ju52-losses during netherlands-campain

[Pieter H]

Jim,
my detailed analysis of the Luftwaffe losses in the Netherlands May 1940 shows 243 Ju52 that were not able to return to base, so almost 40% of the 600 engaged during the first 2-3 days.
However, not all of these were permanently lost or written off, many were salvaged, either completely or partly, for repair. For example, often only the wings were damaged during landings, hitting trees etc, while the fuselage was intact. In the weeks following the invasion there were Luftwaffe triage centers where the wrecks were collected and selected for repair. Examples were Ypenburg, Waalhaven and Valkenburg airfields. From there fuselages and/or wings were transported by flat boats, often to Schiphol or Amsterdam. Especially in the Fokker factory in Amsterdam "new" Ju52s were assembled from recovered parts. There are, however, also pictures of disassembled aircraft on flatbed rail wagons, I expect for transport to Germany.

In any case, the assumption - often read in Dutch literature on this - that each of the damaged Junkers was a loss is plainly wrong. An example is Valkenburg airfield, where some 60 aircraft landed and were unable to return due to the soft ground. Apart from a possible collision between Junkers all these aircraft were initially undamaged. By Dutch shelling and bombing some 15 aircraft were then really destroyed (burnt out), but some 45 were recovered and repaired.
On other locations the balance was different. For example at Ypenburg and on the beaches 100% and 80% of the Junkers were destroyed. Etcetera.
I haven't made this analysis yet, but my guess would be that of the 243 Ju52's that were forced to stay behind initially, 25% was written off and 75% repaired. This would lead to a total loss of around 60 Junkers. To be verified.


Cheers, Pieter