[烛光生存狂]-一战中的罗马尼亚空军

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The Romanian Air Corps in WWI

The Romanian army was the second armed force in the world to use airplanes. In the autumn of 1910, during the Royal maneuvers, the engineer Aurel Vlaicu used the airplane he had designed and built to transport a message.

Two flight schools were created in 1911 near Bucharest, one by the lawyer Mihail Cerchez at Chitila (who also had a workshop where Farmans were being assembled) and the other one by prince Gheorge Valentin Bibescu at Cotroceni (which used Bleriot airplanes). These schools trained the first Romanian military pilots.

In September 1911, two sections took part in the maneuvers: 3 Farmans (mr. Ion Macri, slt. Stefan Protopopescu, slt Gheorghe Negrescu) and 3 Bleriots (lt. (r) Gheorge Valentin Bibescu, lt. Mircea Zorileanu, lt. Nicolae Capsa). The airplanes were used for reconnaissance missions and aerial photography and exceeded all expectations. The next year the number of aircraft used in the maneuvers increased to 8.

On 1 April 1913 the Parliament passed the Law for the organization of the military Aeronautics. It remained a part of the Engineer Corps. During the Second Balkan War that year the Aeronautics participated with 13 aircraft and 9 pilots.

After the beginning of WWI the process of training pilots was expanded. A flight instructor and aerial observer schools were created. On 31 August 1915 the Air Corps was formed, under the command of lt. col. Constantin Gavanescu. After one year Romania joined the war on the Entente side. The Air Corps had 91 pilots and 31 aircraft, mostly obsolete types. The orders placed in France would take some time to reach Romania through for various reasons (some very dubious). Thus the Romanian pilots limited themselves to reconnaissance missions, providing vital information for the Romanian High Command. They had to face modern Central Powers fighters with only the rifle the observers carried with them. There were also some "bombing" raids, but with poor results, due to the lack of targeting or launch systems. The first operational loss was on 4 September 1916, when lt. av. Ioan Marasescu and slt. av. Petre Cretu were shot down at Talmaciu by enemy AAA.

In October 1916 arrived the French Military Mission. The French Air Force had sent 42 officers, 45 NCOs, 36 corporals and 162 soldiers and civilians. They played an important role in the reorganization of the Romanian Air Corps during the terrible winter of 1916/1917. Also 100 modern aircraft finally arrived from France: 41 Nieuport BB, 38 Farman 40, 18 Breguet-Michelin and 3 H. Farman. Several other aircraft were flown in from Salonik.

Three groups were created:

1st Group: 2 observation squadrons (Farman 2 and Farman 6) and one fighter squadron (Nieuport 1)

2nd Group: one observation squadron (Farman 4) and one fighter squadron (Nieuport 3)

3rd Group: one observation squadron (Farman 5) and one fighter squadron (Nieuport 10)

The High Command had at its disposal another two squadrons: Farman 7 and BM 8.

The activity started in February 1917. The Farman squadrons flew many recon and artillery correction missions. For example, the Farman 4 squadron totaled 100 missions in the February - March period.

The bomber squadron (BM 8) executed several raids against the port and railway station of Braila, managing even to sink a transport vessel in the night of 31 March. 10 Farmans and Nieuport were joined by a Caudron G4 on 19 May for a raid on the Campurile railway station and hit a munitions train. On 6 June a Farman 40 flown by cpt. Mircea Zorileanu bombed the barracks in Brasov and the next day 5 Farman 40s hit a troop train in the Campurile station and a factory complex. These are only a few examples of the intense activity the Romanian and French pilots.

Because of operational needs the 2nd Group (assigned to the 1st Romanian Army in the Marasesti area) was reinforced in June with the Farman 7 and Farman 9 observation squadrons (equipped with Farman 40s), the Nieuport 11 fighter squadron (equipped with Nieuport 11 and 17s) and the Caudron 12 long range recon squadron. The BM 8 bomber squadron was assigned to the 3rd Group.

During the fierce battle of Marasesti the 2nd Group flew a total of 467 missions.

During the autumn as the fighting lost in intensity, so did the number of missions.

The Romanian pilots shot down 14 enemy airplanes and dropped 23,871 kg of bombs. 185 recon and 703 artillery correction missions were flown. The French pilots in Romania obtained 13 victories. The most successful fighter squadron was Nieuport 3.

I hope these few rows give a general idea of the activity of the Romanian Air Corps during WWI.

Bibliography: Jurnalul Escadrilei Nieuport 3 - Jurnal de front 1916-1917, Editura Militara, 1986

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