Junkers Ju.52/3m in Romania

 

Note: This is our last post before spring break.

The Junkers Ju.52 is a German cargo and passenger plane from the 1930s which was produced by the thousands and, thanks to its versatility and easiness to pilot, it quickly became the main airplane for many airlines around the world, among them, the subject of this post, Romania.

The first Junkers Ju.52/3m to serve in Romania was a Ju.52/3mba registered as CV-FAI, which was designed as a VIP aircraft for the Romanian Prime Minister. This aircraft was re-registered later as YR-ABF in June 1937 and was used also as a VIP transport for the president of LARES (Liinile Aeriene Române Exploatate de Stat - Romanian State-Operated Airlines, Romania's national airline back in the 1930s). It crashed in Bazargio-Dobruja, near the coast of the Black Sea, on 23rd May 1940 when the country was still neutral. 

It wasn't until November 1941 that the Fortele Aeriene Regale ale Romanei (FARAR - Royal Romanian Air Force) received its first Ju.52/3mg7e. A total of 33 were supplied by Germany and were assigned to the 105th Heavy Transport Squadron. These Junkers flew on many resupply missions to the Romanian troops fighting near Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-1943, losing many of them to Soviet fighters. They also took part in the evacuation of troops from the Crimean Peninsula in early 1944. 

In August 1944, when the country switched sides and fought with the Allies, eleven more were captured from Germany. Some of those were used as ambulance planes.

The Transnitrian Air Section (a Romanian administered semi-autonomous region) operated two Ju.52/3m which were part of their slim air section until January 1944 when the area was taken by the Soviets.

After the War, LARES, which was renamed as TARES (Transporturi Aeriene Romana Sovietica - Soviet-Romanian Air Transport) on 1st February 1946, kept operating the type together with the Fortele Aeriene Ale Republicii Populare Române (Air Force of the People's Republic of Romania) until the early 1960s.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forțele_Aeriene_Regale_ale_României (translated)

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAROM

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria_Governorate

5. https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Ju-52/Junkers-Ju-52.html

6.https://www.europeanairlines.no/airline-companies-in-rumania-1918-1945/

7.Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 186 - Junkers Ju-52 in Action

Junkers Ju.52/3m in Norwegian and Polish service

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German cargo plane which was manufactured by the thousands and saw service worldwide, in every continent. Among its many users, we're covering the following ones in this post:

• Norway: The Norwegian airline Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL - Norwegian national airline, forerunner of Norwegian Air Lines) acquired 6 float-equipped Junkers Ju.52/3m (according to some sources they were just four) in 1935. In June 1936 the first Ju.52/3m (which crashed shortly after making its first maiden voyage, on 16th June and had to be replaced by a new one two weeks later) was delivered to serve in a seasonal summer route between Bergen and Tromso with flights three times per week with stopovers at Alesund, Molde, Kristiansund, Trondheim, Bronnoysund, Sandnessjoen, Bodo, Narvik and Harstad. 
  In 1937 DNL moved the departure point to Gressholmen seaplane port, in Oslo, the Norwegian capital. 
  They kept on serving with DNL until the outbreak of the war when the Marinens Flyvevesen (Norwegian for Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service) took one into service in January 1940 (though some sources claim it was in December 1939) and fitted with a ventral defensive machine gun gondola, plus another one in a dorsal position. It served until 9th April. 
  When Norway was occupied, the Luftwaffe took over every aircraft from DNL. However, after the war, one that was originally registered as LN-DAH was taken back and served until 1956.
  Two ex-Luftwaffe Ju.52/3mg7es were taken over on VE-Day (8th May 1945) and, together with LN-DAH, they were incorporated into DNL's fleet. One Ju.52/3m registered as LN-LAB, crashed in May 1946 at Snaroya, close to Oslo. In August that year some Ju.52 were taken by the Kongelige Norske Luftforsvaret (KNL - Royal Norwegian Air Force) and served until September 1950 when they were sold to Portugal.
• Poland: On 16th November 1936, LOT (Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A.) received a single Ju.52/3m powered by Bristol Pegasus engines in exchange for nine Junkers F-13s. This Ju.52/3m was registered as SP-AKX and, from early 1937 onwards, it flew regular flights from Warsaw to Berlin, Rome and Salonique, in Greece. As this machine was powered by Pegasus engines, which were heavier than the original BMW's ones, an extra water tank was installed at the rear of the aircraft to get the right centre of gravity when in flight. 
  This machine was widely used, recording a total of 600 flight hours in 1937 and 843 hours in 1938 suffering no accidents or setbacks whatsoever. At the outbreak of World War 2, it was flown from Zabczyce, close to the city of Pinsk, in Polesie, to the Romanian capital, Bucharest on 12th September 1939 where it was planned to be sold to Turkey but, eventually, it was fictionally sold to Imperial Airways and received the registration G-AGAE.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOT_Polish_Airlines

