Balkan Air Force - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Balkan Air Force was a late-World War II Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

air formation.

History

The formation was based at Bari

Bari

Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...

in Italy, and activated on 7 June 1944 from AHQ 'G' Force to simplify command arrangements for the air support of Special Operations Executive

Special Operations Executive

The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...

-operations in the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

, i.e. across the Adriatic and in the Aegean

Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

and Ionian

Ionian Sea

The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

seas. The Desert Air Force

Desert Air Force

The Desert Air Force , also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, AHQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force, Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force , was an Allied tactical air force initially created from No...

had been responsible for those operations, but its prime job was the support of the troops of the Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

Eighth Army, thus making operations over the Balkans a distraction. The Balkan Air Force was a subordinate to Mediterranean Allied Air Forces

Mediterranean Allied Air Forces

The Mediterranean Allied Air Forces was the major Allied air force command organization in the Mediterranean theater from mid-December 1943 until the end of the Second World War.-Formation:...

, the overall allied air formation in the Mediterranean.

The BAF mainly supported the operations of the Partisans

Partisans (Yugoslavia)

The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...

, led by Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz Tito

Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...

, against German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

forces in Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

, but also provided support to Greek and Albanian resistance organisations. It transported supplies to the partisans, evacuated wounded, dropped agents to help them, and provided air support in their operations against German troops.

The Balkan Air Force was a multinational unit, with 15 types of aircraft and men from eight nations: Greece, co-belligerent Italy, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia, the UK, USA and USSR (a transport squadron). Between its inception and May 1945 the BAF flew 38,340 sorties, dropped 6,650 tons of bombs, delivered 16,440 tons of supplies and flew 2,500 individuals into Yugoslavia and 19,000 (mostly wounded) out.

Towards the end of its existence, it operated a small number of units from Yugoslav soil to harass the retreating Germans. However, disgreements with Tito (particularly the arrest of members of the Special Boat Squadron

Special Boat Service

The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...

on 13 April 1945, although they were quickly released) meant that all British ground forces were withdrawn, although BAF aircraft operating from Zadar continued to support the Partisan offensive. Between 19 March and 3 May they flew 2,727 sorties, attacking the German withdrawal route from Sarajevo to Zagreb and supporting the Fourth Yugoslav Army advancing from Bihac to Rijeka

Rijeka

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

.

The Balkan Air Force was disbanded on 15 July 1945. During its short existence, it was commanded by (British) Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

Air Vice Marshals William Elliot

William Elliott (RAF officer)

Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliott GCVO, KCB, KBE, DFC & Bar, ADC, RAF, was a senior Royal Air Force commander.-RAF career:...

and George Mills

George Mills (RAF officer)

Air Chief Marshal Sir George Holroyd Mills, GCB, DFC, RAF was a senior Royal Air Force commander. After his retirement from the RAF, Mills served as Black Rod in the Houses of Parliament until 1970...

Deakin and Maclean

William Deakin

Frederick William Dampier Deakin, Sir William Deakin was a historian, World War II veteran, and literary assistant to Winston Churchill....

was attached as advisor to the newly formed command, Balkan Air Force, under (then) Air Vice Marshal William Elliot

William Elliott (RAF officer)

Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliott GCVO, KCB, KBE, DFC & Bar, ADC, RAF, was a senior Royal Air Force commander.-RAF career:...

, with headquarters at Bari

Bari

, Italy. This body assumed responsibility for all operations by land, sea, and air into Central and South-Eastern Europe.

Fitzroy Maclean the head of the British military mission to the Partisans said that the Balkan Air Force " .... was responsible for the planning and co-ordination of all supply dropping as well as for all bomber and fighter operations in support of the Partisans. This gave me a single authority with whom I could deal direct and was of incalculable advantage in obtaining quick results”.... This was decisive in enabling the Partisans to withstand the Raid on Drvar (Seventh Offensive)

Much of the planning for “Operation Ratweek” to impede the German withdrawal from the Balkans was done at B.A.F. Headquarters and Maclean’s own Rear Headquarters at Bari. Ratweek, started on 1 September 1944, also involved the Navy and the Partisans USAAF Flying Fortresses (50) were called in to bomb Leskovac

Leskovac

Leskovac is a city and municipality in southern Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Jablanica District of Serbia...

and impede the German withdrawal, though with many civilian casualties

Units of the Air Force

No. 25 Squadron SAAF
No. 37 Squadron RAF
No. 37 Squadron RAF
-History:No. 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Orfordness, Suffolk, on 15 April 1916 but ceased to exist a month later. In September of that year, it was re-formed, with headquarters at Woodham Mortimer, in Essex. It responsibilities included defending London against aerial attack...
No. 39 Squadron RAF
No. 39 Squadron RAF
No. 39 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the MQ-9 Reaper since 2007, operating from Creech AFB, Nevada, USA.-World War I:39 Squadron was founded at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome in April 1916 with B.E.2s and Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12s in an attempt to defend against German Zeppelin raids on...
No. 351 Squadron RAF
No. 351 Squadron RAF
No. 351 Squadron RAF was a Yugoslav-manned fighter-bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The squadron was also known as Second NOVJ Squadron.-History:...
No. 352 Squadron RAF
No. 352 Squadron RAF
No. 352 Squadron RAF was a Yugoslav-manned fighter-bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The squadron was also known as First NOVJ Squadron.- History :...
No. 1435 Flight RAF

History

Deakin and Maclean

Units of the Air Force

See also