In the times of depressions in the thirties, all measures for generating employment were welcome by the Parliament. When AB Flygindustri (Afi) at Limhamn - the Swedish subsidiary of Junkers Flugzeugwerke - proposed that five ambulance aircraft should be manufactured as a relief work, they got a positive response. However, Government grant and private donations were just enough for the  manufacturing of three aircraft.  

The first of the three was ordered by the Swedish Red Cross in 1933. The aircraft was of the type Junkers W 33 and designated Trp 2. The ambulance aircraft, although flown and maintained by the Air Force, were not given ordinary Air Force numbers. Instead, the three earlier Trp 1s were given the “Ambulance Numbers” 1-3. The first Trp 2 got consequently the number “4”. The aircraft was powered with a Junkers L5 engine of 310 hp. It was based at Wing F 4 at Frösön/Östersund and operated in isolated and remote areas in the northern Sweden.  

The flying ambulances Nos. “5” and “6” were delivered in 1934-1935. They were of the variant Junkers W 34, which had a more powerful engine – a 600 hp Bristol Mercury VI – than the W 33. The designation was modified to Trp 2A (changed in 1940 to Tp 2A). The first Trp 2 – “Ambulance Number “4” was upgraded in 1935 to W 34 standard, but unfortunately it crashed 1938 with the loss of five lives.  

“Number 5” was based at Wing F 2 at Hägernäs and was mostly used for ambulance transports in the archipelago outside Stockholm. “Number 6” flew for many years in the north. 1935-1941 it was based at the Fortress of Boden and 1941-1953 transferred to F 4 at Frösön.  

The latter aircraft was the first to be painted orange according to the new regulations for ambulance aircraft of 1947. It also got a regular Air Force squadron code – red W.   

© Lars Henriksson

Updated 2010-07-15