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Friday, December 26, 2014

Romanian Air Force

Valiant Warriors Caught in the Middle

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com

This article will focus on the Romanian Air Force of World War II.

Romania played an odd role in World War II. At first, the Kingdom of Romania was pro-British and allied to the Poles. The Soviet Union, contrary to many who think it was an innocent victim during the early war years, aggressively demanded and received a large swathe of Romanian territory in Bessarabia as well as from northern Bukovina pursuant to a 28 June 1940 ultimatum.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Oil bound for Germany to fuel Hitler's war. Waiting tank cars (labeled w. Essolub and Shell logos) in Rumanian-owned Creditul Minier oil yards near Ploesti. To be fair, the Soviet Union also was supplying the German war machine with raw materials at the same time. Margaret Bourke-White, Romania, 1940.
Everybody talks about the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia two years earlier, but absolutely nobody talks about this particular blatant land grab. Trying to find any perfect angels amongst the governments of Eastern Europe during this difficult period can be quite taxing. The Soviets' actions during this period go a long way toward explaining what later transpired between the powers.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Naturally, some of the Romanians were not too thrilled about losing prime real estate to their hulking neighbor, the Soviet Union. Pro-German Prime Minister Ion Antonescu in September 1940 engaged in a complicated series of events that led to the deposition of the rightful king, Carol II, and installation of the young crown prince, Michael, as a figurehead replacement ('Michael I').

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
American Bomber, Consolidated B-24 'Liberator' forced to land by Romanian fighters. German officers and civilians are inspecting it. It is possible that this apparently crash-landed bomber was repaired and added to the German fleet of captured Allied planes, which may be why there is so much interest in it.
Ion Antonescu became a de facto dictator with full powers in ruling the state, technically by royal decree, while Michael I effectively disappeared from view. Antonescu joined the Axis as a full partner, but the country soon lost more territory to Hungary as a result of the Vienna Award imposed by their friends the Germans. This resulted in great hostility between Hungary and Romania for many years.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
A Romanian Bf-109 being prepped.
Antonescu unwisely threw all his cards in with Hitler in the hopes that Romania would obtain large amounts of Soviet territory via its participation in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In 1941, it did, in fact, occupy huge territories in the southern Ukraine that were captured as part of the German Army Group South under Field Marshal von Rundstedt.

Romania claimed territories to its east based on historical precedent.
These were territories that had belonged to Romania centuries before, but long lost to the Ukraine. Romanian nationalists such as Antonescu saw their chance to snatch those ancient territories from the Soviet colossus by joining with Hitler's army. Once recovered, Romania termed the recovered territory 'Transnistria,' for 'beyond the Nistru River.' This appeal to the divisions of his eastern neighbors is how Hitler convinced nations such as Romania - which historically had commonality with the British - to throw their lot in with him to their future detriment.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Romanian army troops occupy Odessa, summer of 1941.
Romania administered these lands, which included the prosperous port city of Odessa, from 1941 until they were ultimately lost in 1944. Hitler knew the importance of Romania to the Axis, which is one reason that he defended his southern conquests such as the Crimea and Transnistria long after they had ceased to have military value. This explains the seeming mystery as to why German forces concentrated their defenses on the perimeters of their southern conquests while allowing the center to slip.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
The Romanian IAR-80.
Antonescu ultimately contributed over a million men to the Axis military alliance. The men did not share Antonescu's enthusiasm for the war, however, and, to put it kindly, the country's forces were never an element of strength in the Axis order of battle. The Romanian III and IV armies at Stalingrad guarded the flanks of the German 6th Army, but could not resist the Soviet counterattack there due to their inadequate weapons. In addition, there were repeated reports to the German high command that the Romanians who controlled the railroads in Transnistria and Romania proper were giving German troop trains short shrift while giving Romanian trains priority. These are subtleties lost on the mass media which had very real effects on people. It is common to denigrate the country's military efforts because of such incidents, but upon occasion, the Romanian military served quite well, especially when defending the homeland.

