Junkers Ju 87 Stukageschwader of the Russian Front

100 Pages·2008·35.58 MB·English

by  John Weal

Osprey'sprimaryLuftwaffe
author/artist,JOHNWEALhas
writtenand/orillustratedmore
than25titlesintheAircraftof
theAces,CombatAircraftand
AviationEliteUnitsseriessince
1994.Possessingoneofthe
largestprivatecollectionsof
originalGerman-language
literaturefromWorldWar2,
hisresearch isfirmlybased
onthishugearchive.Fluentin
German,Wealhasalsospent
muchtimeestablishingcontact
withex-membersofthe
Luftwaffe,fromGeneralStaff
OfficersoftheRLMtofrontline
aircrew.Hehasoftenused
theseprivatesourcestogain
accesstofurtherarchival
material,includingcomplete
Luftwaffeordersofbattlefor
thevariousfightingfrontsand
individualcombatreports.A
freelanceairbrushartistsince
thedaysofthemonthlyRAF
FlyingReview,anditsvarious
successors,Wealalsohelps
hisGermanwiferunasmall
technicaltranslationand
interpretingagency.
OSPREY COMBAT AIRCRAFT • 74
I I
IUNI(ERS Iu 87
STUIUlGESCHWllDEB
OF THE
RUSSIAN FRONT

SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES
I I
OSPREY COMBAT AIRCRAFT • 74
UNI(ERS 87
u
STUIUlGESCHWllDEB
OF THE
USSIAN FRONT
Frontcover FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2008byOspreyPublishing
TheepicbattleofStalingrad, MidlandHouse,WestWay, Botley,Oxford, 0X2OPH
whichendedintheannihilationof
443ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY, 10016,USA
Germany's6.Armee,isrightlyseen
bymanyastheturningpointofthe [email protected]
warintheeast.Apartfroman
unfortunateminority,however, ©2008OspreyPublishingLimited
themenoftheStukaunitsthathad
accompaniedGeneralFriedrichvon
Paulus'troopsduringtheiradvance Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivatestudy,
onthecityescapedthefatethat research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright,Designand
befellaquarterofamillionoftheir
PatentsAct 1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
groundcomrades.TheStuka
aretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
gruppenwerewithdrawnlong
beforethestruggleforStalingrad electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise
reacheditsclimax.Onlyasingle withoutpriorwrittenpermission.Allenquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothe
Sonderstaffel(Specialsquadron)
publisher.
ofJu87scontinuedtooperate
fromwithintheStalingradpocket.
Throughoutitsseven-week ISBN 13:978 1846033087
existence,thisStaffelwas
commandedbyLeutnantHeinz
EditedbyTonyHolmes
Jungclaussen,theKapitanof
6./StG2'Immelmann'. PagedesignbyTonyTruscott
MarkPostlethwaite'sstriking CoverArtworkbyMarkPostlethwaite
coverillustrationcaptures AircraftProfilesbyJohnWeal
Jungclaussen'swinter-camouflaged
IndexbyAlanThatcher
,Anton-Paula'asitcommencesits
diveonatargetnearthe'Red OriginatedbyPDQDigitalMediaSolutions
October'ironworksjusttothenorth PrintedinChinathroughBookbuilders
ofthedistinctiverailloopthatwas
knowntoeveryGermanfightingin
08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
thecityasthe'tennisracquet'.
Jungclaussenwentontoadd
another800Stukamissionstothe ForacatalogueofallbookspublishedbyOspreypleasecontact:
200hehadflownoverStalingrad NORTHAMERICA
beforebecominganinstructorin
OspreyDirect,c/oRandomHouseDistributionCenter,400HahnRoad,
early1944.Hereturnedtooperations
inNovemberofthatyearasa Westminster,MD21157
Schlachtpilotonthewesternfront, E-mail:[email protected]
flyingFw190sastheStaffelkapitan
of3./SG4,onlytobekilledinaction
ALLOTHERREGIONS
againstRAFTyphoonsover
theRhinesouthofKoblenzon OspreyDirectUK, P.O. Box140Wellingborough,Northants,NN82FA,UK
26December1944(Coverartwork E-mail:[email protected]
byMarkPostlethwaite)
OspreyPublishingissupportingtheWoodlandTrust,theUK'sleading
woodlandconservationcharity,byfundingthededicationoftrees.
