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Home , Air force, Condor Legion, Hugo Sperrle, Luftwaffe

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missaries from Gen. Francisco to bases in southern . The trimotor Franco and the Nationalists are often Franco met with German leader Ju 52s were stripped bare inside and the remembered as the villains. In actuality, it just before mid- soldiers sat on the floor in back, their was a brutal war with atrocities common Enight on July 26, 1936, part rifles between their knees. Each aircraft on both sides. However, intellectuals, way through the Wagner festival at made as many as four flights a day, car- authors, and journalists from all over the Bayreuth, Germany. Hitler, always stirred rying up to 40 passengers instead of the world flocked to the cause of Franco’s by Wagnerian opera, was in a buoyant official maximum of 17. By October, the opponents, called the Republicans or the mood after a performance of “Siegfried” Germans had established air superior- , who finally lost after a when he received the visitors that night. ity over the Strait of Gibraltar and the three-year struggle. Franco, leader of the rebel faction— transfer of men and materiel continued “The remains one called the Nationalists—in the Spanish by sea transport. of the few modern conflicts whose his- civil war needed Hitler’s help. The best That was only the beginning of Ger- tory had been written more effectively of Franco’s forces were in Spanish Mo- man assistance, which culminated in by the losers than by the winners,” said rocco and he wanted German aircraft to the deployment of the historian Antony Beevor. fly them to the fighting front in Spain. and the rotation of aircrews In the , a loose coalition of Hermann Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe, through the Spanish Civil War from 1936 Communists, Socialists, and anarchists, was in Bayreuth that night and opposed to 1939, serving as a dress rehearsal for supported by labor unions and tenant such involvement, but when the ebul- in World War II. farmers, gained control of Spain, tradi- lient Hitler said yes, Goering switched The popular assumption is that Ger- tionally a monarchy in which conserva- to enthusiasm for the project. many was drawn into Spain by the tives, large landowners, the , and Franco’s request was for 10 transport opportunity for testing and training for the Catholic Church had been dominant. aircraft plus infantry and anti- the Luftwaffe, but that was secondary. The coalition soon moved into the orbit aircraft guns. Hitler gave him more than Hitler’s real reasons were strategic. of the . he asked for, sending 20 Lufthansa Ju The Condor Legion supported a fascist The civil war began in July 1936 when 52 airliners—repainted to disguise their takeover of Spain, established a military senior officers in cooperation with origin—and six He 51 fighters. challenge on the flank of France, opened the fascist Falange party and other groups It was the first big military in access to seaports on the Atlantic, and rose in revolt against the left- gov- history. Over the next three months, the distracted Europe from Germany’s own ernment of the new republic. They called Germans flew 13,500 Nationalist troops preparations for war. on Franco, the most decorated officer in 84 Magazine / February 2013 were attracted by a salary of $1,500 a month plus a $1,000 bonus for every Nationalist aircraft shot down. History and literature have roman- ticized the Republicans. The leading example is Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The For Whom the Bell Tolls, published in 1940 and celebrating the service of a young American in the International . Hemingway held court for writers and war correspondents at the Hotel Florida in and spent time with the Republican Army in the field. Condor He used Merriman, commander of the Lincoln Battalion, as the prototype for his fictional hero, Robert Jordan. The Condor Legion lived up to its reputation for wanton slaughter, but moral high ground was hard to find in the conflict. In his authoritative history Legion of the war, Hugh Thomas estimates the total loss of life at 500,000—of which more than a fourth were murders and executions, 75,000 of them by the By John T. Correll Nationalists and 55,000 by the Re- publicans. The offenses committed by In the Spanish Civil War, the Luftwaffe the Nationalists are better known, but even the supporters of the Republicans practiced for World War II. recoiled from their vendetta against Catholics, who were identified with the right wing and opposed to social reform. In the summer of 1936 alone, 13 bishops, 4,184 priests, and 283 nuns were hunted down and killed. the Spanish Army, to lead the revolution. Some 32,000 ideologues from 54 Imported The Popular Front had posted Franco countries joined the International Bri- Most foreign nations followed a policy to a command in the Canary Islands to gades, organized from Moscow by of nonintervention. In the , keep him out of the way, but he flew the Comintern, the international arm the Neutrality Act of 1935 made it illegal to Spanish Morocco to take charge of of the Communist Party. About 2,400 to sell or transport arms to belligerents. the Army of Africa, 30,000 strong. It volunteers from the United States went In January 1937 Congress specifically included the Spanish Foreign Legion, to Spain with the Abraham Lincoln prohibited shipment of arms to Spain regarded as Spain’s best troops, and Battalion. The Popular Front also by a vote of 81-to-zero in the Senate other experienced units. hired foreign mercenary pilots, but and 406-to-one in the House. First Lady The armed forces were divided, with unlike the politically motivated In- Eleanor Roosevelt, a fervent admirer of part of the army and most of the ternational Brigades, the mercenaries the Popular Front, tried without suc- remaining loyal to the government. In all, counting the frontier guards and national police, the Nationalist forces had about 130,000 men, compared to 50,000 for the Republicans. The Republicans kept most of the , but they National Archives photo were obsolete and essentially worthless. Both sides had large political militias.

