Junkers Ju 52 - In the Movies 

When it comes to movies, my favourite and most disturbing scene is from the German movie “Stalingrad” where the troops fight to board the last outgoing Ju before total defeat of the 6th Army.

7:29 Hitler's Junker also saved him in a surprisingly ignored event: in early 1943 the soviets launched an offensive in Donbass (yes, the same lands that have recently gained tragic notoriety), they smashed the German lines but in classic Russian fashion they forgot that their tanks also needed fuel; unfortunately for them they were just 5 km from Hitler who at the time was visiting Zaporizhzhia (today of nuclear power plant fame), he was promptly flown out of the frontline with his personal plane.

In German we call her "Tante Ju" (Aunt Ju) Last time I saw an original Lufthansa JU-52 flying was at a family day at the Airbus factory in Hamburg. Together with a Lockheed Super Connie. The latter was a fire spitting beast (loved that sound and the flames) while the Ju has a moderate and smoother sound. Both have the same engine type. But in comparrison the Ju sounded more like a "grocery getter" without a muffler, while the Super Connie was the main act at a heavy metal music festival. And as a huge heavy metal fan the Connie was my highlight of the day!

I guess the most iconic movie JU52 is the one quite prominently featured in "Where Eagles Dare". And I believe it was the same plane that portrayed Hitler's JU52 In "Valkyrie". Back in the 90's, I was lucky enough to see one in the air. The Civilian '52 marked ""DAQUI" ,that appears briefly in one of these clips. It flew close by over our house, and my main memory of the experience being just how loud it was.

3:41 Shuumatzu no Izetta, dang I remember that anime and never expected it to be featured in the channel

There was a long sequence from the official NZ German weekly newsreel that depicts the 1941 Crete operation before, during, and after it. It has really good soundtrack, depiction of preparations, action scenes, and Ju 52 and other aircraft participating in the operation. My favorite sequence is when the Ju 52s took off and the Ride of the Valkyries were played as background music throughout many scenes afterwards. I aint kiddin when I say it was an inspiration for the same sequence in Apocalypse Now.

glad to see izetta for once, that became a forgotten anime, but i enjoyed it

Thanks for this video. My maternal Grandfather was a Copilot/Navigator on the JU52 most times used in the Balkan Theatre of War. Like many many other Survivors of the War and Carnage of the Nazi Rule he could spoke more openly to me as a his grandson about this time than with his own children. Most impressive to me as a teenager was his tale that from dozens of members of his training class only a handful survived the war

there’s a couple scenes in the wonderful Catch-22 TV show showing Ju-57 utilized for black market transporting by Milo. Loved him being very passionate about how well made it was and emphasized the leather seating.

I remember about10 years back ,hearing an odd mechanical noise apparently from my Mercedes engine, I stopped the car turning off the engine and got out only to still hear the noise, I looked up only to see a Ju 52 slowly( and I do mean slowly!) wombling its stately way overhead ,I must have watched (and listened!) fr about 30minutes till it disappeared from sight and hearing.Only time I ever saw one, and it wasn't still and lifeless on the ground, but alive and flying as it should :) a wonderfull half hour here in Sweden,I've seen a lot of historic aircraft Dad was in the RAF from before the war untill 69 but no even he'd ever seen one flying, not even in Malta and Egypt (Alexandria et al)were he was based during the war, Wombling is as we all know a completely authentic aeronautical word used to describe an aircraft wending it's slow and happy way, on a warm summers day (if you're a yank or non native English speaker look up 'The Wombles of Wimbledon common' and learn the song,sing to the kiddies :D

Don’t mind me just saving this charm for lunch at work later

I do love the Ju 52 thanks for it helping save Spain.

8:08 when making a movie with CGI aircrafts you’d think they’d avoid choosing the post-war four engined Antonov AN-12 for the Berlin 1936 Olympics. A very interesting and enjoyable video, cheers!

