Grupul 6 Vânătoare
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Grupul 6 Vânătoare'' ("6th Fighter Group" in English) was a fighter group of the
Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR, ), though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply (Romanian Air Force). It provided ...
(ARR) formed on 7 June 1940. The group participated in the World War 2 campaign of Romania on the Eastern Front and in the defense of the country against the Western Allied bombing raids. The group was disbanded in October 1944 as its pilots were transferred to ''Grupul 1 Vânătoare'' after converting to the Bf 109 from the IAR 81.


History

The 6th Fighter Group was established on 7 June 1940, consisting of the 62nd and 63rd fighter squadrons and equipped with the PZL P.24E fighters. It was assigned to the 2nd Fighter Flotilla. In June 1941, the 6th Group was assigned to the 3rd Air Region and based on the Pipera airfield. In the starting days of
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
, it flew mainly interception missions against
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
bombers attacking
Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...
and
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. As its presence was no longer needed in the country due to the Soviet bombers being pushed outside of the range of the Ploiești oil fields, the 6th Group was sent on the frontline when Romanian Fourth Army began the Siege of Odessa. During the 1941 campaign, fighter pilots of the group claimed 11 Soviet aircraft shot down of which five were confirmed. A further six aircraft were destroyed on the ground, while the group lost three PZL fighters.


On the Eastern Front

In 1942, the unit returned to
Pipera Pipera village is a neighborhood in Voluntari, Ilfov County, at the northern edge of the city of Bucharest, Romania. Development Until 1995, Pipera was an ordinary village. After that, an "El Dorado" of land transactions began. Plots of land th ...
where it transitioned from the PZL to the IAR 81
dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...
, also being designated as a dive bomber group ("BoPi" – ''Bombardament în Picaj''). On 31 August 1942, the group, assigned to the 2nd Fighter Flotilla, with the 61st and 62nd squadrons was transferred to the front. In formations of eight aircraft, they departed to
Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
, then to
Melitopol Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...
, and finally reached Tusov airfield near
Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...
on 7 September. Two days later, the first sorties were flown. As part of the Romanian '' Gruparea Aerienă de Luptă'' (Air Combat Group), working closely with units of ''
Luftflotte 4 ''Luftflotte'' 4For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 4) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on 18 March 1939, from Luftwaffenkomm ...
'', the group flew on escort missions, often clashing with Soviet
Yaks The yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox, hairy cattle, or domestic yak, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region, the Tibetan Plateau, Tajikistan, the Pamir Mountains ...
, while also engaging Soviet bombers. By 1 October, there were 25 IAR 81s in the inventory of the 6th Group. The group was moved to the
Morozovsk Morozovsk () is a town and the administrative center of Morozovsky District in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the Bystraya River (left tributary of the Seversky Donets), northeast of Rostov-on-Don, the administrative center of the oblast. Po ...
aya airfield and starting in November the dive bombers began flying on
ground attack Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...
and
reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
missions. As the 8th Fighter Group was preparing to return home, some of its pilots were transferred to ''Grupul 6''. On 7 December, while on an escort in misty weather,
Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...
(Adj.) Gheorghe Pisoschi encountered three Yaks which he attacked by surprise. Damaging one of them, the Yak collided with another, exploding and crashing in flames. As the number of serviceable aircraft dropped, replacements were transferred from ''Grupul 8'' which departed for Romania on 9 December. Following this reorganization, the 61st Fighter Squadron received IAR 80A and 80B aircraft, while all remaining IAR 81s were assigned to the 62nd Fighter Squadron. On 23 December, ''Grupul 6'' was moved to the Tatsinskaya airfield. On 2 January 1943, it was moved to
Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
then it further retreated to Melitopol, where it entered a refit period. In the 1942 campaign, ''Grupul 6 Vânătoare'' flew on 255 missions of which 30 dive bombing missions, and claimed 28 victories of which 26 confirmed. Losses amounted to eight aircraft in dogfights and three shot down by the
anti-aircraft defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...
.