3. https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Det_Norske_Luftfartselskap (translated)

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Air_Lines

5. https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snarø-ulykken (translated)

6. https://www.polrail.com/Aerolot/history/ju52inlot.html

7. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 186 - Junkers Ju-52 in Action

Junkers Ju.52/3m in Hungary, part two

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German cargo plane that manufactured by the thousands and saw service with many airlines and air forces all around the world. In this post we're covering its usage by the Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légiero (MKHL - which translated stands for Royal Hungarian Air Force).

The MKHL took in charge of the six Ju.52/3m which belonged to MALERT (Hungarian national airline) in 1941. They were assigned to the 2.Szállitó Század (2nd Transport Squadron) which was tasked with flying supply missions between Hungary and the Second Hungarian Army stationed on the Don river during the summer of 1942. In September that year Germany supplied an additional Ju.52/3mg7e for aerial ambulance duties. 

MKHL's Ju.52/3m-s also took part on the evacuation of Hungarian troops from Poltava, in Ukraine, in February 1943 and in September that year, they all were reassigned to the 102/1 Szállitó Század (102/1 Transport Squadron). Five of the six original MALERT Ju.52/3m were destroyed on the ground when stationed at Börgönd, Hungary by P-51 Mustangs of the 325th Fighter Group of the USAAF on 12th and 13th October 1944. The remaining Ju.52/3m flew air supply missions to Budapest when the Hungarian capital was sieged by the Soviet Army on 24th December 1944. The aircraft kept on flying those missions until the city fell on 13th February 1945 when it was destroyed on the ground.

Sources:

1. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 186 - Junkers Ju-52 in Action

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

3. Hikoki Books - Hungarian Eagles - A Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légiero

Junkers Ju.52/3m in Hungary, part one

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German transport airplane that saw service all around the world. One of its main foreign users was Hungary.

The Hungarian national airline Magyar Légiforgalmi R.T. (MALERT) was until the early 1930s equipped with Junkers F.13 and many Fokker passenger planes which were becoming obsolete. The first Junkers to arrive in Budapest was a Ju.52/3m registered as HA-DUR in 1931 which served as the personal transport of Miklós Horthy, the regent of Hungary during the interwar period and most of the World War 2. This Junkers was beautifully decorated with the coat of arms overpainted over the Hungarian flag at the tail.

In order to expand and modernise its fleet, the Hungarian government donated the HA-DUR in 1936 to MALERT to be used in their network with an additional 6 ones purchased from Germany. They were put into use in the line Budapest-Vienna- Salzburg -Munich - Zurich which served jointly with Deutsche Lufthansa and ÖLAG. In 1937, thanks to big increase in numbers of MALERT, a new airport was built in Budapest, named Budaörs, which served as the company's new hub. In April 1939 two additional Ju.52/3m were ordered which were delivered in the summer but, the start of the World War 2 interrupted some aerial routes for a brief period of time. In February it was sought to open a new route to London and Paris via Venezia and Marseille and even another one to Moscow, via Sofia, in Bulgaria, however those were established because of the war.

The most important route MALERT served during this period was Berlin-Budapest-Bucharest between January and 31st March 1940. The Ju,52/3m served with MALERT until they were requisitioned by the Royal Hungarian Air Force (MKHL) to serve in the invasion of the USSR.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. http://www.europeanairlines.no/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/A_Maefort_Malert_020209.pdf

3. http://airliner.narod.ru/airliners1931-ju52/ju52-1europe.htm (translated)

4. Hikoki Books - Hungarian Eagles - A Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légieró 1920-1945

Junkers Ju.52/3m even more European users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. It was employed by many countries in either a civilian or military role and, together with the countries previously covered, in this post we're going to cover the next ones:

