Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum  

Go Back   Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum > Discussion > Pre-WW2 Military and Naval Aviation

Pre-WW2 Military and Naval Aviation Please use this forum to discuss Military and Naval Aviation before the Second World War.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 16th May 2019, 00:43
Dan History Dan History is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 232
Dan History is on a distinguished road
Exclamation Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Dear members,

I am working on an article about the Luftwaffe bomber force during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz and would like to include some information on the bombing of Guernica to trace the evolution of the German bombers from 1937 to 1941. I have discovered that the specifics of aircraft and munitions used to attack Guernica are not easily found. I understand that 3 or so Heinkel 111s and Dornier 17s, as well as 3 Italian SM79s and around two dozen Ju 52s, participated in the bombing and around 30 tonnes of bombes were dropped. Is more specific information available?

Regards,

Dan
__________________
My research paper - How were German air force resources distributed between different fronts in the years 1941 to 1943 - http://www.ww2.dk/Luftwaffe Research.html
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12th June 2019, 12:30
Boomerang Boomerang is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 165
Boomerang is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Hello Dan:

This source states that two He 111s, one Do 17, 18 Ju 52s and 3 SM 79s carried out the Guernica attack:

https://books.google.com.au/books?id...u%2052&f=false

See page 105. Condor Legion documents are cited as the source.

In terms of the munitions, 'Wolfram von Richthofen Master of the German Air War' by James Corum states that 250 kg bombs and EC B 1 fuses were used (presumably the 250 kg bombs made up part of the ordnance used). See page 136. Richthofen's diary entry for 30 April 1937 is cited for this information.

The first source mentioned above includes some interesting discussion of Guernica, which may provide further leads.

Cheers

Don W
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12th June 2019, 18:51
Orwell1984 Orwell1984 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 303
Orwell1984 is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomerang View Post
Hello Dan:

This source states that two He 111s, one Do 17, 18 Ju 52s and 3 SM 79s carried out the Guernica attack:

https://books.google.com.au/books?id...u%2052&f=false

See page 105. Condor Legion documents are cited as the source.

In terms of the munitions, 'Wolfram von Richthofen Master of the German Air War' by James Corum states that 250 kg bombs and EC B 1 fuses were used (presumably the 250 kg bombs made up part of the ordnance used). See page 136. Richthofen's diary entry for 30 April 1937 is cited for this information.

The first source mentioned above includes some interesting discussion of Guernica, which may provide further leads.

Cheers

Don W

For those interested , the book referenced above is available for a free download from the Open Source Library:
https://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=610288
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 25th June 2019, 12:51
Dan History Dan History is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 232
Dan History is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomerang View Post
Hello Dan:

This source states that two He 111s, one Do 17, 18 Ju 52s and 3 SM 79s carried out the Guernica attack:

https://books.google.com.au/books?id...u%2052&f=false

See page 105. Condor Legion documents are cited as the source.
Hello Don,

Thank you very much for this link. For my forthcoming article, I was able to find similar information on the website of Basque television. A very interesting and detailed review of the attack on Guernica, see http://www.eitb.eus/multimedia/infog.../index_en.html

"EC B 1" should actually read B 1 E, the 1 kilogram German incendiary bomb which was first employed on a large scale in this specific raid, as I understand it.

Regards,

Dan
__________________
My research paper - How were German air force resources distributed between different fronts in the years 1941 to 1943 - http://www.ww2.dk/Luftwaffe Research.html
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 25th June 2019, 13:24
Dan History Dan History is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 232
Dan History is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Quote:
Originally Posted by Orwell1984 View Post
For those interested , the book referenced above is available for a free download from the Open Source Library:
https://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=610288
Hello Orwell1984,

Thank you, we now have the source of this information, from the book's endnotes. It is an article by Hans-Henning Abendroth entitled „Guernica: Ein fragwürdiges Symbol“, in Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, published in 1987. It is available at https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/mgz...7.41.1.111.xml

I am grateful for your help in finding this

Kind regards,

Dan
__________________
My research paper - How were German air force resources distributed between different fronts in the years 1941 to 1943 - http://www.ww2.dk/Luftwaffe Research.html
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 25th June 2019, 13:30
Frank Olynyk Frank Olynyk is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1,406
Frank Olynyk is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Dan,
Another source I would recommend is the book Guernica, by Jesús Salas Larrazábal. Originally published in the 1980s, it was reprinted in 2012, which may include updates. It is in Spanish, and I am unaware of any English translation.

Guernica El Bombardeo: La Historia Frente al Mito. Galland Books. 346 pages. 978-84-15043-26-3

Enjoy!

Frank.
__________________
Civilization is the most fragile ecology of all.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 25th June 2019, 13:35
Dan History Dan History is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 232
Dan History is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Olynyk View Post
Dan,
Another source I would recommend is the book Guernica, by Jesús Salas Larrazábal. Originally published in the 1980s, it was reprinted in 2012, which may include updates. It is in Spanish, and I am unaware of any English translation.

Guernica El Bombardeo: La Historia Frente al Mito. Galland Books. 346 pages. 978-84-15043-26-3
Frank,

Thank you very much for this reference. It is cited multiple times in the Abendroth article, so must be a good source. Purchasing it is not on my horizon at present, but I will certainly put it on my wish list

Kind regards,

Dan
__________________
My research paper - How were German air force resources distributed between different fronts in the years 1941 to 1943 - http://www.ww2.dk/Luftwaffe Research.html
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 25th June 2019, 21:00
Fanair Fanair is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 193
Fanair is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Jesus Salas Larrazabal is probably the best historian of the air operations during the Spanish civil war but except Air War over Spain published a long time ago by Ian Allan his books are not translated in English.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 27th June 2019, 20:45
Dan History Dan History is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 232
Dan History is on a distinguished road
Re: Bombing of Guernica - overview of participating Luftwaffe aircraft

Mark,

I would like to send a brief response to your private message, but cannot - you have exceeded your limit. Please clear your inbox

Dan
__________________
My research paper - How were German air force resources distributed between different fronts in the years 1941 to 1943 - http://www.ww2.dk/Luftwaffe Research.html
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Researching the Luftwaffe through Prisoner Interrogations Bruce Dennis Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 61 23rd February 2023 15:19
403th sqn RCAF against II/JG53 on july 2nd 1944 Flyingkag Allied and Soviet Air Forces 8 13th April 2012 23:56
Luftwaffe fighter losses in Tunisia Christer Bergström Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 47 14th March 2005 05:03
Eastern vs Western Front (was: La-7 vs ???) Christer Bergström Allied and Soviet Air Forces 66 1st March 2005 20:44
Luftwaffe replacement aircraft system (?) 1940 Hawk-Eye Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 2 7th February 2005 00:07


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 21:43.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2018, 12oclockhigh.net