The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by the German company Junkers. The type was introduced into civilian in 1931 and was exported to many countries all around the globe. It was used also in a military role by various operators, among them, Bolivia.
The Latin-American country's 'Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano' (Bolivian National Airline, abbreviated as LAB - nowadays defunct) bought in 1931 but it wasn't until late November 1932 that the first one, a Ju.52/3mreo, powered by three BMW 132Da/DC radial engines, arrived. This first machine was named 'Chorolque', after a Bolivian ridge, and was followed by another two 'Juan del Valle' (named after the Spanish explorer who discovered the most rich tin veins in the country) and 'Huanuni' (named after a famous Bolivian town). These two exemplars were bought by the Bolivian tycoon Simón Iturri Patiño who later donated them to the LAB. He bought them after being informed that his country needed them given the long distances and the lack of roads that military operations required. Those two last Junkers most probably entered operations in January 1933.
Considering how hardy the Ju.52 was, its good flying characteristics and its up to three tons of cargo capacity, it was an ideal cargo aircraft for South America. In September 1932 Paraguay Waged war on Bolivia over the sovereignty on the Chaco region. It was then when the LAB was mobilised to serve in the conflict to help overcome the logistic problems like transporting war materials (IE, ammo, medicines, supplies, fuel... ) to the frontlines. During that conflict alone LAB's Ju.52 transported over 4.400 tons of cargo. It's also worth mentioning that, outside of the conflict area, LAB's Ju.52 made, in 1933 alone, 144 flights with a total of 303.10 flight hours and 1.293 passengers transported (quite impressive back then), in order to keep the LAB active and economically viable. Almost at the end of the conflict, in April 1935 (the war ended formally in June) a fourth Ju.52 was incorporated into LAB's fleet.
During the war, Ju.52's main task was to transport vital supplies from Villa Montes (a town in South Bolivia) to Fortín Muñoz (Fort Muñoz - in the Chaco region) and to evacuate wounded soldiers back to Villa Montes. That flight took 5 hours on average, so it was possible to perform two flights per day. It's also worth pointing out that, except for a Ford Trimotor lost to an accident, the rest of LAB's fleet, survived the war which lasted, from September 1932 until June 1935.
After the war, in January 1936 'Chorolque' was lost near Cochabamba (a city in central Bolivia) to a tragic incident where its 17 passengers died. During the summer of 1937 an additional Ju.52 was bought by LAB, named 'Illampú', after another Bolivian mountain. Some months later, on 15th December the 'Huanuni' was lost to another accident.
On 24th May 1938, after having negotiated with Condor Syndicate (a company of Deutsche Lufthansa made with Brazilian capital to operate aerial routes in South America) an international aerial route was opened named 'La Recta' (meaning literally 'The Straight Line'). This route connected Lima, in Peru, with Frankfurt, in Germany via La Paz (Bolivia) and the Brazilian cities of Corumbá, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This line was discontinued at the beginning of the World War 2, however the segment between Lima and Rio de Janeiro was maintained, by local pilots flying the Ju.52 and managed by the Condor Syndicate of Peru, Brazil and the LAB, until 31st March 1941.
Back in 1938 the LAB had up to 8 active internal aerial routes in Bolivia, which were kept, with the Ju.52 active until 1941 when, because of World War 2 and the agreements with the USA, the Ju.52 were retired from active use and were sold to Brazil and Argentina. The last accident of a Bolivian Ju.52 took place on 4th November 1940 when an unnamed Ju.52 registered just as 'CB-17' crashed when in flight between the cities of Santa Cruz and Corumba.
Sources:
1. https://aerospotter.blogspot.com/2009/12/trimotores-del-lloyd.html (translated)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52#Variants
3. https://historias-bolivia.blogspot.com/2018/11/el-lab-en-la-historia-universal.html?m=0 (translated)
4. Osprey Publishing - Combat Aircraft 120 - Junkers Ju.52/3m Bomber and Transport Units 1936-1941
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