The Condor Legion () was a unit of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War. The legion developed methods of strategic bombing that were used widely during the Second World War. The bombing of Guernica was the Condor Legion's most infamous operation. Hugo Sperrle commanded the unit's aircraft formations, and Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma commanded the ground element.
Military aid to Spain
After the 17 July 1936 military coup in Spain began the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalists requested support from Germany and Italy. The first request for German aircraft was made on 22 July, for 10 transport aircraft. Adolf Hitler decided to support the Nationalists on 25 or 26 July, but was wary of provoking a wider European war. The Reich Air Travel Ministry concluded that Nationalist forces would need at least 20 Junkers Ju 52s, flown by Luft Hansa pilots, to carry the Spanish Army of Africa from Spanish Morocco to Spain. This mission became known as Operation Magic Fire (). To carry it out, a joint venture was created between the Spanish-German "Spanish-Moroccan Transport Company" (, HISMA) dummy corporation and the German Raw Materials and Goods Purchasing Company (). German involvement was hidden from the foreign and the economic ministries, and was funded with three million Reichsmarks.
The organisation and the recruitment of German volunteers was also kept secret. The first contingent (86 men) left Germany on 1 August 1936. Unaware of their destination, they were accompanied by six biplane fighters, anti-aircraft guns and about 100 tons of other supplies. Many believed that the German troops would train the Nationalists and not engage in active combat.
The volunteers were stationed at Tablada Airfield near Seville and, with the support of German air transport, began the airlift of Francisco Franco's troops to Spain. Germany's involvement grew in September to encompass the Wehrmacht's other branches. Operation Magic Fire was renamed Operation Guido in November. The Kriegsmarine provided submarines in 24 October, also providing surface ships and co-ordinated movement of German supplies to Spain. German U-boats were dispatched to Spanish waters under the codename Ursula.
In the two weeks after 27 July, German transport moved nearly 2,500 Army of Africa troops to Spain. By 11 October (the mission's official end), 13,500 troops, 127 machine guns and 36 field guns had been transported to mainland Spain from Morocco. Over that period, there was a transition from training and supply missions to overt combat. The operation commander, Alexander von Scheele, was replaced by Walter Warlimont. In September, 86 tons of bombs, 40 Panzer I tanks and 122 personnel were deployed in Spain. They were accompanied by 108 aircraft from July to October, divided between aircraft for the Nationalist faction and planes for German volunteers in Spain.
German air crews supported the August-to-October 1936 Nationalist advance on Madrid, and the successful relief of the Siege of the Alcázar on 27 September 1936. Ultimately, the initial phase of the Siege of Madrid was unsuccessful. Soviet air support for the Republicans was growing, particularly through the supply of Polikarpov aircraft. Warlimont appealed to Germany to increase its support. After Berlin's recognition of Franco's government on 30 September, German efforts in Spain were reorganised and expanded. The existing command structure was replaced with the Winterübung Rügen; military units already in Spain were formed into a new legion, which was briefly called the Iron Rations () and the Iron Legion () before Hermann Göring renamed it the Condor Legion (). The first German chargé d'affaires to Franco's government, General Wilhelm Faupel,See :de:Wilhelm Faupel . arrived in November and was told not to interfere in military matters.
Motivation In the years after the Spanish Civil War, Hitler gave several possible motives for German involvement. They included providing distraction from German rearmament, preventing the spread of communism to Western Europe, creating a state friendly to Germany to disrupt Britain and France, and creating possibilities for economic expansion. Although the Nationalist offensive on Madrid was abandoned in March 1937, a series of attacks on weaker Republican-controlled areas was supported by the Condor Legion. Despite prolonging the Civil War, it helped distract the other Western powers from Hitler's ambitions in Central Europe. The offensive on Biscay, a mining and industrial centre, helped to fuel German industry. In a speech at Würzburg on 27 June 1937, Hitler said that he supported Franco to gain control of Spanish ore.
Discussions about German objectives for intervention took place in January 1937. Germany was keen to avoid prompting a wider European war, which was a risk if it committed further resources to Spain. There was no consensus among German officials; Ernst von Weizsäcker of the German Foreign Office suggested that it was a matter of graceful withdrawal, and Göring said that Germany would never recognise a "red Spain". A joint Italian–German agreement said that the last shipments would be made no later than early February.
It has been speculated that Hitler used the Spanish Civil War to distract Benito Mussolini from Hitler's plans to annex Austria; the authoritarian, Catholic and anti-Nazi Vaterländische Front ran the government of Austria from 1933 to 1938, and had been allied with Mussolini. In 1934, the assassination of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss had given rise to Italian military assistance to prevent a German invasion.www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk
A December 1936 communiqué from German ambassador to Rome Ulrich von Hassell said that Italy’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War kept it out of the Western powers' camp: The role played by the Spanish conflict as regards Italy's relations with France and England could be similar to that of the Abyssinian conflict, bringing out clearly the actual, opposing interests of the powers and thus preventing Italy from being drawn into the net of the Western powers and used for their machinations ... All the more clearly will Italy recognize the advisability of confronting the Western powers shoulder to shoulder with Germany.
