1945, the crews of the Moscow group of the Polar Aviation Administration (UPA) overtook from Germany one aircraft on wheels and one on floats. At plant No. 477 in Krasnoyarsk, a cab heating system and new engine hoods were designed for them. They designed, manufactured and tested skis with a “positive result”. "Junker" with the number H-380 served for quite a long time in the Igarsk air group. In 1946, polar Yu-52s flew 351 hours. The last of them was written off in early 1949.

The NKAP (later MAP) also had German aircraft. The People's Commissariat received the first Yu-52s at the beginning of 1943. These vehicles ensured the urgent transportation of components from one plant to another. In April 1947, the ministry had six Junkers; later, the fleet increased due to the transfer of equipment from the Civil Air Fleet and the Air Force. On October 1 of the same year, it already included ten Yu-52s. Their write-off began the following year. On January 1, 1950, five vehicles remained in service. All of them were written off in the 1st quarter of the following year.

A certain number of aircraft were in the aviation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They served camps in remote areas. For example, in April 1947, two Yu-52s worked in the squadron of the Norilsk Combine (subordinate to the Main Directorate of Metallurgical Industry Camps). But even here they tried to get rid of them. By April 1949, only one "Junker" remained in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and at the beginning of 1950 he was also written off.

Ministry of Fisheries western regions in April 1947, it had one aircraft based at the Izmailovsky airfield in Moscow. By the beginning of 1949, three such machines were operated by the Sevryba trust in Arkhangelsk. By April 1, only one of them was flying.

By 1951, not a single Yu-52 in Soviet aviation not left.

In November 1936, the Portuguese government asked Berlin to sell ten Junkers. The Germans supplied them with a batch of Ju 52 / 3mg3e under the designation Ju 52K. The machines were delivered by sea from Hamburg in 1937. They armed the bomber squadron at the Sintra airfield. Later, this unit was transferred to the Azores, where it was disbanded in January 1944. The aircraft flew to the mainland and were mothballed at the Ota base.

In September 1950, the Portuguese acquired two captured Ju 52/3mg7e from Norway. The planes were airlifted via Copenhagen and Brussels. At the end of 1960, the fleet was replenished with 15 French AAS.1. The cars were received in Oran (Algeria), and then they flew to Lisbon with an intermediate landing in Seville. These "junkers" served as transport. They were also used to train paratroopers. The last of them "survived" until 1968.

In October 1939 three Ju 52/3mg4e were sold to Switzerland. The aircraft were intended for air navigation training, but were also used as transport aircraft. After the war, the main wheels from AAS.1 were put on them, and the tail wheels were replaced with nose wheels from the English Vampire fighters. The Swiss "Junkers" were the last to be operated in military aviation. They were sold in September 1982 to a company in Germany, which uses these rare cars for demonstration flights.

The Second World War ended, but the Ju 52 / 3m still had a chance to participate in several local conflicts. French "Toucans" fought in Indochina. In February 1946, a GT I/34 Bearn squadron arrived at the Bien Hoa airfield (northwest of Saigon). It included 16 AAS.1. The machines were equipped with bomb racks under the center section and consoles. "Toucans" were used to support troops on the ground. In addition to bombs, they carried canisters of combustible mixture, which were simply thrown from the doors. The aircraft have proven themselves well in terms of reliability and ease of maintenance.

In the summer of 1946, the squadron participated in the landing of several paratroopers - in Luang Prabang (Laos) and north of Haiphong. In December of the same year, its aircraft supported the advance of the French troops to Hanoi, and on January 6, 1947, they carried out a landing at Nam Dinh. The paratroopers were supposed to capture two bridgeheads for the landing of amphibious assault, but the fire of anti-aircraft artillery scattered the transport aircraft, and with them the paratrooper units.

More successfully was the landing of paratroopers near Hoa Binh in April of the same year, which contributed to the capture of the city. The number of "toucans" in Indochina gradually increased. In May, two squadrons of these machines operated there. In October, another dozen AAS.1s were delivered on the deck of the Diksmünde aircraft carrier.

Aircraft were alternately used either as transporters or as bombers. On May 27, 1949, 30 Tucans dropped a parachute battalion near the Dong Khe post besieged by the Vietnamese. The post was saved. But in October of the following year, two battalions had to land in the same area. The Vietnamese smashed them to smithereens. Despite the support of aviation (including AAS.1 with bombs), only 23 people left the jungle. In January - May 1951, "ersatz bombers" were actively working near Hanoi.

The last combat operation of the "toucans" was the landing at Hoa Binh on November 14, 1951. There they dropped three battalions. As auxiliary aircraft AAS.1 served in Indochina almost until the armistice in 1954.

In France, "toucans" were in service until the spring of 1960.

Spanish CASA 352 fought in Western Sahara. In February 1958, they dropped cargo to the Ifni garrison surrounded by partisans. There they also landed a paratrooper unit. Several vehicles were equipped with bomb racks and used to attack partisan positions. The Spanish "Junkers" operated in Western Sahara until 1969. The process of removing them from service began in 1965, but the last aircraft of this type were decommissioned only in 1978.

After the war, Ju 52 / 3m were operated by civilian pilots in many countries. The British sold the captured cars to the BEA company. The Short factory in Belfast converted them into 12-seat passenger ones by sewing up the cargo hatch on the starboard side and replacing the radio equipment. 11 aircraft worked on local lines in Great Britain, in particular, on the London - Belfast route, until August 1948.

Float cars flew in Sweden and Norway. The Swedish company SAS scrapped them only in 1956. Three former military Junkers served in Bulgaria on the Vrazhdebna-Burgas line. In Romania, the same aircraft were operated until 1947.

The Ju 52/3m lasted the longest in New Guinea. In 1955, Gibbs Sepik Airways bought three Junkers from Sweden. The owner of the company, a former military pilot Gibbs, personally flew the first plane to the town of Goroka in October. In January 1957, two more cars followed.

The planes were equipped with additional gas tanks, and already on the spot the engines were replaced with Australian-made R-1340-SH-G (600 hp) and three-bladed Hamilton Standard 3D40 propellers were installed. German cars were able to take off and land where the American C-47s could not. They carried passengers and cargo throughout New Guinea and occasionally flew to Australia. One aircraft crashed during a forced landing in October 1959, and two more were scrapped in April 1960.