Ju-52 "Lost Air Force"?

Tomislav:

When the Germans went into the Balkans in 1941 they quickly found the situation more difficult than they had expected. In hopes of saving the situation and getting some help against Russia they started exploiting the old rivalries in the Balkans and recruiting Balkan allies. The Croatians were ready to enlist and there were Croatian air and ground units formed. In addition to Ju-87 and Ju-52 units, there was a bomber squadron equipped with Dornier Do-17s and a fighter squadron attached to JG-52 flying Messerschmitt 109's. In Bosnia the Germans also had success recruiting. Ever hear of the S.S. "Handschar" Infantry Division? It was an SS division sized unit that was famous for extreme brutality in dealing with Communist and other Partisan units resisting the Germans.

Bill Shuey

Since he's from Croatia, I'm sure he knows all this better than yourself, don't you think? :) Situation is more complicated than you describe since Croatians also played a major part in partisan movement..

His question was about the markings because, as I understand, they don't provide the German markings.. I've seen markings of Bf-109s flown by this Croatian unit (few pilots were very succesful, having over 30 victories; some of them deserted to the Russians and fought for them til the end of war), but never saw any Stuka or Ju-52 markings of those units..

This was enlisted from Muslim population in Bosnia. And very quickly there were no non-communist partisan groups. You were either with them or against them later on.

You understood my question right. Croatian pilots were trained in Germany. Last "batch" however never returned. When front begin to disintegrate in closing months of WWII they were send to fight the Soviets. Most of aircrews and ground personnel ended as line infantry, however some fought with Ju-87 in anti-tank role. This are facts. It is possible that they had a Ju-52 as a logistic support. I'm wondering what proof Aeromaster and Blue Rider have to claim that those aircrafts had full Croatian marking instead of standard Luftwaffe? Artistic licence, science fiction, or there is really a photo somewhere. I have never seen Croatian Ju-52. Partisans captured two of them and shoot down at least one. Could be that at least one of this Ju-52's was Croatian AF and not Luftwaffe Tante Ju. But this is something else.

The USAAF did have a couple Ju-52s commandeered from a local airline in Panama during WWII. They replaced the engines and instruments with US standard units, and also received a C-number.. The Squadron "Ju-52 In Action" issued a year or two ago has a paragraph and a couple photos on them. Kim M

Ju 52/3m captured and pressed into American service were never listed as C-79, since they were not acquired as part of an official procurement process. The sole C-79 was acquired from Sindicato Condor in Brazil in May 1942, and was used during the war in Panama and Costa Rica. Reference: "U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909," John M. Andrade, Midland Counties Publications: Earl Shilton, Leicester, England, 1979.

Mark Schynert