The long opening sequence in "Where Eagles Dare" has stuck with me for near 50 years since I saw the Ju52, soaring through the Alps, on a huge screen in our local cinema. A very impressive piece of filming.

It's a simple but amazingly affective aircraft

Great video and excellent disposition on "Auntie Ann" as the German ground and air crews called her. Arguably the two biggest contributions of the JU-52 after the war were in the Berlin airlift and during the French Indochina war. During the Berlin Airlift (1948-49) when French and other European nations operating JU-52s flew in supplies in during the lift, albeit in limited quantities compared to the overall tonnage delivered by Great Britian and the United States (What the French lacked in aircraft and crews they made up for in construction of more airfields within western Berlin). The second greatest post war contribution of the JU-52s was during the First Indochina War by the French Air Force from 1946 to 1954. JU-52s were widely used by the French in the early years of fighting against Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh forces dropping paratroopers, reinforcing/supplying isolated garrisons, and evacuating wounded troops from the jungles. Their early use before American supplied C-47s, C-46s, and C-119s took over the roll influenced the first commanding French General to adopt a strategy that mirrors the American attempt of combating the elusive communist forces via airlift, air drop, and air insertion. In the early years of the war the French were able to drive the Vietminh into the major hilly country side where the Communist sought refuge near the Chinese border. The JU-52s conducted bombing raids on suspected Vietminh positions, and ultimately where used in the first major airborne operations against the Vietminh strong holds that nearly captured Ho Chi Minh and his officers. These near success produced some measurable results that became the standard of major French operations throughout the remainder of the war. To that effect the Vietminh forces under the command of Võ Nguyên Giáp learned to counter the French airlift offensives by selecting where and when to engage the paratroopers/ airlifted troops while also acquiring more and better anti-aircraft weaponry supplied by China to cover the increasing Vietminh ground forces. This ultimately culminated in the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954 with over 11,000 French, Allied Vietnamese, and Legionaires being captured or killed. Over a period of 70 days the French air forces (using C-47s, C-119s, and some Ju-52s) continually dropped supplies and reinforcements by parachute into the isolated garrison perimeter (even dropping troops with no parachute training). Alas the valley based and land locked garrison was ringed by Vietminh and Chinese Anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) that wreaked havoc on all transport aircraft as little supplies reached the French ground forces after every drop with the perimeter continually shrinking day by day as the runway there was made unusuable on day one. The dependency on the JU-52 early in the war was justified as it was only large quantity asset in the French arsenal and allowed the French the most capable mobility across the Vietnamese countryside with roads and other grounded lines of communication considered hazardous and inefficient, a strategy that was parallel to the American dilema that inspired the Air mobility strategy using Helicopters. Despite its age, the JU-52 was a major asset throughout the French Indochina war as it had with the Berlin airlift and throughout WWII. Always looking forward to your next video Johnny.

Little reminder from a German speaker. The "Ju" is not spoken as two separate letters but together. It sounds like you would say "you". As an additional funn fact, in German-speaking countries the Ju-52 is called "Tante Ju", which translates to aunt Ju.

You just had to include that iconic BoB scene even though it had nothing to do with the subject. That's what makes these videos a pleasure.

*"The Ju 52's"* would be a good name for a German *"The B-52's"* cover band. We use Ju 52s as ze Germans' standard air transports in our Axis&Allies game.

Very cool scene from where eagles dare, the ope in scene shows the camouflage ju52 or variation, flying in a alpine setting, very impressive

Thanks for an excellent overview of the plane's history. Like the C47/DC-3, the Ju 52 has a 'tail dragger' landing gear, which makes it better for landing on primitive runways. That partly explains its long service life. Sheer ruggedness is another reason.

Nice work on the "Tante Ju" as the Germans called it. Transport aircraft are the unsung heroes of wars. Its usually the fighter's and bombers that get the glory. I have seen photos of the Ju 52 in the bomber role during the Spanish Civil War with a ventral "rubbish bin " turret.

That thumbnail lol

Great post Mr. Johnson. A truly remarkable aircraft. A workhorse for Germany during the war. The German equivalent of the Douglas DC-3/C47-Dakota.

