Ju 52/3m Bomber and Transport Units 1936-41 Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

The Junkers Ju 52 "Tante Ju" ("Aunt Ju") – Nazi Germany's iconic "maid of all work" – did it all.

Bomber. Transport. Ambulance. Minesweeper. Seaplane.

Now Osprey covers the Luftwaffe's corrugated combatant in Ju 52/3m Bomber and Transport Units 1936-41 – 120th in the publisher's extensive "Combat Aircraft" range.

The compact chronicle totals 96 pages across six chapters. Junkers designed the Ju 52 for civilian service. And contents commence with its airliner use – especially with Deutsche Luft Hansa.

Forsyth also recaps the aircraft's early military operations – the Gran Chaco War, Spain, Poland and Scandinavia. In Norway, losses totaled a third of participating Ju 52s. But Junkers' workhorse proved critical to the invasion's success.

The study then segues to the defeat of France and the Low Countries. Want to know how Germany captured Belgium's vaunted Eben-Emael fortification? It's here.

Coverage concludes with Hitler's 1941 conquest of the Balkans and intervention in Iraq. But Operation Merkur – the amazing airborne capture of Crete – is not part of this book. Nor are North African and Eastern Front operations.

Extended captions and sidebars supplement the study. Period photos and superb color profiles illustrate the effort. And a selected bibliography, two appendices and an index complete contents.

Grab Osprey's pithy little précis. Just note that Spain's Jaime I was a dreadnaught battleship – not a "cruiser".

A sequel, Osprey, please. And hurry.

My sincere thanks to Osprey Publishing for this review sample!