worldwartwo.filminspector.com
15th United States Air Force, Army Air Corps (1943-45). It never got the glory that went to the 8th Air Force operating out of England . . . but they deserved it. From bases in Foggia, southern Italy, it flew mostly B-24's on missions in the south and central Europe (including most of the raids on Ploesti) - and have the casualty lists to prove it.
The conclusion by many observers was that the Romanian common ranks were formed from perfectly capable recruits who fought well. However, the officer class was not motivated to succeed, as it did not believe in the German cause. The Germans believed them to be corrupt and timid. Romanian pilots, almost never mentioned in western sources, performed quite well in defense of their homeland.

John Cantacuzino worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Romanian ace Constantin Cantacuzino (right) with his air mount, August 1944.
Constantin M. “Bâzu” Cantacuzino was a top Romanian ace, with a reported 43 kills, 11 unconfirmed, and a total of 69 'points' (pilots received more credit for shooting down 2- and 4-engine bombers under this system). He also shot down some German planes after the August 1944 change of allegiances (Cantacuzino was a member of a Romanian noble family, and the name may derive ultimately from 14th Century Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos/Cantacuzenus). Actress Linda Gray of "Dallas" is related to him. The men who flew in the 15th USAAF over Romania (one of whom I personally met) greatly respected the air defenses over Ploesti and the other oil fields, particularly the fierce fighter coverage.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com

The huge reverses at Stalingrad, the Crimea and closer to home led to complete invasion and massive losses in the Romanian order of battle. With public opinion turning against Antonescu and the war, King Michael realized that the time had come to take action and sprang into action. He had the palace guard arrest Antonescu (much as King Victor Emanuel of Italy had finally arrested Mussolini the year before) on 23 August 1944. It was a very brave act, and set in train a sequence of events that would have far-reaching and unexpected consequences for his country - and himself.

Hitler, making matters worse to no purpose, ordered the Luftwaffe to bomb Bucharest. King Michael and his followers then declared war on Germany and joined the Allies. It was too late to make much difference in terms of how Romania was viewed by the victorious Allies, but at least Romania finally made things right.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com

The change of sides had some very direct consequences to Americans. There were many 15th USAAF pilots in captivity in Romania who immediately were set free upon the change of sides. Lt Col James A Gunn III had recently been shot down whilst over Ploesti in mid-August 1944. He was being held in Lager 13 in Bucharest. When Romania changed sides on 23 August, Gunn resolved to return to the 15th with important information that he received from his former Romanian captors about German bombing plans. Captain Cantacuzino personally flew Gunn in his ME-109 (with Gunn tucked away in the fuselage) back to Italy. It was a hazardous flight, as the Germans still held Yugoslavia and Greece. As a reward, Cantacuzino was given a Mustang to fly back to Bucharest.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Maj. Gen. Nathan F. Twinging, commanding general of the 15th Air Force (foreground), talks to Col. James Gunn III, right, after Gunn's harrowing flight to Italy from Bucharest by Captain Cantacuzino. Gunn was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in helping to free 1,100 POWS from the prison camps (he was brave and a war hero for sure, but the change of sides did the freeing). Gunn's exploits were lauded in the western press - Captain Cantacuzino's were not. 
Romania and its resources had been vital to German aggression, and this was shown by subsequent events. Once Germany lost the Romanian oil fields, it was living on borrowed time. Fuel had always been in short supply, but after the Soviet invasion of Romania Germany had to rely almost solely on exotic chemical processes to produce completely inadequate supplies of oil. The synthetic oil complexes at Politz and elsewhere could not begin to make up the deficit, though they did enable Germany to prolong the war into 1945.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
A B-24 Liberator called "Sandman" during a bomb run over the Ploiești Astra Romana refinery during Operation Tidal Wave, 1 August 1943.
The Allies commenced Operation Tidal Wave, the attacks on the Romanian oil fields, in mid-1943. In order to combat the incessant bombing raids, the Germans and Romanian fascists built flak towers and other anti-aircraft coastal batteries. Many remain, successfully hidden, and in fact, are just being located today. In Romania, flak towers were built to protect the oil fields from the massive Allied bombing raids of 1943 and 1944. One or more of those remain virtually intact, but they are almost unknown. They were smaller than the massive towers in Berlin and Vienna, but still impressive structures. The post-war authorities successfully camouflaged them as residential buildings. They they sit today, innocuous and potentially lethal, military structures in the midst of ordinary neighborhoods.

