Balkan Air Force

Spitfire Vc's of the Yugoslav-manned No 352 (Y) Squadron RAF before first mission on 18 August 1944, from airport Canne, Italy. (Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum)

The Balkan Air Force (BAF) was an Allied air formation operating in the Balkans during World War II. Composed of units of the Royal Air Force and South African Air Force under the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces command, it was active from 7 June 1944 until 15 July 1945. Air Vice Marshal William Elliot and then George Mills, both RAF officers, were its Air Officer Commanding (AOC).

The BAF operated mainly over Yugoslavia, supporting the Partisans against Germany and its allies, but occasionally supporting the Greek and Albanian resistance movements also.

History

The formation was based at Bari in Italy, and formed on 7 June 1944 from AHQ 'G' Force, to simplify command arrangements for the air support of Special Operations Executive-operations in the Balkans, i.e. across the Adriatic and in the Aegean and Ionian seas. The Desert Air Force had been responsible for those operations, but its prime job was the support of the troops of the Commonwealth Eighth Army which was fighting its way up through Italy, thus making operations over the Balkans a distraction. The Balkan Air Force was a subordinate to Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, the overall allied air formation in the Mediterranean.

The BAF mainly supported the operations of the Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito, against German forces in Yugoslavia, but also provided support to Greek and Albanian resistance organizations. 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, disagreements with Tito (particularly the arrest of members of the Special Boat Squadron on 13 April 1945, although they were quickly released) meant that all British ground forces were withdrawn, although BAF aircraft operating from Zadar continued to support the Partisan offensive.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 Bihać to Rijeka.

The Balkan Air Force was disbanded on 15 July 1945. During its short existence, it was commanded by (British) Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshals William Elliot and George Mills.

Operations

William Deakin, who had met up with the Partisans in May as a representative of Middle East GHQ, was attached as advisor to the newly formed Balkan Air Force, under (then) Air Vice Marshal Elliott, with headquarters at 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, as the Balkan Air Force was also responsible for the "planning and co-ordination of all supply dropping" to the Partisans, it "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 BAF 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 and impede the German withdrawal, though with many civilian casualties.

The Balkan Air Terminal Service (BATS) was formed by the BAF to improve the supply of materiel to the Partisans. Teams of the BATS parachuted into Yugoslavia to meet up with the Partisans. Together they then set up a number of landing strips which transport aircraft could land at. Through these concealed airstrips, more supplies could be delivered to the Partisans and wounded Partisans could be flown out for treatment, as well as the delivery and removal of British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) teams.

Units of the Air Force

13th Light Bomber Squadron RHAF

No. 25 Squadron SAAF

No. 37 Squadron RAF

No. 39 Squadron RAF

No. 351 Squadron RAF

No. 352 Squadron RAF

No. 1435 Squadron RAF

No. 281 Wing RAF

No. 6 Squadron RAF – Hawker Hurricane for ground attack

No. 283 Wing RAF

No. 213 Squadron RAF

No. 334 Wing RAF

No. 267 Squadron RAF, as well as operations in the Balkans 267 Squadron could reach Poland and flew operations to deliver and collect agents.

60th Troop Carrier Group – Dakota

From June 1944, a Soviet unit of 12 Dakotas and 12 Yakovlev fighters to support the USSR military mission to the Partisans and drop supplies came under the BAF.

At the same time, the BAF coordinated operations in the Adriatic area by Land Forces, Adriatic and the naval forces under the command of the Flag Officer, Taranto.

Bibliography

Deakin, F.W.D. (1971). The Embattled Mountain. Oxford University Press, London.

Lazarević, Božo (1972). VAZDUHOPLOVSTVO U NOR-u 1941-1945. Beograd: Vojnoizdavački zavod.

Maclean, Fitzroy (1949). Eastern Approaches. Jonathan Cape, London.

Pejčić, Predrag (1991). PRVA I DRUGA ESKADRILA NOVJ. Beograd: Vojnoizdavački i novinski centar.

Kovačević, Miloš, ed. (1965). Vazduhoplovstvo u narodnooslobodilačkom ratu Jugoslavije (PDF). Zemun: Komanda Ratnog vazduhoplovstva.

