Editing Junkers Ju 87 (section)

====Poland====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-1210-502, Polen, Stukas.jpg|thumb|Ju 87 Bs over Poland, September/October 1939]]

On 1 September 1939, the Wehrmacht invaded Poland, beginning [[World War II]]. ''Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe'' records indicate a total force of 366 Ju 87 A and Bs were available for operations on 31 August 1939.<ref name="Griehl 2001, p. 61"/> The first Ju 87 operation was to destroy Polish demolition charges fixed to the rail bridges over the [[Vistula]], that linked Eastern Germany to the [[Polish Corridor|Danzig corridor]] and [[East Prussia]] as well as Polish [[Pomerania]]. To do this, Ju 87s were ordered to perform a low-level attack on the [[Polish Army]] Garrison headquarters. II. and III./[[StG 1]] targeted the cables along the embankment, the electricity plant and signal boxes at [[Dirschau]] (now [[Tczew]], Poland. At exactly 04:26 [[Central European Time|CET]], a ''Kette'' ("chain" or flight of three) of Ju 87s of 3./StG 1 led by ''[[Staffelkapitän]]'' ''[[Oberleutnant]]'' Bruno Dilly carried out the first bombing attack of the war. The Stukas attacked 11 minutes before the official German declaration of hostilities and hit the targets. The Ju 87s achieved complete success. The mission failed as the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] delayed their advance allowing the Poles to carry out repairs and destroy all but one of the bridges before the Germans could reach them.<ref name="Boyne 1994, p. 30"/><ref>{{harvnb|Weal|1997|pp=21–22}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2011|pp=87–88}}</ref>

A Ju 87 achieved the first air victory during World War II on the morning of 1 September 1939, when ''[[:de:Rotte (Luftfahrt)|Rottenführer]]'' ''[[Leutnant]]'' [[Frank Neubert]] of I./[[StG 2]] "Immelmann" shot down a Polish [[PZL P.11]]c [[fighter aircraft|fighter]] while it was taking off from [[Balice, Lesser Poland Voivodeship|Balice]] airfield; its pilot, Captain Mieczysław Medwecki, was killed. In air-to-air combat, Ju 87 formations were well protected by German fighter aircraft and losses were light against the tenacious, but short lived opposition.<ref name="Weal 1997, p. 22.">{{harvnb|Weal|1997|p=22}}</ref>

The Ju 87s reverted to ground attack missions for the campaign after the opening air attacks. Ju 87s were involved in the controversial but effective attacks [[Bombing of Wieluń|at Wieluń]]. The lack of [[anti-aircraft artillery]] in the Polish Army magnified the impact of the Ju 87. At [[Piotrków Trybunalski]] I./StG 76 and I./StG 2 destroyed a Polish infantry division de-training there. Troop trains were also easy targets. StG 77 destroyed one such target at [[Radomsko]].<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2011|p=98}}</ref> During the [[Battle of Radom]] six Polish divisions trapped by encircling German forces were forced to surrender after a relentless four-day bombardment by StG 51, 76 and 77. Employed in this assault were {{convert|50|kg|lb|abbr=on}} fragmentation bombs, which caused appalling casualties to the Polish ground troops. Demoralised, the Poles surrendered. The Stukas also participated in the [[Battle of Bzura]] which resulted in the breaking of Polish resistance. The dive bomber wings (''[[Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945)#Geschwader|Sturzkampfgeschwader]]'') alone dropped 388&nbsp;tonnes (428&nbsp;tons) of bombs during this battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Hooton|2007|p=91}}</ref> During the [[Siege of Warsaw (1939)|Siege of Warsaw]] and the [[Battle of Modlin]], the Ju 87 wings contributed to the defeat of well-entrenched and resolute Polish forces. IV(Stuka)./[[LG 1]] was particularly effective in destroying the fortified [[Modlin Fortress|Modlin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2011|p=101}}</ref>

The ''Luftwaffe'' had a few anti-shipping naval units such as 4.(St)/TrGr 186 to deal with Polish naval forces. This unit performed effectively, sinking the 1540-ton destroyer [[ORP Wicher (1928)|''Wicher'']] and the minelayer [[ORP Gryf (1936)|''Gryf'']] of the [[Polish Navy]] (both moored in a harbour).<ref name="Weal 1997, p. 22."/> The torpedo boat ''Mazur'' (412 tons) was sunk at [[Oksywie]]; the gunboat ''General Haller'' (441 tons) was sunk in [[Hel, Poland|Hel Harbour]] on 6 September—during the [[Battle of Hel]]—along with the minesweeper ''Mewa'' (183 tons) and its sister ships ''Czapla'' and ''Jaskolka'' with several auxiliaries. The Polish naval units trapped in the Baltic were destroyed by Ju 87 operations.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2011|pp=96–97}}</ref> Once again, enemy air opposition was light, and the ''Stukawaffe'' (Stuka force) lost 31 aircraft during the campaign.<ref name="Weal p. 34">{{harvnb|Weal|1997|p=34}}</ref>