Military operations The Condor Legion originally consisted of the with three squadrons of Ju 52 bombers and the Jagdgruppe 88, with three squadrons of Heinkel He 51 fighters; the reconnaissance Aufklärungsgruppe 88 supplemented by the Aufklärungsgruppe See 88, an anti-aircraft group (the Flakabteilung 88); and the Nachrichtenabteilung 88 signals group. The anti-aircraft guns used by Flakabteilung 88 were the standard German anti-aircraft guns of the time: the 8.8cm Flak 18, 3.7cm Flak 18 and 2cm Flak 30. Overall command was given to Hugo Sperrle, with Alexander Holle chief of staff. Scheele became a military attaché in Salamanca. Also operational were two armoured units under the command of Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma, with four Panzer I tanks each.
The Nationalists were supported by German and Italian units and material in the Battle of Madrid, but its military situation remained poor for them. Under orders from Francisco Franco, German and Italian aircraft began bombing raids on the city. The Germans were keen to observe the effects of bombing and the deliberate burning of civilian sites on a city. Offensives involving German aircraft, and the bombings, were unsuccessful. Growing Republican air superiority became increasingly apparent, particularly the strength of the Soviet Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 aircraft, but historian Hugh Thomas described their armaments as "primitive".
Faupel advocated the creation of a single German unit of 15,000 to 30,000 men in November and December 1936, which he believed would be enough to turn the tide of the war toward the Nationalists. Hans-Heinrich Dieckhoff said that this would be insufficient, and larger measures could provoke Spanish wrath. New aircraft were sent to the Condor Legion between late 1936 and early 1937, including Henschel Hs 123 dive bombers and prototypes of the Heinkel He 112 and Messerschmitt Bf 109; the latter was the most successful. The Heinkel He 111 was added to the bomber fleet, along with the Dornier Do 17 E and F types. Older aircraft were passed on to the Nationalists. By the end of 1936, about 7,000 Condor Legion personnel were in Spain.
German forces also operated in the Battle of Jarama, which began with a Nationalist offensive on 6 February 1937. It included German-supplied ground forces, including two batteries of machine guns, a tank division, and the Condor Legion's anti-aircraft guns. Bombing by Republican and Nationalist aircraft, including Ju 52s from the Legion, created a stalemate and demonstrated the inadequacy of Legion aircraft when faced with superior Soviet-made fighters. Von Thoma requested Irish nationalist support for a tank advance at one point. The use of He 51 and Ju 52s and the Legion's anti-aircraft guns in ground roles only partly mitigated the Nationalist defeat in the March Battle of Guadalajara. A joint Italian-German general staff had been set up in January 1937 to advise Franco on war planning. The defeat of a significant Italian force and growing Soviet superiority in tanks and aircraft led the Germans to support a plan to abandon the offensive on Madrid and concentrate a series of attacks on weaker Republican-controlled areas. Some concluded that motorised troops were less effective than they had been thought, and the inadequacy of the Italians as a fighting force had become apparent to the Germans.
Biscay campaign The isolated area of Biscay, a predominantly-Basque region of northern Spain, was the most immediate target in what was called the War in the North. It was largely a Nationalist and Italian offensive, supported by a consistently re-equipping Condor Legion. The terrain was favourable, with planes coming over a range of mountains to the south which masked their entrance. Sperrle remained in Salamanca; Wolfram von Richthofen replaced Holle in January as deputy, and was in actual command. Since the Basque air force was limited, fighter aircraft were used in ground-attack roles rather than air-to-air combat. The Legion's air force initially attacked the towns of Otxandio and Durango. Durango had no anti-aircraft defence, and only a few other defences. According to the Basques, 250 civilians died there on 31 March (including a priest, nuns and the congregation at a church ceremony). The Germans, because of their air raids, were hated. The Basque ground forces were in full retreat towards Bilbao through the town of Guernica, which was bombed on 26 April in one of the war's most controversial attacks.
Guernica
In Operation Rügen, waves of Ju 52 and He 111 planes bombed and strafed targets in Guernica. The number of casualties is controversial, with perhaps 200 or 300 people killed;The legacy of Guernica the Basques reported 1,654 dead and 889 wounded. Several explanations were given by the Nationalists, who blamed the attack on the Republicans, said that the attack was part of a prolonged offensive, or the Rentería bridge outside Guernica was the true target. The nature of the operation, however (including its formation and armaments), undermines the credibility of these explanations. Guernica was a clear target of the Condor Legion, rather than the Nationalists. The 11 July offensive against Bilbao was supported by Condor Legion ground units and extensive air operations, proving the Legion's worth to the Nationalist cause.