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by Robert Mitchell
Article Type: Military History
Article Date: October 03, 2001
To the brave airmen and warriors of the freed sky, I thank you in the name of the Government and of the Country. We are grateful. May God bestow on you all the joy of the glory that you won by restoring the country's pride.
—Mihai Antonescu
Romanian Vice-President
21 July, 1941 |
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| Pilots' badge of the Aeronautica Regală Romănâ |
Aeronautica Regală Romănâ
Although largely forgotten now as time slips further and further away from its days of glory, the Romanian Air Force during World War II was the largest air force in central Europe. Equipped with aircraft from a variety of nations, including Germany, Poland, and Great Britain, plus their own home-designed and built aircraft, the
Aeronautica Regală Romănâ (ARR)—literally translated to “Royal Romanian Aeronautics”—flew thousands of sorties in the Soviet Union during the war on the Eastern front and in home defense against Allied strategic bombing.
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Map of Romania-Circa 1941  |
Backdrop
At the end of the First World War Romania established a new air force. It expanded rapidly and was able to rely on domestic aircraft production, but by 1936 the ARR was an outdated force. Looking warily at the political and military actions of its neighbors, the ARR underwent a modernization program. Because of Romania's location, plus its oil and grain wealth, finding armaments became a fairly easy task. The ARR inventory also swelled considerably after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 as several hundred aircraft fled Poland to avoid German capture.
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| General Ion Antonescu |
During the summer of 1940 Romania lost Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the U.S.S.R., Northern Transylvania to Hungary, and Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. As turbulent times often will, these events brought about the rise of Ion Antonescu’s fascist “Iron Guard”. He forced the reigning monarch, King Carol II, to abdicate the throne to his son, Prince Michael (Mihai). The new King Michael was largely a figurehead ruler, however, as the reigns of power were firmly grasped by General Antonescu. Attempting to bond his nation with the resurgent Germany, Antonescu invited a German military mission to Romania. The first units of which arrived in Romania in the fall of 1940. The Luftwaffe units were assigned the task of protecting Romania's valuable oil fields from the Soviet Union and to train ARR personnel.
Despite having joined the the Axis in November 1940, Romania declined Hitler’s invitation to participate in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. It did, however, allow Luftwaffe units to fly out of Romanian air bases. During this time the ARR underwent efforts to conform to Luftwaffe standards for colors and markings. Yellow cowlings and yellow wingtips and fuselage bands being the most familiar changes. Romanian aircraft also adopted the “Michael’s Cross” as their national emblem. It was made of four M’s (For Mihai, or Michael, the sitting King). These aircraft marking regulations were finished by June 1941, in time for Romania to participate in the coming war with Russia.
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| Michael's Cross |
Barbarossa and the Bessarabian campaign
Soldiers, From the very first day of the new reign and of my national combat I vowed to lead you to victory. To wipe off the dishonour blemish from the history book and the humiliation shadow from your forehead and epaulettes. Now is the time of the holiest battle, the battle for our forefathers' rights and for the church, the battle for the Romanian homes and altars from the begining of time.
Soldiers, I order you: cross the Prut! Crush the enemy from the East and North. Set free our overrun brothers from the red yoke of Bolshevism. Return to the country the ancient lands of the Bassarabs and the princely forests of Bucovina, your fields and hills.
—General Ion Antonescu
22 June 1941 |
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| King Mihai I |
At the moments when our troops are crossing the Prut and the forests of Bucovina in order to reunite Sthephen the Great's Moldavia, I am thinking of you, general, and of the country's soldiers. I am grateful to you, general, as it is only thanks to your work, to your firmness and diligence, that the whole nation and myself enjoy these ancient glory days, and I wish our brave soldiers health and strength, so they should settle forever the right borders of the nation. Long live Romania, forever! Long live our brave Army!
—King Mihai I
Telegram to General Ion Antonescu
22 June, 1941 |
Having lost Bessarabia and Bukovina to the Soviets in 1940 was a huge blow to Romanian national pride. Seeking to reclaim their lands, select fighter and bomber Grupuls were moved to the
Gruparea Aeriana de Lupta (GAL) or literally, "Combat Air Grouping" just before the start of their operation to recapture Bessarabia, which was to begin in conjunction with Hitler’s Barbarossa offensive into the Soviet Union. The GAL was integrated into Germany’s
Luftflotte 4, or 4th air fleet, and this represented the ARR’s main offensive facet in the campaign. Their assigned area of operations was southern Bessarabia, between the Prut and Dnester rivers, with their primary function to support the Romanian 4th Army.
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| Lined areas show annexed territories |
The ARR had an inventory of nearly 700 aircraft to complete this assignment and for home defense along with over 400 Luftwaffe airplanes assigned to the same area. Facing them were 1750 Soviet
VVS aircraft. Though the numerical superiority belonged to the USSR, the technical superiority was in the hands of the Romanian-German air forces since nearly 75 percent of the VVS was considered to be comprised of obsolescent aircraft.
During the first two weeks of the anti-Soviet campaign their main task was the destruction of Russian aircraft and airfields, and to fly interdiction missions to disrupt Soviet activities at the front and behind their lines. By the first week of July, 1941 the GAL’s mission switched to close air support when the 4th Army crossed the Prut.
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| Romanian Bf-109-G1 |
Romania’s immediate goal, the capture of Bessarabia, was complete by July 28, after which Romanian troops began to drive towards Odessa on the Black Sea, which fell in October marking the success of the ARR’s initial campaign in Russia.
Soviet fighters and bombers weren’t idle during the GAL drive east. Romanian targets, including the famous Ploesti oil fields, Bucharest, and the harbor at Constanta, were attacked almost daily since the start of the war. Romanian and German pilots tallied an impressive number of kills with insignificant losses. The GAL claimed 266 VVS aircraft destroyed at a loss of just forty Romanian airplanes.
Over their homeland, Romanian pilots claimed 332 Soviet planes shot out of the sky and another 150 destroyed on the ground, plus 115 destroyed by anti-aircraft fire for a grand total of 597 VVS claims by Romanian (homeland) forces. These figures are dubious though as the VVS only operated approximately 300 aircraft in that area of the southern front during that time. Similarly, the Soviet pilots claimed large numbers of Romanian planes destroyed in combat though their actual losses only amounted to 136 aircraft in the four month operation.
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| Romanian Stuka |
Unfortunately for Romania, replacing those lost aircraft and airmen would prove next to impossible. The war in Russia would swallow men and materials whole, like industrial age hors d'oeuvres, leaving the battered wrecks of nations' armories and wealth scattered throughout Eastern Europe while devastating the countryside and the lives of its inhabitants.
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