• Greece: Greece national airline back in the 1930s, Elliniki Eteria Enaerion Sinkinonion (EEES) acquired three Ju.52/3m which arrived to Greece on 28th June 1938. They served in various aerial routes with Athens as the main hub until they were requisitioned by the Ellinikí Vasilikí Aeroporia (Royal Hellenic Air Force - RHAF) when Italy declared war on Greece in late October 1940. In the RHAF they served as transports to ferry troops, supplies and medical evacuation from the frontlines, at the North-Eastern part of the country and the interior. When Germany invaded Greece on 6th April 1941, they were captured and put to use with the Luftwaffe.
• Netherlands: The Rijksluchtvaartschool (RLS - the Dutch civilian flying academy, forerunner of the actual KLM Flight Academy) had in inventory three ex-German Ju.52/3m which were bought from the British in early 1946. In April they were transferred to the RLS where they served as crew trainers until 1st October 1949. They all were written off two months later and sold in early 1950.
• Italy: In January 1935, Ala Littoria (Fascist Italy's national airline) bought three Junkers Ju.52/3 without engines in order to replace some older Junkers G.24 they had. They were engined with Italian-built Alfa Romeo 126 R.C. 34 and another one (registered as I-BIZI) with the Piaggio P.X. R. engines. Of those original three, only one survived (I-BIZI) as two of them were lost to accidents and were replaced with three more machines, two of them having Alfa Romeo engines and one retaining the original BMW ones.
  In June 1940 all four of them were militarised and taken in charge by the Nucleo Comunicazioni Ala Littoria, which belonged to the Italian S.A.S. (Servizi Aerei Speziali - Special Air Services). One of them, registered as I-BERO, suffered an accident on 7th September 1940 while landing at Brindisi airport, which left the machine badly damaged and another was sent to serve with the Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps) to Belgium to take part in the Battle of Britain. After the Italian armistice in early September 1943, all of them were taken over by the Luftwaffe.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ala_Littoria

3. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/287118/PH-UBA

4. Ali Straniere in Italia 4 - Gli Altri Tedeschi

Junkers Ju.52/3m - Amiot AAC.1 Toucan

 

The Amiot AAC.1 Toucan was a French copy of the Junkers Ju.52/3m which was manufactured after the World War 2. 

During the war, Amiot's factories in Colombes (located close to Paris) manufactured hundreds of Ju.52/3m on behalf of the Luftwaffe. After the war, in order to re-equip the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) and, to make it affordable, the French government opted to take advantage of the available stocks and the acquired skills to relaunch aircraft production. Therefore, a total of approximately 400 Amiot AAC.1 Toucan (AAC stands for Ateliers Aéronautiques de Colombes) were manufactured between late 1944 and 1947/1948 and receiving serial numbers from number 001 onwards.

Compared to its original German counterpart, the Toucan never featured any defensive armament, the landing gear's reinforcement was never present and further minor changes were made also. 

The main users of the Ju.52/3m (the original German one, not the Toucan) in France were both the Armée de l'Air and the Aéronautique Navale as they employed captured German machines or even bought from other Allied countries. These machines were also named as Toucan, however, in order to distinguish an original German from a Toucan, an extra digit was added to the serial number (ex. 1001 stood for the first original German one). This was done arbitrarily, without taking into consideration the original German serial number.

The main user of the Toucan was the Armée de l'Air, with at least 216 machines in active, flying with different units. 

In fact, the Toucan flew with every transport unit located in mainland France. One unit, Groupe de Transport (GT) III/15 'Maine', was equipped both with the Toucan and the Douglas C-47. Based at Bourget airport, in Paris, this unit took part, together with other C-47 equipped transport units like, GT II/15 'Anjou' or GT I/15 'Touraine' in the repatriation of French prisoners and deportees in Germany. 

The GT IV/15 'Poitou' was equipped with the Toucan in 1946. The following year twenty of them were deployed in Madagascar to counter the rebels present there. Here, some Toucans acted as makeshift bombers delivering a payload of one ton.

The Toucan took part too in the first years of the First Indochina War, specially with the GM III/64 'Tonkin', GT I/64 'Béarn' and GT II/52 'Franche-Compté'. The GSRA (Groupes sahariens de reconnaissance et d'Appui - Saharian Support and Reconnaissance Groups) 76 and 78 also employed the Toucan during the Algerian War. 

The Toucan was also present in other colonial units present at the French Equatorial Africa like the ESRA 77, present at Bangui (nowadays Central African Republic) as well as with other units like ELA 56 'Vaucuse' or EOM 82.