Ju Air is sadly grounded because of the crash you mentioned. the investigation showed that the fleet had some major corrosion and cracking problems

Another excellent post by Johnny...lots of JU52 were lost at Crete...and in North Africa...

When it comes to iconic historical aircraft rmthe Junkers 52 is a must to include. The airframe was very strong and capable of reengineering to meet the multitudinous tasks assigned to it to fill.

8:05-8:20 Lol the large, CGI cargo planes in the background are Soviet Antonov An-12 transports colored black with Hakenkreuz flags. The aircraft wouldn't be produced until 1957.

I remember during a road trip through Franco's Spain in 1963, an entire line up of CASA 352s...all very bright in their Spanish air force markings.

I saw one in the Technikmuseum of Berlin, and I was amazed about how big it was , took almost a quarter of the room(slightly exaggerated)

Love that plane, in the early 90´s, a close formation of 4 Ju 52 flew straight over my head, passing very low the airfield in Dessau (where the Junkers factory was), a few years later, I could climb into a wreck of an Ju 52, that has been restored. It was one of the lost planes from the Bergen Raid in 1940, which sunk in the lake

5:33 this is actually a common misconception. The last large-scale German paratrooper drop was really Operation Stösser during the Battle of the Bulge. It was a complete disaster due to inexperienced pilots and bad weather. Paratroopers were dropped all over the place. The lucky ones were dropped into German-half territory and onto at least one German city (Bonn, I believe). The unlucky ones were dropped over enemy territory. They died from injuries sustained in bad landings, surrendered to the Allies, or returned to their own lines. Their mission had been to capture a vital crossroads and hold it until they were relieved by a Waffen-SS panzer division. The division never reached the crossroads anyway. I believe that the reason Operation Stösser is so overlooked is that the Allies didn’t realise it was happening, due to it being even more of a clusterfuck than Crete, Market Garden, and whatever the Russians tried to do last year.

I'm from Frankfurt in Hesse, where a JU52 is still flying, you can hear it from miles away because it has a very characteristic sound, then almost everything stands still and looks up, the pilot also knows that we love this Tante JU and occasionally flies a few extra laps, lovely isn't it? 😁

I had the honor of knowing aviation author Martin Caidin. He had a JU-52 that he named "Iron Annie" I would fly him in my Harvard MK-2 (AT-6) on the way to and from airshow from our Titusville, Florida, home base during the middle 1970s. I always remember the JU's rugged construction and its gracefulness in flight. It was quite a hit at every event.

2:21 "Oh, you don't want one engine? Fuck it! Have three!"

"Tante Ju" ("Aunt Ju"") was a beautiful plane. Also often seen in German and Austrian war film productions such as: "Goebbels und Geduldig" (2001 ) & "Mein Bester Feind " (My best Enemy) from 2011.

until 2019 one was still flying around my town, was always a pleasure to see

As always very well done. Asa WW2 junkie I have watched your videos more than once. Please keep them coming.

A Ju52 trip in the Swiss Alps! Added to my bucket list.

The Ju52 used in Valkyrie was the same one used for Where Eagles Dare.

One my favourite opening scenes of all time in films is WHERE EAGLES DARE, with the Ju 52 appearing in the distance and flying over the mountains. I must give FARGO a mention as another favourite opening scene also, even though it doesn't have any Ju 52s in it!

For a long time a Ju was stationed in Hamburg for recreational flights. It was really history flying and one could easily walk out to watch it after it was heard, proving the old saying from ww2 that if you heard one there was enough time to get your AA-Guns ready.

Always informative and entertaining

Back about 15 years ago I saw a Ju 52. Sitting outside of the Wright Patterson USAF museum in Ohio. I later researched it and found out that it was a CASA 352 dressed up to look like a Luftwaffe transport.

1:08 "The last Ju 52 was produced by Spain in 1952..." I see what Spain did there.