wwwoospreypublishingocom
ACKNO~EDGEMENTS
Theauthorwishestothankthefollowingindividualsfortheirgeneroushelpin
providinginformationandphotographs- ThomasBryant,ManfredGriehl,
Heinrich,WalterMatthiesen,ChrisPavitt,DrAlfredPriceandRobert
Simpson.Amongthemanyex-Stukapersonnelwhogaveoftheirtimeandhelp
inthepast, butwhoarenolongerwithus,theauthorwouldparticularlyliketo
mentionafriendofmorethan50yearsstanding,RolfHaseofthe Gruppenstab
II./StG2'Immelmann',whosadlypassedawaywhilethisworkwasin
preparation.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1941 - LAST BLITZKRIEG 6
CHAPTER TWO
1942 - ROAD TO ARMAGEDDON 30
CHAPTER THREE
1943- YEAR OFREORGANISATION 64
CHAPTER FOUR
1941-45-ALLIES COME AND ALLIES GO 78
CHAPTER FIVE
1944-45- PANZER-BUSTING POSTSCRIPT 86
APPENDICES 88
COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 92
INDEX 95
-
L.U 1941 LAST
Z
o
c:::
L.U
I
«0...
BLITZKRIEG
I
U
hefearsome reputation oftheJunkersJu 87 Stukadive-bomber
wasestablishedduringthefirsttwoBlitzkriegcampaignsofWorld
War 2, namely the attack on Poland and the invasion ofthe
LowCountriesandFrance. Itwasonlyafterthesuccessfulconclusionof
thelatter,whentheLuftwaffecrossedtheChanneltotaketheairwarinto
theskies ofsouthernEngland, that theStuka's inherentfaults werelaid
bare. Lackingsufficientspeedanddefensivepower, itwassimplyunable
tosurviveinairspacedefendedbyadeterminedandorganisedenemy.
Withdrawnfrom operationsattheheightoftheBattleofBritain, the
bent-wingJunkers was rarely to be seen again bydaylight in northwest
Europe. Yet it was to enjoy a new lease oflife far to the south. In the
Balkans campaign, in the airborne invasion ofCrete, in anti-shipping
missionsagainstnavalvesselsandmerchantconvoysintheMediterranean
and in the earlystages ofthe desert conflict in NorthAfrica- all areas Inthebeginning,duringtheopening
whereenemyairoppositionwas atfirstwoefullyinadequate- theStuka roundsofBarbarossa,theStukas
regainedsomethingofitsmythasasuccessfulweaponofwar.Butheretoo, againenjoyedmasteryoftheair
muchastheyhaddoneduringthe
onceAlliedairsuperiorityhadbeenachieved,theJunkers'failingswereall
earlierFrenchandPolishcampaigns.
tooapparent. Here,aStaffe/wingsitsway
BythetimehostilitiesintheMediterraneantheatredrewtoaclose,the unescortedandunmolestedhigh
Luftwaffe'sStukaforcecomprisedjusttwodozenorsomachinesoperating abovethefeaturelessRussian
landscape
solelyunderthecoverofdarkness(fordetailsoftheJu87'searliercombat
career in Spain, Poland, theWest and in the Mediterranean, see Osprey
CombatAircraftNos1and6).
And there was another battlefrontwhere the same sorrysaga ofthe
Stukawas, itseemed, about to be played out for yet a third time- the
initialspectacularsuccesses,followedbytheinexorablegrowthofenemy
airopposition,andthentheinevitablerelegationtonightoperations.But
in Russia things were to prove different. Armed with a pair of37 mm
cannon underwing, theJu 87enjoyedanewleaseoflifeas aspecialised
anti-tankaircraft. Andon the eastern front atleast- albeit in relatively
smallnumbers- theStukawouldremaininactionbydayuntilwar'send.
Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion ofthe Soviet Union on
22 June 1941, was the last and most ambitious Blitzkriegofthem all.
Butdespite the enormityofthe undertaking, suchwere the Luftwaffe's
commitments elsewhere by that summer of1941 - the defence ofthe
occupiedwesternterritoriesandthefightingintheMediterranean- that
it launched the attack on Russia with far fewer aircraft than had been
available to it for the assault on France and the Low Countries in the
springofthepreviousyear.
ThedisparitybetweenStukastrengthsontheevesofthetwoinvasions
6 was particularlystriking. One source quotes the number ofserviceable
ThisKetteofJu878sliftingofffor
anotherraidonSovietpositions
arouseslittlemorethancasual
interestfromacoupleofonlookers.
