16. Germany’s Most Versatile Airplane of the War
Few WWII airplanes were as versatile as Germany’s Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber. The twin-engine Ju 88 was designed before the war as a fast bomber that could outrun fighters. That proved futile, as fighter advances by the time the war began made them significantly faster. Still, the Ju 88 succeeded as a versatile airplane that performed multiple roles, including level bomber, dive bomber, torpedo bomber, mine layer, as well as reconnaissance, heavy fighter, and night fighter.
The Ju 88 was just beginning operational deployment when the war began, and so saw limited service during the invasion of Poland. It played a greater role during the invasion of Norway in April, 1940, in both ground and anti-shipping roles. It saw significant service during the French campaign a month later. While contributing their fair share to the German victory, Ju 88s experienced high losses because of wing design defects that led to instability and accidents, exacerbated by inadequate crew training. The shortcomings were addressed with a retraining program and the introduction of longer wingspans with rounded edges to improve handling.
