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Blue Squadron

This article is about the Spanish Air Force unit. For the Royal Navy fleet, see Blue Squadron (Royal Navy). For other uses, see The Blue Squadron.
Blue Squadron
Escuadrilla Azul (Blue Squadron) Emblem
Emblem of the 1st Expeditionary Squadron
ActiveJune 24, 1941 – February 23, 1944
Country Spain
Allegiance Germany
BranchLuftwaffe
RoleFighter Squadron
Part of JG 27 (1941 - 1942)
JG 51 (1942 - 1944)
Aircraft flown
BomberJu 52
Hs 123
Ju 88 (proposed)
FighterFw 190
Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2 of the Escuadrilla Azul, 15. (span.)/Jagdgeschwader 51, Winter 1942/1943

The Blue Squadron[1] (Spanish: Escuadrilla Azul, German: 15. Spanische Staffel) was a generic name given to the group of volunteer pilots and ground crews recruited from the Spanish Air Force that fought in the side of Germany on the Eastern Front, during the Second World War. The "Blue Patrol" was a counterpart offered by Franco to Nazi Germany for its help with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War.

Between September 1941 and May 1943 five Spanish squadrons rotated through the Eastern Front, attached to Luftwaffe fighter wings Jagdgeschwader 27 and Jagdgeschwader 51.[2]

Flying Messerschmitt fighters and Focke-Wulf fighter-bombers, the Spaniards were credited with destroying more than 160 Soviet aircraft in nearly two years, while losing 20 pilots killed, missing, or captured.[3][4] The unit remained in central Russia, despite requests by Muñoz Grandes that they be attached to the Blue Division, until their withdrawal in 1943.[5]

References

  1. ^ Bowen p. 45
  2. ^ Neulen pp. 276–285
  3. ^ Bowen p. 45
  4. ^ Neulen pp. 276–285
  5. ^ Bowen p. 45

Sources

  • Bowen, Wayne H. Spain during World War II, University of Missouri Publishing, (2006). ISBN 0826216587
  • Caballero Jurado, Carlos; Guillén González, Santiago. Escuadrillas azules en Rusia, Almena, (1999). ISBN 9788492264483
  • Fernández-Coppel, Jorge. La Escuadrilla Azul: los pilotos españoles en la Luftwaffe, La esfera de los libros, (2007) ISBN 9788497345149
  • Herrera Alonso, Emilio. Cien aviadores de España, Centro de Publicaciones del Ministerio de Defensa, (2001) ISBN 9788478237913
  • Neulen, Hans Werner. "In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe 1939–1945", Crowood Press, UK (2000). ISBN 1861263260.
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