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Stuka Terror by Rebecca Grant Germany’s shrieking Ju 87 dive bomber lingered in the mind as a truly dreaded air weapon. The Stuka Terror By Rebecca Grant imultaneously, like some birds of by the crash of bombs and the shriek of sailors, airmen, and civilians alike. This prey, they fall upon their victim dive bombers.” left a deep impression that has persisted and release their load of bombs The bridgehead across the Meuse to this day. upon the target. ... Everything was secure by nightfall. German tanks The Stuka was the war’s pre-eminent becomes blended together; along crossed the next day. The blitzkrieg into dive bomber. It scored hits on targets “Swith the howling sirens of the Stukas in France was on. ranging from artillery to aircraft carriers. their dives, the bombs whistle and crack This was not the Stuka’s first successful Its deadly cluster munitions tore through and burst.” operation in World War II. Nor would it troop concentrations herded together by The time was May 1940. The diarist be the last. the lightning-fast drives of the Panzer was one Sergeant Pruemers who, as part The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber infantry and tanks. Stukas sank ships from of Germany’s 1st Panzer Division, was at lingers in the mind as one of the icons the English Channel to the Black Sea. On that moment buttoned down and waiting of Nazi Germany’s military machine. the Eastern Front, the German aircraft’s to strike westward across the Meuse River “Stuka” was the diminutive of Sturzkampf- 37 mm cannon ripped up Soviet armor at and into the heart of France. flugzeug, German for “diving combat a prodigious rate. The German air attack went like aircraft.” It was unique. Although its time The Stuka was probably the most ter- clockwork. Luftwaffe historian Wil- of dominance lasted only four years—the rifying warplane of the war. For all that, liamson Murray, describing the event period 1939-43—its low-altitude attacks though, it was not a quest for terror that that unfolded on that day, wrote, “Con- were witnessed by millions. lay at the root of its design; it was techni- tinuous Stuka attacks on French reserv- From train sidings in Poland to the cal ingenuity. ists holding the line had a devastating beaches of Dunkirk, from the head of In Hitler’s stealthy rearmament effort effect.” France’s infantrymen, according Rommel’s columns in North Africa to the in the 1930s, the German Air Ministry to a French general who witnessed the vast steppes of Soviet Russia, the Stuka had no choice but to commit to bomber scene, “cowered in their trenches, dazed rained down terror on enemy soldiers, types that could be put into production 66 AIR FORCE Magazine / October 2008 he was no great shakes of an administrator, blowing a bridge over the Vistula. After he saw great potential in the dive bomber that failure, though, the Stukas racked for precision attack. up success after success. Attacks against By this point, the Stuka prototype was encircled Polish forces and on Poland’s outperforming its competition. One of the cities stunned the world. most remarkable features of the Stuka Above all, it was the fine-tuned coor- was its automatic dive bombing system. dination of Stuka air attacks with ground Pilots set a predetermined release altitude maneuver that impressed. The Luftwaffe Photos from the collection of JohnWeal for their bombs. As they peeled off from had learned the value of coordination formation and pitched over into their with the ground forces during operations dives, the system engaged as soon as the in Spain. The Stuka Terror dive brakes extended. “By the time war engulfed Europe, Stuka pilots dove at close to 90 de- this German close air support system set grees and adjusted position with aileron the standard for its time,” wrote historian control while watching target indicator John Schlight. Chief architect of this air- lines painted on the canopy. At release ground coordination system was Gen. height, the contact altimeter triggered a Wolfram F. von Richthofen, a cousin of cockpit light and the pilot would release Manfred, the famed Red Baron of World the bombs. This release would re-engage War I. Richthofen had seen much action the elevator trim tab, bringing the tail in Spain as a combat commander and staff down and pulling the Stuka out of its officer for the Kondor Legion. He took dive. Aircrews experienced about six Gs command of the force in May 1939 and at the dive’s completion. led them into action against Poland. Next on the list for the Stukas was the That Howl Overhead invasion of Norway. Airborne paratroops The Stuka soon had reached a service relied on it as true flying artillery. Stukas ceiling of 26,000 feet