Under-funded and wracked by the hostility between political factions within its ranks, Spain’s military aviation was in a dire state in the period immediately before the Spanish Civil War. At this time, the air force was equipped with 60 Bréguet XIX reconnaissance bombers, 20 Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bombers, and 56 Nieuport-Delage NiD 52 fighters. Most of these obsolescent aircraft were seized by Republican forces at the outbreak of the war.
In the aftermath of the Nationalist coup of July 1936, both sides made frantic efforts to secure weapons and equipment. Franco’s elite Army of Africa gave the Nationalists a distinct advantage, but initially it was unable to intervene in the key actions in mainland Spain as the predominantly Republican navy blockaded the coast of Spanish Morocco. Although a few Nationalist transport aircraft flew small numbers of troops across the Straits of Gibraltar, it was foreign support that proved decisive. Hitler authorised the use of 20 Ju 52 bomber-transport aircraft to fly Franco’s men to southern Spain. They landed at Tetuan, where each was crammed with up to 40 troops at a time – far in excess of their designed load of 17 passengers – before making the hazardous flight to Seville. By flying up to five round trips a day, the Ju 52s were able to carry 8,500 men and 100,000kg of supplies to reinforce the hard-pressed Nationalist forces in what was arguably the first strategic airlift. The German aircraft were quickly reinforced by Italian warplanes and these provided essential air cover for the ‘Convoy de la Victoria’ (Victory Convoy), which carried a further 3,000 troops of the Army of Africa, together with artillery and heavy equipment, from Ceuta to Algeciras.
The authors explore the frantic efforts of both sides to buy aircraft – the French sold the Republicans 14 Dewoitine D371 and 10 Dewoitine D373 fighters, plus 49 Potez 540 bombers, for a total of 12 million francs. However, all these were obsolescent, and it was only Stalin’s agreement to supply almost 800 modern Soviet aircraft (in exchange for Spain’s gold reserves) that gave the Republicans any chance of countering the German and Italian warplanes supplied to the Nationalists. The Russian Polikarpov I-16 fighters and Tupolev SB2 bombers dramatically altered the balance of power, proving superior to the older German and Italian aircraft supporting the Nationalists, such as the Heinkel 51 and Fiat CR 32. The tide only began to turn when the German Condor Legion was re-equipped with the Luftwaffe’s newest combat aircraft, including Bf 109 fighters, He 111 bombers, and Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, for what amounted to extended combat trials.
The difference within