The condor aces

23 min read

In 1936, the Luftwaffe sent men and aircraft to Spain as its Legion Condor in support of Franco’s Nationalist forces. As Robert Forsyth describes, some of the Legion’s fighter pilots also became the Luftwaffe’s first aces.

All images via the author unless otherwise credited

Topics

Aeroplanes

Topics

Aeroplanes

SPANISH CIVIL WAR

■ Under Spanish skies, Legion Condor ground personnel toil on one of the legion’s Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters which wears the standard markings applied to German aircraft operating in the Spanish Civil War. The Bf 109 went into combat for the first time in a war that also saw the first of the Luftwaffe’s aces. (Colour by RJM)

Under cover of darkness, at around midnight on 31 July 1936, the 7,758-GRT steamship, the SS Usaramo, operated by the Woerman Line, quietly slipped out of the north German port of Hamburg, and made course along the Elbe towards the open waters of the North Sea. On board was a complement of just over 90 men, all in civilian clothing. They had all brought with them cheap and identical suitcases, supplied by the German Air Ministry, for their personal belongings. They also carried papers confirming them to be, variously: engineers, salesmen, artists, and photographers. All were united by membership of the Reisegesellschaft Union (Union Travel Association) – ostensibly a group set up by the Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) movement, a sporting, travel, holiday, and leisure organisation managed by the Nazi Party.

Weary from having assisted with the loading on board of no fewer than 773 mysterious, unmarked, and heavy wooden crates, the gentle roll of the ship through the calm water no doubt lulled the exhausted men. As the voyage progressed, however, the men were able to rest comfortably: some of them were assigned cabins, there was a well-stocked bar and good food, and they were able to sunbathe on deck. But the ‘Union Travel Association’, the civilian clothing, and the suitcases were all a charade.

Until the vessel was well out to sea, the men did not even know to where they were bound. Eventually, after several hours, the man responsible for coordinating the covert activities of the group, a Luftwaffe officer, Oberst Alexander von Scheele, a highly experienced aviator and linguist, revealed to his charges that their destination was Spain.

In reality, the group of men comprised 25 officers and 66 NCOs, soldiers, and civilian technicians. Among this number were six fighter pilots, forming the first cadre of the nascent Legion Condor, the military ‘task force’ established in Germany to render support for the ‘rebel’ Nationalist uprising in Spain.