Figure 1.--A Belgrade reader sent us this photograph of a World War II German bunker. He tells us, "Here is the photograph of the German bunker in my friend's garden in Belgrade. There was a door into it from the street. It was a very heavy door and resembled the type of door on a ship. I think this was an air raid shelter. I think high ranking individuals had these bunkers near quarters. Unfortunately, we do not know just who used it." We believe the bunker was probably built in 1944 when the Allied air raids began. Our Belgrade reader does not know of aby other bunkers like this in the city. He tells us, however, that "there are lots of underground secret passages under the city. These are not open to the public, but some are opened on special occasions. A lot of the secret passages were built during the resistance to the Ottomans during the dight for independence. The Serbian nationalistic movement began in 1805. Tunnels led down to the River Danube provide routes for the Nationalist movement's leaders and fighters to escape Oyyoman raids."

Hitler was furious when his carefully crafted plans in the Balkans were undone by rioting Serbian students in Belgrade and other Serbian cities. Prince Paul's decesion to join the Axis caused a violent reaction in Yugoslavia (March 26-27). Hitler decided not only to seize control of the country, but to punish the people of Belgrade. The Axis invasion of Yugosalvia commenced with Luftflotte IV commencing the terror bombing of Belgrade (April 6). It woyld leave the center of the city a smoldering wreck and 17,000 people dead. The Royal Yugoslav Air Force put up a fight, but was overwealmed by the numerically superior, battle-hardened Luftwaffe. Axis armies (Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Italian) invaded Yugoslavia from all sides. The major invading force was the Germans. The Yugoslav Army desintegrated. The Croations received the Germans as liberators. Foreign Minister, Aleksander Cincar-Markovic along with General Jankovic, the deputy Chief of Staff, signed the surrender document dictated by the Germans (April 17). King Peter II boarded a British Sunderland flying boat which took him safely to Egypt. This ended the active Yugoslav resistance, but not the air war in the Balkans. As the resistance grew in Yugoslavia, German and Italian air units were used in efforts to destroy the resistance fighters, especially the partisans. The Germans supplied their Croatian puppets a variety of obsolete aircraft, creating the Air Force of Independent State of Croatia (1941). Yugoslavia became a backwater, albeit a bloody backwater, of World War II which was being determined on other battlefields. This a wide variety of obsolete aircraft that the Royal Yugoslav Air force operated or that the Germans captured in other countries found their way to the Axis occupied Balkans. As the Axis forces in occupied Yugoslavia faced no active air opposition, obsolete aircraft could be used in anti-partisan opetations. The country's airfields became a virtual museum of World War II aircraft. Keeping so many aircraft types flying proved to be a virtual nightmare. Allied air drops helped supply the resistance. And Allied advances in North Africa, Socily, and Italy increased the ability to supply the resistance. Yugoslavia and Albania was the cloest Balkan counries to the new Allied bases in Italy. Yugoslavia was an occupied ally, unlike Bulgaria, Romnia, and Hungary. And unlike those countries a major guerilla war was underway which grew in strength after the Italian surrender. So the Allied mission was in part to support the guerillas agsainst the NAZIs. The Allied air campaign increasingly focused on petroleum and the major source was Ploesti. Many Allied air attacks on Ploesti had to be flown over Yugoslavia. The Allies staged several raids on Belgrade. We are not sure at this time just what the goal of these raids were. I think they were to disrupt German supply lines, but this needs to be confirmed. The Allies bombed Belgrade on Orthodox Easter (April 16 and 17, 1944). The primary force was the American 15th Air Force, based in Foggia in southern Italy. One report describes carpet bombing carried out by 600 bombers--a fairly important raid. The city authorities reported 1,160 civilian casualties and 18 Germans killed. Other raids were staged (April 21, April 24, May 18, June 6, and July 8). The last raid (September 3, 1944), just a few weeks before the Partisans liberated the city. Eventually the Partisans managed to piece together a small airforce of their own.

Royal Yugoslav Airforce (JKRV)

The Yugoslav Royal Air Force (Jugoslovensko Kraljevsko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo--JKRV) was a fairly substantial force of about 800 aircraft by the time of World War II. Yugoslavia had attempted to build its air defenses as Hitler and the NAZIs escalated tensions in Europe. The Yugoslavs both built planes (mostly the air frames with fireign-built engines) and whole planes from Britain, France, and Germany. As a result the force was a curious mixture of many different air craft types. Many of the planes were obsolete, but there was a small nummber of mnodern types, some recently obtained just before the German invasion. The core of the force was about 150 modern fighters (61 Messerschmitt Bf-109Es, 44 Hawker Hurricane Is, and 30 Hawker Fury IIs. There were also locally built aircraft, 10 Ikarus IK-2s and 11 Rogozarski IK-3s. There were also 175 bombers, including 70 Dornier Do-17Ks and 60 Bristol Blenheim Is. Both were built in Yugoslavia under license by the State Aircraft Factory. Other Dorniers, Blenheims, and Savoia-Marchetti were imported. A few Ikarus bombers were built locally.

