During the Spanish Civil War 5 Hs
123s were deployed to Spain as a part of the Condor Legion, intended to be used as
tactical bombers.
In their intended role, the Hs 123s
proved to be somewhat of a failure, hampered by their small bomb capacity and short range.
Instead, the Hs 123s based in Seville were used for ground support, a role in which their
range was not such a detriment, and where the ability to accurately place munitions was
more important than carrying a large load. The combat evaluation of the Hs 123
demonstrated a remarkable resiliency in close-support missions, proving able to absorb a
great deal of punishment including direct hits on the airframe and engine. The
Nationalists in Spain were suitably impressed with the Hs 123 under battle conditions,
purchasing the entire evaluation flight and ordering an additional 11 aircraft from
Germany. The Spanish Hs 123s were known as "Angelito" (dear angel or little
angel) and at least one Hs 123 was in service with the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del
Aire) after 1945.
Second Sino-Japanese
War
Twelve Hs 123s were also exported to
China, where they were used extensively as dive bombers against Japanese warships along
the Yangtze River, especially in 1938.
World War II
(service from Poland to Greece)
At the outbreak of hostilities, the
surviving 39 Hs 123s assigned to II. (Schl)/LG 2, were committed to action in the Polish
Campaign. This single unit proved to be particularly effective. Screaming over the heads
of enemy troops, the Hs 123s delivered their bombs with devastating accuracy. A
frightening aspect of an Hs 123 attack was the staccato noise of its engine that a pilot
could manipulate by changing rpm to create "gunfire-like" bursts. The Hs 123
proved rugged and able to take a lot of damage and still keep on flying. Operating from
primitive bases close to the front lines, ground crews considered the type reliable in
field conditions, being easy to maintain.
The Polish campaign was a success for
an aircraft considered obsolete by the Luftwaffe high command. Within a year, the Hs 123
was again in action in the blitzkrieg attacks through the Low Countries and France.
General Guderian was continually impressed by the quick turnaround time offered by
II.(Schl)/LG 2. Often positioned as the Luftwaffe's most-forward based combat unit, the Hs
123 flew more missions per day than other units, and again proved their worth in the
close-support role. With Ju 87s still being used as tactical bombers rather than true
ground support aircraft and with no other aircraft capable of this mission in the
Luftwaffe arsenal, the Hs 123 was destined to continue in service for some time more,
although numbers were constantly being reduced by attrition.
The Hs 123 was not employed in the
subsequent Battle of Britain as the English Channel proved a formidable obstacle for the
short-ranged aircraft. The sole operator, II.(Schl)/LG 2 went back to Germany to re-equip
with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter bomber (Jabo) variant. The Bf 109E fighter
bomber was not capable of carrying any more bombs than the Hs 123. It did however, have a
greater range and was far more capable of defending itself. On the downside were the
notoriously tricky taxiing, ground handling and takeoff/landing characteristics,
especiallly acerbated with a bomb load.
At the beginning of the Balkans
Campaign, the 32 examples of the Hs 123 that had been retired after the fall of France
were taken back into service to equip 10.(Schl)/LG 2. The aircraft performed well
enough to warrant its use in Operation Barbarossa.
World War II
(Eastern Front)
At the start of Operation Barbarossa,
the single Gruppe of the Luftwaffe that was dedicated to ground support was
II.(Schl)/LG 2, operating 38 Bf 109Es and 22 Hs 123s. In service use on the Eastern Front,
the remaining aircraft had been "field" modified with the main wheel spats
removed, additional armor extra equipment fitted as well as mounting extra machine guns
and even cannons in under-wing housings.
During the initial drive, the unit
participated in action along the central and northern parts of the front, including a
brief time in support of the fighting around Leningrad, and participating in the battles
for Bryansk and Vyazma. The first weeks revealed problems associated with using the Bf
109E which was plagued by undercarriage and engine problems in the fighter-bomber role.
Its liquid-cooled inline engine was also more vulnerable to small arms fire than the Hs
123's radial.
The winter brought hardship to all
German forces in Russia, and the pilots in the open cockpits of the Henschels suffered
accordingly. Despite this, they took part in the Battle of Moscow. In January, the unit
was re-designated as the first dedicated ground attack Geschwader, SchlG 1.
The Hs 123 became a part of 7./SchlG 1.
This "new" unit
participated in operations in Crimea in May 1942, after which it operated on the southern
sector for some time, participating in the Second Battle of Kharkov and going on to take
part in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the meantime, the small number of operational Hs 123
continued to slowly dwindle. Aircraft had been salvaged from training schools and even
derelict dumps all over Germany to replace losses. The aircraft that had supposedly
replaced the Hs 123, the Ju 87, also started to be assigned to ground support units,
leaving tactical bombing to newer aircraft.
The greatest tribute to the Hs 123
usefulness came in January 1943 when Generaloberst Wolfram Fresher von Richthofen, then
commander-in-chief of Luftflotte 4, asked whether production of the Hs 123 could be
restarted because the Hs 123 performed well in a theater where mud, snow, rain and ice
took a heavy toll on the serviceability of more advanced aircraft. However, the Henschel
factory had already dismantled all tools and jigs in 1940.
After taking part in the Battle of
Kursk, SG 1 returned to Crimea, and there during late spring 1944, they finally gave up
the aircraft that had served all over Europe from Spain to Leningrad. 7./SG 1 traded its
last Hs 123s in mid-1944, for Ju 87s, a type that was to have replaced it back in 1937.
By 1945, the Hs 123s that remained
serviceable were reassigned to secondary duties such as supply dropping and glider towing.