Great video, thanks! I want to watch The Dirty Dozen the Next Mission now!

In Munich Germany Lufthansa has a JU 52 that you get rides on and also there is a JU 52 at a small airport site museum.

there was a ju 52 based near the town i grew up in (on the outskirts of munich) and always got exited when it flew over and my dad pointed it out to me (he is a huge aircraft nerd). i even had a small steel model of it

its gotten to the point that if someone says "alright" I wait for the "I'm Johnny" to follow

Great vid as per usual Johnny 👌 👏 👍

Before its accident, an old _Tante Ju_ did regularly fly around Bern. This plane is incredibly loud and slow (a Piper is faster). Just imagine a _Fallschirjäger_ drop in this time: a fascinating and terrifying view all together!

This was the first model I ever built as a kid. I remeber getting glue everywhere 😂. Thanks for this video, was great.

The french air force also restarted production of the JU-52 postwar, with several planes even kitted out with an ad-hoc modification where the cabin was fitted with rails running from the rear of the cabin to the door, where barrels filled with an early form of Napalm would roll before exiting through the door. The model was used during the indochina war as a stopgap before more modern equipment could be produced/procured

The plane with the swiss-flagg on min 0:55 is the also "A702/hb-hot" which crashed in 2018 in the mountains of Graubünden.

what i think we need the most is a video about the Panzer IV (espacially for the GuP fans out there)

Couple of weeks ago i visited brussels in belgium There they have a war museum and while looking around in the plane section a full ju-52 was hanging there best thing i've seen

The Luftwaffe tought that they could repeat the trick so succesful in Spain either in N. Africa and Stalingrad, but naturally their adversaries were more efficients....

A few years ago my dad and I were at the military aviation museum in VA Beach with our wwii cckw truck. We got to sit in the back of our truck and watch the museums JU52 do a drop of paratroopers wearing german paratroopers uniforms. I've seen guys wearing wwii us uniforms from a c47 but it was neat being close to a drop from a ju52 like that.

There is a Teutonic beauty to "Tante". Supremely practical yet the best looking of the 3 engined planes of the time. A generation before the DC3 and not as capable, but still great. Shows what a difference there was in 10 years of tech advancement plus the innovation at Douglas. I would love to get a flight in one.

Nice videos you make i love them

A friend working in South America during the 80's once came upon a JU-52 with a faded Argentinian flag on the tail, when he was in an undisclosed country working for an undisclosed agency. According to another person working at the site, it was supposedly Juan Peron's personal aircraft and given to him around the time of WWII as a gift by the Germans or Spanish. No one's really sure of the full story. But there it was an airplane with Argentinian colors sitting in insolated airfield during the 80's being take care of by a retired mechanic. It was a weird airfield with several (jet and prop) American, German, and British aircraft (including fighters and trainers) scattered around the field. When he came back a couple of years later all the functional aircraft were gone, including the JU-52, and only a couple of wrecks were on the field.

Great video Johnny, just shows how good some of the german airframes were, but they had to keep fiddling with a good design.

Yess Johnny! Its finally here, thank you!

Johnny is the man just keeps the awesome videos coming love em man def helps thru the hard times

I always loved how ford had a similar aircraft model. Can’t wait to see air cargo and the postal service thrive

Corrugated and polished fuselages, and rivets with exposed heads, have to be some of the most beautiful sights when it comes to airplanes.

Hey Johnny can you talk about the dc-3 and it's many roles in movies

This is clearly not junk, very well made, and edited. Will you ever make a video of Yamato in movies? I know you have some videos with Yamato, but if not, keep on making great episodes. Take care, and all the best.

Excellent, thank you

Great Episode.

