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