Corgi AA32517 Junkers Ju87 B2, 9/StG 51, Norrent-Fontes, France, August 1940

The Junkers Ju 87, or Stuka as it was commonly known, was a two-man ground attack aircraft and dive bomber. Having been designed by Hermann Pohlmann, the Stuka first took to the skies in 1935 and made its combat debut during the Spanish Civil War. During the early stages of the Battle of Britain it proved itself as a potent anti-shipping weapon. On the afternoon of 4th July 1940 a large number of Ju 87s delivered the single most deadly assault on British territory in history, when avoiding interception by the RAF, they sank the 5,500 ton anti-aircraft ship HMS Foylebank in Portland Harbour, killing 176 crew. One of the ship’s gunners, Leading Seaman John Foreman Mantle was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for maintaining his fire despite terrible injuries.