Flak Towers Flakturm worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Romanian soldiers manning a ZPU 2 anti-aircraft machine gun.
One such flak tower is south of Constanta City in Romania. It was part of the Elisabeth coastal battery. It appears to have had a dual purpose of air defense and also land defense, as a pillbox. I don't know much about it, but it shows why there are so many explorers (just look on youtube!) who seek out World War II structures. There is still a lot there to re-discover, sometimes hidden in plain sight.

Flak Towers Flakturm worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Romanian soldiers marching through Constanta, Romania ca. 1941 (Grund, Federal Archives).
Specific to the Romanian installation, the Germans began constructing the fortification even before Operation Barbarossa commenced in June 1941. In the spring of that year, the German artillery units on the Black Sea coast already included:
  • Tirpitz battery – 3 x 280 mm guns, Southern Constanta City (“La Vii” area);
  • Lange Bruno – a mobile (railway) 3 x 280 guns, in the Northern Constanta City;
  • Breslau / M III battery – 3 x 170 mm guns, installed in “La Vii” area, just 1 km north of Tirpitz battery;
  • 6 batteries of 105 mm guns, located in places like Tuzla, La Vii (yes, another one), Cap Midia, Mamaia Sat, Carmen Sylva (nowadays Eforie Sud), Constanta City.
The Tirpitz battery was commissioned on March 22, 1941. The first salvos were fired in April, in the presence of the Minister of Defense, Iosif Iacobici.

Flak Towers Flakturm worldwartwo.filminspector.com
A German soldier aiming an MG 13 machine gun. Filmmaker Horst Grund is shown operating his camera, Constanta, Romania, circa 1941 (Grund, Federal archive).
The battery is located in the south of Constanta City, in the area known back then as “La Vii” (The Vineyards). That, roughly speaking, is where the disguised flak tower still sits, but I do not have a specific location or pictures for it.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Romanian planes over the petrol fields of Ploiesti. The photo was taken in 1941. The Bf 109 with the German cross had not been painted yet in ARR insignias.
The coastal batteries, flak towers, and ferocious fighter defense were not enough to protect the refineries. The oil supply was interrupted, and soon the Luftwaffe's planes could seldom even take off. Defeat for the remaining Axis powers swiftly followed. The country claimed to have suffered 170,000 casualties fighting the Germans after the change of allegiance.

Luftwaffe flak units defended the Ploesti oil fields right up to the end. They were the only German troops in the vicinity when Romania switched sides in August 1944.
The Soviets occupied the entire country and established complete dominion over it. Antonescu was tried as a war criminal by the Soviets - he had been supportive of the Holocaust, among other crimes - and the Soviets hung him in 1946. In another murky sequence of events in 1947, King Michael was forced to leave Romania under Communist duress, though he still considers himself king to this day. Romania suffered communist domination for decades thereafter. complete with rigged elections and Soviet military interventions to suppress uprisings.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com

The Romanian air force was small but capable. It used mostly German equipment but did have a few aircraft designs of its own. The Romanian-designed airplane that made a contribution to the war effort was the IAR 80 (the 'Romanian Big Broom'). It was a fighter which was powered by a Gnome-Rhone 14k radial engine that was built on a license. It was an elegant airframe that loosely resembled the Focke Wulf 190D, but the design was completely Romanian.