I.C.B. Dear & M.R.D. Foot, ed. (2005). The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford University Press.

Milanović, Đorđe (1978). Naši piloti u borbi [Our Pilots in Combat]. Belgrade: Četvrti jul.

A loose formation of Douglas Dakota Mark IIIs of No. 267 Squadron RAF based at Bari, Italy, flying along the Balkan coast. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3336)

The RAF evacuating wounded partisans from Yugoslavia. A wounded female partisan being carried from one of the transport aircraft on arrival in Italy, 1944.  (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3095)

Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs of No. 73 Squadron RAF, each loaded with two 250-lb GP bombs, taxi to the runway at Prkos, Yugoslavia, for a sortie against retreating German troops and supply lines. They are being watched, in the foreground, by a Bofors gun crew of No. 2914 LAA Squadron RAF Regiment, which provided the anti-aircraft defense for the airfield. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3525)

A group of partisan and civilian women stand with other members of the Yugoslav National Liberation Army after arriving at the air evacuation center at Bari, Italy, on Douglas Dakota Mark III, KG469 'H', of No. 267 Squadron RAF, seen behind them. Between May 1944 and the spring of 1945, some 50,000 wounded and sick partisans and civilians were evacuated from Yugoslavia to Italy through the Balkan (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3069)

Air Vice-Marshals W Elliot and G H Mills at BAF Headquarters, Bari 1945. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3470)

BAF Hurricane Attack, Adriatic Sea. 

BAF Ammunition Transports to (NOVJ) troops. 

A Handley Page Halifax Mark II of No. 148 (Special Duties) Squadron RAF receives a final engine check at Brindisi, Italy, before taking off on a supply-dropping mission to Yugoslavia. Parachute canisters containing supplies for the Yugoslav National Liberation Army can be seen loaded into the bomb bay and wing cells of the aircraft. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3231)

Captain Vojislav N. Skakich, commander of a Yugoslav Royal Air Force bomber group, shakes hands with three officers of the U.S. Army Air Force after awarding them with the wings of the Yugoslav RAF. From left: Major General N. T. Twining, commander of the 15th U.S. Air Force, Brigadier General Charles F. Born of the 15th, and Brigadier General Hugo P. Rush, commander of the 47th Wing. The Yugoslav group operates with the 15th from Mediterranean Allied Air Force bases in Italy. 

Dressed in protective suits, an RAF typhus team of No. 31 Mobile Field Hospital wait by their Fordson WOT1 Ambulances at Bari, as they prepare to receive wounded and sick partisans and civilians of the Yugoslav National Army of Liberation, evacuated to Italy by the Balkan Air Force Casualty Evacuation Section. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3062)

RAF air gunners attached to 13th Squadron, Royal Hellenic Air Force, prepare for a sortie at Pescara, Italy, where the Squadron operated as part of No. 254 Wing RAF, Balkan Air Force, in missions over northern Italy and Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum photo CM 6978)

RAF air gunners attached to 13th Squadron, Royal Hellenic Air Force, stand in front of Martin Baltimore Mark V, FW852 'Y', at Pescara, Italy, where the Squadron operated as part of No. 254 Wing RAF, Balkan Air Force, in missions over northern Italy and Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum CM 6922)

Yugoslav ground crew wheel 3-inch rockets past RAF No. 351 (Yugoslav) Squadron Hawker Hurricane Mk. IV fighter-bombers at Prkos, Yugoslavia (today Croatia) circa March-April 1945. (Imperial War Museum photo)

Yugoslav partisans learning to maintain Supermarine Spitfire Mark VCs, under the supervision of RAF ground crew members at Canne, Italy. The aircraft, (front to rear) are: EF553 'A' of No. 32 Squadron RAF; JK 226 'SW-K', of No. 253 Squadron RAF, and JK868 'A', also of 32 Squadron. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3054)

A B-24 over Kraljevo during the city's bombing in 1944. 

