Messerschmitt Bf.110. Part three. The Bf.110 in Iraq.

 

Preliminary note: Although strictly speaking Fliegerführer Irak wasn't an Iraqi unit, we have decided to consider it as an independent unit to lighten the number of posts that we will write about the Bf.110 in Luftwaffe service.

After the campaign of Crete, II./Zerstörergeschwader 76 was rebased back to Germany to be retrained in the nigh-fighter role. Only 4. Staffel (flight) remained in Crete to be part of an expeditionary force to fight in Iraq, together with another Staffel of Heinkel He.111 bombers.
In April 1941, a pro-German coup d'état took place in Baghdad, forcing the British forces to act quickly to send troops in order to protect their interests there and take control of the land. Given the imminent beginning of Operation Barbarossa (the German attack on the USSR), the German high command could not send a big force, so the Luftwaffe contended itself by sending a small force made up of bombers, Bf.110s and several transport planes. This force would be coordinated with another Italian contingent. 
The German contingent was unofficially known as "Sonderkommando Junck" (Special force Junck) , after its Chief Officer Generalleutnant Werner Junck and soon later it was officially known as "Fliegerführer Irak" (Aviation Command Iraq). 
The main goal of this force, which operated from Mosul (north or Iraq), was to take control of Habbaniya airfield, west of Baghdad. The fight was brief but violent and losses were heavy, specially on the ground, due to Royal Air Force's attacks on Mosul which destroyed or captured every Bf.110 with the last two surviving Heinkel He.111 flying out of the country on 29th May. 
During the short period of time ranging from 13th May 1941,when Sonderkommand Junck arrived in Mosul, to 29th May 1941, when the German-Italian forces left Mosul, many sorties were flown over Iraq.

Sources:
1st Histoire & Collections - Avions et Pilotes 11 - Messerschmitt Bf.110 & Me.210-410 1939 -1945
2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fliegerführer_Irak
3rd Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 30 - Messerschmitt Bf-110 Zerstörer in Action

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