Hobby Master Archive

Late 1940 through 1943 the Royal Romanian Air Force (Fortele Aeriene Regale ale Romaniei - FARR) received 155 Ju-87s of variants -1, -2, -3 and -5s to replace the obsolete French and British aircraft they had been using. The aircraft were given to the 3rd Dive Bomber Group and also later the 6th Dive Bomber Group operated within the 3rd Bomber Flotilla. Their main task was to provide air support for the ground troops which they did and received much praise from the troops and the Fliegerkorps. In June 1944 the group were flying missions in support of the Axis troops fighting on the River Mius. Then in July the 3rd Dive Bomber Group was moved to the Kerch peninsula to provide air support for troops at the Kuban bridgehead. The Stukas were tasked with many types of missions and within 2 to 3 months had suffered damage to 31 of the 45 aircraft they received. On August 20, 1944 Soviet forces began an offensive at Yassy (Jassy - Jassi - Iassy) and Tiraspol in eastern Romania. The attacks by the 3rd and 6th Romanian Dive Bomber Group managed to destroy or damage a lot of Soviet equipment but were unable to stop their progress. On August 23, 1944 realizing that they were supporting the losing side Romanian King Michael announced that his country had reached an armistice with the Allies and they were about to switch sides. They now helped the Soviets liberate parts of Romania that were under German control. By late 1944 the Romanian Air Force once again found themselves with limited numbers of aircraft and a scarcity of spare parts so their effectiveness basically came to an end at this time.