Acts of Bravery

[Der Maresal]

I now have more information on my Grandfather's couzin Réne Ganescu, that's right! His couzin not his uncle. I asked and I found out that he was only 1 year older than my grandfather, - 24 !

2nd Lieutenant Ganescu is burried in Gencea Militar, Bucuresti, the military cimitery for soldiers and aviators. On his grave is written something like "Mother, don't cry for I wanted to become an Aviator.."

Rene Ganescu * 1918 - 1942 + (24 years old when he died), besides him is also an aviator, from his familly named Constantin Eustachiade, tough I think this man died much later after the war.

So..it seems he flew a He-111, ...something like this? :wink: :arrow:



* Denes, maybe you can help here.. By asking I found out that Vranceanu, (Grandfather) had a friend in his unit named Vîrgolici, (I don't remember his first name), and this man might still be alive today and probabily lives in Bucharest. If you find out about him it will be easier to track the unit Mircea Vranceanu belonged to.
I have pictures of him sitting in various planes (Fighter Planes) including a Pzl 11c, polish fighter, and I heard he trained in these planes before the war,- later he switched to bombers.

* Also, after the war he became a very very good friend with the High Ranking Airforce "Kommodore"? "Braşoveanu" !!

Braşoveanu had photographs of himself with German officers, - he might have been a little pro-german and therefore he suffered long prison terms after the war. Perhaps someone can help me here, with either this high ranking officer "Georghe Braşoveanu" or the other pilot from my Grandfather's Unit "?. Vîrgolici"

Any help is grately appreciated.
* Perhaps if I send an Airforce group photo with officers and NCO's from my album, someone can identify some men at least.

Thanks,

Cristian :wink:

[Dénes]

QUOTE

I now have more information (...) besides him is also an aviator, from his familly named Constantin Eustachiade, tough I think this man died much later after the war.

Are you sure his name is spelled correctly? Also, was he certainly an aviator? I could not find any airman under this name, who died between 1939 and 1997.

Dénes

[Dénes]

QUOTE

Denes, maybe you can help here.. By asking I found out that Vranceanu, (Grandfather) had a friend in his unit named Vîrgolici, (I don't remember his first name), and this man might still be alive today and probabily lives in Bucharest. If you find out about him it will be easier to track the unit Mircea Vranceanu belonged to.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for him), similarly to Vrânceanu, I could not find in my computerised database the name Virgolici among the airmen who were involved in any sort of accidents or combat loss.
I have to keep looking in the paper mountains lying on my shelves...

QUOTE

I have pictures of him sitting in various planes (Fighter Planes) including a Pzl 11c, polish fighter, and I heard he trained in these planes before the war,- later he switched to bombers.

It would indeed be nice if I could take a look on those airplane photos (if you don't want to make them public, please send them to me as private mail).

QUOTE

Also, after the war he became a very very good friend with the High Ranking Airforce \"Kommodore\"? \"Braşoveanu\" .

I foud only one entry for an active aviator called Brasoveanu:
lt. obs. Pompiliu Brasoveanu of Escadrila 1 recunoastere (Blenheim). Could he be you man?

Dénes

[mabadesc]

I don't remember the exact details, but I know the story is true and documented.
Agarici, a well-known pilot stationed at the time near Constanta, at Tomis, had his plane being worked on by his mechanics, when a group of Soviet Bombers (6?) approached. He pushed his mechanics aside and took off in his plane although the plane was still under repair. He succeeded in shooting down 2 of the russian planes and chasing the others.

[Dénes]

QUOTE

Denes, maybe you can help here.. By asking I found out that Vranceanu, (Grandfather) had a friend in his unit named Vîrgolici, (I don't remember his first name), and this man might still be alive today and probabily lives in Bucharest. If you find out about him it will be easier to track the unit Mircea Vranceanu belonged to.

I spent the past couple of hours going through a lot of paperwork on ARR personnel. I went through hundreds of names. Unfortunately, I could not find trace of either Vrânceanu, or Vârgolici. In order to narrow down the research, we must know something more about them, at least what type of unit did they serve in. I am sorry.

Maybe I still deserve a small prize for my effort

Dénes

[Geto-Dacul]

mabadesc wrote :

QUOTE

Agarici, a well-known pilot stationed at the time near Constanta, at Tomis, had his plane being worked on by his mechanics, when a group of Soviet Bombers (6?) approached. He pushed his mechanics aside and took off in his plane although the plane was still under repair.

Talking of Agarici here... Is anybody aware of Agarici's fate during WWII and after? In Priest Palaghita's book Istoria Miscarii Legionare - Garda de Fer spre reinvierea Romaniei (the History of the Legionnary Movement), Palaghita writes that Agarici was a member of the dissoluted Iron Guard during the war, and was oftenly wearing the icon of the Archangel Michael.

[Dénes]

There were more than one Agarici in ARR.
Are you sure you're talking about the same person?