The IAR 80 began service in early 1942. It had six machine guns and a top speed of 316 mph, which was about adequate at the start of the war, but completely outclassed by the fighters of 1942. Still, the IAR 80 pilots did not have to contend with US fighters for much of their operational history, and they were plenty fast to take on bombers flying at 150 mph. They shot down many US bombers attacking the oil fields in 1943 and 1944, making the "Ploesti run" extremely hazardous for the 15th USAAF. A total of 137 IAR 80 (some accounts say many more) were built before production switched to building the German Bf 109G fighter under license. The fact that Romania built its own world-class fighter at all is somewhat of an astonishing fact, as generally, only the dominant powers achieved this feat.

Romanian air force worldwartwo.filminspector.com


2019

18 comments:

  1. Few Corections and Completions :
    1 : Ion Antonescu wasn't a full right ruller,but a simple prime minister and His Majesty King Mihai I kept his prerogatives
    2 : Madman Antonesc worked behind the back of His Majesty King Mihai I and got us into war after a secret trip to meet Hitler in Germany.His Majesty King Mihai I found out when Her Majesty Queen Mother Elena heard on the BBC.Contacted afterwards,Antonescu comfirmed.Thus antonescu betrayed and sabotaged the country
    3 : His Majesty King Mihai I was never deposed.He couldn't as all the people and political parties loved and were loyal to His Majesty.
    4 : There were waaaaaay more then 137 more around 5-600.You can clearly see it even in the pictures with the numbers on the tail.Be sure they didn't skipped 3-400 numbers :|
    5 : They didn't consider the fact we were FORCED (after antonescu's secret deal) by 5-6 million soldiers,around 5000 tanks,thousands of planes etc to join the Germans.
    6 : They didn't considered the hundreds of asks sincer late 1941 to the allies made by His Majesty King Mihai I and every politician to the Allies to send help so we can get rid of Germans and end the war faster.They,every time,said NO.
    7 : US denied UK's proposition for allied landing in 1942 somewhere in or around Albania.Landing that would have helped us to get rid of the Germans.AGAIN,US said NO.Reason ? So we can be canon meat for the Russians and slow them down,so US can get to Berlin first.And they still didn't.
    8 : They didn't considered we were on British (as allways) side before madmade antonescu set us up in the war
    9 : They recognised the merit of His Majesty King Mihai I when he ( LEGALLY,NO SCHRED of the SO CALLED coup) in 23 august 1944 (later hailed by communist like it was a sacred day) and gave him a medal,just like UK and USRR for shortening the war and saving thousand of allied soldiers,commanders and ensure good detention and salvage of the imprissoned US-ists and their highest ranking commander Lieutenant-Colonel James Gunn III to Italy,but were lazy and didn't cared about us and the rest of central and eastern Europe.

    If you're seeking the truth,make sure this ones make it into the article.

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    Replies
    1. Appreciate the input. I was just trying to address the Romanian air force in this article, not the entire political dimension of Romania. As to the numbers, I just go by published sources, I shall see what I can uncover elsewhere..

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    2. Agreed,but you still adress some thinks like the number of airplanes,the "deposition" of His Majesty King Mihai I (wich never happened,neither in 1948,not legally) etc.To those i brough some completions and added some new info,out of wich you can select the needed info to complete the image of Kingdom of Romania you tried to present in ths article,and the RRAF (Royal Romanian Air Force) in particular.

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    3. There are numerous published info's,mostly in Romanian and manny writen by madmen brainwashed by communist.If youtell me the topics i can find and even translate (if you want) in a word document and send it to you.After that you can check the verdicity of it (why would i lie ?) by translating random phrases.

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    4. George, thanks for focusing me on this. I suppose my sources do ultimately derive one way or another through the Wehrmacht/OKH, because there aren't a lot of accounts (in English) from that period that derive from Romanians - it being behind the Iron Curtain immediately after the war. I mean no disrespect to his excellency King Michael, his involvement in the overthrow of Antonescu remains a bit mysterious to me..