Above left: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, flanked by Maj. Gen. Wolfram von Richthofen, the last commander of the Condor Legion, salutes German troops as they return to after bolstering fascist dictator Gen. Fran- cisco Franco’s troops in Spain. Right: Ju 87s such as these flew their first operational missions with the Condor Legion in 1938.

AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 85 man aircraft. Many Luftwaffe records pilots from the USSR. The Polikarpov were lost or destroyed during -15 biplane and I-16 monoplane were II, but the best estimate is that Germany superior to the He 51s and on a par with deployed about 800 aircraft of all types, the agile Italian Fiat CR.2s. The Russian Image viaWikipedia including trainers and liaison aircraft, airmen gave their best performance in to Spain. March 1937 when their fighters and Concurrent with the airlift in July, the Tupolev SB-2 wreaked havoc Luftwaffe dispatched six He 51 fighters on an Italian army corps strung out on to Spain to protect the air transport force. the road near Guadalajara. “It was the The German pilots were forbidden to fly first time in history that airpower had operational missions other than escort stopped a ground offensive,” said for the airlifters, but after the poorly Carl Posey in Air & Space magazine. trained Spanish pilots crashed three of The Republican advantage in the air the , the Germans took over did not last long, though. The Luftwaffe the flying. The three remaining He 51s had already decided to withdraw first- engaged the hodgepodge Republican air line fighters and bombers from units at force in late August and shot down the home and send some of its best combat old Breguets and Nieuports with ease. aircraft to Spain.

The Only Condor in Spain The June 1939 issue of The Eagle, In , three months into Germany’s -published the war, the Germans upgraded their magazine, blared, “Condor Legion to involvement to the Condor Legion, a the Front!” and was subtitled, “German volunteers fought for Spain.” composite force named for the great bird of the Andes. There were no condors in Spain, but the linkage carried over in cess to persuade her husband to get the The Ju 52 transports were reconfigured the German mind from South America embargo lifted. and pressed into service as bombers. where Lufthansa operated a subsidiary Three nations were direct participants: The Nationalists quickly gained con- airline, Sindicato Condor. The force the Soviet Union on the side of the trol of a third of Spain, holding all of in Spain was designated a legion to Republicans, and Germany and the northwest except for the Basque preserve the fiction that its members in aid of the Nationalists. Their most provinces along the Bay of . The were volunteers. significant contributions were airpower. government held most of the south and The Legion consisted of a The USSR provided pilots and about east, and the capital at Madrid in the and a fighter group, plus reconnais- 1,000 airplanes. Italy sent more than middle of the country. sance, anti-aircraft, and support units, 600 airplanes and a substantial ground The situation changed with the arrival and a ground component with tanks force. Various totals are given for Ger- of top-quality fighters and experienced and anti-tank weapons. Elements of the German Navy functioned separately. The Condor Legion operated under German tactical command subject to strategic direction from Franco. The commander was always a Luft- Architects of Air Power waffe . The first of them was Maj. Gen. , who looked like a Nazi from central casting, complete with . In fact, he was a good officer who worked well with his Spanish allies. Following the cover story, Condor members were discharged from the Deutsches Museum photo from Luftwaffe and joined the Nationalist forces. They wore Spanish khaki-brown uniforms with Nationalist rank insignia. Their aircraft went to war with National- ist markings—a stylized St. Andrew’s cross on the rudder and the same device reversed out of black on the

Spanish Moroccan infantrymen gather at an airfield in Tetuan, Morocco, to be flown to by a German Ju 52 transport. The workhorse aircraft, loaned to Franco from Hitler, carried as many as 40 troops to the front, despite its of- ficial maximum capacity of 17.