Dénes

[Geto-Dacul]

Yes... Horia Agarici, the one who defended Constanta...

[Victor]

He was thrown in jail, but he was released after a few months by the Communist authorities only to be put under house arrest. In 1951 he was downgraded to the rank of soldier. In 1965, the rank of captain was returned to him. He passed away in July 1982 and was buried at Constanta.

It seems very unlikely that Agarici was a legionnaire. There were rumors, but probably that is what they were only. He was very disliked by some of his comrades, mostly because of the episode on 26 June 1941. He was not a very good pilot, but his success attracted the envy of others. He generally showed more interest in writing poetry than in dogfights afterwards. His CO recommended that he should be transferred to a training or technical unit. He then passed through the 52nd Fighter Squadron (which replaced the 53rd on the Mamaia airfield), the 7th Fighter Group (in a staff position), the 3rd Dive Bomber Group (where he stayed shortly during the training period) and thenagain the 7th Fighter Group in 1944,when he scored his last kill (a B-24).

In a couple of words: he disliked being a hero.

[mabadesc]

Agarici died in poverty....after the war, he went to Bucharest and was pretty much homeless for a while (he was pursued by the police).
Finally, he moved back to Constanta and passed away in poverty. If you wish, I can find out more.....Agarici is (was) the grandfather of a good friend of mine...

From the little I know, he was a very daring man who just loved adventure enormously. He acted on instinct in most situations, not just while flying. He was also a sensitive man, but he did not like to talk about his days in the war.

I'm not sure it's fair to say that he was not a good pilot, Victor. You can argue that he was not an "ace", like Cantacuzino or others, but he was certainly a "very good" pilot, one of the better Romanian pilots.

[Der Maresal]

It seems that out of a crew of four only one survived that Night accident.
You first think that one of your grandfather's couzins who died in the war,...died "heroically", shot down or missing in action...you don't think that it was a stupid night accident on Pipera aerodrome..

So the Heinkel has a crew of 4,| 1 - Pilot (Valeriu Demetrecu+), 2 - Navigator, Co-Pilot and Front Gunner (Rene Gânescu+), 3- Bottom Gunner (Boris Friptu+), and top-rear gunner (Florea Mehedintu)Wounded.



I can imagine that if the aircraft crash landed really badly both pilots and bottom gunner were killed instantly, the 4th crew member who was sitting on top, right between the wings survived.

*By the way, is Florea .M still alive today, did he survive his wounds,...if he lives he could perhaps tell the story, and I would know more about Gânescu himself...

Indeed both Denes and Victor deserve a price for their research here, thank you, and thank's for telling me about the Soviet plane shot down by Ganescu's Bomber, that's about the only good news here...
perhaps is was himself who fired, I don't know...who claimed the kill?

Thanks for the help,

[Der Maresal]

Ohh, Dénes...if you can help me further...perhaps I'll buy some of your books :wink: ....
My friend tells me, this one here in particular is quite interesting....

[dragos]

Lieutenant-colonel Bradateanu Emanoil - commander of 10th Mountain Battalion - awarded post-mortem with "Mihai Viteazu" 3rd class on 12.02.1942

On 27 September 1941, at Malaia Belozerka, the 10th Mountain Battalion was encircled by strong Soviet forces with tanks. The battle was fierce, in two hours of struggle the battalion losing 20 officers and over 400 soldiers. Leading repeated counterattacks for breaking the encirclement, lieutenent-colonel Bradateanu was first hit in the shoulder, but carrying on, he was hit in the head and in the chest. His last words were ordering another counterattack.

[dragos]

2nd lieutenant Dumitrescu Aurel Marius - 4th Dorobanti Regiment - awarded post-mortem with "Mihai Viteazu" 3rd class on 17.10.1941

On 14 August 1941, he charges in front of his platoon the Soviet casemates at Oserka (Hill 102). He enters the enemy positions through a rain of bullets and shrapnels. He fell together with the entire platoon.

[Victor]

QUOTE

I'm not sure it's fair to say that he was not a good pilot, Victor. You can argue that he was not an \"ace\", like Cantacuzino or others, but he was certainly a \"very good\" pilot, one of the better Romanian pilots.

He was an ace (look at his score in the ace list) by Western/Romanian standards, but he lacked the fighting spirit and dedication. Probably the envy of others and all the rumors that appeared affected him (due to his sensitive nature) and this showed up in his behavior. The yearly reports of his superiors are not too favorable. It is said that he even avoided dogfights and retreated when he saw enemy aircraft back in 1941. That is why he was relegated to non-combat activities.

The propaganda machine made him a legend, but he was just a good pilot, not a myth.

QUOTE

perhaps is was himself who fired, I don't know...who claimed the kill?

In ARR the kill was attributed to the entire crew, not to a specific gunner (like in the RAF). It is unlikely that tour uncle made the kill, as frontal attacks were rare. Generally the fighters attacked from behind. However, as on-board commander he directed the defense.