Nicknamed "Tante Ju" (Auntie Ju) and "Iron Annie" by Axis and Allied troops, the Junkers Ju-52 was the most famous German transport of the war. The Ju-52 was built of corrugated metal skin and paid little attention to beauty, features of a typical Junkers design. Parts and pieces stuck out of the airframe, and the corrugated skin, though much stronger than fabric and metal tubes, created stronger air resistance.
In April 1931, the originally single-engined Ju-52 prototype was fitted with three engines. Performance improved tremendously and production of the new model immediately began. The Ju-52 served as an airliner for many nations. Finland, Spain, Sweden and Germany were just a few. It served as a mail carrier in China, and, fitted with floats, hauled lumber in remote places in Canada. Its most common work, however, was done with the German Lufthansa. Equipped with luxaries like a typewriter and oxygen masks, the Ju-52 could fly from Berlin to Rome in eight hours over the Alps, an impressive feat for contemporary aircraft, let alone an airliner.
The military potentials of the Ju-52 was not overlooked by the Luftwaffe. It entered service as a troop transport and bomber. In the Spanish Civil War, the Ju-52 ferried some 10'000 Moorish troops from Morocco to Spain, and bombed Madrid while, quite embarrassingly, some Lufthansa Ju-52s were in the airport serving as airliners. Later in World War II, the Ju-52 served in every theater in which Germany participated. It dropped paratroopers in the Netherlands, Crete and later the Ardennes. It carried supplies to beleagued troops in North Africa, Stalingrad and the Baltic states. The Ju-52 was slow and very lightly armed against fighters. As a result, it suffered horrible losses in almost all actions, especially over Crete, the Mediterranean and Stalingrad. Many types of replacement were built, but none was as popular or reliable as good old Auntie Ju. Right until the end of the war the Ju-52 was still soldiering on to help stave off defeat. Some Ju-52s are still flying today.