86 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 Image via Wikimedia Commons

Pablo Picasso’s iconic painting depict- ing the destruction by the Condor Legion of the Basque town of . They served nine- to 12-month historical and cultural significance to was sent on a world tour to rally sup- tours before returning to their units at the Basques—lay across their line of port for the Republican cause in Spain. home and, while in Spain, held spot retreat. The two main escape routes promotions one grade above their regular intersected there. rank in the Luftwaffe. In the late afternoon of , 1937, set fire to Guernica, but nobody believed Strength of the Condor Legion sel- a single He 111 flew over and bombed it. The Germans showed no particular dom exceeded 100 aircraft and 6,000 the town center, probing for possible regret for the casualties. sur- men, including support . In all, air defenses. There were none and 15 rendered June 19 and the Nationalists about 19,000 German military members minutes later, Condor Legion He 51s consolidated their control in the north gained wartime experience in Spain, bombed and strafed Guernica. They were and west. Disagreement continues about rotating through the Condor Legion followed by the Ju 52s, attacking in line- whether Franco knew of or approved and other units. abreast formation and plans for the bombing. Better aircraft were coming, but the town in relays for two-and-a-half Exaggerated reports about Guernica replacement took time so the Condor hours with anti-personnel and incendi- worked to Hitler’s benefit, creating the Legion had to make do with the He ary munitions. Three-quarters of the impression that the Luftwaffe could 51s and the converted Ju 52 bombers buildings in Guernica were destroyed. wipe out a whole city in a few hours. through 1936 and into 1937. From there, Guernica passed into Europe regarded Germany with new The He 51 continued to have some legend. The Republicans and their sup- fear and respect. success in the fighter role because of porters described it as terror bombing the skill of the Luftwaffe pilots, but it of a defenseless town with no military Condor Re-equips and Rebounds was increasingly relegated to ground significance. The popular claim, still Of the various types of aircraft arriv- attack missions. The Ju 52 was regarded repeated today, was that half of the people ing to re-equip the Condor Legion, three as past its effectiveness as a bomber. living there were casualties, 1,654 killed were of special interest and significance: However, it was these two aircraft that and 889 wounded. The actual death toll the superb Bf 109 fighter, were responsible for the devastation of was between 200 and 300. the He 111 , and the Guernica in the most notorious event of The Popular Front commissioned fearsome Ju 87 Stuka , the Spanish civil war. a painting by Pablo Picasso. “Guer- which showed up late in the war and in nica,” a mural-size oil painting in stark limited numbers. The Destruction of Guernica grey, black, and white, is one of his The sleek Bf 109 was the world’s most In , the Nationalists were most famous works, showing people, advanced fighter when it was introduced rolling up the last pockets of Republi- animals, and buildings in the throes of in 1935 and was still good enough a de- can resistance in northwestern Spain. bombardment. Its exhibition on a world cade later to score more aerial victories Twenty-three Basque battalions were tour later in 1937 rallied support for the than any other aircraft in World War II. retreating westward toward the pro- Republican cause. The Condor Legion got a few Bf 109s in vincial capital at Bilbao, and the little The Condor Legion attempted briefly 1936 but they did not appear in Spain in hill town of Guernica—which had great to claim that the Basques themselves had substantial numbers until the spring of AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 87 1937. They drove the Russian I-15s and Previously, fighters flew in a tight including the vulnerability of the Stuka I-16s from the sky whenever they met. three- “V” and, in Moelders’ to counterattack. The He 111, best and fastest of the opinion, spent too much of their at- German bombers, made its combat debut tention on avoiding collisions. At his Victory Parade in March 1937. The Luftwaffe had no instigation, the Condor Legion shifted Franco had the advantage of air satisfactory sight, so the success to a formation called the Rotte with a superiority from 1937 on, and waged of high-altitude horizontal bombing was fighter pilot and his wingman flying an extended war of attrition in which limited. However, the Germans were about 600 feet apart, allowing them to the Republicans were pushed back into generally satisfied with the He 111’s concentrate on the enemy instead of an enclave in the southeast, along the performance and it remained the work- each other. Two Rotten combined to Mediterranean. The government sur- horse of the Luftwaffe bomber force in form a Schwarm. rendered unconditionally March 26, World War II. “When viewed from above, each plane 1939, and Franco declared the war Replacement of the He 51s and Ju flew in the location of the four fingertips of over on April 1. 