      I shall give the article some attention and attempt to square it with what you have contributed. Thanks for the assistance.

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    5. After that,there was a whole charade (after the war) about US and UK refusing to recognise as legimitate the communist gouvernment imposed by USSR,wich gave 2 years more and encouraged His Majesty to fight for liberty.At 1 moment,hearing what Stalin did in Romania,Rossevelt called Stalin and Churchill at a meating,IN RUSSIA,stalin's turf,where they agreed to Forget about Romania and Central and Eastern europe.In 1946 His Majesty refused to sign any more papers of groza's gouvernment (required to be accepted as laws etc) thus starting the Royal Strike,wich lasted around 8-10 months.In His honour,the people who adored him,made a protest in his support,in (i think) 10 november 1946 where the communist arrested 1000 students used in 30 dec1947 for blackmail.After that,the 10 people killed,out of royalists,the next day communists claimed (the dead ones) to be communists and made up a counter manifestation.

      This all (total ignorance during and after the war by the allies) resulted in 30 december 1947,the freshly arrived in country (against most advices) from future Queen Elizabeth II's marriage,His Majesty,engaged to His future wife,was summoned to bucharest for a "family problem".Thinking it's about the new engagement (His Majesty neded parliment aprovel for the wedding) He left (Peles Castle) to Bucharest.Once arrived there with his mother,he find the guards changed with bolshevic soldiers,the palace surrounded by bolshevic artillery ready to fire,the telefone lines cut (so He won'tbe able to call support frmo LOYAL ARMY),the country was threaten with extinction,the 1000 students "they'll (communists) find themselves "obligated"(by who ? ) to kill them,and Groza had a pistol in his pocket,on wich he put His Majesty's hand on (so he won't be arrested like Antonescu did).

      Blackmailed with all this,His Majesty was forced to sign a paper with NO LEGAL VALUE (thus as still beeing legally a monarchy) as he wasn't promulgated into law by parliment (it was in Christmass vacation since the 20th),the content was illegal etc.Basicly the "act" has no value and today,the only and true leader of the country AND FATHER is His Majesty King Mihai I.


      P.S. We were abandoned by allies during war,the 23 august act was leagel and not a coup,and the 30 dec1947 was a blackmail with the act bearing no legal value with the 1923 constitution,beeing available today though not recognised by bolsevics (who cares ... they're illegal themselves).

      P.P.S. After the war,on Churchill's desk,a dossie landed consisting of a secreat mission called "Unthinkable" (a war against soviets with US help).After Churchill asked the leaders of the army,considering they got no chace,they refused to fight,thus sealing the central and european countries'es fate in Bolsevics "claw"


      Hope i helped.I'll try and find more links in english.

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    6. Very interesting. I've never seen this much detail on those events before. I have read some of the accounts of the 1947 events and they still sound quite confused. Appreciate the contribution, will give me and perhaps other readers much food for thought.

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    7. I know there is very little about us in inerbelic and post war period,mostly because we were occupied afterwards and in cold war the "responsible" for our country,in US was a hunGAYrian,who extended the lies and venom about us all over.

      There is a TV program called "King's Hour" wich presented even a documentary about 23 august 1944 in 1994,recorded in lousanne (cuz because of the popularity of the people,who came in number of 1.5 million to greet him in bucharest in 1992) as he was then rebaned in fear the ILLEGAL communist that had ceased power will be overthowened,only to be allowed in and had the citizenship regiven in 1997 (after it was revoked by BOLSHEVIKS in 1948 as the King called the act as it was,an illegal act based on blackmailed,as soon as he arrived in England).
      The women that made the documentary was a TVR (Romanian Television - national tv channel) employee.After '89,knowing she is a monarchist,was fired and one day when she went to work,was stopped at the entrance,asked for the firm's id,guard retained it and handled her the document of her "realease" from post.Having this happened,that day she bought a plane ticket and went to Lousanne to meet His Majesty King Mihai.Since then she was rehired at TVR and is,joining 1 other woman and a guy,cohost the "King's Hour" programme.