Back to home defense

In February 1943, the group began moving to the Târgșoru airfield where it was assigned to the air defense system of the
Prahova Valley Prahova Valley (Romanian: ''Valea Prahovei'') is the valley where the Prahova river makes its way between the Bucegi and the Baiu Mountains, in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. It is a tourist region, situated about north of the capital c ...
. The group was later moved to the Pipera airfield. On 1 August, the
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
launched
Operation Tidal Wave Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania, on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part o ...
, a low-level raid on the Ploiești
refineries A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries a ...
. The large bomber formation was detected by German
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
as it was approaching Romania. At 11:18 AM, the fighter units defending the region were alerted and 12 fighters of the 6th Fighter Group were scrambled to patrol the north side of
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. As the bombers were passing the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, radar contact was lost. Since the bombers were expected to continue at high altitude, the German and Romanian fighters were directed to , and due to the cloud cover the fighters did not spot the low-flying bomber formations. The first bombers were detected from the ground at 11:45, and the fighters were directed to low altitude to engage. At 11:50, ''Grupul 6'' made the first contact with Col. Keith K. Compton's
376th Bombardment Group 376th may refer to: *376th Air Expeditionary Wing, inactive wing of the United States Air Force, last stationed at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyz Republic * 376th Air Refueling Squadron, inactive United States Air Force u ...
near
Săbăreni Săbăreni is a commune located in Giurgiu County, Muntenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary ...
, northwest of Bucharest. The IAR 80s attempted to engage, but interception proved difficult as the 376th Group was turning towards Ploiești. They did, however, manage to attack the trailing 93rd Bombardment Group. '' Sublocotenent'' (Slt.) shot down two B-24 bombers, one of which crashed into the Ploiești Women's Prison. Anastasescu's IAR 80B was also set on fire and, while attempting to bail out, the aircraft collided with the propeller of a B-24. He was thrown clear of the IAR and survived the crash. By the end of the raid, the 6th Group claimed five bombers of which two were probable. Besides Slt. Anastasescu's airplane which was destroyed, the IAR of Adj. was also damaged. The air raid, though a failure for the USAAF, proved that the IAR 80B's two 13.2 mm machine guns were not powerful enough to reliably take down
heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
s. Expecting future raids, General decided to restructure the fighter defenses. On this occasion, Captain was appointed as the new group commander, and a new squadron, the 59th Fighter Squadron, was assigned to the Group. By the end of November 1943, all three squadrons of ''Grupul 6'' were relocated to the
Popești-Leordeni Popești-Leordeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, south of downtown Bucharest, although from the northern edge of the town to the southern edge of Bucharest the distance is less than . Most of its inhabitants commute to Bucharest ...
airfield, being also equipped with the new IAR 81C, which were armed with two 20 mm
MG 151 cannon The ''Maschinengewehr'' (MG) 151 is a belt-fed autocannon for aircraft use, developed in Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1940 and produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. It was originally produced in 15.1 mm caliber from 1940, with a ...
s.