This is my Mother’s story: She was 9 years old and woke up one morning to the sound of aero engines and guns firing. She got out of bed and ran - in her nighty - out on to balcony behind her bedroom. There, looking out Eastwards, she saw a three-engined aircraft flying directly towards her. One engine was on fire and trailing flames and smoke behind it. Then, as it approached, an anti-aircraft battery in the Royal palace grounds on her left sent a stream of fire at the aircraft and set its engine on the other wing on fire. The aircraft just made it over the treeline at the far end of the parade ground opposite her balcony and crashed down into the field, breaking into pieces as it did so. The front section kept moving towards her and came to rest, aflame, in the hedge that separated her parents’ house from the street. She could clearly see the pilots’ faces and they were clearly dead. Then her Mother (my Grandmother) rushed onto the balcony, cried what was she thinking, picked her up into her arms and carried her off into the cellar. The aircraft was, of course, a Ju-52, part of a disastrously failed attempt by the Nazis to capture the head of state, the government and the army high command in one fell swoop.

Hey Johnny, Further to the Canadian JU-52/1m single engine variant, CF-ARM, is part of the collection of the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg Canada and is currently on display. Well worth the visit, if anyone is ever in the area.

It certainly looks distinctive ... if you've never seen a Ford Trimotor. I like an even number engines.

Crash of the Swiss JU-52 was the result of "...airline crew members with military pilot training, in particular, had a history of systematically violating recognized air navigation rules and taking high risks." as per crash final report of SESE, the Swiss NTSB.

By the events pictured in the film "Valkyrie", Hitler no longer travelled in a Ju 52 but had reportedly already switched to a Fw 200. Nonetheless, one has to make use of what can get; better an actual Ju than a CGI Fw.

As old player of Sniper Elite Playstation 2 You remember the time you have to defend your escape plane?

Crete would have a painful consequence for the Germans as losing 220 of the nearly 500 transport aircraft (mainly Ju-52) would really hit them hard 18 months later when trying to scramble transport planes to resupply the surrounded 6th Army at Stalingrad.

Johnny, I could watch your offerings all day long if I didn't have other responsibilities. Great stuff!!!!

The Olympic ju-52 is very interesting. First sky promo perhaps?

Where Eagles Dare uses Ju 52s. Great film.

Nothing feels more home to me than a Skytrain tho.

Crazy how many are still flying today...and many more in museums around the world, one nearby as RAF Cosford near Birmingham , UK.

In the miniseries "A Piece of Cake" a JU-52 rescue plane is shot down by Spitfires over the channel.

The beginning scene showing a Ju-52 in “The Battle for Britain” while Aces High plays in the background.

Very well johnny Johnson

Great video 📹

8:26 I didn't know there were a sequel to The Dirty Dozen

One of my favorite transport aircraft.

A good, solid transport aircraft which was relatively cheap to produce. It was obsolete by WW2, but the Luftwaffe couldn't develop a replacement in sufficient time to produce the demand needed, so they continued to manufacture 'Tante Ju' throughout the war.

Although the plane depicted in Valkyrie may be accurate, Hitler was flying around in a Focke Wulf Fw-200 Condor at that stage in the war. And I’m not sure that particular paint scheme for the Ju-52 was used for Hitler’s plane once the war had begun, for throughout many documentaries, I’ve seen much footage of him coming and going from one painted in standard military colors. No big, bright red tail.

I understand that in order to ship more men to Spain Franco had some of his North African troops laid on top ot the JU52s wings and hang onto the wings leading edge. I believe it was only a short flight but you do have to wonder how many did not make it. I have long thought that the Ju52 had something of the Ford Trimotor to it. Interestingly Spain also flew the Trimotor.

There’s also a Swiss company that bought the Junkers name and plans to restart production of the JU-52 as the 52NG. It’s expected to fly next year and will be powered by 3 diesel v8’s

As a Colombian I find this really interesting

Ooh, my favourite plane :D

Stalingrad from 1993 is a fantastic movie.

I have to say i have never seen The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission i only heard that was a sequel to the original.

Dunno if anyone else said this, but the Italians made a near identical version called the S.81. As far as I know, it’s best seen in War Thunder, as the first Italian bomber to be unlocked

This video is actually genuinely underated and damm ❤😂🎉.

That scene in Stalingrad always makes me tear up.

Good job