The Aéronautique Navale (Naval Air Arm) had around 51 Toucans in service with the last one being retired in 1962. They notably served with the 5S, 31S (based at Orly, in Paris) and 56S, among others.

There were many French civilian operators of the Toucan:

• Air France: The French national airway operated the type starting from late 1944 in internal aerial routes and then, after the war, in international and colonial routes. They were retired by 1953. 
• Aero Cargo: It seems that this airline had at least one Toucan in inventory.
• Air Ocean:  Flew a single Toucan for a brief period of time. It crashed in Morocco in October 1946.
• CTA Languedoc Roussillon:  This company has the sad record of having suffered the most deadly Ju.52/3m civilian accident with 23 out of 27 casualties in a crash at Saint-Léger-la-Montagne.
• Société Auxiliare de Navigation Aérienne used the Toucan together with demilitarized Handley-Page Halifax bombers.

Many agencies of the French Government also employed the Toucan.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_AAC.1_Toucan (translated)

3. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France (translated)

4. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Junkers_Ju_52

5. https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2020/04/11/aac-1-toucan-frances-post-wwii-ju-52/

Junkers Ju.52/3m, Croatian, Czechoslovak and Danish users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German cargo airplane that was produced since 1931 until 1952, since 1945 under foreign manufacturers though.

It comes no surprise that it was used by a wide variety of countries as it was very sturdy, versatile and easy to fly. Some of those countries that employed the type were the following ones:

• Independent State of Croatia: As an organic part of the Luftwaffe, the Croatian Air Force Legion, had at one moment at least one Ju.52/3m registered in January 1944. It seems that previously there were three of them which were used to transport personnel of the 15 (Kroat)/KG.3. The drawing should be considered as speculative because we couldn't find any graphical evidence of a Ju.52 serving with the Croatian Air Force Legion.
• Czechoslovakia: Just after the War, the airline Ceskoslovenské Letecka Spolecnost briefly operated the type by flying a Ju.52/3m to Bromma airport, in Sweden, on 1st February 1946.
  On 1st March 1946 CSA (Czechoslovak Airlines) resumed aerial operations with a fleet of, among other types, three Ju.52/3m (refurbished by Letov) and two Amiot AAC.1 (some sources claim it was three) transferred from the Czechoslovak Air Force between 1946 and 1948. This airline kept scheduled flights from Prague to various destinations all around Europe like Amsterdam, Belgrade, Berlin, Brussels, London Paris, Stockholm, Strasbourg and Warsaw, with many internal destinations like Bratislava, Karlovy Vary and Kosice. 
  One Ju.52/3m crashed when landing in Prague on 5th March 1946, killing ten of the fifteen total people on board, when operating a Paris-Strasbourg-Prague service. 
  After the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, in 1948, CSA was nationalised, so the whole country passed to the Soviet sphere of influence, making the Ju.52/3m and AAC.1s to be eventually replaced by the Lisunov Li-2 and surplus Douglas DC-3 supplied by Soviet authorities.
  Another Czechoslovak users of the Ju.52/3m was the Bata Shoe Company (headquartered in Zlin) which briefly operated a pair of AAC.1s to transport goods and materials between their factories. When the company was nationalised in 1948, the AAC.1s were passed on to the Czechoslovak Police Air Force. Eventually those two Amiot were sold back to France on 17th March 1951.
• Denmark: Det Danske Luftfartselskab (Danish Airlines - DDL) had one Ju.52/3m in property. This aircraft was acquired, with American-built Pratt & Whitney engines, on 8th August 1936 and was nicknamed as "Selandia". It suffered several accidents during 1937 and 1938, when flying regular flights from Copenhagen to various destinations, so a second one was leased from Deutsche Lufthansa. At the outbreak of World War 2, "Selandia" was ready again and resumed operations, this time with big Danish flags painted, as neutrality markings. When Germany occupied Denmark, in April the whole DDL fleet was parked, where it remained until operations were partially resumed in June, after the fall of France. On 18th December 1942 "Selandia" was lost to an accident when landing at Aspern, in Vienna.
  After the War, on 18th July 1945, one Ju.52/3m was leased by DDL, however, due to poor technical conditions of the airplane, it was returned three weeks later. Later, three Ju.52/3m were handled by the RAF to the Dannish Government with the intentions of incorporating them to the DDL's fleet, although eventually only one of them entered service. This Ju.52/3m was nicknamed as "Uffe Viking" and was used on the Copenhagen-Ronne, in the island of Bornholm as the small airfield of the island wasn't adequate to operate the Douglas DC-3. 
  The other two Ju.52/3m remained unused and were returned to the Danish Government in December 1948 which allocated them for firefighting practices in Kastrup. "Uffe Viking" was used until 4th February 1948, when it was stored at Kastrup awaiting a possible buyer. It was eventually bought by the Swedish company Aero Trafik on 23rd August 1950 and ferried to Sweden three weeks later.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Airlines

