Hans Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I've noticed that when the Romanians switch sides in 44 they lose all of their air support. May I enquirer on the reasoning/rationale for that? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Red Army grounded their air-force? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Romanian airforce during WW2 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 It also could be that the Romanians wussed out and switched sides. F 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted March 11, 2003 Author Share Posted March 11, 2003 Its odd all Romanian aircraft disappear then later in 1945 all Russian aircraft show up 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 The Romanians switched sides when the Soviets steamrollered them and the German forces in Romania (the somewhat misnomed AG South Ukraine) in the Iassy-Kishinjev operation after 22nd August 1944. My money would still be on the Soviets telling the Romanian air force to put a sock in it until they have switched to Soviet models. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbassie Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 Well according to the web link provided it looks like the Romanian Air Force was still in existance, w/ some units being disbanded, while others not. If Romanian ground forces fought on the allied side, I have no idea why they wouldn't use the air power. The only reason I can think of was they used German model aircraft and misidentification could've been a problem. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 In addition to the grounding / phasing out of German aircraft (and the large variety of native Romanian models too) of the Romanian airforce there were some other changes that the Russians imposed upon their 'new allies'. A lot of armor formations (what there was left at that point in the war) were disbanded / reorganized without their armor. The Russians 'appropriated' a lot of the armored vehicles (though quite possibly not all of them). This included the Maresal, the predecessor to the Hetzer that the Romanians were on the verge of mass producing, along with other AFVs that were German or Romanian conversions of captured Russian armor. Apparently (as rumors go) the Russians were afraid of some nationalistic / monarchist-leaning leaders in the Romanian armed forces who may have been willing to push the Russians out as soon the war ended or earlier. The aim was to remove some of the higher value assets from control of the Romanian military. So in essence the Romanians became a sort of 'canon fodder' for the more heavily armed Russian units in the last stages of the war (not that the Romanians weren't effective). Of course this is most likely some Cold War-biased logic / reasoning that probably won't stand up to thorough historical scrutiny. After the war the Russians equipped the Romanian military with aircraft and AFVs. In fact Romania apparently still has one of the largest fleets of T34/85s in service. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 I just checked and the Romanian Airforce remained active until the end of the war. However, it was greatly reduced in strength because of the reliance on German aircraft for much of its fighting power. The Romanians did manage to capture quite a bit of functional aircraft and parts (1300 brand spanking new engines for the BF109!!), which lasted a while. But as the war ground on the percentage of German aircraft to Romanian dwindled, as did the overall size of the airforce. As was the case in general, they received no help from the Soviets in terms of equipment. An interesting sideline... during the defection the Germans sent 4 Brandenburg commando teeams (17), one each to the 4 major Romanian airfields. There mission was to destroy all the German aircraft and logistics they could so they wouldn't fall into the Romanian hands. Three never made it and the 4th was pretty much eliminated without causing damage. This was just another tail of German failure during this time period (there are PLENTY more). I've asked Charles if it is possible to allow Romanian air support to be available post defection. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 Thanks Battlefront I think that issue may have been over looked in the passion of bringing CMBB to birth. Hmmmm Brandenburgers vs Romanian airforce personnel--ah do you have link or cite for that incident-it smell like a small scenario to me! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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