Spanish Cival War

Galland was comissioned in October, 1934, and when the re-born Luftwaffe was announced to the world Galland was serving with JG 2 flying He 51 biplanes.He arrived in Spain ( El Ferrol ) on the 7th May, 1937 and served with 111/J 88. Here he flew the obsolete He 51 mainly on infantry support operations. He flew with other future aces like Hannes Trautloft , Wilhelm Balthasar, Gunther Lutzow, Eduard Neumann, and Hajo Herrmann. Galland entered action over Brunete in May, 1937. He flew nearly 300 missions before returning to Germany in 1938 to work at the Air Ministry in Berlin. Galland was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Diamonds, which has only been awarded 12 times in Spanish History.

The murder of a nationalist politician was the spark that set off the explosion in Spain in the summer of 1936. A bloody civil war began between the Republicans and Nationalists. The nationalist General Franco, whose Moroccan units were stationed in Spanish Morocco, asked the German government for Ju 52 transport aircraft. Hitler supplied these, as well as additional equipment and personnel. The "Hisma" Transport Company was formed. German crews and their Ju 52s flew the Moroccans from North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, creating history's first air-bridge. In August 1936 the first volunteers of the Legion Condor arrived in Spain. The Legion included a Gruppe each of fighters and bombers, a reinforced reconnaissance Staffel, three flak regiments, three signals units and a Gruppe of water-based aircraft. The Legion's first commander was General Hugo Sperrle. He was succeeded in November 1937 by Generalmajor Volkmann, who was replaced in November 1938 by Generalmajor Wolfram von Richthofen.
The ]agdstaHeln, which were equipped with the He 51, first saw action at the end of November 1936. 1.J/88 was commanded by Oberleutnant Gunther Lutzow (the Marabu Staffel), 2.J/88 by Oberleutnant Joachim Schlichting (the Top Hat Staffel), while 3.J/88 was led by Oberleutnant AdoIf Galland, and later by Werner M61ders (the Mickey Mouse Sta/fel). The fast and maneuverable "Curtiss" and "Rata" fighters of the Republicans were superibr to the He 51, however, and in March 1938 2.J/88 converted to the fast Messerschmitt Bf 109. 1 .J/88 reequipped soon afterward, followed in September 1938 by 3.J/88. Until then 3. Staffel flew missions against ground targets in its He 51s. Later, a fourth Staffel was formed, which was employed exclusively in the close support role. With the Bf 109 the German fighter pilots quickly established air superiority. The Messerschmitt fighter was to remain in action until the end of the war. Always in the thick of the action, the Legion's fighter and bomber units soon acquired the name "Franco's Fire Brigade." By the end of the Spanish Civil War, German fighter pilots had achieved a total of 340 confirmed victories.