Condor Legion
From OnAirpower.org
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The Condor Legion was a unit of German volunteers sent to assist Nationalist General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War.
The initial German volunteer force operating in Spain included nine Ju 52 transports that ferried Franco's Foreign Legion and Moorish troops--which would form the nucleus of Franco's army--from Tetuan, Morocco to Seville, and a shipment of eleven Ju 52 transport, six He 51 biplane fighters, and eighty-six personnel that where shipped from Hamburg to Cadiz in the freighter Usaramo[1]. Six fighter pilots were included in the contingent: Oberleutnant Krafft Eberhardt in command of the fighters, Oberleutnant Herwig Knüppel, Oberleutnant Hannes Trautloft, Leutnant Ekkehard Hefter, Leutnant Alfons Klein, and Leutnant Ottheinrich Freiherr von Houwald, who was in charge of training Franco's Nationalist pilots to fly the German aircraft[1].
Upon arrival in Spain, the six He 51 fighters were transferred to Spanish pilots due to neutrality concerns. The inexperienced Spanish pilots crashed three of the six planes, after which it was agreed that German fighter pilots would themselves fly operational sorties[1].
[edit] Timeline
- July 22, 1936 Adolf Hitler receives a request for assistance from General Francisco Franco, prompting Germany's involvement in the Spanish Civil War[2].
- August 1, 1936 The German freighter Usaramo departs from Hamburg, Germany destined for the Spanish port of Cadiz, carrying the lead elements of what would become the German Condor Legion: eleven Ju 52 transports, six He 51 biplane fighters, 86 German military personnel, and spares, ammunition, and anti-aircraft guns. The Usaramo arrived in Cadiz five days later[1].
- August 25, 1936 German volunteer pilots flying for what would later become the Condor Legion engage enemy aircraft for the first time, and Hannes Trautloft and Krafft Eberhardt each shoot down a Breguet XIX bomber/reconnaissance biplane[1].
[edit] Sources
- From the Spanish Civil War to the Fall of France: Luftwaffe Lessons Learned and Applied by Oppenheimer, Peter H., Journal of Historical Review, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer 1986)
