As Bulgaria was part of the Axis powers, they were forced to declare war on Yugoslavia when Germany attacked in April 1941 so Yugoslavia started to make reconnaissance flights over Bulgaria and even some Yugoslavian Dornier Do.17 bombed Kyustendil, a small town close to Yugoslavian border, followed by small bombardments against some other targets as airfields where some Luftwaffe units were stationed, Sofia's railway station and some other smaller villages. Later it was revealed that those air raid were conducted by RAF units stationed in Greece, however, as most of the opposition to those raids was made from anti-air ground fire, the inefficiency of the Bulgarian Air Force was obvious as the Bulgarian pilots lacked training.
The truth air war came to Bulgarian during 1942 and 1943 when the Allied targeted the oil fields of Ploesti, in Romania, and they had to pass through Bulgaria in order to arrive there. The Bf.109E performed wheel enough for being outdated shoting down some American bombers.
When Bulgarian switched sides in 1944 they continued serving with the Bulgarian Air Force until the end of the war and even in the inmediate postwar as it's known that most of them were sold to Yugoslavia in 1949.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109_operational_history
2. Osprey - Aircraft of the Aces 58 - Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of World War 2
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
No comments:
Post a Comment