ju52-losses during netherlands-campain

[jim norton]

hi,
had the luftwaffe during the invasion of the netherlands the same losses as during the kreta-mission? how many ju52 were lost in may 1940?
all the best
jim

[Nick Beale]

You may be able to get figures from the sitreps on the TSAMO German Docs in Russia site. Akte 94 and Akte 95 cover the campaign.

[andrus]

On https://ju52archiv.de/Werksnummernlisten.htm there is loss list for fighting in Netherlands. I do not know how complete it is.

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Jim,

Do recommend you "The Battle of France then and now" by Peter D. Cornwell, which is a helluva of a book, and do have day-by-day losses recorded (both from Allied and LW). Sadly I do not remember seeing the total number of losses per type...Neither do I remember IF on "The Luftwaffe War Diaries" from Cajus Bekker you may find that information. If memory does not fail me (I read this book some 20+ years ago), there was, at least for the Kreta operation, the summary of total Ju 52 losses....but I may be wrong...and sadly both volumes are not at hand now (stored away). Both books are wonderfully written and if you have not read them, I do fully recommend.

Adriano

[John Manrho]

Perhaps you can find some answers on the loss register of the Dutch Airwar Study Group

https://www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/

Cheers

John

[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

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Pieter,

Firstly thank you for sharing with us this number of 243 Ju52's that were damaged (due to several causes) on the Campaign; of which you suggest that 25% (some 60 aircraft) were total losses. Much interesting.

A.

[jim norton]

hi,
many thanks for the input. about the losees: it might be correct, that many of the damaged machines were repaired. but this is the last conclusion. at first, more machines were lost. if they were repaired stands on the other hand, doesn´t it?
all the best
jim

[Pieter H]

Hi Jim,
you're right, initially all these machines were operationally lost and no longer available for the airlift operation and/or supply missions. 243 of 600 is more than 40% and a very sensitive loss to the Luftwaffe operational capability at that time.

The confusion comes from the conclusion, often heard in Dutch statements, that all these machines were destroyed, and that therefore the invasion of England had to be cancelled. This is highly exaggerated as the numbers show. Again, without a detailed analysis yet, but of the 100% damaged 25% were destroyed, and then of the remainder around half were lightly damaged and were repaired on the spot for flight back to Germany in the weeks after. And half had to be disassembled and sent to factories like Fokker for re-assembly with new parts (mostly wings I suppose).

I guess that by the summer of 1940 some 90% of the originally engaged 600 were again available, supplemented by fresh production aircraft.

Cheers, Pieter