      I'll try to download and put it on youtube with english subtitles.Anyway,untill then,you can get some more information from this documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TZBcnO-D-I&list=PL878689B67D539369 though they make some mistakes,wich i corrected (in comments with "motanelustelistu" account).You will hear the story of the saving of the hight ranking US p.o.w. in Romania by Romanian Captain (descendent of a medieval princely family) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Cantacuzino_%28aviator%29 ,of the imprissoned p.o.w. (wich the US tv show make it sound worse,but they lived really well),of the meeting of one of the POW with H.M. King Mihai and manny more.Completed and corrected,is very interesting.Take a look at tell me what you think.

      Also,the 23 august and 30 december is mentioned in manny more episdes of "King's Hour",I'll try download,cut and collage them together and upload on YT with english subtitles.

      You can also see a video of him at age 6 i think http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Cantacuzino_%28aviator%29 and the SUPERBE uniform of the guards and the amazing world of that time.

      You can also see one video of IAR 80/81 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrZSaMe5maI and you can get to 2-3 more video of it from this video.



      Tell me what else you want to know ?

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    8. IAR 80 was nicknamed "Romanian Big Broom" .You can see another video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88T-6_F0eb0 but cut the sound wich (despite the fact you d understand) is a communist propaganda who considered 23 august the day the "damn imperialist era" (despite the fact ROMANIA NEVER CONQUERED [for the sake of it] and never kept it like we retreated from hunGAYri in 1919) ended and the communism "began" (in fact till 30 december,the only thing that started was THE WAR ON COMMUNIZATION AND THE TRY TO KEEP THE COUNTRY DEMOCRATIC.

      You may also be interested in how,in 1877-78 war on Ottoman Empire,Russian Tsar (with wich H.M. King Carol I of Romania were in VERY GOOD relation both beeing related to Queen Vitoria,Rulling Monarch and Orthodox) beein unable to pus back the ottoman,called for the help of His Majesty King Carol I.
      H.M. King Carol I said he'll go (to fight) with pleasure,but "i don't know how i'll be under a russian general's command".To that,Tsar said "You don't have to,but 10 Russian Generals can be under your command" thus taking comand of both united armies and winning multiple battles (wich,basicly,helped Russia to survive as a nation) endind with us winning complete independence (till the,we were tributory to ottomans).

      Tsar also made a visit in 14 July 1914 in Constanta.You can see 3 movies from then,here https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tarul+rusiei+constanta (first 3)

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    9. Really interesting stuff, George. The 19th Century wars in the balkans that extended right up to World War I are almost completely ignored in standard history summaries in the west. Thanks for that detail. This has really opened my eyes to some of these details of Romania's past. I did not realize that monarchist sentiment remained so strong under the Communists, too. Tnanks for all the interesting replies!

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    10. My pleasure man.The monarchist sentiment not only that remained high during the communism (till all the people who were at least 13 (to remember the time) but the ARMED RESISTANCE (totally ignored and left behind by the 2 main allies,UK and US) lasted till 1962 manny of it beeing led by Monarchist Generals from Royal Romanian Army.More info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_anti-communist_resistance_movement .

      Not only it resisted then,the ones that didn't fight and/or fled ,they still kept their belive and transmit it to their kids.The less educated ones were more easly convinced to obey and adopt the communist mentality and they're the one that in 1990's mineriads (GOVERNMENT STAGED "protests" of the miners),"we work,we don't think" or "death to intelectuals" ...

      In 1990 when he first returned to the country since 1947,he was granted a 24 hours visa.His plans were to visit his ancestor's (former kings) graves at Curtea De Arges,but on the highway the car was stopped by a police blocade and with Kalasnikovs (AK-47) on their back expelled.

