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Romania's Forgotten Air Force - Part II

by Robert Mitchell

Article Type: Military History
Article Date: October 26, 2001

Back To Part I

To Stalingrad and beyond

Pilots' badge of the Aeronautica Regalã Romãnâ

After the Bessarabian campaign was complete most ARR units returned to Romania and an overhaul of the ARR was undertaken. The old, obsolete aircraft, mostly the airplanes that had fled Poland, but some Italian and German craft also, were put into use as trainers. These weren’t replaceable with modern aircraft from Germany or Romania’s own aviation industry. Efforts to re-equip with German and Italian planes were, for the most part, unsuccessful and few new squadrons could be organized. Those that were came from a re-organization of existing units or by equipping with homegrown craft from I.A.R. Brasov. Having suffered over eight hundred casualties from the outbreak of hostilities in June 1941 until August 1942, ARR activity on the Soviet front was mercifully light from late fall ’41 until summer 1942.

Camouflaged IAR-39 light bomber

The great debate

Most Romanian citizens were steadfast in their determination to reunite the lands they had lost in 1940. The predictable surge of nationalism and national pride that comes from freeing a homeland from outside invaders went far to help Romania achieve their goal of re-conquering Bessarabia and Bucovina. When that campaign was won, however, there was great debate within the government on whether or not to participate further in the war in Russia. In the quotes below you can see that Marshal Antonescu took a great deal of fire for his decision to prosecute the war in, literally, Russia. Most Romanians, including King Mihai, were content with reuniting their nation and were against broadening the scope of the war. A circumstance which would eventually cause Antonescu a great deal of problems, and would eventually lead to his arrest and Romania becoming a part of the Allies fighting against Nazi Germany.

Romanian soldiers receiving the Iron Cross

If the entire Romanian public opinion, together with all of us, were in favor of regaining the provinces torn by aggression off the motherland, we are definitely against Romania pursuing aggressive objectives. It is not acceptable for us to appear as aggressors against Russia, today the ally of England, probably victorious, for any other objective than Bucovina or Bassarabia - in military comradeship with Hungary and with the Axis, which took from us through an arbitrary act, not ratified by anyone, an important part of our country, wounding our territory, our national pride and honor. This military comradeship, imposed by circumstances, is extremely annoying, as long as we have not yet received any satisfaction in the Transylvanian problem, but still it has a sole justification: it aims at repairing the loss sustained, a year ago, following the pressure exercised by the Axis, which at that time tied our hands, preventing us from defending ourselves. Now it untied us. Bassarabia and Bucovina were united with the Old Kingdom, by their free will and on the basis of the principle of self-determination. It would be too pretentious to believe that the continuation of the German-Russian war depends on our cooperation, and it would be no less pretentious that we, Romania, should proclaim a holy war against Russia, because of its internal social organization. Let us save the holy, military and political war for the Greater Romania, with all its provinces. We do not have Romanian soldiers to sacrifice for foreign interests. We have to spare our Army for our Romanian goals, which are many and grand, and of tragical present interest for the times soon to come. —Iuliu Maniu President of the National Peasants Party 18 July, 1941

IAR80

Under the international nowadays circumstances, on what could our situation lean upon? Upon the Germans. We do not rely on Germany and we shall be torn to pieces…And if we have set out to war without Germany, we could not have taken Bassarabia…It would have been a dishonour for us to go up to the Dnister and then to have waved the Germans "good-bye". —Response to Iuliu Maniu General Ion Antonescu 5 September, 1941

Had I stopped before the Dniestr and had I retreated the forces from Russia would have meant, for a man still able to make a judgement, to annihilate suddenly everything, all the sacrifices made since the crossing of the Prut, an action against which you did not publicly protest, would have meant to dishonor us forever as a people, would have meant to create, in the event of a German victory, disastrous conditions for the country, without ensuring us, in the event of Russian victory, neither the provinces we are fighting for and have the sacred duty to fight, nor the borders that the Russian would condescend to leave to us, nor our liberties and not even the life of our families and our children; finally, it would have meant, due to the instability and betrayal that you advice me to practice—and that is the greatest crime—to ensure our country in the future European community a moral position that would arrest the rights of its ideals and could even be deadly to it. The gesture you ask of me, Mr. Bratianu, would make of the Romanian nation a victim of everyone as, simultaneously with the disorganization, the collapse and the destruction of the Army, the installation of anarchy would follow. The communists, the legionaries, the Jews, the Hungarians, the Transylvanian Saxons would start the agitation, the fighting, the undermining of the order, of the peace, in order to seize the opportunity, in order to strike a final blow to a nation that would indeed deserve to call itself good for nothing. The Hungarians would immediately occupy the rest of Transylvania. This, Mr. Bratianu, is what the gesture you ask of me would give birth to. It would be the miserable gesture of a soldier deprived of honor, of a statesman not only irresponsible, but also mad. —General Ion Antonescu 29 October, 1942 Reply to a letter from the leader of the National Liberal Party

The encirlement at Stalingrad

The Caucusus adventure

Germany’s summer offensive of 1942 into the Caucasus brought Romania its foremost commitment to the Axis effort in Russia at Stalingrad. ARR units began arriving during September 1942, their key mission being to support German and Romanian troops attacking the great city. The ARR made about seventy-five sorties daily, bombing trains, railways, and targets within Stalingrad, fighters flew interdictions and attacks on troop columns, artillery and armor. They also flew airfield cover, and weather reconnaissance missions.

