German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka Dive Bomber

The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, “dive bomber“) was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. 

The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe‘s Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World War II.

The aircraft is easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings and fixed spatted undercarriage. Upon the leading edges of its faired main gear legs were mounted the Jericho-Trompete (Jericho trumpet) wailing sirens, becoming the propaganda symbol of German air power and the so-called Blitzkrieg victories of 1939–1942. 

The Stuka’s design included several innovations, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high g-forces.

The Ju 87 operated with considerable success in close air support and anti-shipping at the outbreak of World War II. 

It led air assaults in the invasion of Poland in September 1939. 

Stukas were critical to the rapid conquest of Norway, the NetherlandsBelgium and France in 1940. 

Though sturdy, accurate, and very effective against ground targets, the Stuka was, like many other dive bombers of the period, vulnerable to fighter aircraft. 

During the Battle of Britain, its lack of manoeuvrability, speed and defensive armament meant that it required a heavy fighter escort to operate effectively.

After the Battle of Britain, the Stuka was used in the Balkans Campaign, the African and Mediterranean theatres and the early stages of the Eastern Front, where it was used for general ground support, as an effective specialised anti-tank aircraft and in an anti-shipping role. 

Once the Luftwaffe lost air superiority, the Stuka became an easy target for enemy fighter aircraft. 

It was produced until 1944 for lack of a better replacement. 

By 1945 ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 had largely replaced the Ju 87, but it remained in service until the end of the war.

An estimated 6,500 Ju 87s of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944.

Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most successful Stuka pilot and the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War.


Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe‘s fighter force. 

The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and was still in service at the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II in 1945. 

It was one of the most advanced fighters when it first appeared, with an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted-V12 aero engine

From the end of 1941, the Bf 109 was steadily supplanted by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190

It was called the Me 109 by Allied aircrew and some German aces, even though this was not the official German designation.

It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser who worked at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke during the early to mid-1930s. 

It was conceived as an interceptor, although later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escortfighter-bomberday-, night-, all-weather fighterground-attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft

It was supplied to several states during World War II, and served with several countries for many years after the war. 

The Bf 109 is the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 to April 1945. 

Some of the Bf 109 production took place in Nazi concentration camps through slave labor.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of all time, who claimed 928 victories among them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, mainly on the Eastern Front

The highest-scoring, Erich Hartmann, was credited with 352 victories. The aircraft was also flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest-scoring ace in the North African Campaign who shot down 158 enemy aircraft (in about a third of the time). 

It was also flown by many aces from other Axis nations, notably the Finn Ilmari Juutilainen, the highest-scoring non-German ace. 

Pilots from Italy, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Hungary also flew the Bf 109. Through constant development, the Bf 109 remained competitive with the latest Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.