      In 1992 when he returned, 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE came to greet him all chanting "Monarchy Saves Romania" (in Romanian it also rymes),"Majesty don't leave,this is your country" (this also) etc.Some suggested and people accepted to shild him with their boddies against the communist "authorities" (no-1 chose them to represent them in 1989) but His Majesty,beeing a man of honor and very moral,said "I said i live,i will leave".

      After this,the "authorities" were so scared of him that he banned him for another 5 years on returning home.
      You have to remember,that people were the ones from around the Bucharest,people who lived since before the communist Kidnapping,their kids,other educated people etc.
      The communist did anything to pass the time,in the hope that people will die and the monarchist support will drop.Nothing alike.People,off course,died since then,but the monarcist sentiment (THE REAL COUNTRY) only grew,and will continue to grew.

      Not only that,but,at this moment,ALL POLITICS IN ROMANIA ARE ILLEGAL.Due to very much reasons,the primarely beeing the new popular "republic" was NEVER VOTED BY THE PARLIMENT,wich were on winter holiday vacation since 20th december (the kidnapping of the country happened in 30 dec).
      So the "republic" NEVER EXISTED in Romania,and the real country,the Romanian Kingdom still exist,with the 1923 constitution beeing in place,it is only suppresed by the SAME COMUNISTS before the 1989.We only need to remove HOLE PARLIMENT,GOVERNMENT AND "president" and reafirm the country as it always was,A KINGDOM.

      The support in the cause is as to 2015 around 50-55% for "restoring" (as you can here above,it didn't actually end) the monarchy but the result,in an supposed referendum (wich is ridicule to even think of having,as the Kingdom never ended) would be even more,because all (or almost) will go to vote,the convinced "republicans" ( i can't belive there are any as the republic never existed here :) ) won't and the un-settled will either live or "slide" to the monarchist side.More so,the lowered presence level,of 30% for the validation,will make it even easier.

      Remember,only in 1992,the present people (1.5 Million) were 10% of the people with right to vote,adding the ones that weren't present then,you get the picture.Now,as manny people died and left in europe and not only (there are about 4 million people abrod) we are around 19.5 million and around 14-14,5 with the right to vote (including me).Since 1992,people died,but the one with currage of manifesting their belives in Monarchy (in 1990 you could get killed even to mention the King or Kingdom or wearing a mustache and/or beard,a sign of the intelectuals) and the ones that find out the truth grow way over the death rate.

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    11. Even people that participated in 1946 Monarchist Protests (in support of His Majesty) there are pople that live today.People that run from schools to participate to the protest.The King was (and is) extremely loved and the father of a guy (now historian) said he was weak of knees and feeling of fainting when he saw on the streets communist posters with "long live people's republic of Romania".

      You can find out more on this site Romania Insider (site of news and stores about Romania) http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.ro/2014/10/will-monarchy-return-to-romania.html .
      For the love of it,you can find an article from 1 December 1993 and the protest happening then http://articles.philly.com/1993-12-01/news/25941787_1_monarchy-romanian-president-ion-iliescu-alba-iulia .
      The scumbag of ion iliescu (real name ivanovici) said "we must not permit any disturbance of national holiday".National holiday that was ESPECIALLY CHOSEN NOT TO make any connection to either communism (wich is in his blood) or monarchy so he chose the 1 dec 1918 as the national holiday.
      There are few problems with this :
      - 1 dec is the date that people PROCLAMED the union with the motherland,but the union hapened in 1920 on different dates.
      - 1 dec represent the Big Romania,wich no longer exist as Bessarabia is not a part of the country,so is like celebrating a country that doesn't exist any more.Is like a funeral celebration.
      - 1 dec is IN WINTER so fewer people get out to celebrate it.This is not a reason to choose or not celebrate a national day,but it does exist.

      The true national day is 10 may the they when :
      - In 1866 King Carol I entered Romania and became the crowned prince
      - In 1978 King Carol I proclamed independence
      - In 1881 The Kingdom (from principality) was proclamed.