Theamountofordnancescattered
aboutintheforegroundwouldseem
toindicatethatthereislittlefearof
enemyretaliation
Ju87sdeployedinreadinessfortheBlitzkrieginthewestashavingbeen
301. The comparable figure for Barbarossais given as just 183 (with a
further24upinthefarnorthabovetheArcticCircle).
Themainassaultforce ofStukas- seven Gruppenin total- all came
Thesmallfiresquicklytakingholdin underthecommandofLuftflotte2onthecentralsectorofthefront.They
thetinder-dryfieldsandscrubland were divided between the air fleet's two Fliegerkorps. Subordinated to
belowsuggestthatthisattackis
VIII. Fliegerkorpson the left, or northern, flank ofthesectorwere Stab
beingcarriedouteitherwithanti
StG 1with II. and IIl./StG 1, plus StabStG 2 with I. and IIl./StG 2.
personnelbombsorclustersof
incendiaries On the right, or southern, flank under II. Fliegerkorps were all three
GruppenofStG77.
The taskofthe two Fliegerkorps)
Stuka units was to support the
armoured divisions of Panzergrup
pen3and2respectivelyastheydrove
eastwards in aseries ofgiant pincer
movements towards their ultimate
goal-Moscow.
Accounts ofthe opening day of
Barbarossaare nearly always domi
nated by the astronomical scores
achievedbytheLuftwaffe'sfighters
both in the air and on the ground.
Some 325 Sovietaircraftwere shot
down on 22 June 1941, the vast
majorityofthemfallingto Bf109s.
TheGerman]agdgruppenwerealso
responsibleforasizeableproportion
of the nearly 1500 Red Air Force
machinesdestroyedontheground,
either by low-level strafing or by
dropping hundreds ofthe devilish
little2-kgSD2'butterflybombs'.
A number of Stukas also flew
missionsonthisdayarmedwiththe
'butterfly bomb's' larger counter
part, the 10-kgSD 10 anti-person
nel bomb. These were carried in
underwingcontainers anddropped
indiscriminatelyonenemyairfields 7
UJ andknowntroopconcentrations.Butsuchscatterguntacticswereawaste
Z
o oftheJu 87's unique capabilities, and during the earlymorninghours
c:: of22 June most Stukas were employed in their more traditional role
UJ
Ia. .. deliveringpreciseattacksonpinpointtargets.III./StG1,forexample,was
«
orderedtoknockoutthreeRedArmyHQ buildingsatdawn;
:I:
u
'Aseachaircraft'senginesprangintolife,itsdispersalpenwasfitfully
illuminatedbythe flickeringflames from the exhauststubs. Red, green
and white lights wove through the darkness as the machines taxied to
theirassignedtake-offpositions.
'The three aircraft ofthe HQflight lifted offtogether at 0230 hrs,
leaving a thick cloud ofdust in their wake. Despite their total lack of
visibility, those following all got offsafely. One by one, they emerged
fromthedustcloud,theirpositionlightsindicatingtheirpassageasthey
closedupontheleadersuntilthe Gruppeformationwascomplete.Inthe
palehalf-lightofpre-dawn,villages,roadsandrailwaylinescouldjustbe
madeoutthroughthelayersofmistblanketingtheground.'
III./StG 1was tohave rendezvousedwithII. Gruppebeforeentering
Russian airspace, butthe two unitsfailed tolinkup.Aftercirclingfor a
few minutes, Hauptmann Helmut Mahlke, the Gruppenkommandeur
ofllI./StG1,assumed- quiterightly,asitturnedout- thatHauptmann
AntonKeil'sII. Gruppemusthavegoneonahead.Hesetoutafterthem;
'Wecrossedtheborder- apeculiarfeeling.Anewtheatreofwar,anew
foe, butatfirstallremainedquiet.TheSovietsappearedtobefastasleep!
The first bombs from II./StG 1detonate some way offin front ofus.
Then it's our turn. A few straypuffs ofsmoke blossom in thesky. The
Stillbearingthefuselagecodes
enemy flak has finally woken up. But the gunners' aim is so wild and
associatedwiththeirprevious
uncertainthatoldStukahandssuchasourselvespayitlittleheed. identity(seethecolourplates
'The pilots have spotted their targets. Attack! We dive almost commentaryforProfile2onpage
vertically,oneaftertheotherinquicksuccession.Inafewsecondsit'sall 92),thesetwomachinesofII./StG1
maketheirwaybacktobaseafter
over. The ruins ofthe HQ buildings are shrouded in dust, smoke and
thecompletionofanother
flames.Wegetbackintoformationandheadforhome.' successfulmission
8