The Slovak Air Force (, or SVZ), between 1939 and 1945, was the air force of the short-lived

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

. Its mission was to provide air support at fronts, and to protect

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and metropolitan areas against enemy air attack.

History

One of the SVZ's first air battles was in the

Slovak–Hungarian War The Slovak–Hungarian War, or Little War (, ), was a war fought from 23 March to 31 March 1939 between the First Slovak Republic and Hungary in eastern Slovakia. Prelude After the Munich Pact, which weakened Czech lands to the west, Hungari ...

in March 1939 in which Hungary occupied

Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

and parts of southern Slovakia. In this the SVZ suffered some losses against

Royal Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force (, ), is the air force branch of the Military of Hungary, Hungarian Defence Forces. The primary focus of the present Hungarian Air Force lies in defensive operations. The flying units operate are organised into a single ...

. The SVZ also took part in the

German Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. The SVZ took part in

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

offensives in the

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and Russian Central front sectors of the Eastern Front under the lead of ''

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 ...

'' in the

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 ...

and

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

operations. The engagement in the cost it great losses of aircraft and personnel. For the rest of the war the SVZ fought

US Army Air Forces 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 ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

raids against Slovakia. The symbol of the Slovak air force was a blue and white cross similar to the German

Balkenkreuz The ''Balkenkreuz'' () is a straight-armed cross that was first introduced in 1916–1918 and later became the emblem of the ''Wehrmacht'' (German Armed Forces) and its branches from 1935 until the end of World War II. It was used by the '' Wehr ...

, with a red disc in the centre. It was carried on the tail and wings. Engine covers were painted yellow and there was a vertical line on the fuselage. Training aircraft were supplied by Germany and Italy. To defend Slovak air space, the air force used

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

(E and G types),

Avia B-534 The Avia B-534 is a Czechoslovak biplane fighter developed and manufactured by aviation company Avia. It was produced during the period between the First World War and the Second World War. The B-534 was perhaps one of the most well-known Czecho ...

, and some other interceptor types. It was also helped by ''Luftwaffe'' units active in the area. When

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 to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and the

Soviet Union 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 ...

entered Slovakia, with some captured aircraft and defectors they organized a local Insurgent Air Force to continue the fight against Axis forces in country. Others served voluntarily in ''Luftwaffe'' units; later these air units were integrated to the reconstituted

Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia c ...

after the end of the war.

Notable SVZ air aces

Ján Režňák Ján Režňák (14 April 1919 – 19 September 2007) was a Slovak war pilot. He was the top Slovak fighter ace in the Slovak Air Force during the Second World War. He accumulated 32 kills on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union The ...

Izidor Kovárik Izidor Kovárik (29 March 1917 – 11 July 1944) was a fighter pilot in the Czechoslovak Air Force (1938–1939) and Slovak Air Force (1939–1944) who became a flying ace on the Eastern Front in the Second World War. He became Slovakia's secon ...

*Ján Gerthofer *František Cyprich *František Brezina *Anton Matúšek *Jozef Štauder *Pavol Zeleňák *Rudolf Božík *Vladimír Kriško *Alexander Gerič *Jozef Jančovič *František Hanovec *Rudolf Palatický *Štefan Martiš *Juraj Puškár *Štefan Ocvirk *Ondrej Ďumbala *Jozef Drlička *Martin Danihel *Ivan Kocka

Units of the Slovak Air Force

* 1st unit of Stíhacia letka (fighter unit), Slovenské vzdušné zbrane, air unit to support the Slovak forces in Russia, Zhytomyr-Kiev,

, October 1941

Aircraft of the Slovak Air Force

*Arado Ar 96B-5 *Bücker Bü 131B Jungmann *Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister *Bücker Bü 181D Bestmann *Fieseler Fi 156C-2 *Focke-Wulf Fw 44C Stieglitz *Focke-Wulf Fw 58C Weihe *Focke-Wulf Fw 189A-1 Uhu *Gotha Go 145C *Heinkel He 72B-1 Kadett *Heinkel He 111H-3 (5 He 111s were in Slovaks hands 2 were He 111 H-10s and 3 were He 111 H-16s) *Junkers W 34h (At least 1 confirmed to be in Slovak hands WW2) *Junkers Ju 52/3m g7e *Junkers Ju 87D-3 (10 Ju 87D-3s were in Slovak hands in WW2) *Klemm Kl 35D *Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 (30 planes in Slovak hands WW2) *Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 (30 planes in Slovak hands WW2) *Siebel Fh 104 Hallore *Siebel Si 204A *Avia B-71 (single Avia B-71 aircraft until April 18, 1943, when čtk Anton Vanko and four other airmen defected with it to Turkey) *Avia B.122 (~65 in Slovak service) *Avia BH-33E *

*Aero A.100 *Aero Ab-101 *Aero A.300 *Aero A.304 *Aero AP-32 *Beneš-Mráz Be-50 Beta-Minor *Letov Š-231 *Letov Š-328 *Praga E-39 *Praga A/B-32 Pardubitz *Praga E-51 *Praga E-210 *Praga E-240 *Zlín Z-XV *Zlín Z-XII *Caudron C.445 Goeland *Avro 626 *Savoia-Marchetti SM.84bis (10 in Slovak hands WW2) These were primarily assigned to Letecky Pluk (Air Regiment) 3 and numbered 79 Avia B-534 and 11 Bk-534 biplane fighters, 73 Letov S-328 biplane observation, and 15 Aero A-100 and Ab-101 biplane reconnaissance aircraft plus a miscellany of trainers and other minor types. However, it also had three bombers, a Bloch MB-200, a Fokker F.VII and a Avia B-71, a license-built copy of the SB-2 light bomber. Such a large number of Czech airmen departed for the German-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia that the Slovaks were forced to reduce the numbers of squadrons to more sustainable levels. The original 5 fighter pletky (squadrons) were reduced to 3, numbers 11, 12, and 13 while the 7 original reconnaissance and observation pletky were consolidated into 3, numbered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

References

External links