3. https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/České_aerolinie (translated)

4. Fonthill Media - The Junkers Ju.52 Story
5. https://hrvatskoobrambenostivo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/the-croatian-air-force-in-the-second-world-war.pdf

6. https://military.wikireading.ru/26850 (translated)

Junkers Ju.52/3m more European and British users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German passenger and cargo airplane that was used all around the globe by both air forces and airways from the 1930s to the 1950s and, in some cases, even beyond. In this post we're covering the following users:

• United Kingdom: Although not used by the Royal Air Force, the Ju.52/3m saw service in the United Kingdom as it served with the following airlines:
• British Airways Ltd.: In 1936 and 1937 three Ju.52/3m were operated by this airline together with some other types, to operate various night mail contracts to Lille in France and Cologne and Hannover, in Germany. 
• British European Airways/Railway Air Services: In November 1946 British European Airways (BEA) opened its first aerial link between London Croydon airport and Belfast Sydenham airport via Liverpool. This line was served by ex-Luftwaffe Ju.52/3m and was operated by another airline called Railway Air Services on behalf of BEA. The next month Sydenham was replaced by Nutts Corner, also in Northern Ireland, and the Ju.52/3m (which received the nickname of "Jupiters" by their British pilots) were replaced with Douglas Dakota cargo and passenger aircraft. 
• British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC): According to Wikipedia the BOAC had one or more Ju.52/3m in inventory, however, we couldn't find any graphical evidence, so it was decided not to drawn an hypothetical version.
  
  
• Estonia: In 1939 the Estonian A/S Ago (the Estonian national airline back in the 1930s - not to be confused with the German aircraft manufacturer AGO Flugzeugwerke) ordered two Ju.52/3mg3gce passenger planes in 1939. The first one arrived in Estonia on 5th October 1939, piloted by the Estonian pilot Peeter Olt, and the second one was delivered on 19th October. 
  When the Soviets occupied the Baltic States in June 1940, both were assigned to Aeroflot, the Soviet national airline, however, they remained parked at Jägala airport, in Estonia, until February 1941 when they were taken back to Riga. Later they were assigned to some special squadron of the VVS (Soviet Air Force) in Moscow, where, apparently were not employed for the remaining of the war.
• Finland: In 1936, with the completion of Helsinki's and Turku's airports, Finland's national airway back then, Aero Oy, sought for larger passenger airplanes. That's when three Ju.52/3m were bought with an additional one being bought later. At the outbreak of the Winter War in late November 1939, any civilian aerial operation from Helsinki was deemed as too risky, so Aero Oy ceased operations, but they were resumed when this conflict terminated in March 1940. It seems that during peace negotiations, in June 1940, one Ju.52 was shot down over the Gulf of Riga by two Soviet Tupolev SB-2 bombers. 
  During the Continuation War, the company kept regular flights to Stockholm, Tallinn and Berlin, among other destinations until the outbreak of the Lapland War in September 1944. Overall the Ju.52/3m served with Aero Oy (which, by the way, was the forerunner of Finnair) until 1948 when they were replaced by more modern types.

Sources:

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnair (translated)

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnair

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Ltd

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways

6. http://www.militaar.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=28659 (translated)

Junkers Ju.52, some European users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German cargo and passenger aircraft so successful that it was exported to many countries, among them, the following European ones:

