Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

AIR SUPERIORITY
bombers, and antiaircraft guns” so as to test the material and the personnel
under actual combat conditions. These so-called volunteers of the famous
Kondor Legion engaged in all types of air operations during the two-year
involvement. Bombardment of coastal ports and interior cities from Madrid
to Guernica, interdiction of supply routes, air superiority dogfights, as well
as traditional ground support missions, gave Luftwaffe volunteer aviators
invaluable lessons with which to improve their air arm. Infamous instances
of bombing effectiveness like Guernica, which killed or maimed 2,000
defenseless civilians in 3 hours, provided Hitler and his propaganda ministry
the tools with which to intimidate governments elsewhere in Europe.
However, some lessons that emerged from the Spanish Civil War altered
the direction of German air superiority thinking and weapon development,
with great portents for the future.64
Kondor Legion veterans such as Lt. Col. Wolfram von Richthofen, a
cousin to the World War ace and the last commander of the German contingents
in Spain, returned home with new ideas about employment of air
power. His experiences convinced him that aviation was more than a mere
substitute for artillery when properly applied to the land battle. He convinced
Luftwaffe officials that organization of close-support formations of
bombers and fighters working with armored columns could effect a breakthrough
on the ground. By the time the Spanish involvement ended in the
spring of 1939, both veterans amd home officials emphasized the Luftwaffe’s
role in the air-land battle rather than strategic bombing operations.
But, winning a quick land victory first required gaining use of the air space.
The Ju-88 bomber.
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