German Attack

Hitler was furious when his carefully crafted plans in the Balkans were undone by rioting Serbian students in Belgrade and other Serbian cities. Prince Paul's decesion to join the Axis caused a violent reaction in Yugoslavia (March 26-27). Hitler decided not only to seize control of the country, but to punish the people of Belgrade. The Axis invasion of Yugosalvia commenced with Luftflotte IV commencing the terror bombing of Belgrade (April 6). It woyld leave the center of the city a smoldering wreck and 17,000 people dead. The Royal Yugoslav Air Force (JKRV) put up a fight, but was overwealmed by the numerically superior, battle-hardened Luftwaffe. The JKRV deployed to operational airfields, but it was from the beginning a hopeless fight. The Luftwaffe had deployed to fields in Romania and Bulgaria and thus was able to stage attacks from multiple directions in overwealming numbers. In addition the JKRV, unlike the Luftwaffe, had no well conceived battle plan or combat experience. In addition to combat losses, the German advance began to overrun airfields. Even so, the Yugoslav fighters are believed to have shot down an estimated 90-100 Axis planes. Axis armies (Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Italian) invaded Yugoslavia from all sides. The major invading force was the Germans. The Yugoslav Army desintegrated. The Croations received the Germans as liberators. Foreign Minister, Aleksander Cincar-Markovic along with General Jankovic, the deputy Chief of Staff, signed the surrender document dictated by the Germans (April 17).This ended the active Yugoslav resistance, but not the air war in the Balkans.

Escape to Egypt

King Peter II boarded a British Sunderland flying boat which through Greece got him safely to Egypt. Yugoslav pilots managed to fly about 18 aircraft to the British bases in Egypt. A larger number had escaped Yugoslavia before the surrender, but were destroyed by the Luftwaffe in Greece. All told several hundred Yugoslav airmen via Greece reached the British bases in Egypt. They initially continued the War flying with the Royal Air Force in the Western Desert. After the Axis surrendervin Tunisia (May 1943), they flew with the Balkan Air Force in Italy and Yugoslavia. Some Yugoslav airmen managed to reach the Soviet Union and served in the Red Air Force after the German invasiion of the Soviet Union.

Air Force of Independent State of Croatia

The Germans supplied their Croatian puppets a variety of obsolete aircraft, creating the Air Force of Independent State of Croatia (July 1941). At the onset they had about 200 planes from the now defunct Royal Yugoslav Air Force.

Axis Air Deployment

Guerilla War

As the resistance grew in Yugoslavia, German and Italian air units were used in efforts to destroy the resistance fighters, especially the partisans. Yugoslavia became a backwater, albeit a bloody backwater, of World War II which was being determined on other battlefields. This a wide variety of obsolete aircraft that the Royal Yugoslav Air force operated or that the Germans captured in other countries found their way to the Axis occupied Balkans. As the Axis forces in occupied Yugoslavia faced no active air opposition, obsolete aircraft could be used in anti-partisan opetations. The country's airfields became a virtual museum of World War II aircraft. Keeping so many aircraft types flying proved to be a virtual nightmare. Allied air drops helped supply the resistance. And Allied advances in North Africa, Socily, and Italy increased the ability to supply the resistance. Yugoslavia and Albania was the cloest Balkan counries to the new Allied bases in Italy. Yugoslavia was an occupied ally, unlike Bulgaria, Romnia, and Hungary. And unlike those countries a major guerilla war was underway which grew in strength after the Italian surrender. So the Allied mission was in part to support the guerillas against the NAZIs.

Ploesti Oil Fields (1943-44)

The Achilles' heel of the NAZI war economy was oil. Germany had no significant petroleum resources of its own. One of the reasons for Barbarossa was to seize Soviet oil fields. Hitler's gamble, howver, actually wosened the Reich's oil situation. At the time of the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), Stalin as a NAZI ally was delivering large quantities of oil to the Reich. These shipments of course ended wih the invasion. This left the German war economy with only two important sources of petroleum. One was the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti. The other was synthetic petroleum factories in the Reich. Ploesti was on the perifery of occupied Europe, but because of its importance to the NAZI war effort, itvwas one of the most heavily defended targets in Europe. The first Allied raids were staged from based in Libya. Allied casualties were high. After the Allied invasion of southern Italy (September 1943), Ploesti became much more vulnerable to air attack. The Allied air campaign increasingly focused on petroleum and the major source was Ploesti. Yugoslavia and Luftwaffe facilities there were a kind of shield for attacks on Ploesti from the newly acquired Italian air bases. Allied air attacks on Ploesti from Italy had to be flown over Yugoslavia and Albania.

Allied Raids on Yugoslavia (1944)

The Allies staged several raids on Belgrade. We are not sure at this time just what the goal of these raids were. I think they targetted rail facilities to disrupt German supply lines, but this needs to be confirmed. Luftwaffe facilities were also targetted. The Allies at the time was attemoting to destroy Ploesti and Luftwaffe facilities in Yugoslavia were part of the Ploesti defenses. The Allies bombed Belgrade on Orthodox Easter (April 16 and 17, 1944). The primary force was the American 15th Air Force, based in Foggia in southern Italy. One report describes "carpet" bombing carried out by 600 bombers--a fairly important raid. This would not, however been a carpet bombing raid. The city authorities reported 1,160 civilian casualties and 18 Germans killed. Reports indicate that freight and passenger rail cars were destroyed, warehouses destroyed, the central passenger station damaged, and the rail bridge over the Sava River damaged. A great deal of misleading information is published about Allie air raids. During World War II, many targets like rail facilities and factories were located in cities, often in city centers. And bombing technology was still fairly primitive. Thus there was no way of targeting these facilities without incurring civilian casualties. Carpet bombing a city like Belgrade would have caused much heavier civilian casualties. Other raids were staged (April 21, April 24, May 18, June 6, and July 8). The last raid (September 3, 1944), just a few weeks before the Partisans liberated the city.

Royal Yugoslav Units

A small grouop of Yugoslavs was constututed as a Royal Yugoslav unit and served with the U.S. 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean. President Roosevelt personally presented them their B-24s (1942). They were not assigned targets in Yugoslavia.

Partisan Air Force

Eventually the Partisans managed to piece together a small airforce of their own. The first planes were captured from the Croats (1943).

Created: 2:36 AM 9/17/2010
Last updated: 12:36 AM 9/20/2010