Campanha do Atlântico Sul

[Junker-13]

Campanha do Atlântico Sul: Military and civilians flying missions over the South Atlantic during 1942 to 1945.

I would like to find out what kind of airplanes were used by the “civilians” in the Campanha do Atlântico Sul.

Did the civilians pilots of Cruzeiro and VARIG were trained on different airplanes for the campaing, or they flew the same airplanes they were typed in at the time?

Thank you,

Junker-13

[alemaobaiano]

Junker, OK, you've piqued my interest with that question.

From what I know, the civilian pilots never operated combat types (Catalina, Hudson, Ventura and probably the B-25) as these were all under the command of the FAB.

Civilians certainly operated logistics missions in support of the combat operations, flying their regular aircraft, and anyone who did so was entitled to the campaign medal, however civilian aircraft didn't participate directly in the patrols.

Some reservist pilots were called up, but in this case they would cease to be civilians and revert to military status.

That's really all I have ATM, when things are back to normal next week I can ask some folks from the FAB and try to shed some more light on this.

Great question to kick-start the brain after the holidays :ok:

TTFN

[Junker-13]

Thank you Alemaobaiano,

My grandfather flew during the campaign. He was awarded the “Campanha do Atlantico Sul” medal.

He was a civilian pilot for Cruzeiro. I was wondering what kind of airplane he might have flown during the campaign.

I will contact some relatives in Brasil and find out if they still have his logbooks and I will let you know.

Feliz Ano Novo!

Junker

[alemaobaiano]

Junker, sorry for the delay, this campaign seems to have been largely forgotten and information is hard to come by.

Anyway, I've managed to come up with very little solid info, but my Air Force contacts tell me that no patrols were flown by civilians at any point.

Your grandfather flying for Cruzeiro is quite fascinating. Cruzeiro was formed in January 1943, up until that point it was known as Syndicato Condor and flew the Junkers Ju-52 and Focke-Wulf FW200 Condor. With Brazil moving closer to the Allies, the airline changed the name, replaced staff to remove any German influence, and began changing the aircraft type in February of 1943 to the DC-3. However I have seen timetables* from 1944 with the Tante Ju and the Condor on the cover, so it is possible that your grandfather was flying a German aircraft, in a previously German owned airline, in support of military operations against German forces.

It would be interesting of the family could find your grandfather's logbook, that would be a good read.

And it seemed such a simple question at the beginning ..... :)

* Cruzeiro - Servicos Aereos Cruzeiro do Sul - Syndicato Condor (http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/sc.htm)

[Junker-13]

Thanks for checking that for me. It is possible it was an AT-11 but I am not sure.

It will try to find his logbooks but it will take a while. After he passed away my aunt put all his stuff inside boxes and she told me it will be difficult to find.

I do have his medal and a diploma that came with the medal that say "pelo transporte de armamentos e pessoal".

I remember when I was a kid he mention something about Fernando de Noronha but again it was long time ago and I can be wrong.

Take care

Junker

[alemaobaiano]

I do have his medal and a diploma that came with the medal that say "pelo transporte de armamentos e pessoal".

That would tie in with the information I have, that would be logistics missions in support of the combat operations.

AFAIK the AT-11 entered service in 1946 so your grandfather probably wouldn't have flown that type during the campaign. Most, but not all, of the logistics missions were flown on the DC-3.

He could easily have flown missions to Fernando de Noronha, both the FAB and USAF maintained detachments there, and it was a regular destination for Cruzeiro pre-war, so it would make sense that pilots experienced on that route would fly it. There is an awful lot of water between Natal and the islands, so it would not have been a simple flight.

Thanks again for bringing up an interesting subject.

[Junker-13]

Thanks for all your inputs.

Take care my friend