1944 campaign

The American raids restarted on 4 April 1944. On the first day, the IAR 81Cs of the group took off to intercept the unescorted B-24s of the
Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Forc ...
over Bucharest. Eight bombers were claimed while three IARs were damaged. On 21 April, B-24 and
B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
bombers targeted the
marshalling yard A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, and the former Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway y ...
s of Bucharest. The IARs of ''Grupul 1'', ''Grupul 2'' and ''Grupul 6'' took off to intercept, however, as they were attempting to engage the bombers they were attacked by
P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...
s of the
31st Fighter Group 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. Mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits res ...
. The new American P-51Bs outperformed the IARs at high altitude, and the US fighter pilots destroyed 14 Romanian aircraft, four of which were from the 6th Fighter Group. The Romanians claimed 11 victories during the mission, while the Americans reported only 10 airplanes lost. On 24 April, the IARs scrambled again to engage a bomber formation at around which was heading to Ploiești. As the US
escort fighter The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, a ...
s left the bombers alone when the anti-aircraft artillery started firing, the IARs took the opportunity and engaged the bombers. Though a dangerous move, as the ground fire targeted everything that was flying, the IARs downed six bombers of which three were confirmed without suffering any losses. Between 4 April and 6 June, the 6th Fighter Group flew 363 sorties, claiming 60 victories and another 10 probable victories, for the loss of seven pilots. On 10 June 1944, the USAAF attempted another surprise low-altitude raid over Ploiești with
P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...
s. The Lightnings of the
82nd Fighter Group The 82nd Operations Group (82 OG) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 82nd Training Wing, stationed at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. It was inactivated on 31 March 1993. The Group's history goes back to ...
were to perform a
dive bombing A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...
attack on the Româno-Americană refinery, and the
1st Fighter Group 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: Arts and entertainment *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *''001'', also known as the ''Princess of Klaxosaurs'', is a character and the central antagonist from ''DARLING in the FRANXX'' *Player number of b ...
provided cover, while also engaging targets of opportunity. As they were entering Romania, the
heavy fighter A heavy fighter is an historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine ...
s were detected by
Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...
and
Freya radar Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II; it was named after the Norse goddess Freyja. During the war, over a thousand stations were built. A naval version operating on a slightly different wavelength was also ...
s, and the IAR 81s of ''Grupul 6'' were notified to take off. Led by Captain Vizanty, the 23 IARs climbed to . Soon after taking off, 12 P-38s of the
71st Fighter Squadron The 71st Fighter Squadron is an active squadron of the United States Air Force, part of the 1st Operations Group of the 1st Fighter Wing. Stationed at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia, the squadron serves as a training unit, flying the Loc ...
attacked the airfield and shot down several training airplanes that were attempting to take off. Notified by the ''
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
'' "Tiger" command from
Otopeni Otopeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, neighbouring the north of Bucharest along the DN1 road to Ploiești. It has 21,750 inhabitants, of which 99.0% are ethnic Romanians. One village, Odăile, is administered by the city. H ...
, Vizanty's IARs dove on the unsuspecting "two feathered Indians" over the airfield. In the ensuing low altitude
dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...
, the Americans lost eight P-38s, while the Romanians lost three IARs (although both overestimated their victories, with the Romanians claiming 24 P-38s shot down, while the Americans reported 23 "
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...
s" shot down). The IARs continued to engage US aircraft until 20 July, when the fighters were prohibited from engaging the Americans due to mounting losses. Instead, the IAR groups were redirected to fight the Soviets and the role of home defense was taken by ''Grupul 7'' and '' Grupul 9'' which were equipped with the Bf 109G. After the
23 August 1944 coup 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
, the 6th Fighter Group was moved to the Turnișor airfield in
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
to aid the ground troops in the area. On 23 September, a group of eight IAR 81s from the 59th Fighter Squadron clashed with eight Fw-190s over
Turda Turda (; , ; ; ) is a Municipiu, city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the European route E81, and from nearby Câmpia ...
. Other Bf 109s from
JG 52 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52) was a German World War II fighter ''Geschwader'' (wing) that exclusively used the Messerschmitt Bf 109 throughout the war. The unit originally formed near Munich in November 1938, then moved to a base near Stuttga ...
and IARs joined the fight. By the end of the day, the 6th Group claimed four Luftwaffe airplanes, with two of them being confirmed, for the loss of two IARs. Due to the losses suffered in September, the IARs were relegated to ground support missions, while the fighter missions were taken over by the Bf 109s. The 6th Group transferred its aircraft to the 2nd Fighter Group. The group was then transferred to Târgșoru on 8 October for converting to the Bf 109. Although there was an attempt to re-equip the IAR groups with Soviet
Lavochkin La-5 The Lavochkin La-5 (Лавочкин Ла-5) was a Soviet Union, Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3, LaGG-3, replacing the earlier model's Inline engine (aeronaut ...
FNs and
Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (; NATO reporting name: Frank) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and successful ...
s, the plan ultimately failed. A part of pilots from the 6th Group were eventually transferred to ''Grupul 1 Vânătoare'', where they flew on Bf 109s for the rest of the war.


Organization 1941–1944

The 6th Fighter Group had the following squadrons between 1941 and 1944: *58th Fighter Squadron (non-permanent) *59th Fighter Squadron *60th Fighter Squadron *61st Fighter Squadron *62nd Fighter Squadron


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * *{{cite book, last=Zaloga , first=Steven J. , author-link=Steven J. Zaloga , title=Ploesti 1943: The great raid on Hitler's Romanian oil refineries , publisher=Osprey Publishing , place=Oxford , date=2019 , isbn=9781472831965 Military units and formations of the Romanian Air Force Military history of Romania during World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944