[3] This apparent regression from the practices and experiences of World War I stemmed from the belief among the General Staff (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe) that army support aviation in 1917–1918 was purely a reaction to trench warfare.

On the eve of World War II, some German air planners regarded the dive-bomber as a strategic weapon to strike with precision at enemy industry.

Even factored into the army support groups, only fifteen percent of Luftwaffe front-line strength contained specialist ground-attack aircraft in September 1939.

The Ju 87s, commensurate with doctrine, participated in a variety of missions; the battle for air superiority, interdiction as well as the traditional ground support role for which it is known.

[25] StG 77 played an important role in breaking up the French attacks on Army Group A's flanks as it extended a corridor through northern France.

In the Battle of Dunkirk, Ju 87s bombed the port and attacked Allied shipping evacuating the encircled British and French armies.

On 29 May the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Grenade was severely damaged by a Ju 87 attack within Dunkirk's harbour, and subsequently sank.

It supported Army Group A and C as they moved to surround the Maginot Line and assisted the advance across the Somme, Seine and Loire to the French border with Switzerland.

As a prelude to destroying RAF Fighter Command and establishing air superiority for Operation Sea Lion, the Luftwaffe began by attacking shipping in the English Channel.

The last sorties of the day were flown by 27 I./StG 77 Ju 87s, led by Hauptmann Friedrich-Karl Lichtenfels, escorted by Bf 110s, which attacked the Portland naval base.

[40] Early on 27 July a large convoy named BACON departed Portland and 30 Ju 87s from I./StG 77 took off from Caen at 08:00, picking up their Bf 109 escort from JG 27 en route.

Early on bombs struck the field's oil tanks and storage compounds causing an enormous blaze which contributed to the crippling damage on the airfield.

As the Bf 109 escorts turned to meet the two engaging RAF Squadrons, around 300 aircraft filled a patch of sky 25 miles long, from Gosport to Bognor Regis.

StG 77 hit pinpoint targets in and around the capital, including the Royal Palace, with 74 dive-bombers and a second wave of 57 Ju 87s against the Smedervo bridge and fortifications at the confluence of the Nera and Morava rivers.

On 21–22 May, the Germans attempted to send in reinforcements to Crete by sea but lost 10 vessels to "Force D" under the command of Rear Admiral Irvine Glennie.

StG 77 spotted the Soviet fleet gunboat Krasnaya Armeniya, tugboat OP-8 and destroyer Frunze; flag ship of Admiral Lev Vladimirsky.

[85] The transports still delivered the Soviet 3rd Marine Rifle Regiment to Grigorevka, southwest of Odessa, and eliminated the threat of Romanian heavy coastal batteries against the port.

[87] StG 77 was instrumental in the First Battle of Kharkov, defeating Soviet counter-attacks from the Southwestern Front and allowing Army Group South to seize the city despite snowfall and a 500-ft ceiling.

Of note, after the capitulation of the Soviet battalion of marines at Yevpatoria, 1,300 of the local population were murdered, by German forces on 12 January; "1,300 partisans were executed" as the High Command diary put it.

Staffel commanding officer Hermann Ruppert, who had flown with success against the Black Sea Fleet, when he was killed by Soviet fighters.

StG 77's notable success was III./StG 77s attack on the ChF VVS 36th Aviation Repair Shop in Kruglaya Bay near Sevastopol which killed the commander on chief of the VVS-ChF, Major General Nikolay Ostryakov and his deputy F.G. Korobkov on 25 April.

A Soviet offensive near Kharkov caught the Wehrmacht off-guard and StG 77 was rushed north to prevent a break-through; the entire wing was present within48 hours from 13 May.

Hermann Plocher's study of the battle concluded the air corps was the critical factor in preventing a Soviet victory; the Ju 87s carried out the vital ground-support operations in the area.

[105] The nature of the fighting was described in one account: On 21 June I./StG 77 flew three missions against anti-tank batteries and two days later they caught and destroyed a whole horse transport column accompanied by a few tanks in ravines at Inkerman.

Unable to winkle out Russian defenders in the natural caves and caverns of this region, StG 77 sealed them in, blocking exit tunnels to one such system at map reference GB9 with some precision bombing.

[107] On 1 July, fearing Sevastopol would be evacuated at the last minute the Luftwaffe sent 78 bombers—from I./KG 76, 1./KG 100, and 40 Ju 87s from StG 77 against the ports of Novorossiysk, Taman, and Tuapse.

In addition the destroyers Soobrazitelny and Nezamozhnik, patrol vessels Shkval and Shtorm, one gunboat, one torpedo boat, two transports, and a floating dock sustained various degrees of damage.

[112] A report from the OKW on 29 July stated that the Stukas carried out bombing operations without fighter escort because of Soviet aerial weaknesses.

In addition to close air support, it attacked small vessels reinforcing Soviet forces in the city on the Volga River.

[116] Two days prior, StG 77 lost commanding officer Alfons Orthofer killed during an air raid on the base as he was waiting for orders to take off.