• Austria: The ÖLAG (acronym for Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG - the main Austrian airline between the years 1923 and 1938) ordered a total of 7 Junkers Ju.52/3m between 1935 and 1938 as part of their joint venture with Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH). One aircraft, registered as OE-LAL was lost to an accident on 16th March 1936 and the remaining six machines were taken over by DLH when ÖLAG was bought by Lufthansa on 31st December 1938.
  The Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (Austrian Air Force) had three Ju.52/3m in service. They formed the core of I. Nachtbomberstaffel (1st Night Bomber Flight) based in Vienna. After the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria into Germany) they were all pressed into the Luftwaffe.
• Belgium: The Belgian Société anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne (SABENA - Belgian national airline) bought five Junkers Ju.52/3m in the mid 1930s which constituted the backbone of their passenger fleet. One was assigned for operations in the Belgian Congo (as we saw in a previous post).
  They were used in most of their European routes which, using Brussels Haren airport as the main hub, went to Copenhagen, Malmö, Berlin and other European destinations. One of them, registerd as OO-AUB crashed close to the the town of Ostend, at the Belgian coast on 16th November 1937 killing all 12 people on board the airplane, some of which were members of the Hesse royal family. The airplane was on its way to London from Munich when, because of bad weather, it had to be diverted to Steene aerodrome to land. The airplane hit the chimney of a brick factory, crashed and bursted into flames. 
  
• Bulgaria: In 1938, the main Bulgarian airline, Bulgarski Vuzdushni Linii (BVL) acquired two Ju.52/3m, which after the outbreak of the World War 2, they were pressed into service with the Royal Bulgarian Air Force. Those were followed by two more during 1942 and by several captured ones at the end of the conflict (some sources claim that in January 1945 the Royal Bulgarian Air Force had up to 12 Ju.52/3m in inventory). 
  After the War, they were the backbone of the Air Communications Directorate, the forerunner of TABSO, the main Bulgarian Airline of the post-war, and served in various aerial routes until they were gradually replaced by the Russian Lisunov Li-2, with the last Ju.52/3m being replaced in 1950.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabena

3. https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads/erstes-oesterreichisches-bundesheer.60691/ (translated)

4. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ÖLAG (translated)

5. https://rzjets.net/aircraft/?page=5&typeid=354

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Sabena_Junkers_Ju_52_Ostend_crash

7. http://www.airgroup2000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3314

8. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Гражданска_авиация_в_България (trnaslated)

9. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дирекция_„Въздушни_съобщения“ (translated)

10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Bulgarian_Airlines

Junkers Ju.52, Middle-East and one African users

 

Preliminary note: Yes, we know that the French Amiot AAC.1 Toucan was covered in a previous post. However, as we were not happy with the final result, we decided to remake them.

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German cargo plane that saw an enormous success, thanks to which, it was exported to many parts around the globe. On this post we cover the next users:

• Lebanon: It seems that Lebanon had in force a very small number (probably it was just one airplane) of AAC.1 Toucan (the French version of the Ju.52/3m which was produced during and after the World War 2). Anyway, this was never an important asset for the Lebanese Air Force. As we couldn't find any graphical evidence of a Lebanese Amiot AAC.1 Toucan, the drawing and its markings should be considered as speculative.
• Portuguese Mozambique: In 1936 the airline DETA (acronym for Direcçao de Exploraçao de Transportes Aéreos - Direction for Aerial Transport Explorations) was established with a small fleet of British-made aircraft that were used for airmail services. Soon after, this airline started carrying passengers too and, given the rapid expansion, they acquired Junkers Ju.52/3m in 1938. 
  This airline flew, during  the late 1930s domestic flights inside Mozambique only. With the start of the World War 2, most operations were halted.
  DETA resumed operations after the war and started to open new aerial routes with foreign neighbour countries or regions like Rhodesia, South Africa and Madagascar. The Ju.52/3m served with DETA until April 1960, making it one of the last worldwide operator of the Ju.52/3m on scheduled services. In June 1961 the company ordered three Fokker F.27-200 to replace their ageing Ju.52/3m.
• Syria: Just like in the case of Lebanon, it seems that Syria had a very small number of Amiot AAC.1 in inventory, probably just one airplane. In any case, this Toucan was never given any important task. Please note that the drawing is considered as speculative as we couldn't find graphical evidence.
• Turkey: In 1943 five Ju.52/3m that belonged to Lufthansa were sold to Turkey. These were delivered one year later and assigned to Devlet Hava Yollari (the immediate forerunner of Turkish Airlines) The Ju.52/3m served on the Istanbul-Ankara route and other secondary domestic routes until 1948 when they were replaced by American DC-3 for passengers and Douglas C-47s for cargo duties.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAM_Mozambique_Airlines

3. https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2020/04/11/aac-1-toucan-frances-post-wwii-ju-52/

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Airlines

5. https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal3/2701-2800/Gal2785-Ju-52-Gerdan/00.shtm

6. http://www.thy-heritage.com/flit/

Junkers Ju.52/3m in South Africa

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German transport aircraft that was designed by Ernst Zindel, manufactured by Junkers and thanks to its flying characteristics, it saw great success with many exports users. 