Romanian Bf-109E

When the Red Army’s winter offensive began in the Stalingrad area in November 1942, it first struck the Third Romanian Army. The Fourth Romanian Army was attacked on the second day of the offensive. After this, the GAL’s operations, quite naturally, switched over to tactical ground support for the cut off Romanian soldiers, and flying escort for the vital “air-bridge” of supplies and equipment. Romanian troops not trapped in the Soviet noose in the Stalingrad sector began a long, harrowing retreat through the Caucasus that winter.

An ARR He-111 bomber

This change of fortunes in the war prompted GAL fighter squadrons to abandon their airfields The IAR 80/81 groups were pulled back to Romania in January, 1943. The 7th Fighter Group remained, and was provided with German aircraft for replacements. A handful of surviving He-111 bombers were added to this motley assortment and the entire group was renamed to Grupul mixt Locotenent Comandor Aviator Iosifescu for Nicolas Iosifescu, the group's commander. This group consisted of ten Bf-109E's and six He-111H's. The limited number of airplanes limited their effectiveness though, and they were finally evacuated to Romania in February 1943.

IAR-80's in formation flight over Russia

The fighter units flew nearly 1400 sorties between October 1942 and January 1943, which was about one quarter of total GAL air activity during the battle at Stalingrad. Sixteen 109E's were lost, that number includes twelve that were abandoned at Karpovka airfield. Approximately twelve IAR 80/81's were also lost, mostly due to parts shortages. The lack of enthusiasm the VVS displayed in engaging Axis aircraft over Stalingrad resulted in only thirty-nine claims by Romanian airmen.

Retreat and reorganization

After the defeat at Stalingrad and the general retreat from the Caucasus the Germans were prompted to replenish the ARR inventory with modern German aircraft. Since Hitler thought of Romania’s participation in Russia as vital, and German aircraft production had increased without a corresponding increase in trained Luftwaffe pilots, and since Romania had no lack of pilots, German airplanes were sent to Romania in the spring of 1943. They were loaned to Romania, with the stipulation that they would be used on the front lines, or they were exchanged for food, oil, or other raw materials.

B24 over Ploesti, Romania

Some of the new Bf-109G2's saw their first combat when the Americans conducted a large bombing raid on the Ploesti oil fields in August 1943. It was bad timing for the Americans as the ARR was putting the finishing touches on their AA defenses there, and the fighter squadrons were receiving the brand new Messerschmitts. Though the raid resulted in heavy losses for the USAAF and little damage, it was a precursor of the attacks that would be waged in the summer of 1944.

Ploesti oil fields after a USAAF raid

By early summer, 1943, the ARR was assigned the task of supporting the Wehrmacht south of Kharkov. The re-equipped and re-organized ARR flew at its peak at this time. With new aircraft, as well as spare parts from Germany, the Romanians were able to fly a high number of sorties, claiming many Soviet kills without major losses. But the Soviets could only be slowed and by the end of 1943 the ARR had retreated to fields in Trans-Dnestra and Bessarabia.

The Red Army reached Romania in March 1944, a situation that many Romanians hadn't believed possible. The ARR concentrated all of its resources on stemming the Soviet juggernaut. Air activity increased in spite of the desperation of the situation. Fighters and bombers averaged three to six sorties daily, focusing on defending Romanian airspace or striking shortly behind the front line. To make matters worse for the Romanians, the Americans and British began 'round the clock bombing in April, giving the Romanian and German air defenses no rest.

Axis to Allies

August 23, 1944: King Michael I speaks on Romanian national radio announcing an immediate cease-fire with Allied soldiers. All political and military ties with Nazi Germany and other Axis nations were broken and an armistice with the Soviet Union was requested.

August 25, 1944: German forces have tried to remove the King from power since his announcement two days earlier. Attacks on Bucharest and the Royal palace, along with a great deal of pressure from the Soviet Union, prompted Romania to declare war on Germany. War was also declared on Hungary a short time later.

To say that this was a confusing turn of events would be an understatement. ARR pilots suddenly found themselves fighting their former comrades. At first both sides tried to avoid conflict, but within a few days they were firing on each other.

One part of the treaty between the Romanian Government and the Soviet Union was that all captured Luftwaffe personnel and equipment be turned over to the Soviets. The ARR spirited away about 150 Luftwaffe aircraft and hastily repainted them with Romanian markings.

Bf-109G, from IL-2 Sturmovik, in allied Romanian markings-post-August 1944

All aircraft were grounded by the ARR on September 1, 1944. The Michael's cross was replaced with the pre-war roundel insignia that consisted of concentric circles of red, yellow, and blue. The yellow recognition bands were overpainted white, which was the color of the Soviet 5th Air Army, under whose command the ARR now fell.

The rest of the war was fought under the Soviet command against the Luftwaffe. King Mihai was forced to abdicate the throne, at gunpoint, in December 1947. He fled to Switzerland where he remained until after the fall of the communist government in Romania.

The Romanian Airforce was disbanded and rebuilt after the war in the image of the VVS, and was renamed the Fortele Aeriene ale Republicii Române (Air Forces of the People's Republic of Romania).

The war against the Soviet Union was not officially recognized, the veterans of the Aeronautica Regalã Românã were officially forgotten. In an Orwellian twist the personnel of the ARR were un-persons and the war, pre-August, 1944, was an un-event. The few surviving ARR pilots are not inclined to comment on their wartime experiences.

Sources

• Bernad, Denes
  Rumanian Air Force. The Prime Decade (1938-1947)
  Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX. 1999
  
  
• Nitu, Victor
  The Romanian Army in WWII
  
  
• Wendel, Marcus
  The Third Reich Factbook

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