Aircraft of the Civil War

The Spanish Civil War was a testing ground for some of the aircraft that would go on to participate in World War II. From the earliest stages of the war NAZI Germany and fascist Italy supplied aircraft to the insurgents. Indeed, with a large part of the Spanish navy taken over from their officers by crews loyal to the Republic, the aircraft supplied by Italy and Germany allowed the insurgents to move the veteran Army of Africa across the straits of Gibraltar from Spanish Morocco. These troops would bee crucial to the success of the insurgents. Spain also witnessed the first aerial bombing of open cities, including the infamous destruction of Guernica by the German Condor Legion. Soviet planes also took part in the war, with the first aircraft arriving during the siege of Madrid. There is an excellent website (http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/spain/index.html) created by David Nash that provides a wealth of information on this subject.