One of those users was South African Airways (SAA) which was founded on 1st February 1934 when the South African Government acquired Union Airways together with a small fleet of passenger aircraft, among them four Junkers F.13 (one of them leased) and a single Junkers A.50. In order to modernise the fleet, SAA ordered three Ju.52/3m which entered service in October 1934 and entered service in just 10 days.

These aircraft could carry up to 14 passengers with a crew of four and covered the route Durban-Johannesburg three times a week with weekly services on the Durban-East London-Port Elizabeth-George Mossel Bay-Cape Town route. From July 1935 another weekly Rand-Kimberley-Beaufort West-Cape Town route was set up and, in April 1936 every Rand-Cape Town service was taken over from Imperial Airways, all these routes were being covered by the Ju.52/3m for which, an additional fourth one was added to the fleet.

As the company was swiftly expanding, another ten Ju.52/3m were ordered raising the total number of SAA Ju.52/3m to fourteen, though three of the older models were sold when the newest models were bought. The airline enjoyed a rapid expansion, though in July 1937 the company suffered its first accident when one of the new Ju.52/3m crashed after taking off from Rand with one reported fatality. 

The company kept on growing, however at the start of the World War 2, its operations were paralysed and the ten Ju.52/3m were pressed into the South African Air Force (SAAF).

Serving with the SAAF the Ju.52/3m was used mainly by the No.50 Squadron SAAF during the whole duration of the war operating mainly as shuttle services from Nairobi, in Kenya to Egypt, Middle East and back to South Africa. When serving in this role, some of them were re-engined with American Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp engines placed straight instead of being splayed outwards. Some sources claim that they were also used as makeshift bombers during the East African Campaign.

In 1944 South African Airways restarted domestic air routes and the Ju.52/3m were put in storage until the late 1940s when they were mostly sold or retired when the company bought 28 Lockheed Lodestars.

One of them, a Spanish-built CASA 352L was bought in 1984 from England to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SAA and it's nowadays one of the few airworthy Ju.52 remaining.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52

3. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234969613-junkers-ju-86-z7-saaf-revell-conv/page/2/

4. http://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/aircraft/174/ju-523m

5. https://ju52archiv.de/Ju52.pdf

6. https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52/3m

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Squadron_SAAF

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airworthy_Ju_52s. 

Junkers Ju.52/3m Various African, Asian & Oceanian Users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m was probably the most used German cargo plane in the whole World War 2. Given its versatility, manoeuvrability and handling easiness it attracted many contractors and was widely exported, all around the globe to, among many others, the following countries:

• Australia: The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operated a captured Ju.52/3mg7e which was left abandoned by the retreating Germans in North Africa. It was assigned to the No.450 Squadron RAAF, was repainted in Commonwealth desert colours received the nickname of "Libyan Clipper". It was used as a cargo to transport mail, food, supplies and other types of goods from Cairo and back to the frontlines, performing two or three flights per week. It was also used by Lord Casey, Governor General of Australia to visit the men of the No.450 Squadron in 1943. The fate of the aircraft is not known.
• Belgian Congo: After the fall of Belgium in spring 1940, SABENA (Belgian national airline) continued its African operations in the Belgian Congo, as they had some Ju.52/3m stationed there from before the War. Their operations continued normally inside the Belgian colony and, in many cases they were used as cargo flights in the region for the Allies. SABENA kept their Ju.52/3m in that region until 1946 when they were replaced by the Douglas DC-3.
• Republic of China: Eurasia Aviation Corporation was China's national airline which, although its headquarters were located in Shanghai, its main operation hub was located in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1925 and ten years later, in 1935 they acquired three Ju.52/3m which were the main aircraft of the airline. When the Japanese occupied large portions of China in the mid-1930s, the airline had to cope with many difficulties. One of them was Chiang Kai Shek's personnal airplane. On 7th December 1941 all three of them were parked at Kai Tek airfield, in Hong Kong and were destroyed by Japanese Tachikawa Ki-36 attack bombers.
• Iraq: When the Luftwaffe created the Fliegerführer Irak in May 1941 to assist the regime of Rashid Ali in their war against the British, thirteen Ju.52/3m were assigned to perform transport tasks, however, all but three of them had to return to Greece to prepare the Invasion of Crete. 
  By May 15th there were three Ju.52/3m and two days later, just two. The whole Fliegerführer Irak left the country on 29th May.
• Territory of New Guinea: Between 1955 and 1959, Gibbes Sepik Airways, an airline that operated in New Guinea, bought three Ju.52/3m from Sweden. These aircraft were re-engined with the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine and drove three-bladed propellers. This airline was purchased by Mandated airlines in 1959 and kept the Ju.52/3m in service covering some interal aerial routes until April 1960 when they were written off.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C957275

3. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/junkers52.htm

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabena

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia_Aviation_Corporation

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fliegerführer_Irak

7. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/junkers%20ju52/junkersju52.html

Junkers Ju.52, more American users

 

Between 1931 and 1952 the Ju.52 was, one way or another, being mass produced. Many airlines all around the world employed it and was the main cargo plane of many Air Forces around the globe. In this post, we cover the following countries:

• Ecuador: The Ecuadorian airline SEDTA (Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos - Ecuadorian Society for Aerial Transports) was a subsidiary of Lufthansa which bought, in 1938, four Ju.52/3m (named "Ecuador", "Guayas", "Aconcagua" and Azuay) together with a single Ju W-34. Oddly enough, during the initial period, their tails were painted with the nazi svastika, which were overpainted in red at the start of the World War 2.
  They served for long period of times until, eventually, all of them were lost to accidents, the last one being recorded in April 1958. During the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War of 1941, they were seized by the Ecuadorian Army to serve in evacuation and resupply missions. One of them, registered as HC-SAD, was captured in September 1941 by Peruvian forces and transferred to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in May 1942. 
• Peru: In Peru Lufthansa created another subsidiary airline, called just "Deutsche Lufthansa AG Lima", which on 21st February 1938 received permission to begin operations. This company worked jointly with the Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano and the Condor Syndicate in Bolivia and Brazil respectively. A total of four Ju.52/3m were acquired to serve on a weekly route from Lima, La Paz, Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro and Europe. However, when the World War 2 started, this route was partially cancelled as the route reached only to Rio de Janeiro.
  Some of them were pressed into service with the Cuerpo Aeronáutico del Perú (Peruvian Aeronautical Corps) when this Corps was expanded. They were used mainly for supply purposes in the most remote Peruvian regions. When American material arrived, they were phased out.
• Uruguay: The Uruguayan company CAUSA (Compañía Aeronáutica Uruguaya S.A. - Uruguayan Aeronautical Company) was a private airline that operated between the years 1938 and 1967. This airline was founded on 29th December 1936 by an Uruguayan banker with the intention of establishing an aerial link between the capital city of Montevideo and the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires. Aerial operations began on 12th March 1938 with two Ju.52/3m equipped with floats which were acquired from Germany, shipped to Brazil, where they were assembled, and flown to Uruguay. These seaplanes served until 1946 when they were replaced by the Short Sunderland.
• United States: In May 1942 an ex-Ecuadorian Ju.52/3m was transferred to the USAAF and assigned to the 20th Troop Carrier Squadron. This aircraft was based in Panama channel and was re-engined with three Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines fitted in modified Douglas DC-2 cowlings and driving three-bladed propellers. Aerial brakes were replaced with hydraulic ones and all instruments and radio were replaced with American equipment. 
  This aircraft was used for patrol duties in the Caribbean region where it was reportedly used in fake "supply drops" to German submarines, where, instead of supplies, ordnance (IE bombs) where dropped. 
  This aircraft served until December 1943 when she was written off, after suffering a taxiing accident on June that same year, and was transferred to the US Public Roads Administration in Costa Rica, where it was in use until, at most, 7th December 1944.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52

2. https://www.facebook.com/aviacionyaeronautica/posts/2247124815308730/ (translated)

3. https://www.nlarenas.com/en/10/2018/aerolineas-historical-sedta-subsidiary-of-lufthansa/ (translated)

4. https://www.facebook.com/114126392072968/posts/1178714095614187/ (translated)

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compañía_Aeronáutica_Uruguaya

6. http://www.geocities.ws/kwii62/ju52.htm (translated)

7. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/unusual-aircraft-in-usaac-service-pt-1.24195/