Stuka Siren - How Effective Was It?

if there is one thing that can be said to have made a lasting impression in world war ii it is the stuka's siren layering its way into popular memory ju-87 dive homer has become the quintessential symbol of the german blitzkrieg myth while a key tool that is german armed forces ever since the successful invasion of poland in 1939 the stuka is probably most famous for the hair-raising noise of its thunderous descent produced by two innocent looking propellers on the gear the siren has become a recurring theme in documentaries and hollywood blockbusters even the absence of the ju 87 on screen has not stopped various filmmakers from incorporating the siren into action sequences hoping to instill an urgent dread in the viewer contrary to popular belief the siren itself was not an integral part of the factory new ju87 for example the official handbooks of the ju87 b1 b2 don't even mention it and neither do the drawings inside of them account for the siren instead it was an optional module fitted to the gears of the ju-87 when deemed necessary initially the studs come together or stg's that being squadrons of ju-87s fitted the sirens hoping to intimidate whatever they might decide to dive on while the initial experiences in the field seem to contribute to the idea that the device was achieving the desired effect of shock and awe not all flights of stukas actually fitted them the image of panicked infantrymen running for dear life might be the one that comes up in our minds when we see a ju-87 ironically the sirens happen to be one of the most hated devices of the actual stuka pilots for example the early versions of the siren could not be turned off in its most basic form it is nothing but a propeller and once a strong enough airflow exists that propeller will start to turn the faster the louder the sound that means that the ju87 flying and cruising speed will have a constant whale trailing it much to the annoyance of the crew that had to listen to this pitiful sound during flight this particular issue was only mitigated later the top speed was also reduced by these sirens not exactly enough to make a difference in a world where nearly every fighter plane was faster than a stuka but try to explain that to a man who was opening the throttle wide trying to get away from a swarm of hungry enemy fighters lastly the sirens were reported to have a tendency to shear off in turns or even during dive recovery and that is not exactly ideal after 1941 the sirens were hardly ever fitted anymore as friedrich lung pilot of ersikopper stutzkab geschwadatzwai in 1940 we had a homemade whistle and siren but they did not work very well until a specially shaped wooden propeller was fitted to the gear we did not get supplied by industry until later the howling sound distracted and upset not only the enemy but also the crew it became better when you could turn off the propeller by means of a switch now before we go any further we need to address the elephant in the room you might have noticed that i have yet to mention the popular nickname of these musical devices and instead have forced myself to simply say siren nowadays the term jericho trumpets or trumpets of jericho or trumpet funeral in german or trombone from as it was also known sometimes has essentially become a synonym of this device apparently having been called so by the men that operated these machines truth be told while i do believe that the term has its origin among the stg's i am not quite sure how this came to be in an interview with the ju-87 pilot the pilot hansgeog wilhelm miguel explains that his squadrons had fitted tiny whistles to the bombs that would shriek through the air as they were falling upon their unfortunate targets it were those that they had called jericho trumpets while there is little reason to doubt the words of mr michonne that does not mean that the term wasn't also used for the actual sirens it is likely that both devices that being the siren and the bomb whistles were given the same name as the term spread among the pilots and squadrons from a contemporary perspective it is relatively hard to judge the effectiveness of the sirens in psychologically tormenting the opponent the sound itself no longer feels threatening to any of us instead whether in video games or movies we relish in the whale of the siren whatever fear it might actually instill we have pretty much become immune to it but what do the soldiers say that had to scramble to cover while the ju-87s were making their dive two constants seemed to stick out first the initial encounter with the siren was usually the most memorable one and the one in which the siren did not fail to make its mark going from a low pitched whale to a high shriek the noise was petrifying to some and disorientating as the air around you filled with nothing but terror nowhere was safe it seemed and all one could do was essentially jump into the near stitch and hope that the next explosion wasn't too close with comfort french general eduardo notes they simply stopped firing and went to the ground the infantry cowered in the trenches days by the crash of the bombs and the shriek of the dive bombers nevertheless should the soldier have the fortune to survive his first encounters with the stuka he would eventually become accustomed to the sound at that point the sound of the siren became pretty much business as usual here the siren fulfilled its role by giving this recipient a very very strong emotional incentive to drop out whatever he was doing look up judge how many seconds he has both to cover and that preferably some distance away from where he was standing before in both cases the siren had an effect on the soldiers off on the ground but while the initial one was one of utter fear the latter tended to be a more rational response to the threat of having a couple of bombs land on your helmet yet never mind how much accustomed one got to the siren the first encounters were usually etched into memory forever i myself have once spoken to an older gentleman in the belgian town of turner at the french border being a teenager at the time he himself saw no part in the fighting and he made no secret out of that but he does very well remember a dreadful noise filling the air as he was running from building to building he told me that he had never forgotten the sound but didn't know until years after the war what exactly had produced this noise that made him and others run quite literally for their lives i hope you enjoyed this look at the ju-87 and that you learned something from it if you did don't forget to consult those like buttons on your way out as well as that if you want to support me making these videos consider checking out my patreon i especially want to thank my existing patrons because it is their support has me allowed by the sources that i have used in this video if you're interested at those they're all linked in the description down below if you're interested in more stuka content check out this video where i take her through her paces in the game isle to battle of stunning groud and if you're interested in some content on dive bombers in the pacific check out this video by military history [Music] visualize you

Channel: Military Aviation History

Views: 2,363,201

Keywords: Ju-87, Siren, Jericho, Trumpet, Stuka, Blitzkrieg, WW2, ground, attack

Id: cf5potr_KYQ

Length: 7min 18sec (438 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 02 2017