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How many Ju 52s did the Luftwaffe lose at Ypenburg on the first day?

Short answer

Dutch anti-aircraft fire hit 11 of the 13 Ju 52s carrying infantry to Ypenburg on 10 May 1940, according to the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation, which doesn't specify how many were actually destroyed. Across the first days in the Netherlands, 125 Ju 52s were lost in total and another 47 were damaged.

How many Ju 52s did the Luftwaffe lose at Ypenburg on the first day?
Junkers Ju 52 D AQUI, imagen de archivoNeozoon (CC BY SA), vía commons

The assault on The Hague

On 10 May 1940 Germany attacked the Netherlands. The Junkers Ju 52 played a decisive role in the Battle of The Hague, the first large-scale airborne paratroop assault in history: according to the English Wikipedia, 500 Ju 52s were prepared for the offensive against the Netherlands and Belgium. Besides dropping paratroopers, they also landed directly on enemy territory to disembark assault troops, as at Ypenburg airfield, on roads around The Hague and, fitted with floats, on the Maas river.

The day at Ypenburg

According to the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation, the fighting at Ypenburg was especially bloody: anti-aircraft artillery hit 11 of the 13 Ju 52s carrying an infantry regiment. Valkenburg didn't go well either, where a botched landing by the first Ju 52s blocked the runway and prevented the second battalion's aircraft from landing. In the afternoon, twelve Blenheims of No. 40 Squadron RAF attacked Ypenburg and three were shot down by Bf 109Es; the roughly twenty Ju 52s that had landed near The Hague came under attack by Blenheims of No. 110 Squadron escorted by fighters of No. 600 Squadron.

A very heavy price

The encyclopedia speaks of aircraft hit, not of total losses, so the exact number of Ju 52s destroyed at Ypenburg that day isn't recorded there. The overall balance is, however, documented: in the first days of the campaign Dutch anti-aircraft fire shot down many German aircraft, and a total of 125 Ju 52s were lost, with another 47 damaged, losses that the author Hooton considered relatively costly for the Luftwaffe. After those first days, transport operations were noticeably reduced, although the Ju 52 continued to supply advancing troops by air.

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