On 10 May, 1940, the Wehrmacht launched the Westfeldzug, code-named 'Fall Gelb', the campaign in the West. All Ju 87 units (except I./St.G. 1) were committed over France, Belgium and the Netherlands, i.e. around 350 machines. The Ju 87s were quickly feared by their adversaries as they pursued their Blitzkrieg (lightning war) in close collaboration with German ground and Panzer forces. Flying up to four sorties per day, the Stuka units suffered about 30% losses. With barely any rest period they were then dispatched on missions over England. This dusty, slightly battle-worn Ju 87 of III./St.G. 51 was photographed at the end of the campaign. This Gruppe would soon be incorporated in St.G. 1.
There has been much ill-informed comment and mis-information about the Junkers Ju 87, the Luftwaffe’s 'Sturzkampfflugzeug' (dive-bombing aircraft) or 'Stuka'. As Spanish Civil War historian Gerald Howson described, a veteran of the International Brigades who was at Dunkirk related how the Stukas operating over the Low countries and France during May 1940 had not been a novelty for him since he had already encountered them in Spain... Unlikely since the Germans sent only a handful of Stukas to Spain and, in all probability what had been seen in Spain was another type entirely - probably the Heinkel He 51. Similarly, Italian Ju 87s flew from Belgian bases in May 1940 to bomb columns of refugees in the south of France. The Italians though did not receive Stukas until much later, and the Stuka's endurance hardly allowed it to operate at those sorts of ranges. But then Ju 87s were 'omnipresent' during the Second World War. Popular TV 'historical' documentaries - including episode 1 of a brand-new WW II history series- generally feature footage of panicked columns of refugees fleeing in May/June 1940 interspersed with clips showing the 'shrill screams of the Stuka's sirens' as they dive-bombed these same columns. Horrific stories accompanied by blood-curdling sound effects are related over background scenes of the ever-present Ju 87s swooping down accompanied by film of entire buildings collapsing like a house of cards. Of course, by the time French, Belgian and Dutch refugees had started to flee southwards, almost all sirens had been removed from the aircraft and the Ju 87 pilots had more than enough on their hands rather than setting out to massacre unfortunate civilians. As for flattened blocks of houses, the Stukas' usual payload could at best barely penetrate a single building, far less collapse an entire block of flats/apartments.
Below; a newspaper account published in a March 1942 issue of the NS
Leipziger Tageszeitung newspaper written by Schlachtflieger ace Oblt. Dieter Pekrun relating his shooting-down (by Spitfires of course) on his second sortie of the day while piloting a Stab I./StG 2 Stuka on the third day of the Westfeldzug, 12 May 1940 - Pekrun managed to bail out and came down in a field of 'irate' cows at Geetbets, Belgium - behind the lines. With his BS dead, Pekrun evaded the various search efforts mounted to locate him and returned home some 24 hours after being presumed MIA. Pekrun was awarded the RK in June 1941.
