The Junkers Ju 52
Descriere
TheJu52wasanessentialpartoftheLuftwaffeanditproveditselfaversatileandreliableaircraftinalmostsixyearsofconflict.TheJu52firstsawserviceasacivilairlinerinthe1930sbut,ontheoutbreakofwarin1939,itfoundademandingroleastheLuftwaffe'sprimarytransportaircraft,deployedinthetransportationofsuppliesandpersonneland,onoccasion,flyingparatrooperstotheirtargetdestinationorevacuatingwoundedfromisolatedpockets.In1942,forexample,JU52swereheavilyinvolvedindroppingsuppliestotrappedWehrmachtpersonnelinStalingradand,later,inattemptstoflyoutwoundedsoldiers.ThisimportantcontributiontotheLuftwaffeatWarSerieshighlightsthecontributionmadebytheJU52andcoversallthemajortypesandvariantsofthisruggedaircraft.MortenJessenincludesrareandunpublishedphotographstakenonnearlyeveryfrontofthewarandablydemonstrateswhytheJu52wasviewedwithsuchaffectionbyLuftwaffepersonnel.