      As you can see,the motives are "obvious" for the communist ivanovici to reject it as the national day.
      So,today,we are the ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD,THAT DOESN NOT CELEBRATE IT'S NATIONAL DAY ON THE INDEPENDENCE DAY.

      For the 23 august 1944 that resulted in Saving of the country,shorting of the war with at least 6 months (period estimate of UK) and the save of manny manny lives in the 3 principal armies.
      For that,His Majesty was awarded in 1946 soviet Order of victory (used by communist to sustain the preposterous idea His Majesty "gave away as a gift" Romania to soviets :| ),1947 US Legion Of Merit and UK in 2011 (kinda late,i know.

      To the people in the country,there are people monarchists all over the world (even in US) and more people become monarchist after working in Monarchies like UK or Spain (where they see the level of prospeirty,education,culture etc)


      P.S. Give me you're subject (theme of article) and I'll supply you all the data you want.

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    12. Awesome stuff, George. This is all new to me, you are a true expert on Romanian politics. I will probably write something about Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies at Stalingrad soon, they get brushed off so casually in the texts as kind of just being there. However, they must have suffered. Our history books are silent on them. Thanks so much, all of your information is fascinating, I just have to figure out how to use it.

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    13. Chill out George, not everyone is an ardent supporter of the "king" who did little to combat communism and all he wanted was his properties back. Communists never said that Mihai gave the country to the Soviets, that would be in fact a nice accomplishment in their view, no?

      I say Mihai was an idiot like his father, also too young and inexperienced to lead, and Antonescu a fool played by Germans (and Hungarians to some extent) to massacre Romanians on the Eastern front. He paid for it, Mihai did not.

      I had relatives from both sides of the family dead on the Eastern front or POW in Siberia, and from my wife's side, too. Ordeals never put on paper, whole villages left without any young men.

      What do you got, except a big propagandist mouth for a dead monarchy?

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  2. Also,you forgot to mention that Cantacuzino right after the change of sides had flown the highest ranking US leader in captivity,Lieutenant-Colonel James Gunn III,safely in Italy.There is a vdeo of the US-ist getting out of the plane and (i think) of him landing too.
    Another grate thing about him is that he only needed one flight to get used to it,wich anstonish the americans.He returned flying a Mustang because his Bf-109 Gustav couldn't be refueled. He dazzled the Americans with his aerobatics, which he couldn't help himself not to execute.

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  3. Besides,the Transnistria is normally a Romanian territory and was inhabitted and owned by Romanians from 1520 till end of 1700's when Russian Empress pressed on,to occupy Transnistria (lands between Bug and Nistru rivers (Transnistria-Romanian for "over the Nistru") as you can see here http://img.kolector.ro/2011/08/ROMANIA_MAI_1942-transnistria.jpg .After that she occupied Bessarabia in 1812.She wanted to occupy the entire Moldova and Wallachia (Romanian Country - name at the time) but considering the resistance of us,the wars in Europe,the problems with Austrian Empire and with the Help of Napoleon,she didn't.

    As you can see here http://www.face-music.ch/archelogy/map_dacia.jpg ,the Transnistria was always part of Romania,Just as the part between West border of today Romania and Tisa River,invaded later by hunGAYrians.

    So no,we DIDN'T JUST GET Transnistria,we took it back.

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    1. Thanks again for your input, George. It's awesome to get another perspective on these events that had such far-reaching consequences for so many people.

      I'm incorporating as much of your input as I can. There never is just one side to any historical reading, but your side often isn't heard, at least in the libraries I have used. Appreciate it very much.

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  4. A further correction - Romania had no flack towers whatsoever. Unfortunately there are inexperienced urban explorers who photograph and film old bunkers but have no idea of the actual history behind them who perpetuate all kinds of myths and falsehoods. For example, the structure found north of Agigea and reffred to as "flack tower" is actually the fire control tower of the "Crisan" battery of 4X130mm B-13 Soviet guns, built in 1953 on the site of the earlier Battery "Elisabeta" of 4X120mm St.Chamond guns, which saw action during WW2.

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