52s proceeded gradually, but in the a horizontally extended hand, palm down, The consensus is that the Condor middle years of the Spanish civil war, with fingers straight and slightly spread,” Legion was an instrumental factor rather they operated alongside the new aircraft. said aviation writer Walter Musciano. than a decisive one in the Nationalist , who went on to become The new formation was adopted around victory. As expected with the Bf 109 in a leading Luftwaffe ace in World War the world as the classic “Finger Four.” action, the Germans won the air-to-air II, was an He 51 leader in the The bomber theoretician was Wolfram battle, shooting down 327 Republican Condor Legion in 1937-1938. He flew von Richtofen, who began his flying aircraft while losing 72 of their own. The 280 ground attack sorties but got no career with his famous cousin, Manfred most critical contribution was the airlift, missions in the Bf 109 and no aerial von Richtofen, and the Flying Circus in without which Franco probably would victories. His claim to fame in Spain World War I. On his first tour in Spain, have been defeated. Also of great value was devising a makeshift munition called he was chief of staff to Sperrle and was the training by the Luftwaffe of more “flambo.” Galland filled a with planner of the attack on Guernica. He than 500 Spanish aircrews and thousands a mixture of gasoline and engine oil and returned in November 1938 as a major of soldiers in assorted military skills. strapped it to a 22-pound bomb. Upon general and the last commander of the The Condor Legion went home May impact, the tank burst open and the bomb Condor Legion. 28 and marched in review before Hitler detonated with a flaming result that was Von Richtofen steadily readjusted the and other officials in a huge parade in the forerunner of napalm. Legion’s priorities to increased support Berlin June 6 that reunited 14,000 vet- The Luftwaffe’s solution to bomb- of the Nationalist army and improved erans of the war in Spain. Three months ing accuracy was the Stuka, short for the tactics for ground attack and dive later, Germany invaded to begin Sturzkampfflugzeug or “diving fighting bombing, especially after the presence World War II. plane.” Two biplane Stukas, the He 50G of the Stuka introduced new possibilities. Sperrle and von Richtofen were pro- and the Hs 124, were employed early in It is inaccurate to say, as some have, moted to field marshal. Von Richtofen Spain but they were soon forgotten as that in Spain the Luftwaffe discovered died of a brain tumor in 1945, but Sperrle the name was attached exclusively to and became the instru- survived the war. He was tried for war the definitive Stuka, the Ju 87, which ment of the ground forces. Germany was crimes at Nuremberg but was acquitted. flew its first operational mission with a continental nation, with no oceans or Between 1939 and 1941, Moelders the Condor Legion in February 1938. geographic barriers separating it from accumulated 101 more aerial victories Diving on its target at an 85-degree its key neighbors. “One major defeat to go with his 14 from Spain. He was angle, the Ju 87 was extremely accurate. on land might well seal the fate of the promoted to but was killed The Condor Legion never got more than Reich before the Luftwaffe could have when the He 111 in which he was a pas- a handful of them but they flew two to an impact,” said historian Williamson senger crashed in bad weather in 1941. four sorties a day each. Unchallenged by Murray. The importance of the ground Galland became the youngest general enemy fighters, they were so effective war was already recognized. in the German armed forces when he re- that the Luftwaffe put great emphasis on At the same time, the emerging con- placed Moelders as head of the Luftwaffe the Stuka in its future plans and decided cept of blitzkrieg led to greater tactical air arm. He scored 104 aerial victories in that every bomber should have a dive- subordination of airpower to the needs of World War II, gained popularity among bombing capability. the ground force. The Luftwaffe canceled his former adversaries, and was honored development of the four-engine “Ural” at the Air University Gathering of Eagles Condor Innovations bomber, but that was mostly because in 1984. Resourceful officers of the Condor of technical and economic programs. Franco declared Spain a Legion developed tactics and concepts Germany would enter World War II “nonbelligerent”—a designation he in- to get more effectiveness out of the with its dive bombers and medium vented—in World War II. He was sympa- new weapons. The most notable fighter bombers, proven in Spain and believed thetic to the that supported innovations were the work of Capt. to be sufficient against the nations Ger- him in the civil war, but Spanish forces Werner Moelders, who succeeded Gal- many was most likely to fight—France, did not engage in combat. land as commander of one of the fighter , and Poland. The grand Franco ruled Spain until his death squadrons as it transitioned to Bf 109s. scheme unraveled for a host of reasons, in 1975. n Moelders would become the leading Condor Legion ace with 14 victories, John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a but his larger contribution was a lasting contributing editor. His most recent article, “Churchill’s Southern Strategy,” appeared in change to the standard fighter formation. the January issue. 88 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013