WESTERN
PHONEY WAR
Dornier’s Do 17, unofficially known as the ‘flying pencil’ due to its thin fuselage, had proven to be a valuable reconnaissance aircraft in the Spanish Civil War, but it really came to the fore in the opening salvos of World War Two. The German attacks on Poland that started on September 1, 1939 saw a large concentration of Do 17s drawn into the fight, with around 20 Staffeln (squadrons) of Do 17Ps being used for reconnaissance and various Gruppen (groups) carrying out bomber operations with Do 17M and ‘Zs in support of ground troops. In total, around 632 Do 17s were available at the start of the Poland campaign.
Britain and France joined the conflict shortly after Hitler’s forces marched into Polish territories, but for several months there was very little action on the Western Front – the period becoming known as the Phoney War. The Nazis spent much of this time planning their push towards the English Channel and needed precise reconnaissance, and again, the Do 17 was at the fore from the start.
MOUNTING LOSSES
The Dornier was an early 1930s design, and although it performed well in Spain with the Condor legion and in Poland, it was no match for the fast monoplane fighters of the Ro…
