This is something has been on my mind for a couple months now and finally thought I'd ask the question, does anyone have any documentary proof of the last operational use of the Stuka Ju 87 during WWII. I ask because I have War Diary references to a couple of Ju 87's skip bombing 13 Fd Sqn, RE, attempts to put a Bailey bridge across the Wesser, at Stolzenau, on April 6th 1945 and I guess that this has got to be a contender...maybe! Anyone got any other info on JU 88's being used in a offensive role after April 6th, 1945? Pete
Do you mean JU 87 Stuka But hard as they tried, the Germans never came up with a Stuka successor, so the angular, archaic “little bomber,” as the Luftwaffe called it, was the airplane that on September 1, 1939, dropped the first bombs of the war, and on May 4, 1945, flew the final Luftwaffe ground-assault mission Screaming Bird of Prey: How the Ju-87 Stuka exceeded its life span and carried the Luftwaffe through WWII
I think April 6th might be too early for thr last sortie by JU-88's. A few easily found examples: References to a JU-88 loss on May 3, 1945 but no indication of the mission, defensive or offensive. "Shot down by two RAF Spitfires over Husum. Forced landed and burned out. Pilot Oberstleutnant Willi Bichmann and crew safe." "Smoke and flame erupt from a German Junkers Ju 88 torpedo-bomber as it crashes into the North Sea while Royal Air Force De Havilland Mosquitos of the Banff Strike Wing (144, 235, 248, 333 (Norwegian) Squadrons, RAF) circle overhead. Twelve Ju 88s of II./KG 26 and six Ju 188s of III./KG 26 were underway from Stavanger, Norway, to attack a convoy off the Scottish coast when they were spotted by 45 Mosquitos of the Wing which were returning at dusk from an uneventful anti-shipping patrol in the Kattegat. They succeeded in shooting down eight Ju 88s and one Ju 188 without loss to themselves." Date 21 April 1945
Ju 88 was a twin engined plane. Junkers Ju 88 - Wikipedia The Ju 87 was the diver bomber. Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive bomber") Junkers Ju 87 - Wikipedia
Yes, Ju 87. Late at Night, half a bottle of Merlot and fingers that don't work anyways thanks to a 500lb car bomb and a shredded spine!
Now that the aircraft in question has been confirmed, Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel's Schlachtgeschwader 2 is reported to have supported German ground forces with the JU-87 in the East until at least May 8th when he flew to Kitzingen and surrendered to the Americans.