German road transport being attacked by a Balkan Air Force P-51 Mustang fighter. The Germans, who have leapt from their vehicles, can be seen trying to take cover, one on the left of the house, three just beyond it, and one near them, beside the tree. Maribor, Yugoslavia, c. Feb 1945.

Supermarine Spitfire Mark VCs of No. 352 Squadron, the first operational Yugoslav unit to be formed in the RAF, being prepared at Canne, Italy, for their first operation, escorting a fighter-bomber attack on targets in Yugoslavia. Note the Yugoslav national markings on the aircraft, consisting of a red star superimposed on the center of the RAF roundel and on the central white portion of the tail. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3097)

Transport and equipment of the Balkan Air Force coming ashore from tank landing craft at Zara, Italy, for the journey to the airfield at Prkos. (Imperial War Museum photo CL 3479)

Watched by his rigger (left), a pilot of No. 352 Squadron, the first operational Yugoslav unit in the RAF, signs the aircraft serviceability form for his Supermarine Spitfire Mark VC on the tailplane of the aircraft, before taking off on the unit's first operation. Note the Yugoslav national marking, consisting of a red star superimposed on the white portion of RAF tail stripe. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3099)

Balkan Air Force aircraft are operating in close support of the Yugoslav army. South African Air Force rocket firing Beaufighter aircraft carried out an attack on the enemy garrison village at St Vid near Ljubljana, in northern Yugoslavia, in an area where bitter fighting was in progress between the Germans and the Yugoslav army. April 1945. (Australian War Memorial photo SUK13990)

A South African Air Force Beaufighter aircraft of the Balkan Air Force fires two rockets, which streak towards their target in a German garrison in the village of St Vid near Ljubljana, in northern Yugoslavia. April 1945. (Australian War Memorial photo SUK13991)

Fires started by rockets fired from South African Air Force Beaufighter aircraft of the Balkan Air Force in an attack on a German garrison in the village of St Vid near Ljubljana, in northern Yugoslavia. (Australian War Memorial photo SUK13992)

 A later stage during the rocket attack by South African Air Force Beaufighter aircraft of the Balkan Air Force, on the German-occupied town of Zuzemberk. Fires have got a firm hold on many of the buildings. 18 Feb 1945. (Australian War Memorial photo SUK13811)

Rocket projectiles from South African Air Force Beaufighter aircraft of the Balkan Air Force, on their way to hit a castle-like building in the German-occupied town of Zuzemberk, forty five miles west of Zagreb. 18 Feb 1945. (Australian War Memorial photo SUK13810)

The destruction goes on as the attack by rocket firing South African Air Force Beaufighter aircraft of the Balkan Air Force intensifies, a salvo of six rockets streak towards the German strongpoint, in the village of St Vid near Ljubljana, in northern Yugoslavia. April 1945. (Australian War Memorial photo SUK13993)

A Supermarine Spitfire LF Mark VIII of No. 253 Squadron RAF being stripped down by flight mechanics at Prkos, Yugoslavia. 1945. (Imperial War Museum photo CL 3481)

Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs of No. 281 Wing RAF are prepared for a sortie at Prkos, Yugoslavia, as the pilots confer before take off. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3509)

Hurricane Mark IV, KZ188 ‘C’, of No. 6 Squadron RAF being refueled, amid other aircraft of the Squadron, on a dispersal at Prkos, Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum photo CL 3480)

A line of Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs of No. 73 Squadron RAF, undergo servicing and refueling at Prkos, Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3527)

Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs of No. 73 Squadron RAF, undergo maintenance at Prkos, Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum photo CNA 3528)

A light anti-aircraft gun team of No. 2914 (LAA) Squadron, RAF Regiment, man their 40mm Bofors gun in a weapons pit on the edge of the airfield at Prkos, Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum photo CL 3486)

Men of the armored detachment of No. 2771 Field Squadron, RAF Regiment, service their Otter light reconnaissance car and weapons at Prkos airfield, Yugoslavia. (Imperial War Museum photo CL 3485)

SAAF Beaufighters of the Balkan Air Force rocketing German-occupied buildings in Zuzemberk, Yugoslavia in Spring 1945.