Junkers Ju.52/3m, part eight

 

After the heavy losses sustained in Operation Merkur (Mercury), and commitments elsewhere, meant that only 150 Ju.52 were available for Operation Barbarossa, German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22nd June 1941. Those transports were hard pressed into service, flying supplies to the rapidly advancing Wehrmacht troops and, therefore, other Ju.52/3m were redeployed to the east. 

Later, in early 1942, the Ju.52/3m of various Luftwaffe units were key in resupplying the surrounded German troops of the II Army Corps at Demyansk in the USSR. The Ju.52/3m flew on a daily basis to deliver up to 330.7 tons of supplies to the trapped German troops. This took place in spite of temperatures plummeting to -45ºC (-49 Fahrenheit), causing great difficulties for the aircraft and their crews. Nevertheless, between 21st February and 18th May 1942, the Germans managed to fly 71.51.2 tons of supplies plus 30.000 troops to the Demyansk pocket and managed to evacuate over 35.000 wounded troops to German rear areas. During this operation, Soviet fighters, anti-air fire and various accidents made for the loss of 265 German aircraft, most of them being Ju.52/3m.

Thanks to the success of this airlift, the Luftwaffe was prompted to attempt a large scale airlift in Stalingrad after the encirclement of the German Sixth Army on 19th November 1942. Therefore approximately 375 Ju.52/3m-s were deployed to Morzovskaya and Tatsinskaya airfields, at 241 km  (149.8 milles ) west of Stalingrad. Those airfields were the main hub for the airlift which began on 25th November. The Sixth Army required a daily amount of 826.7 tons of supplies, but that proved to be beyond Luftwaffe's means. The harsh winter conditions took a heavy toll on the Ju.52/3m-s and their crews, many of whom lacked proper winter clothing. By mid-December the transports delivered an average of 93 tons per day of supplies, well below the requirements of the Sixth Army. As the Operation Uranus (the Soviet encirclement of Stalingrad) continued on, the number of proper airfields to operate from was reducing and aerial operations were moved to Pitomnik airfield, closer to Stalingrad. These airlifts were becoming more and more difficult as steadily improved Soviet fighters and anti-air fire, made the flights in and out of that airfield very risky. The Soviets pushed the Gemrans further West of the city and tigthened the encirclement, which further hampered Luftwaffe's resupply efforts. On 2nd February 1942, when the Sixth Army surrendered, the Luftwaffe lost 266 Ju.52/3m-s and more than 1.000 airmen. The Soviet VVS (Soviet Air Force) captured over 100 lightly damaged Ju.52/3m-s, which were repaired and put into service.  

Sources:

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

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