and a range of more also claimed Norwegian, British, and than 370 miles. French warships in the few short weeks The attack aircraft sported two wing- of the northern campaign. mounted machine guns along with a Then came Case Yellow—Germany’s third gun installed in the rear cockpit. conquest of France. Typically, the early Stukas carried either On May 10, 1940, Hitler launched one 500-pound-class bomb or one 250- his attack westward in Europe. German pound bomb on the centerline bomb crutch Army Group B attacked Belgium in the and two 50-pound bombs on each wing. Ardennes to draw in the Allies, while Army Often, these smaller bombs were filled Group A crossed through Luxembourg with cluster-type munitions. and southern Belgium. Their plan was to Two Ju 87 Stukas during the Later Stuka models were equipped with drive in a wedge, cross the Meuse, then fateful summer of 1940. a 37 mm cannon for low-altitude attacks sweep through open country to encircle on tanks on the Eastern Front. Another and roll up Allied forces. “All depended variant, the Ju 87R, had underwing fuel on gaining the open country on the other relatively quickly. A precision dive bomber tanks to extend its range so that it could side, where speedy maneuver would bring fit the bill, and Junkers had one—a pro- reach out and strike Allied ships at sea. total victory,” wrote historian Matthew totype called the K 47. This mono-wing How did the Stuka create its trade- Cooper. attack airplane boasted a diving envelope mark—that terrifying howl? It was pur- The Stuka attacks were a big part of ranging from zero to 90 degrees. Due to posely designed into the aircraft. When the this effort to gain speed. German in- treaty restrictions, the Junkers K 47 was Stuka went into its dive, a powerful rush of fantry began to cross the Meuse on the assembled in Sweden. air would push through a specially built si- afternoon of May 13, 1940. The Stuka In the period 1931-34, the Junkers ren, activating the blood-curdling scream. barrage watched by Pruemers was part design team members experimented with The idea was to maximize the panic on of a coordinated air-ground offensive K 47 configurations. Early trials demon- the ground below, and it worked. against the sparse defensive positions on strated that a dive bomber could be very It wasn’t long before the Stuka made its the other side. On the Meuse, the Stukas precise—but the aircraft gave up a lot combat debut. A handful of Ju 87 variants pummeled French artillery and infantry, to get that precision. The design trades saw action in the Spanish Civil War in the while the German infantry performed an would earn the Stuka its reputation, but late 1930s as part of the Kondor Legion. astonishing river crossing. also sow the seeds of its undoing. However, it was not until Sept. 1, 1939 According to historian Murray, Panzer A Stuka prototype—powered, strangely that the world got unforgettable exposure commander Lt. Gen. Heinz Guderian enough, by a Rolls Royce engine—began to the Third Reich’s extraordinary dive carefully devised a plan with Fliegerkorps flight tests in September 1935 and was bomber. On that day, no fewer than nine II commander Lt. Gen. Bruno Loerzer. almost canceled in 1936. It was saved Stuka groups comprising more than 330 They organized Luftwaffe support to by the timely intervention of World War aircraft struck Poland with devastating come in waves while their infantry made I German ace Ernst Udet, who pressed surprise dawn attacks. the crossing. Luftwaffe fighters kept the for its continued development. Udet was In the beginning, Stukas tried and French Armee de l’Air and forward RAF heading up the Technical Office. Though failed to prevent Poland’s forces from at bay. AIR FORCE Magazine / October 2008 67 The Ju 87R, pictured here in the Norwegian campaign, was equipped with under- wing fuel tanks to extend its range—all the better to terrorize shipping lanes. Richthofen’s tight coordination of air The Stukas were not the most plentiful As flying pinpoint bombers, the Stuka and ground operations paid off. More of Germany’s light and medium bombing needed undefended airspace to operate. than 1,500 German aircraft were used in force, rarely numbering more than 300 When the slow and highly vulnerable continuous offensives. Stukas attacked, or 400 aircraft for any campaign. Other Stukas met fighters, it was all over. The rearmed, and attacked again. According Luftwaffe medium bombers did as much or top speed of the early Stukas was around to one source, Stuka pilots flew up to nine more damage, but the Stuka was the prime 190 mph, compared with a 336 mph for sorties per day during the drive across and platform for precision and terror.
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